2

"Holy shit!" I screamed when I saw black smoke coming through the kitchen window.

The wisps of grey smoke curled and danced their way through the thick, hazy air.

The grey cloud looked out of place surrounded by white dust.

I quickly ran inside and into the kitchen.

Jason was leaning over the stove with a cloth in his hand, beat at the source of the tiny fire. It was his turn to scream as the cloth erupted in flames.

I grabbed the cloth, opened the pipe and dropped the cloth in the sink. Then, I filled a cup with water and emptied it over the fire.

As the soft screams of the fire fills the room as it melts like the Wicked Witch of the West, I ran into my room, grabbed the ugly scarf Aunt Silvia gave me for Christmas last year, ran down to the kitchen again and fanned the smoke out of the window.

Finally, the black cloud exited our house and travelled up to the clouds. I shut the window and turned to Jason with my hands on my hips and a glare occupying my face.

Seeing my glare, he rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly.

"You dumbass, you almost set the house on fire!" I yelled

"It was an accident!" he yelled back.

I raised my fist getting ready to punch him. He raised his arms up in front of him for protection.

"I'm sorry, please don't kill me" he squeaked.

I put down my fists and rolled my eyes.

"Weak ass" I mumbled.

I looked at the stove and saw a burnt, now soggy pancake sitting on the frying pan.

I looked at Jason as he said "Let's just go to that café you like-"

I quickly ran upstairs to change immediately after hearing those words not allowing him to fully complete his sentence.

As few seconds into changing, I heard a door down the hall open and close. I'm guessing Jason went to change too

A few minutes later, Jason's silver Audi A4 2.0 stopped infront of the small,cute café.

I looked up at the wooden sign as I step out of the car. And there, just like last time I was here, in bold italics stood the words:

Café de la Paix

"Why do you like this café so much?" Jason asks as we enter the shop.

"I came here ever since I was a kid. It's one of my favorite places." I replied with the same words I tell everyone who asked me that same question.

That isn't exactly the truth.

Yes, I came here as a child and yes, this is one of my favorite places but there's more to it.

My mother was the person who first brought me here. We would come here together all the time. My father came with us sometimes. My father proposed to my mother here a few years before I was born.

My parents died in a car cash when I was 11. I was the only one who survived. I remained with two scars from that incident.

The first scar was along my stomach.

The second being the mental and emotional scar which was the result of losing my parents.

I don't tell people about this because I don't want them to pity me. I hate it when people pity me, it makes me feel so small and weak.

"Oh,Sophie! You're here!"the girl behind the counter says excitedly.

I returned the grin she welcomed me with and said,"Hey Leila."

Leila has been my bestfriend since childhood and also the daughter of the former owner of the café.

Former owner because she died a few months ago resulting in Leila take over the café.

Leila is 18, same age as me but she dropped out of school early to run the café. She studies online.

A lot of people ask her why would she drop out of school to run a small café.

Not only is the café special to me but also to Leila. This café was first owned by her great grandmother and passed down from generation to the next. It's also the place where her father also proposed to her mother. Leila and I's parents were bestfriends so our fathers decided to propose together.

Jason and I take seat next to a window and Leila comes up to take our order.

"The usual?"she asked me.

"No, I'll just take a hot chocolate and a donut this time."I reply.

She nods and turns to Jason,"What would you like,sir?"

"A donut and a Gingerbread Latte,please."he replies with a smile,

Leila nods and walks away to get our order.

Jason and I talked about random stuff as we wait for Leila to return with our drinks and donuts.

A few minutes later, Leila approached us.

After giving Jason his chocolate donut and Gingerbread Latte she turned to me, set the plate with my chocolate donut similar to Jason's own but just with sprinkles and my hot chocolate on the table and before walking away said with a smile, "Hot chocolate with whipped cream just how you like it."

I smiled and pulled out my phone to scroll through Instagram.

My smile turned upside down as my eyes zeroed in on a post and specific comment on it.

(A/N: Okay guys so there was supposed to be pictures in this chapter but I don't think you can put pictures on here so basically it's a post by Heather with the caption "Just woke up☀️" which Jason commented "Beautiful❤️")

Heather.

The most beautiful and popular girl in school.

Everyone likes her.

She's so pretty.

Even Jason thinks she's beautiful.

He's never called me beautiful before.

It's always 'You look great' or 'You look amazing'.

I wish I was as beautiful as Heather.