It was another normal day in our town's beloved local coffee shop. Well, except for the part where my mom has decided to disagree with me just when I'm about to be an official and legal young adult who is responsible and capable of making her own decisions.

Mom shook her head at me for the nth time today. "Stephie, I just don't want you to be alone when you're far away from us. Who knows what could happen?" Mom always exaggerated when it comes to safety, but this time she's gone overboard about it.

"Mom, I'm turning eighteen soon. I'm supposed to be proving to you that I am responsible and can be on my own. I'm not a baby anymore." I crossed my arms.

"Oh, Stephie—" I stopped her right there.

"And please stop calling me that," I said. "Like I said, I'm not a baby anymore so stop with the kiddy nickname."

"Why? You used to have everyone call you that," the glanced at me before starting to type on her laptop.

"Well, not anymore and we're in public. Everybody calls me 'Steph' now." I really don't want them to remember me as 'Stephie' right when I'm about to leave.

"Why? Is there a friend of yours her at the moment?" And as if on cue, Mom's words had summoned the only person I knew who'd be at the coffee shop on a Tuesday morning instead of spending summer weekdays out with friends on a trip or at the beach like everyone else does. Heck, isn't that what I should be doing to?

"Here's your latté, black coffee, waffles with extra syrup, and BLT sandwiches." I looked up just in time to see Brad's cutest smile ever. Oh, how my heart swooned especially when he greeted me.

"Hey Steph. Nice to see a familiar face early in the morning."

"Hey Brad," I smiled back. "Didn't know you worked here on weekdays too. Such a hard worker, I see." That was a complete lie. I knew that he changed his shifts the moment summer started. How did I know? I had my sources. Plus, it was because of me why we're here. We ran out of coffee and I knew very well that my mom never goes to work without her daily intake of caffiene.

"Yeah, got my shifts changed just recently. Need some extra cash for a project I'm working on."

"Did Mr. Keller issue a late science project?" I joked and he chuckled, his cute dimples showing when he smiled.

"Nah. This is a personal project," he replied.

"Ooh, sounds exciting. Do I get to know what this project is?"

"Maybe, when it's finished."

"Well, I'll just have to wait until it's done." I hadn't realized that Mom was actually on a call while Brad and I were talking. She set down her phone and looked at me just as we finished conversing.

"My secretary called. Got my first meeting rescheduled. Now I can spend some more time for breakfast." Then she looked at Brad. "And who is this handsome young man right here? I never knew waiters were this good-looking." I looked away from Brad, trying to hide away my embarrassed self.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Byers," he extended his hand for to shake. "I'm Bradley García. Brad for short."

Mom shook his hand. "Are you half something or...."

"I'm actually one-fourth American and Australian, and half Spanish." He smiled again. If only I can take a picture of him doing that.

"You're one of Stephi—" Just when I thought Mom was gonna use my childish nickname I gave her a look and mouthed "no." She saw me just in time and changed it. "One of Stephanie's foreign classmates, I assume?"

Brad nodded. "Well, I'm not that foreign. I'm more American than I am Australian and Spanish," he chuckled. "Stephanie and I had chemistry together. She was my lab partner most of the time."

"Ah, one of my daughter's most hated class." Well, not really. Brad was there and it was fun working with him.

"She says she hates it but she's pretty good. As expected from one of the top students in class," he looks at me and I had to control my inner self from screaming.

"I remember I had to tutor you a couple of times because you couldn't understand what Mr. Keller was blabbering about."

Brad 'shh'-ed me. "Now your mom thinks I'm stupid."

Mom chuckled. "Well, since you were able to survive chemistry especially with my daughter then you must be a pretty smart guy."

My head instantly turned to Mom. "What's that supposed to mean?" Mom and Brad laughed at my reaction. "It means what it means, dear."

"Well, I should get back to work before they deduct my pay." Just when he was about to leave he turned back and looked at my mom. "Are you sure you don't want any sugar and cream for your coffee?" Mom shook her head.

"No need. I like my coffee black and strong," she took a sip of her drink. "It keeps me up way better."

"Alright then. If you need anything, I'll be at the counter as usual. Enjoy your breakfast." He smiled one more and went back to his station.

"Cute guy," Mom commented before taking a bite of her sandwich. "Shouldn't he be spending summer out with friends rather than working?"

"He's saving up for a project he's working on. He's making his own surfboard since his last one broke after his last competition and he needs funds for the materials." Yeah, I already knew about his whole secret project the whole time we were talking. Thanks to his Tweets and Instagram stories I managed to put the pieces together and solve the puzzle before he could even tell me.

"Stalker much?" Mom looks at me and chuckles. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, he is my crush after all ever since I got into high school." I watched Mom as she was about to take another sip from her coffee. "Are you sure you really don't want sugar and cream for that?" Mom looked gave me a look like I didn't hear her just a while ago.

"Honey, I'm sure you know me very well that I like my coffee pure black, especially when I had to stay up late the night before." Mom was the complete opposite of a woman sometimes. Other than having her coffee black, she sometimes likes to do the house repairs rather than being the one to cook and wash the dishes or mop the floor, which my dad usually ends up doing instead of her. There are times that I think Mom has been more of a dad in the family rather than her being a mother. She can be a weird mom too. Unlike the moms my friends talk about, my mom has never been cranky or too pressured in the morning even when she just had an all-nighter and has to wake up super early to feed her children, help them get ready then send them to school before going to work. Those were my elementary years, but when I was in high school she didn't have to stress about the old daily routine anymore. I don't think she ever stressed about it because she always greets us good morning with her pretty and contagious smile, her make-up done and on point, her business suit clean and crease-free, and her hair in a neat ponytail or bun. I often wonder how does she keep up her perfect mom act or of she's just naturally perfect. If she is then my dad is the luckiest man to have her.

"And besides, I know very well what your motive is," Mom said. I looked at her, confused of what she's talking about this time. "You just wanna head to the counter so you could chat with him some more." Oh. Well, I can't disagree. Mom was right; she saw right through me and my actions' intentions. Then my thoughts went back to what our main topic was really about.

"So, Mom, can I—"

"The answer is still a no, honey. I'm not letting you live on your own in a flat near a mall or a shopping district." I crossed my arms and pouted. "You clearly know that face doesn't work anymore," she said, not even looking up from her laptop screen. I slouched and leaned back on my seat. "If you're gonna complain about your back aching again, blame yourself for not sitting with proper posture." I sighed and sat up straight, still crossing my arms. I turned to the face the counter then looked back at Mom's cup.

"Yeah, I'm going to get you some sugar and cream," I said and stood up from my seat.

"Take my extra sandwich with you. I want it packed for take out." I took Mom's plate with her sandwich on it and brought it with me to the counter. "My mom wants this for take out," I told Brad who was waiting for me to arrive at the counter.

"Sure thing." He smiled for the nth time and flashed him a pretty smile.

"So..." I took the opporunity to start a conversation. "Any plans for college?" I asked. While everyone else had talked about their college preferences before we graduated, Bradley hadn't. Surprisingly, he was quiet about it the whole time. It was the only information I still didn't know that I needed to know.

"I haven't really decided yet, but I already took some entrance exams," he said as he packed my mom's sandwich.

"That sounds great. Did you get into any of them?" I aksed.

"Actually, I passed all of them," he said somewhat shyly. I grinned.

"See? I knew you weren't stupid," I joked and he laughed. "So what's your pick?" He shrugged.

"I haven't been the one making the decisions." He finished wrapping the sandwich with tinfoil and paper then stuffed it in a paper bag and handed it over to me. "My parents want me to go to Florida, since the college that they preferred is there." Florida? My heart kinda jumped.

"Wait, Florida? That's where I'm going," I mentioned. "My mom's making me move in with my brother since I'll be there."

"That's cool. Haven't see your brother right after he graduated. How's he doing by the way?"

"He's doing fine. He calls and comes home once in a while." I took out my phone and checked the time. It was almost past 10:30 and Mom has to leave before 11 so I better hurry this up. "So what uni is it?"

"If I remember correctly it was LU."

"Lawson University?" He nodded. "That's where I'm going!" This is great! I could be spending a few more years with Brad. Now I just have to convince him to go there. "I've been there a couple of times and they have beautiful campus with amazing facilities." It was true. I've visited the university a few times when we had to attend some school festivals and my brother's awards ceremonies. "You should really consider going there. They provide good education programs. What're you taking?"

"Either law or business. My parents preffer business since we have some of our own a d they need help."

"Well, I'm doing law so if you ever change your mind we might be classmates again."

"Yeah, and you might have to tutor me again like before." We both laughed. "But since you took the time to promote your school to me, I might as well give it a thought."

"Really?" My heart leaped with hope.

"Yup, really. If ever we wouldn't be classmates, we'll still be schoolmates. It'll be fun hanging out with you and that would mean I already have an instant friend."

"True, I can't imagine you walking around lost," I chuckled and he smiled. "Well, I better get going. My mom's probably gonna scold me for taking too long just to have her food as take out."

"I better get back to work before they scold me for slacking off." That's when I realized what I had done. I had been selfish and Brad went out of his way just to let me talk to him while he's supposed to be working.

"Oh shoot. I'm so sorry," I apologized. "You're supposed to be working, not wasting your time talking to me. I'm really sorry. You might get in trouble just because I wanted to talk to you."

"Don't worry about it. I'd stop anytime just to talk with you. I thought my shift would start off boring as usual, but since you're here I'm glad I got my shifts changed and got this opportunity to talk to you again since we haven't talked at all after graduation."

That made me smile. "Then I'll make sure to come here more often during your shifts." Suddenly my phone buzzed and I checked it. Mom had texted me that we were about to leave and I had to patch things up pronto. "I gotta go. See you around." Just as I walked back to our table, Brad called out.

"Hey Steph." My head spun to his direction. I raised my eyebrows and mouthed 'what is it.' "Thanks and come again," he said with a smile and for nth time I smiled back at him.

Once we were in the car I handed Mom the paper bag with her sandwich in it. She peered in the bag before taking out her food. "Where's the sugar and cream you said you'd get?" I rolled my eyes and Mom just gave me a smug smile. "So what did you and Bradley talk about? You really took your time back there," she said as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"College and stuff," I replied, changing the radio station and stopped when Still Into You by Paramore played.

"Where's he pursuing his studies?" Mom asked as she drove.

"He's not sure yet, but let me just say that we're probably gonna be spending a few years together again."

Hopefully we will.