Chapter Text
If you had told Deena at the start of college that she would be working at a coffee shop practically every day with her best friends and brother, she might not have believed you. But now, at the start of her senior year, Deena can’t picture college going any differently for her.
She had met Kate and Simon during freshmen when they had all been new hires and were being trained at the Sunnyvale branch of the coffee shop. It was during the fall semester their sophomore year that they were transferred to the Shadyside branch on the other side of campus. They had known about the move before their freshmen year ended, so together they rented an apartment across from the Shadyside branch so that they were close to work. When Deena’s brother, Josh, started college, he joined them at the coffee shop, and ultimately moved in with them after his freshman year.
It’s an arrangement that works, and throughout four years of working at the coffee shop, Deena can’t say she has had any genuinely bad experiences. Sure, there were sometimes people who complained or made a fuss about a wrong order, but nothing really stuck out, especially after the transfer to Shadyside.
The Shadyside branch is located on the one end of campus where not many students find themselves, except those in the business school along with the swim team. The Sunnyvale branch, however, is at the center of campus, surrounded by the dorms, so it’s always packed with students.
Deena prefers the Shadyside campus. It’s quiet and relaxed and—as she prepares the shop for her opening shift a few weeks into the semester—it’s a welcome fact that nothing exciting ever happens there.
“What time is Kate coming in?” Josh asks, unlocking the door of the shop.
“Either noon or at one, I can’t remember,” Deena answers. She’s well aware of the major crush her brother has developed for Kate, but she doesn’t tease him for it at the moment.
Josh walks back behind the counter. “She’s literally coming in so you can go to your first class. When’s your class?”
Rolling her eyes at her brother, Deena responds, “Glad to see you paid attention when I told you my schedule. It starts at twelve forty-five, so I guess she’s coming in at noon.”
“See that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Josh jokes.
Deena glares at him and shoves gently. “Fuck off. It’s literally eight A.M. so excuse me for forgetting.”
“So you’re allowed to forget something, but not me?” Josh questions, leaning against the counter.
Nodding, Deena says, “That’s the benefit of being the older sibling. You just have to deal with it.” She motions towards the door where someone just walked in. “I’ll let you deal with them.” Then, she makes her way towards the other end of the counter, and pretends to look busy.
Behind her, Josh mutters a quiet, “Oh come on,” but then he’s greeting the customer. “Welcome to Shadyside Coffeehouse, what can I get for you?”
——
At noon, Kate strolls into the coffee shop in the middle of eating a sandwich. Looking around the empty coffeeshop, she announces, “God I love when a class is going on, because it’s so dead in here.”
“Yeah, well give it fifteen minutes and it’ll be busy,” Deena tells her, proceeding to take a sip from her cup of water. “But that’s a you and Josh problem, because I am off duty exactly when we’ll get busy.”
Kate flips her off. “Screw you for leaving right at the big rush of business kids.”
“Kate, you’re literally a part of the business college,” Deena points out. “You’re shitting on your classmates.”
“And I’m not sorry about it,” Kate proclaims, then takes another bite of her sandwich. After chewing and swallowing it, she adds, “I feel like I’m in class with a bunch of idiots. The only time I don’t is in my econ courses, but even that’s pushing it.”
Josh pokes his head out of the back room. “If you don’t like marketing, then why is it your major?”
“I don’t hate it,” Kate says before explaining, “It’s just that I’m the only one who seems to care. And I get that an eight A.M. lecture isn’t for everyone, but it even extends into my later classes. No one tries to apply themselves.”
“Not all of us can perform at your level,” Deena jokes, even though she isn’t a bad student herself and relates to Kate’s complaints.
Kate finishes eating her sandwich, then walks behind the counter. “You’re right, but I’m still annoyed. If Simon were here, he’d agree with me.”
“Too bad he got stuck closing,” Deena responds, adding, “Looks like you’re stuck with us.” Glancing at the clock, she sees she only has ten minutes left before she has to start her trek across campus to her research class.
By now, Josh has made his way out of the back room, and corrects, “More like stuck with me, since you have class all afternoon.”
A quick remark comes to Deena’s mind, but she refrains from embarrassing her brother. Instead, she says, “Okay true, but I would like to graduate, so I can’t do anything about that.”
The bell above the door jingles, and all three turn their head to see who walked in. Deena recognizes the girl instantly, although not from the Shadyside coffee shop. It’s a face—albeit three years older—that was a regular customer at the Sunnyvale shop. She doesn’t remember a lot of faces from that shop, but this is a girl who stuck out amongst everyone else to Deena.
Kate either must remember the girl or realizes Deena knows her, because she’s dragging Josh to the backroom under the guise of needing help to lift something.
So Deena is alone at the front of the shop, trying to figure out why a usual Sunnyvaler is at Shadyside. Despite her inner thought process, the barista part of her takes over as she greets, “Welcome to Shadyside Coffeehouse. What can I get for you today?”
The girl studies Deena as if trying to place Deena’s face somewhere, and then a look of recognition flashes in her blue eyes. She doesn’t comment upon it, however, and instead answers the question. “Can I get a large oatmilk latte?”
Deena nods. “Coming right up. That’ll be four fifty-five. What’s your name? In case other people show up.” It’s a question she knows the answer to, because even after three years her brain has still somehow remembered Sam’s name from her time at Sunnyvale.
“Sam,” she responds, rooting around in her wallet for money, pulling out a crumpled five dollar bill, which Sam hands to Deena.
Counting out the change and handing it back to Sam, Deena tells her, “It’ll be ready in a few moments.” She moves to grab a large cup and sets to work making the latte. When she’s almost done making it, Sam asks her something.
“Did you used to work at the other coffee shop across campus?”
Deena puts the finishing touches on the drink, and puts on a lid while she answers. “Yeah, back during freshman year, but I got moved here.”
Sam nods. “I thought you looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure. Sorry if that’s weird.”
“Not at all,” Deena assures, handing the drink over. “I thought I recognized you too, although your coffee order has changed.”
Taking the drink from Deena, Sam smiles. “Yeah, I’ve calmed down since my days of drinking espresso shots. No longer a complete menace to society. Just a little bit.”
Deena returns the smile at that remark. “Hate to agree, but people who drink the biggest espresso shot size every day really are a menace. Glad to see you’ve toned it down.” She hesitates, debating if asking what she wants is too invasive, but by the time she convinces herself to ask, Sam is starting to make her way towards the door.
“What can I say?” Sam asks, before answering it for herself. “Guess I just didn’t want people to think I was possessed or something. But I gotta get to class. I’ll see you around.”
“Yeah, see you around,” Deena echoes, although she doesn’t have high hopes that Sam will ever make her way back to the Shadyside shop.
The bells above the door jingle once again as Sam leaves the coffee shop, and as soon as she does, Kate is rushing out of the back room with Josh behind her.
“Was that who I think it was?” Kate questions.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Deena lies, because she knows now that Kate must remember the fact that Deena mentioned having a stupid crush on a regular at the coffee shop their freshmen year.
Kate sighs. “You are ridiculous. Was that the girl you liked freshman year, but were too scared to make a move on?”
“Wait, what?” Josh asks, having no clue as to what’s going on as he hadn’t yet been employed at the coffee shop.
Taking a look at the clock, Deena backs away towards the end of the counter. “Sorry guys, looks like I gotta go or Professor Fier is gonna kill me. You know how she is about being on time.”
“Your bag is in the back dumbass,” Kate remarks, already making her way to the backroom to retrieve it. Over her shoulder she yells, “This conversation isn’t over though! I mean I know the answer, but I want to hear you say it.”
Deena waits until Kate returns with her bag before she states, “It was a stupid crush from freshman year, and just saying that makes me feel like I’m in high school again. There’s nothing to be had there. It’s not like she’s coming back.”
“Never say never dear Deena,” Kate declares, handing the bookbag over to Deena. “Things always seem to happen when you aren’t expecting it.”
“Okay, whatever.” Deena jerks her thumb towards the door. “I really gotta go, so I’ll see you tonight.”
“Have fun with Professor Fier,” Josh teases, since Deena has made her disdain for Professor Fier known to them all semester.
Before she turns to actually leave, Deena forms her fingers to resemble a gun and pretends to shoot herself, which gets Josh and Kate to both laugh at her antics. She flashes a smile, and then turns and heads out the door, grateful to step out into the fresh air and to leave the day’s events behind her, likely to never happen again.
Deena didn’t know how wrong she would be about that.