Return of Coffee Shop

Hello guys! I'm back with a new chapter of Coffee Shop. Thanks for sticking with me but the end is truly near. I don't think there will be any more massive projects like this because I just don't have the time to start over with a complicated story and characters. I've just had the worst afternoon, well I guess starting from 4:30 to 4:35 pm. I just want to cry and crumple up and stay like that forever. I don't want to do math homework either..... Well enjoy a long awaited (?) chapter of Coffee Shop. xx 

Bree groaned and pushed open the doors of the Scrumptious Bites. There was good money behind one day of working there. She plucked out a cigarette and lit it. There was no way she could live without nicotine. She stood by the garbage cans and wondered why she was helping Kiana out. Kiana had never been fond of her until this precise moment. Bree watched Claire leave from the backdoor to throw away some garbage. Bree ducked down and hiding was her speciality. Before Claire could return to the restaurant, someone grabbed her by the arm. Why was it that all villains, in fairytales and real life, wore all black? He was wearing black gloves and even donned a mask. She was screaming until he put his hand over her mouth. Bree wondered what she should do but before she could move, Claire and the man were gone. Even Bree had her limits. She stamped her cigarette out and went inside the Sunshine Bistro. No one seemed happy to see her but she stormed her way up to Dani. Dani had changed a little bit but not really. She was looking more adequate to Le Cordon Bleu Academy, that was for sure. 

“Dani, I need to talk to you.” 

“What?”

“I need to talk to you,” she repeated more urgently. 

“Okay,” Dani said sighing. They left through the backdoor. “What is it?” Dani’s foot was still lodged between the door keeping it open. Bree smirked. Dani believed that Bree would hurt her. She wasn’t that petty. 

“Claire got kidnapped, tell her boyfriend or something, I’m out.” 

“Thanks,” Dani said with a truly appreciative smile. Bree nodded her head in the distance and returned to Kiana’s restaurant. She put her apron back on and wondered where Claire could’ve gone. She wondered if Claire was even safe. There was a limit to what she did. 

The Unforeseen

Sasha was disgusted to see Claire again. The rope had left its reddish mark on her wrists and Claire didn’t seem too happy to see her either. She smirked and waited for her dad to say anything. Marlene was standing there like an idiot, as usual. Sasha didn’t know why her dad had married Marlene. 

“So we meet again,” she said with a snide smile. 

“What do you want?” Claire shouted. Sasha was taken aback by her fierceness. 

“I want my life back,” Sasha yelled back. “I will ruin every single one of your friends until you give me Ryan.” 

“No,” Claire simply said and crossed her arms. She pulled out her phone and started to dial a phone number.

“Marlene, do something,” Sasha said in her whiny voice. Marlene stared at her old daughter with a steely expression. Claire was definitely not remorseful this time. She wasn’t weeping or even close to crying. There was no confusion about what kind of person Marlene was. 

“Claire, I demand that you stop dialing somebody.” 

“You’re not my mom, Marlene,” Claire said back and resumed her dialing. “Hi, Dad, are you there? Yeah remember that crazy lady who was once my mother? She decided to kidnap me again. The GPS tracking on the phone should be working.” 

“You idiot!” Her dad yelled at Marlene. He just shook his head in frustration. 

“I’ll ruin your friends’ lives, one by one. Beware.” Sasha said and hopped in to her dad’s SUV. Marlene got in the front seat and her dad closed the car door. They were in the middle of nowhere. Claire looked at them in astonishment as they drove away. 

“Are my transfer plans complete?” 

“Yes, honey,” her dad answered. Sasha smiled and pried off her shoes. She could afford to look like a Chanel again. Her dad was literally the con master and she had been faking her identity as a Chanel this whole time. She hadn’t been too out of the loop in her rural school somewhere across the Midwest. Sasha had been tracking the new developments at Le Cordon Bleu Academy. She dug up her portfolio of names. She disdainfully tore up Claire’s picture but kept her bio safe. Sasha groaned at Vanessa’s photo but knew she was powerless to do anything against her. There was only one person that she could mess with and that was Dani. 

“Lyle, slow down,” Marlene said at they entered the freeway. It had been about an hour and now they were returning to campus. Sasha hadn’t wanted any of the attention that came with her fake persona. She had let it slip that her immediate family had been disgraced because it had honestly been way too difficult to upkeep that identity. When Ryan was on the verge of finding out, she ruined Lillian’s budding career and moved. She moved to the Midwest, to one of her father’s friends, again and had never even stepped foot in France. People were just that gullible once you were out of the picture. 

She stepped foot onto campus and it felt surreal being there. She didn’t have any friends. Kiana York had taken her place as villain at this school. Vanessa’s old friends were helping Kiana and there was no way Sasha could do anything about that. She visited the principal with her father and then went to the little dorm at the edge of campus. There were maybe four or five girls there. None of them had heard about her, which she couldn’t fully believe. 

“We should go to this cook off,” one of the girls said. They all followed her without even asking Sasha if she wanted to join. Sasha wasn’t used to being on the bottom of the food chain. She took out her portfolio as her dad delivered her many suitcases. Sasha compiled all of her information about Dani on the desk. Her real name was Danielle Hastings. She used to live in Sacramento with her father and his new wife. Her real mother lived in San Francisco alone. Sasha could already feel her brain itching to come up with some sort of plot. It had only been about two weeks since Dani had been at this school. 

Dani’s parents were bound to know where she was and wouldn’t be easily convinced that she needed to be home. It was interesting that her mother had some sort of depression. Sasha closed the case file after seeing Noah’s name underlined and bold next to her relationship status. This could take a while. 

Claire wasn’t worried about Sasha anymore. It had been two months since Sasha transferred and absolutely nothing had happened. She told Ryan that Sasha was back and he was less than interested. It finally seemed that Sasha had given up with her evil schemes. She seemed committed to learning how to cook. Claire was happy that she was sharing her floor with Dani too. Dani wasn’t always the nicest person but she was a lot of fun to be around. 

“Dani, is that you?” Claire asked with a yawn. It was a Saturday morning and she already heard the pots and pans clanging in the kitchen. Everyone had been impressed with Dani’s culinary skill when she had been kidnapped. It was actually quite a story. Noah was really talented at solving mysteries. He was the first one to know about Kiana and he had figured out the mystery behind her kidnapping. It had been Kiana all along who had “summoned” Lyle, the evil conman who was now married to Marlene. Kiana hadn’t anticipated that Sasha would be back. She just wanted Claire out of the picture to cause a crisis in the Sunshine Bistro. Dani was able to take over smoothly since Lillian and Andrew came in the nick of time. Kiana definitely hadn’t expected that curve ball either. 

“Yeah, sorry,” she said with an embarrassed look. “It’s the first time inviting Noah over for dinner here.” Claire immediately smiled. Dani seemed like a resilient and strong girl but when it came to Noah, she was like every other teenage girl with raging hormones. Noah was the same in that matter. To any other girl, he was cold hearted and played with their feelings but to Dani, he was insecure, unconfident, and truly himself. 

“It’s spring break soon! Do you have any fun plans, maybe with Noah?”

“I’m planning on visiting Sacramento. I haven’t had the chance to go back and visit. Maybe Noah wants to come. I haven’t asked yet.” Claire just smiled and opened the fridge. She took out her yogurt and pulled out a spoon from the silverware drawer. Vanessa came down with a plate of eggs and toast. The three of them practically lived on the same floor. 

“Should I get a new number?” 

“Why?” Claire asked with a confused expression. Was that the trend lately? 

“Stephen has been calling me non stop.” 

“Don’t you like Stephen?” Dani asked. “You should just be with him, okay? Stop making it hard for yourself and him.” Dani pulled out a frying pan and the grease from the bacon sizzled on the burner. Dani was probably the only person who could eat bacon, cake, and sweets and still remain super skinny. 

“That’s so gross,” Vanessa said rolling her eyes at Dani’s breakfast. Dani shrugged and pushed a piece of bacon into her mouth. 

“It’s good,” Dani said almost glaring at Claire’s yogurt. 

“Whatever, but Dani has a point,” Claire said. “Go talk to him. He might leave for vacation. It’s spring break in two days!” 

“Like I care,” Vanessa whispered. It was too obvious that she did care, a lot. “Fine.” Vanessa slumped out of their floor. Dani was looking intensely at her phone. 

“What’s the matter?” Claire asked. 

“I have to go,” Dani simply said. 

Dani was already dressed for the warm spring weather. She was wearing a nice white dress with a greenish cardigan. Claire and Vanessa always pitched in to buy her new things. They didn’t seem to mind it but Dani was always grateful. Her parents hadn’t even sent her a hundred dollars after she arrived. She was to take care of her tuition and whatever else living costs there were. Claire was basically saving her from being homeless in New York. She looked at her phone again. Someone, a number she didn’t recognize, wanted to speak with her about something urgent. Dani didn’t know why she was walking so fast but she felt a sense of dread beating in her heart. The person wanted to meet her by the bike rack in front of the Sunshine Bistro. Dani only saw one person there. 

“I’m Dani,” she said with a smile. Maybe it was this person. A smile couldn’t hurt even if it was the wrong person.

“Sasha. I’m glad you made it. I don’t know how I got this letter but I think it got mixed up. It was addressed for you and luckily someone in my dorm had your phone number. Here you go. Sorry I opened it.” Dani nodded her head quickly. She grabbed the torn envelope from Sasha’s hands. Dani didn’t even notice the malicious look Sasha had on her face. 

“What is it?” Dani asked before even thinking about opening it. 

She took out the letter in a hurry. It was from a hospital, a hospital in San Francisco. Her heart stopped beating for a split second. 

“This is just the first round,” Sasha yelled and threw back her head in laughter. “You think that this is some sort of accident? Your little friend Claire wouldn’t give me something I wanted. That’s never happened before. You’re the first, Dani. This is a sign to leave. Leave before something really terrible happened, maybe to you, maybe to your mother, maybe even to Noah. This is the first and only warning.” 

“Why?” Dani yelled and started to run back to her dorm. She didn’t even know what to make of this conversation. One thing for sure, she had to leave and she couldn’t tell Claire why.  Claire was still sitting there when Dani broke into heavy sobs. She threw the letter on the table and wondered why her mother hadn’t directly called her. It said that her mother had been in the hospital for some time and her health was very poor. Dani dialed her mother’s home phone immediately but no one picked up. She hesitated before calling her father.

“Hello?” 

“It’s Dani,” Dani said trying to stop her tears. 

“Dan, it sounds good to hear from you,” Chase said on the other line. She knew how much of a lie that was. “What’s up?” 

“How is Mom?” 

“Not good, she lost most of her memory,” Chase said casually. “You need to come back, now.” 

“What happened to her?”

“Car crash,” Chase answered. Dani nodded her head and hung up. She had a huge test tomorrow but she wanted nothing more than to be with her sick mother. Sasha wanted her to leave and she even deliberately caused a car crash to prove a point. Innocent lives were in danger and this wasn’t some kind of action movie. This was real life and in real life, there had to be losers. She was going to leave once and for all. 

“What’s wrong?” Claire asked as she saw Dani crying. 

“My mom got in a car crash and she lost most of her memory.” 

“But the midterm,” Claire started to say trailing off. 

“Claire, can you book me a plane ticket? I’ll come back when my mom is healthy again.” There was already a hint of defeat tucked into her voice. There was nothing she could do about that. She already ceded the victory to someone else, someone less deserving. It was time she left and even her white lies sounded utterly impossible. 

“You’d leave this all for her?” Dani looked up at Claire and smiled. 

“Wouldn’t you?” She hoped Claire would be safe. She was the first one and hopefully the last. 

“Yes,” Claire finally said. “Okay.” She took a deep breath and walked over to her computer. Claire bought the ticket and printed it out. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was the right choice. She knew the anguish that Dani must have been feeling but she wanted to ask if she could wait a couple more days, just enough time to take the test. 

“I’ll go take the test right now, I guess,” Dani said slinking out. She just wanted some time and some peace. She walked over to the admin office and wondered what to say. Her mother had gotten into a car accident and she was sure they’d understand her decision. 

Everything with the admin went smoothly, too smoothly. It was clear that they wanted her to leave. They had sided with Sasha. She went to the classroom, her last visit, and took the last test. After a horrible hour, she turned it in with no regrets. Her teacher smiled before handing her back the scantron. She left the class only to see Noah walking towards her. 

“I passed,” she said. Her voice was audibly hollow inside. 

“Congrats,” Noah said, echoing the same hollowness. “I heard you were leaving.”

“Noah, I have to. You did too, when your grandmother was sick. I need to go see my mom.” She wondered why she didn’t just tell him. HIs life might be in danger but she knew he would stand for that. He would get himself hurt in something trivial and then it really would be her fault entirely. He nodded his head. He would have done the same thing. Except he knew that he would be returning. 

“When are you coming back?”

“When my mom feels better,” Dani said. He couldn’t help but admire the will and determination Dani had. 

“I’ll drive you to the airport.” 

“Thanks,” she said. Noah watched as Dani slipped into the apartment. He hadn’t known her for long but she was already leaving from his life. She came back quickly and was rolling a red suitcase behind her. 

“What if I left with you?” She looked at Noah like he was crazy. “You followed me here, didn’t you?” 

“Noah, we’re in high school. You’ll find another girl, I promise,” she said but hadn’t stared into his eyes even once. He nodded and kicked a rock from the side of the street. They walked to his car and oddly there was no exchange in words.

“Promise you won’t find another guy?” He asked half heartedly while opening the car door. 

“I promise,” she said with her first smile of the day.  On the car ride to the airport, Noah played the radio loudly just to pretend like they were an ordinary couple. Maybe they could do long distance but she surely doubted it. She left the car and he walked her through the security process until there was a very real border between them. He held her hand and kissed her gently. 

“I love you,” he whispered in her ear. She didn’t know what to do with anything. 

“I love you too,” she answered after a momentary hesitation. He might have been the best thing that had ever happened to her. He had introduced her to something more. However, that goal had to be shoved into the backseat for now. “I have to go now.” She dragged her suitcase away and didn’t turn back as she entered the security terminal. Tears were rolling down her face but she didn’t want Noah to see her like that. 

It was a long plane ride home but she wasn’t ready for anything that was to come. She could barely breathe and she felt an incomprehensible pain in her stomach. Dani arrived at the airport and wasn’t surprised that no one had come to pick her up. She called a cab and went home for the first time in a couple months. She rang the doorbell and wondered what would happen now. 

“Dani,” her father said pushing her inside. He didn’t look happy to see her even though she had called before that she was coming back. 

“Danielle, how could you?” Cassandra yelled. “You lied to us.” 

“What?” She was exhausted from her plane ride from New York but no one seemed to care about how she was feeling. She sat down on the couch. Her world was falling apart because of Sasha. 

“You never told us you were going to a culinary institute,” Cassandra continued. She didn’t know how her parents were unaware of that fact. 

“That nice boy, Noah, told us you were going to some medical academy,” her father said.  What? Noah never told her how her parents had been convinced. She felt betrayed by him and the pain was gnawing at her bones. 

“We’ve already transferred you back here so don’t even think about going back to New York. Your mother is fine.” Dani nodded and trudged up the stairs. There wasn’t anything different about anything. Her family still hated her and now she had to deal with it. 

Jk I'm not done yet. Today is Sunday and that means app/media reviews! It's also almost the election!!! I don't know what I'll do IF Mitt Romney wins..... It would be x91273981278936128936128963891268936128963129 the badness of my day today and my day on Monday. Everything right now is about the election but I think I posted about this earlier so you can read more about my opinions somewhere else. My app for the week is The Moron Test app made by DistinctDev, Inc. It's really fun and they just released a new Halloween version. Wreck It Ralph came out! Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 84% as of now which is really good! All the people in my church said it was really good too so that would be my media review for the week. I haven't watched it yet but I'm hoping to really soon :)