Coincidental Stars
Chapter 1
So woke up late, went to class at 7am and paid attention not really thinking. I have plans to get coffee with him today at 9 after my class. I haven’t seen him since my last year of high school. It was probably for the better, a 17 year old girl crushing on the ex-marines, fit, intelligent 25 year old, but then again, he never knew. He was a good friend to me though, he listened and was the only open minded person I knew who I could have an actual conversation with about anything. I got over the crush, I mean, it has been 4 years. My 22nd birthday is next month so he is about to be 30. Legal but not preferred. We my live in California but that’s not okay. I open the door to the Starbucks on Central Avenue. I look around and see him just the way he looked yesterday, but this time in a dark blue collar shirt with black slacks and black shoes. He looks so professional and dressed up. Yesterday when I saw him he was sporting fairly casual clothes, as I wonder if he has work today. I walk over to him smiling up at me and standing for a hug. I like His Hugs because they are warm and I feel safe. He was a major part of my life in high school while I dealt with my opinions and thoughts coming out of me at the seams. I have only ever doubted trusting him once, but it was on my own paranoia and got over it fairly quickly. “Hey, how are you?” “I’m good, you?” “Great, let me go get us some drinks. Chocolate frap with whip?’ “Yes, please” I smile as he goes to the counter and I sit at the table in the corner he was sitting at as I arrived. I sit awkwardly and play with my phone texting Riley where I am and that I can’t give her a ride back to our place today. A John Mayer song called Slow Dancing in a Burning Room comes on and I smile at my familiarity with the song knowing it was a singer both he and I liked. He comes back and we sit making small talk while we wait for our drinks. “So what is going on with your life we haven’t spoken since you basically ran away” I laugh slightly at his accusation. “Okay first, I did not run away, it is considered running away when you are under 18 in which I was not, and my parents knew about it and paid for the moving truck for me and Riley. Along with them helping us to pay for our apartment.” Which is 100 percent true and he knows it, but he never ceases to enjoy teasing me. “But really I’ve been good, finishing up classes at LACCD and I have a paid internship that I’m guaranteed a job once I graduate.” “That is great, where is the internship?” “A photography studio” “Do you enjoy it?” “I love it, I am not taking many photos, but I am learning and it is great experience.” I really do like the internship, but a part of me still loves baking at 1am with Riley and will probably go into baking at some point in my life. “So how have you been? Are you still working for Habitat for Humanity?” he laughs, “good memory, and yes, I am, but I just got transferred over to the Los Angeles office for a promotion a few weeks ago” “oh wow, congratulations” “thank you” “so are you enjoying Los Angeles?” “It’s…different” we both laugh. Yes, Los Angeles is different from the small town we both come from. We make more small talk, teasing each other and catching up on each other’s lives. He is in a good job he’s really happy with and is settling into a condo a few blocks away from me and Riley. He says everyone back home is good. He goes back regularly for his mom, I don’t. If they want to see me they come out here. Riley is also from the same town, we escaped together. He likes it though. His career is booming, he is happy where he is, and he still attends church regularly. I on the other hand do not. I have had many discussions about religion with him and Riley and our now late pastor, I have come to the conclusion I will be a good person for humanity but I will not call myself a Christian without faith and truth in it. I told him my life and career are going well. Me and Riley are about two throw pillows away from the perfect apartment, at least perfect for us. We both have pretty steady jobs and both are pretty close to paying off our student loans, they were only a year’s worth each because of how many scholarships we each got. We laughed a little about old times back home. He was my youth director and used any game to target me. We both crack up in the quiet coffee shop remembering when we pushed each other in the pool at a party for the beginning of summer. After that he has work and I have to get home to grab stuff for my next class. We hug say our goodbyes and agree to call each other to set up lunch plans in a week or two. Then we head our separate ways, and I have absolutely no intension of actually going to lunch.
Author Note: New story. Hopefully my best. Chapters are kinda longer than I thought they'd be but yeah. Feedback would be great and I love you guys enjoy! :) <3