this was going to be a whole chapter book story, but I don't know if I should follow through with it. Here's the first chapter.

~

Brice strolled around the petite coffee shop, cleaning up some of the dusty oak brown tables with an extra rag cloth. The time was around 12:03, a calming Wednesday afternoon in the month of July. Dusting off the last bits of crumbs left from the night earlier, he stepped back, satisfied with his work. Yet, he knew that an overflow of coffee and biscuits would be placed on top of each spotless table, and he would end up cleaning each table once more.

"Have you finished yet?" A voice behind him groaned, touching him on the shoulder.

Brice stepped back in surprise, nearly knocking over a nearby chair. Rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, he sighed, "Yeah, I'm done I guess."

"Good, now help me with setting up the cups, rush hour starts in like—thirty minutes." Ty said, sweeping his bangs away from his covered eye.

"Well, alright." Brice shrugged, following Ty towards the counter.

Brice Purton Solace didn't have such a glamorous lifestyle. He lived in a cottage on the corner of the street, with his "house" being about the size of a singular apartment. His parents weren't home much, they only came back during certain types of circumstances. The last time the Aussie could remember them visiting with Valentines' Day, and that was about five months ago. Brice didn't really like his parents that much, and his bond with them was breaking.

On top of living in a cottage, and having no parents to bond with, Brice didn't have much friends either. Recently moving from Australia, the only friends he could make were two; Adam and Ty. The two were quite friendly, with one specifically, Ty, working at the same job as him. Their bonds weren't exactly strong, in fact, it was dwindling away outside of work. It didn't really matter to him though, he was use to being alone (despite how depressing that sounds).

Standing behind the wooden counter, Brice grabbed the plastic red cups from each box and began to place them in each cup holder. It wasn't very convenient to the layout of all the machines though, it was quite a work out. The silver coffee machine was placed on the left side of the counter, while the cups were spread all the way towards the right. The worst case scenario, which practically happened everyday, was spilling coffee all over the ground when rushing from one place to another. It was alright though; the event was comic relief.

Eventually, Brice finished placing every cup in each cup dispenser, he stood back admiring his work. Ty glared at him, a weird expression planted on his face. Ty was always the judgmental type of person, quoting almost, every one of Brice's movements as "a weird Australian movement." Ty had brown hair, almost the color of each wooden coffee table, along with gleaming red eyes to match. He had fair skin; not too dark nor not too light, it was the imperfect balance of tan. Rarely Brice had ever saw the other wearing normal clothes, he was use to seeing him in khaki pants, a green apron, a gray tee-shirt, and some black Nike shoes.

On the other hand, Brice had gravity-defying blonde hair, which took him about a good half hour to gel. With sparkling blue eyes and tanned skin, he came from the great country of Australia. Most people guess this on the first try, due to his distinct accent. Usually wearing khaki pants, a black long-sleeved sweater, black polished shoes, and a green apron, Brice was usually the friendly one out of his other fellow employees. Somehow, he always managed to have a smile planted on his face, despite his rough life.

Taking a quick glance at the clock, the time read 12:07, about four minutes had elapsed. Brice rubbed the back of his neck, anxious to get back home. Everyday Brice had to wake up at eight in the morning to go to his part time job at Betty's Coffee Shop, owned by the Hughes family. It was quite a crappy job, the coffee shop was like a reject Starbucks. The manager always had time to be rude to both employees and customers; it got on Brice's nerves most of the time. The blonde worked minimum wage, which added a bonus to the abuse he got from them.

A person who always made situations worse for Brice was the manager's son, Mitchell Hughes. He always stuck around after hours, painfully teasing each employee into oblivion. Luckily, Brice's shift ended at 2 P.M. on weekdays, so Brice didn't have to endure each timely lecture for five days. It was summer vacation after all, and Brice didn't get why he wanted a job in the first place. It was time consuming, plus, he wouldn't use the money. Brice always gotten his allowance, from his parents, in the mail once a month.

Another way Brice's job was slowly stabbing him in the back were the customers. Most of them were stuck up, never saying what they wanted clearly. Others were plain rude, cursing at the blonde if he got the orders wrong. There was a small percentage of them who actually had respect for each employee, most of the nice ones complimented Brice's accent, along with the effort he made to get the food to them in a timely manner. Heck, Brice even got some phone numbers from some ladies, but none really appealed to him. All examples of these customers were present during rush hour, aka 12:43 P.M. when everyone started to go to work.

Occasionally, there were a few customers who came before rush hour, which in Brice's opinion was a strategic move. A customer before rush hour usually received the freshest brewed coffee, along with fresh bagels, or doughnuts, straight off the shelves. Brice liked these kinds of customers, they always seemed to catch Brice's eye. They seemed to be the most the mature, quiet, and polite ones. Brice rarely saw a rude customer before rush hour.

In the corner of Brice's eye, he could see Ty strolling away towards the break room, sending the usual wave of "goodbye, wake me up when you need anything." Chuckling, Brice hummed to himself while leaning on the black marble counter waiting for someone to stroll through the glass doors. Abruptly, the sound of the bells were heard. Brice looked up to see a male, just about his age, strolling towards the counter. Brice straightened his posture, examining the other in slight interest.

The male had snow white skin, unblemished by the scorching sun. His hair was a noticeable brown, possibly a brunet. He had a sort of neat fringe cut, which had an uncanny resemblance of the YouTuber danisnotonfire's haircut. The male had large, black geeky frames resting on the bridge of his nose, and small brown eyes to match. Brice guessed he was some sort of Asian, possibly Korean and British. The male wore a gray over sized hoodie which stretched near his knees, black jeans, and galaxy vans. In his left hand was three large books, and his right hand was a wallet.

'Very organized.' Brice thought to himself while smiling. 'Probably someone new to town, I haven't seen him around town, school, or the coffee shop lately.'

"Hello." Brice greeted, sending a small wave. "My name is Brice, welcome to Betty's Coffee Shop! How may I help you today?"

"Could I have a croissant and a small cappuccino?" He asked, his voice as quiet as a mouse.

Brice nodded. "Sure! Would you like the croissant toasted?"

"No thank you." The brunet replied. "Also, do you mind if I could stay here and read for a few minutes? The library was oddly loud when I was there."

"Ah, sure." Brice beamed while walking away to get a coffee cup. Taking out the small red coffee cup, he carefully made the freshly brewed cappuccino and grabbed a croissant from the high shelf above the doughnuts. It only took about three minutes before the Aussie could walk back towards the counter. The brunette looked up, smiling. Brice awkwardly smiled back as well, but then drew his focus on the cash register.

"Your total will be $3.99." Brice said, carefully placing down the cappuccino and croissant on the red place mat.

The male handed him a ten dollar bill. "Here, um, keep the change."

Brice nodded as he watched the other walk away and carefully sit down in a chair. He could tell the other was shy, probably an introvert. Everything about him screamed it; from his quiet voice, shy nature, and oddly how he seemed to be attached to books. Brice watched him diligently flipping each book page while sipping his cappuccino. The brunet seemed to make his every action cautiously, from not ripping the pages by accident, or making a mess of coffee and crumbs.

Brice leaned on the counter, attempting to start a conversation. "So, what book are you reading?"

"Oh..." The male's voice trailed off. "It's a Japanese novel called After Dark by Haruki Murakami."

"That's cool." Brice shrugged. "So eh...where you from?"

"I'm originally from South Korea, but I mainly travel around the world." The male sighed, flipping the page. "It just so happens I manage to take a stop in this small suburban town, it's quite beautiful here compared to all the other places I've seen. I don't really look foreword to go to New York though; I like the quiet places. I'm happy I'm going to stay here for a week though. So, what about you?"

Brice nodded, amused. "I'm originally from Australia but I've been living here since I was about ten years old. Your life sounds so interesting compared to mine, I'd love to travel around the world instead of staying in one place."

"I would prefer your lifestyle." He adjusted his glasses. "I'm use to going from place to place, meeting new faces and having meaningful conversations. Since I've been travelling for most of my life I've practically seen everything to see, there isn't much for me to do in the meantime. To be honest, I'd rather just sit down in one place for hours, just reading and enjoying the peace, or loudness, of one place."

"That's true though." Brice sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Say...what's your name?"

"My name is Harvey Seto Source." The male, now known as 'Harvey,' replied. "Your name is Brice, correct?"

"Yep, the one and only!" Brice smiled, wiping off some crumbs from the counter of the table.

"Pleasure meeting you then, Brice." 'Harvey' replied, throwing out his extra trash. "I'll be going now, I have to go look after my niece."

"Well, alright." Brice said, a smile still planted on his face. "Pleasure meeting you as well, I hope I see you around town more often, you seem really nice!"

"You as well," was the last Brice heard as the bells chimed and the male left the store.

'Strange.' Brice thought, rubbing his invisible beard. 'I do hope I get to see him around more often.'