The Alpha's Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger by Ejiofor Dorcas

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.”

back room to change into my uniform when I caught sight of my Nanny, Miriam or Mrs Grayson, as

with and the story was; that she was

10-24

shift

always

so ours always sold.

out with a

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 shirt – but it felt like a

freak or a girl on the run from my complicated past. I was just Lyla, the

fine as soon as

in our

are so we

tongue drawing a laugh from

say you need my help,” I chuckled and went

to her.

minutes, showing her how to enter data on

calculations.

her, I took

immediately that the café was

19:24

<33 Night shift

bustling with regulars.

Howard, an elderly man who always ordered the same thing – a black coffee with two sugars 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,

Went to see my grandparents,” I lied. “But I’m back now. Usual?”

gave me a wink before going back to his

paper.

way to Mrs Nguyen, a middle–aged woman who always came

cup of chamomile tea after her

arched dramatically “Where have

asking your mom the other day and she said you were taking

softly, preparing her tea. “You know me – I never stay away

friendly voice belonging to Mr Thompson, one of our regulars,

Night shift

4 pm