.

He sat there in his car looking out from the windshield of his car at the sign saying 'Sip Coffee Nation'. He has gone through his plan for over hundred times and everything was perfect but he still couldn't find it in himself to get out of the car. His palms were sweating and so was his forehead. He turned off the heater and sat there staring at the sign for another ten minutes.

He jumped when his phone rang. He wiped his sweaty palms with a tissue and picked up his phone. When he saw that it was Dylan, he groaned.

Reluctantly, he answered the call. "Hello?"

"How's it going? Did you meet her? Am I disturbing a date, huh?" his best friend pulled his leg.

"Not really. I might still be sitting in my car." Kevin said.

"You might be but you aren't, right?"

"..."

"RIGHT, KEVIN?"

Kevin just clears his throat in reply.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, DUDE? You must have reached there almost half an hour ago and you're still sitting in the fucking car?!"

"What do I do?"

"Get your ass out of the car and go inside the damn café!"

"What if she's not there? Maybe I should come back tomorrow?"

"Dude, you gave her your word! Don't you dare back out now! If you're not out of the car in the next ten seconds, I'm going to come over there and drag your ass out of the car myself!"

"Fine! Fine. I'm going, alright!" he gets out of the car and locks it. "I'm out of the car now, happy?"

"Not totally. Now drag yourself in that café and meet the girl. Call me as soon as your meeting gets over. Goodbye!"

Kevin sighs and puts the phone back in his pocket. He looks at the glass door and tries to make out what the café looks like but the glass had a translucent coating over it which only allowed the sillhouttes of the people to be visible.

He takes a deep breath and walk towards the café. He contemplates going inside once again when he holds the doorknob in his hand but he doesn't get much time to think because another customer comes and stands behind him, waiting impatiently for him to open the door.

With another deep breath, he turns the knob and pushes the door open. He enters the café and his eyes take in his surrounding. The café has interiors in the colours coffee brown and cream. It's a small café with tables and booths covering most of the space and the mild coffee aroma is enough to make someone crave for coffee.

There is a bar like counter where the barista is making coffee and a small queue is lined up to place their orders at the cash counter. What draws her attention is a girl sitting on a chair reading a book behind the girl taking the orders.

Her brown hair are up in a bun and she looks really engrossed in her book. He tries looking in her eyes but she is looking down at her book. He tries tilting his face at different angles but no avail. Before he could think of anything else, someone blocks his view of that girl.

He notices that it is the girl who was taking the orders and scowls at the back of her head.

Both the girls talk about something and then the brunette gets up and takes over the counter. He sighs in relief. When the girl looks up at the next customer, he notices that her eyes are brown. This has to be A! He thinks to himself.

But that's not the only thing he notices. As his gaze travels below her eyes, all he can see is a blue scarf covering her face. He frowns in confusion, wondering why would A want to hide her face.

He shakes his head and decides that it'd be best if he asks A herself. So he waits for the waiting line to end and finds a seat for himself.

When the line ends, he dials the Café's number and the girl behind the counter picks up the call and answers. "Good evening! I'm speaking from Sip Coffee Nation. What can I serve you today?"

This time, he lets her complete her greeting and stares at her as her brows furrow in confusion. But before she can say anything else, he replies.

"Two cups of our shared favorite coffee to be delivered at table number 3 with you."

He notices as her eyes widen and she looks in her direction, ever so slowly. When her eyes meet his, they widen even more, if that was possible. He can hear her mumble 'Shit' and the look in her eyes is anything to go by then he was sure that she was about to bolt out of the café any moment.

Before she can actually put that into action, he spoke up. "Don't you even dare to think about running. I won't talk to you ever again, I'm telling you."

Her reply was instant. "That is going to happen either way so I'll take my chances." She didn't even give him a chance to reply and hung up and dashed to the 'staff only' room.

"Damn it!" Kevin mutters as A manages to escape before he can reach her. He runs a hand through his hair and leans against the wall waiting for A to come out of the room.

*inside the 'staff only' room.*

Char is on her phone when she hears the door shutting and someone constantly muttering 'shit' like it was some kind of mantra.

She hung up on the phone and went towards the entrance of the room to see A pacing around with a hand on her forehead. She went to her side and asked her what happened.

"I'm screwed, Char. Kevin is here!" she informed her in a whisper. A grin came on Char's face.

"Really? Oh, my God! Then what the hell are you doing here? Go and meet him!" she said excitedly while her friend just looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Are you kidding me? I can't meet him! He'd hate me! I am taking the day off." She said and started removing her apron but Char took hold of her wrist and glared at her.

"Are you kidding me? The boy is here to meet you and you're being a coward! Nah-uh. Not happening! You're going to walk out of this room right now and meet the guy!"

"No way! I'm not going there!" both of them stared at each other for a few moments before Char spoke.

"You won't go out there?"

"Never."

"Fine!" Char said and A's shoulders sagged in relief. Finally, Char was seeing her point!

Though to her disappointment, her relief was short lived as Char opened the door and pushed A out of it. Kevin jumped a little when he heard the door open. Char noticed him and asked. "Kevin?"

When he nodded, she continued. "Keep her away from here. Her entry to this room is denied for the rest of the day. Bye!" and with that, she shut the door closed.

The shutting brought A out of her shock and he gaped at the closed door. she turned her head towards Kevin when he spoke. "Finally, we met. You're not running anywhere this time."

She shifted uncomfortably on her feet and then awkwardly waved her hand and muttered a hi.

"Now, first thing first! I've got to prove it to you that I won't stop being your friend, no matter how you look. Once that's proven, we'll continue our chat over coffee" he said.

She started shaking her head before he even completed his sentence. "You'd regret even talking to me. You'd start treating me like I'm some plaque. That's what everyone else do!"

"I'm not everyone else, A! What you look like won't change my opinion about you. Please, A."

She thought about a few moments but finally gave in under his smoldering gaze. "Fine."

She knew that she was going to regret it but the smile that graced his face made it worth all.

Her fingers reached behind her head where she had tied the scarf and ever so slowly she removed her scarf and closed her eyes, not wanting to see his reaction.

The moment A removed her scarf, Kevin's mouth hung open and all the blood drained from his face.

He knew her. Of course, he did. Everyone in the school did!

She was Ashton Rose.

The acid attack survivor.

***