Odyssey would usually text Lily twice a week. She didn't pester Lily all the time, but she would text her every so often to ask questions or just talk. Conversations usually started with "hi" and then became unpredictable from there. Odyssey's texts were often a bit scatterbrained, but more organized than her journal. "Hi," Lily received one morning as she was getting ready for school.

Hi Odyssey

U okay

Yeah pretty good
You?

Kinda but my dad's angry
He wanted me to make a better
grade in science
And he's still mad about me getting
kicked out of math and history
I like not having math tho is that bad

I would probably like not having math
too.

Hahaha
But he didn't hit me tho
He doesn't much now

I'm glad he doesn't.

Yeah me too
Idk what I did he came home one day and
looked sad and he just watched me do my
homework for like 30 mins then went to
sleep but he got back up to eat when Mom
finished cooking
He wasn't angry or anything he just watched
me

I think he loves you a lot but doesn't
know how to show it

U sure
He gets mad a lot

There are a lot of people who just get
mad easily.

Yeah maybe my dad's just a kinda angry
person

Maybe so.
You coming to school

Yeah I can't miss any more science classes

You can sit with me during lunch

Okay thanks

And that was the end of it.

___________________

Odyssey didn't talk during lunch, except a couple of times to say that she liked Lily's hair and that the pizza her mom made was better than cafeteria pizza. "But you know that already," she added, taking another bite of the fruit bowl Lily had set in front of her.
"Yeah, moms usually make better pizzas than the cafeterias do."
"Does your mom make good pizza?"
"Mom doesn't make much pizza, but she bakes a lot and her brownies are really good."
"Can I try one next time I come over?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll help her make some." Lily picked up her slice of pizza again, then pointed with her fork at Odyssey's fruit bowl. "Like it?"
Odyssey nodded, swallowing her bite quickly. "I never had the school's fruit before."
"It's good for you."
"You're like my mom."
Lily laughed.

___________________

Odyssey was very particular about being touched. She liked it, and she'd said so to Lily a couple of times, but Lily had to be careful not to reach out too quickly or Odyssey thought she was going to be hit. She didn't like hugs, but she liked to be patted on her shoulders and asked Lily to braid her hair a lot. Sometimes she would sit down next to Lily and put her arm around her shoulders, and if Lily returned the gesture, they would sit like that for a good five or ten minutes. Odyssey had called Lily once just to talk about her mom, and she mentioned that they would sit like that sometimes. Lily thought Odyssey just liked to show affection to people who would return it.

Odyssey Collins
Hi

Lily unlocked her phone and opened the message.

What's up girlie

Why u call me that

Idk. Do you not like it

No it's fine just didn't know why
Hey I got question

Okay I like questions

Am I annoying

No. Do people call you annoying?

No
Well maybe before but not in a while
Just wanted to ask

Okay.

___________________

Not long after Lily's first day at Julio's, Odyssey walked through the front door. She was wearing a hot pink coat that looked brand new, and she had brushed her hair neatly and made a fairly successful attempt at braiding it. A pair of soundproof headphones hung around her neck. Lily smiled and dusted a bit of powdered sugar off her hands. She thought things must be starting to look up.

"Hey Odyssey," she said, rounding the counter and stopping for a moment to check on a table of tourists. Odyssey gave her a cheeky grin and shot a couple finger guns at her, which was the only gesture she really used much.
"Hey," she replied, and she stuffed her hands back in her jacket pockets.
"Did you get a new jacket?"
"Mmhm. You like it?"
"I do like it."

Odyssey's grin got a little more cheeky, if that was possible. "Do I get free stuff since you work here?"
Lily laughed. "Don't think so." She didn't expect Odyssey to laugh with her, so she was a bit surprised when Odyssey gave her a tiny snicker and started walking towards the cash register.

Lily walked behind the counter again and punched her code into the register. "What can I get for you, Madame?" She asked dramatically, and Odyssey snickered again. Lily heard Jackson walk behind her, and he gave Odyssey a quick "hello and welcome!" before turning to put a new tray of cream horns in the display.
"Hi," Odyssey replied, smiling a little. She turned back to Lily. "Can I have one of those?"
"A cannoli? This one?" Lily tapped her finger against the cannoli tray.
"The one next to it. On the left. Yeah," Odyssey nodded as Lily reached for the biscotti.
"You want a coffee or anything?"
"You gonna buy it for me?"
"Sure."

Odyssey's eyes widened. "No, I was kidding—"
"I know, it's fine!" Lily laughed. "I will buy you one, though. What do you like?"
Odyssey was quiet for several seconds, looking down at her shoes, then smiled awkwardly. "Cold brew?"
"Sure. You want vanilla or caramel or anything?" Lily turned back from bagging Odyssey's biscotti and punched the cold brew into the register.
"Vanilla."
"Okay, yeah. The biscotti's $2.14."

As Lily busied herself making the coffee, Odyssey wandered around with her biscotti and admired all the paintings on the walls. She sat down in a corner table, right next to the window, and looked around at all her fellow patrons. At some point the noise began to bother her, and she pulled the headphones up over her ears.

It only took a few minutes for Lily to put the cold brew together. "There you go," she said, handing the cup to Odyssey. "And a straw." She gave it a little flourish before placing it neatly on the table. Odyssey immediately pulled her headphones down and tore the bottom off the wrapper. She blew the other half into Lily's hair.

Lily pulled the wrapper very deliberately out of her fringe, rolled it into a ball, and flung it back in Odyssey's face.

"Hey, can I work here?" Odyssey asked as Lily passed her table a few moments later. Lily blinked, turning to her.
"You want to?"
"Yeah. Kinda loud though."
Lily leaned against the empty chair across from Odyssey and stuck her tongue in her cheek. "I bet Jackson would let you keep your headphones when you're behind the counter," she replied eventually. "Let me see about an application."
"Jackson?" Odyssey sat up straighter, trying to see the man in question. "That's like my dad's name. Cool."

Two weeks later Jackson was showing Odyssey around.

___________________

Odyssey mostly just stocked things and made orders by receipt. Whoever was running the register would just print a second copy and hand it to her, and Odyssey would make it for them. "Quicker than any employee I've hired before," according to Jackson.

Odyssey got used to her co-workers pretty quickly, and she wasn't shy about talking to Jackson or Asti (one of their vets) when she wasn't busy. She was very quick to notice when something was out of stock or in the wrong place on the display, and she told Lily that she liked putting things where they belonged.
"Mom's happy because I clean my room better now too," she added once.

A woman came in one day and complained about Odyssey wearing headphones on the job. "That girl needs to take her headphones off," she said, pointing at Odyssey's turned back. "It's not polite for her to ignore customers like that."

Lily opened her mouth to respond, but it was Jackson who beat her to the punch.

"She has an auditory sensitivity," he said from where he was mixing the cannoli filling. "You're welcome to be offended, but she gets to keep the headphones."

"Excuse me, are you a manager?" The woman asked heatedly, glaring at Jackson. He walked over to the counter.
"I am."
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have hired her, seeing as this is such a loud place," the woman snipped, giving Jackson the kind of look she might give to a child.
"We don't discriminate against applicants," Jackson replied. "There's another coffee shop two blocks east if you'd prefer that one. But we'd be happy to serve you here."

The woman gave Jackson something between a look of disapproval and a death glare. "Well, then, if you'd be so kind as to take my order," she said.
"Certainly." Jackson turned and touched Odyssey on the shoulder. She immediately pulled her headphones down, putting one more bottled coffee in the display.
"Need anything?"
"Would you like to take the lady's order?" Jackson gestured to the woman, who was still standing unhappily at the register.
"Be happy to," Odyssey replied. She turned and punched her code into the POS. "Hi, what can I get for you today?" Lily was surprised when Odyssey looked the woman in the eyes and even smiled a little.

The woman gave her order begrudgingly. All the while Odyssey nodded and tapped smoothly on the register, looking up occasionally like she'd been trained to.
"Alright," Odyssey finished. "$9.48. That's all for you today?"
"Yes," the woman replied, a bit sharply. Then her voice softened. "It must be hard for you, working in such a loud place," she said, feigning sympathy. Lily cringed.

But Odyssey just shrugged. "I like it," she said. "It's a fun job. And Jackson lets me wear my headphones, so it's not so loud."

The woman walked out a few minutes later, looking very unhappy with her life. Asti glared daggers into her back.
"I don't think she liked me," Odyssey whispered to Lily as the door closed, fidgeting with her hands.
Lily just shook her head. "I don't think she likes anyone."

Odyssey paused for another moment. "How'd she know I don't like loud stuff?"
"Because she's weird."
"Oh. Why'd Jackson ask me to take her order?"
"Because you're too cool for her, and she needed a lesson."
"I dunno, man," Odyssey replied, but she was smiling when she said it.

If Lily were to make a guess, she'd say that Odyssey was finally where she was supposed to be.