A Day in the Coffee Shop

The Early Bird Coffee Shop is already bustling with people by the time that I get there. I stop in the front of the room, and take a moment to breathe in the smell of freshly ground coffee, cinnamon, and autumn ingredients.

    I order a pumpkin spice latte and a steaming, still-hot cinnamon roll. My favorite table in the corner is still open, and I take it.

    I wolf down a bite of cinnamon roll and am about to start typing on my laptop when one of my friends, Sara, sits down next to me.

    “Hi, Elle,” She says, taking a sip of steaming coffee. “What are you writing?”

    “A story about how we all die, and then have a wonderful, happy ending,” I say jokingly.

    “How can you have a happy ending when everyone dies?”

    “You can’t.”

    “Then how are you writing a story about--”

    “In truth, I got a letter from Exvonia accepting me into their college. I’ve spent the last two days worrying my head off.”

    “Wait, is Exvonia that planet east of the meteor field?”

    “Yeah.”

    “Hm. I suppose that means I won’t be seeing you again.”

    “I guess,” I search my brain for something that will change the subject. “So… Have you tried Early Bird’s new line of special fall drinks?”

    Sara shakes her head. “Nope. I don’t like pumpkin.”

    “How can you not like pumpkin?”

    Sara sticks her tongue out. “The flavor is just… Bleh.”

    “Well, you should try the pumpkin spice latte. Amazing. You can’t even taste the pumpkin.”

    “Then why call it a pumpkin spice latte? I think you’re just saying that so I’ll try it,” Sara says, looking knowingly at me.

    “Me? I’m innocent,” I say.

    “You are never innocent, Elle,” Sara says. “Like that time you put a banana peel on the stairs, and then said you were innocent.”

    “That was totally not me,” I say. I stand up. “Here. I’ll buy you a pumpkin spice latte if you won’t buy one for yourself.”

    “As I said earlier, no thank you. Pumpkin and I have a bad history.”

    “When was the last time you tried pumpkin?”

    “Maybe a year or two ago,” She asks, trying to remember.

    “Then maybe your tastes have changed. Come on,” I drag her to the barista and order a pumpkin latte for her.

    She takes a hesitant sip, and then looks thoughtfully into the sky. “Hmm. Pretty good. Tastes like those smoothies you get on the planet Virx.”

    “Those were totally awesome. The flavors…” I trail off, leaving the sentence hanging.

    “Even I have to agree with that.”

    I look at the other new drinks the coffee shop has put out. They all look good, and I promise myself that I’ll try some of them later.

    “I like their fall decorations,” Sara says. I look around. The room is dotted with plastic pumpkins, and scarecrows. It is pretty and festive, but a little-overdone.

    “Nah, a little too decorated.”

    “I think it looks fine.”

    “You think everything looks fine,” I retort. I go back to looking at the fall snacks that the shop has. “Ooh, cinnamon-lemon rolls. That sounds good.”

    Sara makes a disgusted face. “That sounds disgusting.”

    “How is that disgusting? You’ve never even tried one.”

    “Neither have you, so you can’t claim that they are good.”

    I buy one and take a bite of it. It’s okay, but not as good as I expected it to be. Sara sees the flash of disappointment on my face and laughs.

    “See, I told you it wasn’t good.”

    “It’s not bad. It’s just kind of… dry. I prefer my pastries warm and slightly doughy.”

    “I can relate to that.”

    “You should try one.”

    “No, thank you!”

    “I thought you said you liked lemon, though.”

    “Not cinnamon and lemon. Yuck.”

    “You really need to try more foods. You can’t find more foods you like unless you try new ones.”

    “I’ll try regular new things regularly, thank you very much.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Spaghetti. Never tried it, but lots of people eat it and like it. Before today I’ve never even heard of lemon-cinnamon rolls.”

    “I can’t believe you’ve never tried spaghetti.”

    “My mom never made it. She thought it was too messy.”

    “I would hate having a mom who was a picky eater.”

    “Yeah, sometimes I get annoyed with my mom. She won’t eat ice cream because it melts too fast.”

    “Wow. That is, like, pickiness 101,” I see a glazed pumpkin doughnut. I buy two, and eat one, handing the remaining one to Sara. She gingerly takes it, and took a bite. “See, pumpkin isn’t so bad.”

    “No, it’s still bad, but I don’t want to be rude by throwing it away.”

    I roll my eyes and sigh. I’ll never cure Sara of her distaste for pumpkins.

    I pick up my stuff and re-pack it in my bag. “Well, I’m off to Euduna for today's school lesson of boringness.I suppose you are too.”

    Sara laughed. “Ugh. Professor Witwug,” She made a face and did her best imitation of Professor Witwug. “You have to write me a letter about how smart I am.”

    I laugh. “Are you coming?”

    She nods. “Yeah.”

    We head to the spaceship dock, and catch one of the shuttles that is going to Euduna, ‘the school planet’. It’s about a half an hour trip, but the time flies when I’m talking to Sara.

    As I step off the shuttle, I turn to Sara. “Well, I’ll see you in Planet History.”

    She nods. “Sounds good. By the way, what do you have for lunch?”

    “Oh, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich along with a pear.”

    She makes a face. “Yuck. I was considering a trade, but never mind.”

    I laugh. “What do you have?”

    “A chocolate-jelly sandwich.”

    “Well, your mother is a lot less healthy than my mother.”

    “Oh, are you going to Xivoa for the spelling test?” Sara asks.

    I shrug. “Not sure yet.”

    Sara leaves, and I turn to go to my first hour.