AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“To dance? To meet someone? To see a drag show? There are plenty of reasons to go to a bar besides drinking.”
“Won’t they check ID?”
“Not if you go to the performance area where they put on shows and not the bar area. Anyway, stop arguing with me about a hypothetical night out that hasn’t evenhappened. The point is, you need to do more than stress about this damn café.”
I sigh, but don’t argue. Part of me knows she’s right. Part of me dreads looking back on my college years with regret for all that lost time. But I simply can’t fathom how I’m going to get my degree, keep the café alive, and “hook up” all at the same time.
I gulp down the rest of my tea while Mia goes over a couple minor points with me. Then we finally leave the café behind. I turn off the fairy lights strung across the ceiling and lock the basement door behind me. Mia and I follow the path that curls from the backyard around the side of the house. But when we reach the front lawn, we both pause, startled to find a car parked in front of my house.
“Expecting a guest?” Mia says. “Damn, maybe I was wrong about you, Avery. Inviting guys over before the semester has even begun.”
“Whatever, Mia.”
The guy in front of my house seems startled to see us. The hood of his car is open, and he’s clearly stuck where he parked.
“I think he broke down,” I say. “I’ll see if he needs help, but I’m sure it’s fine.”
“What if he’s a creep or something?” Mia says.
“I’ll be okay. Go home, alright? We can’t both be exhausted before the semester begins.”
“Fine,” Mia says. “But don’t forget what I said. I’m getting you out of that basement this year. We’re going to have fun, no matter what.”
“I don’t think ultimatums are typically fun.”
“Avery,” Mia says in warning.
We hug, and she heads to her car. I wait until she drives off, then turn my attention to the stranger stranded outside my house. Because it’s not enough for me to have my own personal disasters to take care of. Apparently I’m going to help strangers through their disasters too. Well, that is kind of the ethos of the Boyfriend Café. A cup of tea and a friendly face to listen to your woes.
My work has already begun.
Chapter Two
Diego
THE GAS STATION is the first sign of human civilization that I see in hours. My drive began in Wisconsin and continued almost due east with precious little to break it up.
Not that I’m complaining. The stretch of I-90 that took me past Chicago was perhaps the most terrifying driving experience of my life. I got out of the city as quickly as I could and retreated to the wide open spaces of more Midwest farmland. I cut the drive in half, staying in a motel last night before continuing my journey today. My perilously empty gas tank is the only reason I’m happy to spot the gas station sitting just off of a lonely exit on the highway.
I get out and pop my gas tank open. I’ve just fitted thenozzle into the tank and started the pump when someone strolls out of the convenience store attached to the gas station. The guy gives me a quick, disinterested look, then heads for his truck, but I call out before he reaches it.
“Excuse me, do you know how far it is to the city?” I say.
The guy cocks his head to one side. “New York? Three or four hours, I think. Philly’s a little less.”
“Not New York or Philadelphia,” I say. “Montridge.”
The guy’s eyebrows raise. “Montridge … New Jersey?”
“Yes, I’m headed to the university.”
“That’s not a city. It’s barely a town when the university is on a break. Should be about three hours though. Maybe less if traffic is good.”
“Thanks.”
I let the guy go, hoping to hide my dismay until his truck rumbles out of the station and lumbers down the road.
Montridge, New Jersey, is several times the size of the town I grew up in. It’s more than enough city for me. But apparently even to folks living in rural Pennsylvania, it’s barely a blip.
