I can't believe I do this to myself. Wake up early just so I can come sit here at this cafe.

"Alex!" I snapped out of my dazed thought and walked over, grabbing my tea. "What's up with you? No sleep again?" Katy asked.

"Not much anyway," I sighed, taking my tea from her with a small smile before going and sitting at my usual table. I come to Cafe de L'amour every morning, wake up earlier than I should just so I can come here and have a moment to myself. Away from the chaos. Away from all the noise.

Strange how I live in New York and try running from the chaos that everyone here breeds. I'm not from here. But I've learned to become a New Yorker. To seem like one anyway. I come from Orange County. I moved here about four years ago with my parents because my dad had a great job here. He's a real estate agent. My mom was an artist.

She organized her exhibitions and created all her work. She's not dead. Just divorced. Divorced but she hasn't left yet. They got divorced over six months ago but she still hasn't gotten herself a place.

Her life and my dad's is very different. He's put together, organized and logical. She's the complete opposite, which I used to admire in her, but it turned toxic when she stopped caring about everything except for her work. The house became a shack with nothing but junk and trash all over it.

So we moved out, got a bigger house. My dad worked really hard for it, this was before the divorce happened, and what do you know? The same thing. Again. Now it's all about trying to get her out of there. I love my mother, even though she hasn't been much of one. I just wish she was sometimes.

The bell to the cafe chimed. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was. At this time, every Monday, it's always him. He comes later on Mondays and every other day, he's here before me.

I mumbled his order as he placed it, knowing it by now. It wasn't a complicated order anyway.

"A large black coffee with one cube of sugar," I whispered while pulling my laptop out and getting to work.

I say work as if I earn from it.

I like to write. Anything from short stories to novels to poetry. That's my thing. Everyone has a thing. A hobby of some sort they are invested in. Writing is mine.

"Carter!"

I didn't turn around like I wanted to. I don't know what it is about Carter Reed that's so magnetic. Something just pulls you to him. I guess that explains why he's loved by all, huh? He is though, quite literally, loved by all. The girls at least. The guys are mostly just jealous but put up a front to be in his good books because once Carter Reed has a problem with somebody, high school is over for them. I am not kidding.

It was of help though. With Hudson. Hudson was my boyfriend.

Was.

Things simply fizzled out between us. Because of his god damn lies. Not too long after our break-up, he had a little rough and tough time with Carter about the team. About the lacrosse team. Carter is the captain of the team, Hudson was benched because he fought with the other team in a previous game.

Our school is all about lacrosse. I don't understand why some people think lacrosse isn't a sport, from what I've seen here and in Teen Wolf, of course, it seems like a sport to me. There was a whole ordeal, Carter kicked him off the team, there was drama, and then Hudson left.

He left and changed schools because he thought he would have more opportunities elsewhere, which is fair play. He would.

I cracked my knuckles before beginning to type about the two characters I had been working on while Carter walked past me and sat on the table at the end of my row. I've noticed that he likes to do his homework before school in the mornings and once he's done, he just likes to scribble and doodle on pages.

He leaves some doodles out here on his tissues that the owner, Mrs. Julie likes to pin up with the menu. He's good at art, he's got a knack for it. He sat down while putting his bag down before grabbing his books and getting to work.

Once he sat down, I realized I was staring so I looked down at my laptop and got to work. After about an hour of writing, I stretched before sipping my cup only to realize it was empty. I glanced at the time, realizing that I only had fifteen minutes to get to school. It's a ten-minute walk from the cafe, I'll manage.

I sighed before closing my laptop up and putting in my bag before taking out some money to put in the tip jar. I pulled my bag over my shoulder and put my phone in my back pocket before standing up, tossing the empty cup, and then heading to the front.

"Thanks for the tea," I smiled before putting the money in and then heading out. I walked out and about ten steps later, I realized I left my earphones inside. "Damn it," I began walking back, and almost crashed into someone on my way in. Almost crashed into Carter. "Sorry," I mumbled quickly before going inside and to my table.

I grabbed my earphones and shoved them into my backpack, noticing a folded tissue on the table. One that I didn't leave. I looked around but nothing seemed weird. I picked it up and opened it, discovering a rough but detailed sketch of an open laptop. I was very confused. I folded it and put it in my pocket before heading out. I could still see him, he was a few feet away from me and walking briskly.

Maybe he meant to give it to Katy and just left it on a random table.

In that case, I shouldn't have taken it. Oh, well.

I continued my walk before entering the school, heading to my locker. I grabbed my books for my first two periods, English and Spanish, before heading to class. I sighed, sitting down in my seat while Hannah walked in, her hair a mess, her sweatshirt bagging, her sweatpants flowing way past her feet. I watched in amusement as she took a seat beside me.

Everyone was looking.

"What now?" I asked.

"Slept in. I was out all night," she mumbled, placing her head on the desk.

"With Jake?" I asked knowingly.

Jake is her boyfriend. They've been together roughly a month and they have been stuck in the honeymoon phase this whole time.

"Yes," she mumbled, already half asleep.

I chuckled while taking my notebook out while our teacher, Mr. Blaze walked in with Carter coming in behind him. He took his seat which was right in front of mine while Mr. Blaze began teaching.

"All right, I hope everyone has their copy of The Gatsby," he began.

I elbowed Hannah before grabbing her sweatshirt and making her sit up straight. She whined out loud, catching everyone's attention. "Hannah," I hissed.

"What?" she huffed.

I facepalmed, waiting for Mr. Blaze to take over. "Perhaps you would like to use the restroom, Ms. Andrews. Wake yourself up, please. Use the teachers' coffee machine if you need to," he sighed.

"Sorry," she mumbled before going out, tripping over her own feet on the way.

"Ms. Lockhart, please fill her in with the work," he said.

I nodded, biting back a laugh before we all began reading, annotating, and discussing the scenes. The door opened halfway through class and in walked Abby Forrester. I resisted a groan.

Here comes our daily dose of drama.

"Sorry for being late, sir. Lady problems," she said.

"Meeting somebody behind the school doesn't classify as a lady problem, Ms. Forrester. Have a seat," he sighed, continuing with his lesson.

She sat beside Carter, immediately running her fingers through his hair. He smacked her hand away while clicking his tongue in frustration before moving his table away from hers.

She pouted before facing the front of the class. I shook my head as the bell rang and grabbed my things before following the class out. I began walking to Spanish alone because I didn't share that class with Hannah.

"Jesus Christ," someone mumbled behind me before they bumped right into me.

I stumbled and managed to drop my books. "God's sake," I whispered under my breath, kneeling to pick them up, only to see that the person that bumped into me was walking like it didn't even happen. "What a jerk," I uttered before gathering my things and continuing to class.

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