Frappuccino

Katie was exhausted. University life was more hectic than she had been expecting. She had classes every day, tests every week, and her social life had become very exciting. She hadn’t been much of a drinker back at home but now – surrounded by thousands of other eighteen-year-olds – she went out clubbing at least twice a week and made good use out of the student discounts on shots and cocktails. She danced to cheesy pop music, took silly pictures in photo booths, and had personal chats with people she’d never met before in the girls’ toilets. Unlike others in her student halls though, she was determined to show up to every class and ace every exam. She had a drawer in her bedroom that was dedicated to hangovers: painkillers, earbuds and an almost-empty packet of electrolytes. There was no chance a throbbing head and a foggy memory were going to prevent her from getting good grades. Her twin Jasmine had gone to Cambridge to study law. Katie’s parents had assured her that they were proud of each sister equally, but she remained unconvinced. The University of Sussex was a good university, and she had worked hard to get in there, but it wasn’t at the same level as Cambridge. She didn’t have to get 3 A stars and go through an intense interview process for a place on her psychology course. She did however have to study hard to pass her modules. On today’s agenda: theories of child development. Having just been to the campus gym, Katie was in dire need of caffeine before she began her library session. She made her way through the queue at a little student café, waiting to order her caramel Frappuccino. It was a disorderly queue – groups of students stood in clumps at varying levels of consciousness. Young adults tended to get a bit disruptive once they left their childhood homes and were released into the wild. Katie shuffled impatiently along after ordering her coffee. She was eager to get on with her work and painfully aware that she was in close contact with other people her age whilst wearing gym clothes. Not only were they sweaty but they were also loud: she wore a bright pink top over her sports bra and multicoloured leggings. When would she receive her magic life-giving drink and get to leave? She glanced at her apple watch and swiped through the settings to pass the time. Then she heard the barista call her name. Finally! She felt the cup warm her hands and stepped out of the noisy café onto the beautiful Sussex campus. Birds tweeted and rabbits hopped along the grass as she raised the cup to lips and finally got a mouthful of that sweet, delicious – wait no - utterly disgusting bitter black coffee.

‘Um, excuse me,’ she heard a deep voice coming from behind her, ‘I think you might have taken my drink by mistake?’

She turned around to face the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He was tall with dark curly hair and eyes that seemed to glitter in the sunshine. His expression was apologetic, even though it was her who had made the mistake. Her who had just walked off with the drink that he had paid for.

‘Oh,’ was her only reply.

She felt her face grow warmer with embarrassment. She should probably apologise but no words came out. Her ability to both process and articulate thoughts had apparently been hindered by mere seconds of charm from a pretty stranger. How pathetic.

‘It’s ok,’ he replied after what felt like an age, ‘I picked up your drink too.’

They exchanged beverages. They were distinctly different – his was plain, whereas hers had a generous helping of whipped cream, a swirl of caramel and plenty of sprinkles on top.

‘No offense,’ he said, ‘but I don’t like drinks that look like a unicorn threw up on them’.

‘Yeah? Well, I don’t like drinks that taste like petrol,’ she fired back.

‘Ah – she speaks!’ he laughed.

Her face turned an even darker shade of red.

‘This might sound odd,’ he was looking at Katie too closely for her liking, ‘but have we met before?’.

‘Um… I don’t think so,’ Katie replied.

She was sure she would have remembered that face.

Maybe he had met Jasmine before and was mistaken? They did have the same face. He would be disappointed to find that he was talking to the less intelligent, less confident version. Jasmine had never lived here though – she was studying in a different city so it was very unlikely that anyone in Sussex would know her. Maybe this was an opportunity to create her own identity. To be impressive in her own right and not just a diluted version of her sister.

‘Oh – I know! At Pryzm last week?’ he offered.

Oh no. She was definitely at Pryzm on the Wednesday, and she had been absolutely hammered.

‘Uh, yeah I was there,’ she confirmed, ‘but my memory of the night is a bit…blurry’.

He chuckled at this.

‘Yes, I find that easy to believe.’

‘Oh no – what did I – did you…’

He smiled at her kindly.

‘Relax,’ he said ‘You were just a bit drunk and on your own, so I ordered you an uber home. Luckily you remembered your address’.

How utterly mortifying.

‘Ah, that solves the mystery of how I got back then,’ she joked in attempt to cover up her embarrassment.

‘I was concerned because you didn’t have any friends looking after you.’

Great, now he thought she was a loner.

‘Yeah, I went out with the hockey society, and I didn’t know anyone on the team that well…’

‘That sucks, they should’ve been looking out for you,’

Katie agreed. It dawned on her that she was supposed to be memorising the key traits for each stage of child development, not having a mildly painful interaction with a handsome man whose name she did not even know.

‘Um, what’s your name by the way?’ she tried to ask naturally.

‘Caleb.’

‘And I’m Katie,’

That explained the confusion with the names at the café then.

‘I’ve actually got to the library now,’ she told him, and secretly delighted in the look of disappointment that came across his face.

‘Well, I don’t want to keep you from your studies…’ he said.

She needed to leave but she didn’t want to leave him.

‘I was wondering if you’d like to meet for a coffee some time though?’

Coffee seemed a much better option than alcohol – she would like to remember any further encounters with Caleb and try not to embarrass herself quite so much.

‘Sure,’ he accepted, ‘I’m not drinking anything with sprinkles though!’

After the pair had exchanged numbers, they went their separate ways. Both tried to conceal their smiles as they headed in different directions, but they accidently clocked each other’s grins anyway. Katie bounced off to the library with newfound energy that was sourced more from her interaction with a cute boy than it was from caffeine.