33 Night shift (1)

33 Night shift (1)

Lyla

After my ‘heroic‘ act in the cafeteria, I tried to remain as invisible as I could.

Someone had recorded me in action and the video was making rounds in our social chat network. I was so ashamed of myself. I wanted to stop them from bullying me and not become like them.

So, when the final bell rang, I hurried out of the school building, ignoring pleas from some of my classmates ‘who were trying to offer me a ride.

It was a weird feeling, to be pooular.

As I made my way out of the building, my mind was still reeling from the day’s events – my confrontations. with Marissa, the new transfer student, Xander who had a weird aura around him and the unsettling presence of Mr Dupree his father. But there was no

time to dwell on those thoughts. I had a shift at ‘Coffee Nook‘ to get to.

The quaint coffee shop stood on the corner of a sleepy

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33 Night shift (1)

village (I liked to call it that because most of the residents around the coffee shop were mostly seniors and were our main customers). As I pushed open the door, the familiar scent of freshly ground coffee beans and pastries greeted me, bringing a sense of comfort I

hadn’t realized I missed.

“Lyla! You’re back!” the enthusiastic greeting came from Sarah, one of the baristas working in the cafe. She was done with high school and was applying for college, so the café was just her trying to save up enough money before her admission.

She was one of the many human friends I liked who genuinely liked me back. In the past, we would greet with a hug but today I felt out of sync, so I managed a

small smile.

“Hey, Sarah… yeah, I’m back.”

of my Nanny, Miriam or Mrs Grayson, as she was known here – peering at her laptop with glasses

we had come up with and the story was; that she

10-24

Night shift

husband. Humans always loved

ours always

she called out

I said ducking into the back room. “I had a weird day at school. I’ll give you the details later. How are you?” I called over my shoulder as I pulled on the dark green apron with the café’s logo. The uniform was simple – black pants and a white

run from my complicated past. I was just Lyla, the friendly barista.

fine as soon as

in

are so we

a laugh

need my help,” I

to her.

the next ten minutes, showing her how to enter data on the Excel sheet

calculations.

her, I took my

immediately that

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<33 Night shift

bustling with regulars.

and a slice of lemon pound cake. He sat at the window table every afternoon, reading the newspaper. “Thought you’d gone and disappeared on us, Kiddo.”

took some time off, Mr H. Went to see my grandparents,” I

wink before going back to

paper.

Nguyen,

chamomile tea after her

arched dramatically “Where

day and she said you were taking

tea. “You know me – I

a gruff but friendly voice belonging to Mr Thompson, one of our regulars, reached my

shift

came in every day at 4 pm for his afternoon cappuccino. “I missed you around here, kid.

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