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Juliet blinked back tears and shook her head.
“Sorry, can you just….” She took a breath. “Can you try it again?”
The guy in front of her, a kid really, just like her, didn’t break eye contact as he swiped her card again. Just like the last two times, the machine beeped.
“Declined.” He said holding the card back out to her.
“No, no, coz I know I…” she started, taking the card.
“What’s the hold up?” someone further back in the line shouted.
This was not the first day at college experience Juliet was hoping for. She had grand ideas in mind. She was going to buy the perfect breakfast: oats and yoghurt with a muffin on the side. Healthy, but not too healthy. Then she was going to find a nice table to sit at, with people who were welcoming but not pushy. She would tell jokes and they would laugh, and before the meal was over she’d have made her first real college friends.
Instead she was holding up the cafeteria line, unable to even buy a bottle of water.
“Sorry.” She said awkwardly to the line, before she stepped out and into a tiny alcove in the corner.
Breathe she told herself. Just breath. It will be okay.
“Hey.” Someone said.
She looked up, half expecting to see an campus security guard, ready and willing to escort her from the building. Did they do that, really? She’d seen a couple of guards around campus, and on all the tours she as told they were for her protection. What would they do with her, now when they realised she didn’t have any money?
But the man in front of her was not security. He looked around her age, maybe a year or two older. His blonde hair was sticking up in all directions, and he wore a bright blue polo shirt.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She closed her eyes and gulped. “I’m, I’m fine.”
“Ohhkay.” The guy said.
“It’s just…” she started. “No, forget it.”
“Your card declined?”
She nodded. “I have money on it, I swear. I went to student services yesterday and put my cash on it, and…” she took a deep breath, trying to fight the tears.
“Let me guess, this is your first day?” he asked.
“How did you know?”
“Coz what they don’t tell you at student services is, it can take up to 24 hours for your first deposit to go through.”
Her jaw dropped. “What? No, they did not tell me that.”
He shrugged. “I’m not surprised. Honestly I think some of those guys ‘forget’ to tell freshmen on purpose. Bastards.” He clenched his fists.
She giggled. “Okay, well, that clears that up then.” She took a breath. “I put the money on yesterday at 4 pm. So I’ve just got to wait…” she looked at her watch. “Seven hours. I can do that.”
Her stomach growled loudly.
“Well, there are a few places off campus that are really nice.” the guy said.
“Good to know, but I put all my spare cash on this thing.” She waved the temporarily useless card in the air. “And my student loan payment won’t come through until tomorrow at the earliest. God I’m so stupid, I should know better than to be without cash for emergencies.”
“Hey, it’s okay. It happens to the best of us.” The guy looked back to the line. “Why don’t you let me buy you breakfast?”
“What? No, I couldn’t…”
He shrugged and smiled, and Juliet couldn’t help but notice what a nice smile it was. “Sure you could.”
She shook her head.
“Come on. Please? Please let me spend my fathers hard earned cash on buying breakfast for a pretty girl.” He held his hands up in front of him like he was praying, then batted his eyes at her and pouted.
Juliet laughed. “I…” she started. “I don’t want to take charity, from your or your father.”
“Well, let’s not think of this as charity. Let’s call this a loan, and you can pay me back by buying me breakfast at some time in the future.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but stopped herself. This isn’t how she wanted to start off college, either. She planned to stay single her first year, to spend her time studying and getting a handle on living alone for the first time, not flirting with the admittedly very cute guy on her first day.
“It’s not a date.” He said, as if he could read her mind. “Just two people who might end up bring friends, buying breakfast for each other.”
“Shawn!” a voice called over from the line.
They both looked over to see a very well dressed young man standing very close to the front of the line.
“What do you say?” the man, Shawn, evidently, asked.
Juliet took a deep breath, then smiled. “Sure, why not?”
“Excellent!” Shawn clapped his hands, and together they walked towards his friend in the line.
“This is Gus.” Shawn said.
Gus nodded. “Hi.”
“And this is…” Shawn said. “Wait, I didn’t catch your name.”
“It’s Juliet.” She said. “Nice to meet you both.”