Hi, How Are You?

"Hi, how are you?" She asked as she took her seat at the booth.

The cafe was quiet today, this table being the only one filled. A waitress scrolled on her phone as she waited for the next customer, the chefs in the kitchen talking loudly over the music.

Her brown eyes scanned the table, her smile lighting up the room. She placed a pen and a pad in front of her, knowing each person at this table had a story. A story that she was ready to tell. One of them, soft blue eyes and long blonde hair, pushed a cup of caramel coffee towards her. Her favorite. She smiled back at the woman, taking her time looking at the group.

"Evergreen, right?" Another spoke. Her skin was darker than Eva's, her eyes as black as the night. Her brown hair fell to her chest and an umbrella hung softly overhead. She was leaning against the window, the sunlight causing her skin to glow and her black dress to shine.

"Yes, you must be Sophrima. I've heard much about you," The writer laughed as she picked up her pen.

"That's me. This is my pack," she motioned to a little over half of the table, "shall I introduce them?"

"Please do."

Sophrima grinned, pointing to a boy with purple hair and green eyes. Mischief flowed through him, Evergreen could tell, "This is Marco," she gave him a loving look, and Evergreen knew there was a story of love behind so many walls.

"This is Eros, my best friend." Sophrima patted a tall male with tanned skin and small brown eyes. His hair was a soft blue and he wore a pink cardigan over a white shirt. He had a playful look in his eyes.

"Here is Kandiy," she pointed to a girl with hair the color of snow and eyes the color of a storm, "and that is Levi." A boy hid tucked into Kandiy's arm, his eyes red and visible.

Evergreen gave them all a polite greeting, her eyes wandering to the rest of the table. She smiled at someone she'd known since middle school. Lenny. He had brown hair and matching eyes, his smile was always genuine. Evergreen and Lenny were often known as the popular kids, both of them having climbed to the top of the food chain. Evergreen always had cheerleader friends and good grades. Lenny was a basketball player. But secretly, behind all of that, they had wanted nothing more than to make comics together. Now they were older, and Evergreen wrote books for a living. Lenny owned a comic book store.

She pulled her gaze to the man beside Lenny, his features charming although he seemed tired. In his lap was a little girl, a black beret on her head and hair a maroon red. She looked about eleven years old, sleeping so calmly in her father's arms. She was tiny. Evergreen tilted her head as if to say, "long day?" and he nodded back.

"This is my daughter," he said, "my name is Angel Heart, and she is Venus."

"Like the roman goddess?" Evergreen inquired, writing in her pad.

"She's beautiful, right?"

"Truly."

She couldn't help the smile on her face as she watched him cradle the little girl. He seemed almost too young to be a father, and so tired as well. His story would be intriguing, sad, and wonderful. She couldn't wait to write it. He had the handsomeness of someone from Rome, sure, but he carried a cute smile and a puppy-like look. Evergreen thought he was almost perfect.

She turned her attention to the final person, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. Evergreen found her to be the most eye-catching person at the table, although she was a bit biased. She was dating the woman after all. She had a hand in the little girl's hair as she had been sharing whispers with the father. Evergreen had learned a long time ago that this woman was the mother of the little girl. Although, Mr. Heart lived far away. It was a miracle he'd even shown up, but it was the summer, and he was not working every day.

"I'm Lilliana." She giggled, and her smile warmed Evergreen's heart. But she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"I'm Evergreen, but you all may call me Eva. I'm here today to listen." She felt bright as she scanned the table. So many people, each with a different story, and she got to hear all of them.

She decided to start with a simple base question. Who are you? It was easy, it was nice. Everyone here was their own individual person. It would be nice to have a view of their current personalities before digging into their pasts. Before finding out why, today of all days, they had decided to meet in this cafe. They had decided to sit down and enjoy some coffee. Who were they? And why were they here?

Evergreen started with Sophrima. From what she knew, Sophrima was a strong willed teenager, who took care of many others. She was only twelve on this day, as well as her friends who were only a year older or younger. Underneath her cold gaze and her starry umbrella, there were secrets. Secrets that some people may have thought to be untrue or unexplainable. Secrets that were better kept underground. Evergreen began to write. Sophrima began to speak.

The first thing she mentioned was her group. She was the leader of a clan, a pack. Moonstone. They were a group of abandoned teens that Rima had found years back. She claimed to have been seven years old. She didn't go into detail, not yet, but she mentioned that they were family. She mentioned how much her life has changed since meeting these people. Evergreen couldn't wait to learn more. They moved on to Marco, who had much to say and little time to say it.

"I think, if I have to mention anything, it would be that you are all very lucky to be seeing me today." he laughed.

He was boyish, in the way he talked. But his eyes were catlike, the way they fluttered downwards. His head was pressed into Sophrima and he seemed almost careless as he spoke with not a single ounce of worry in his voice. Rima knew so little about this specific person, for one reason in particular. He was never around, he came and went whenever, he never spoke in their calls, and he never told anyone anything.

"I really do appreciate this, though. Seeing all of you together for once…it's almost rare. Especially Mr. Heart and Lilly." He gave a pointed stare to the parents at the table.

Evergreen coughed quietly, gaining the table's attention once more. She shifted towards Kandiy now, the girl with a cute look on her face. She had this aura around her…it was almost scary. If she wasn't so small, Evergreen may have been scared. She knew from previous calls that Kandiy was a fighter. She protected her friends and she had quite the temper. How could such a small stature hold so much fire? Evergreen hoped to find out.

"I'm sure there is a lot I could say…but I don't really know much…I'm just thankful for Mr. Heart for helping me with school! A-and I love Rima so much…they are the best people." Her voice was sweet, to match her name.

Evergreen figured that most of the Moonstone's would relate messages like that. They were all so young, only just starting middle school and all. She looked at Levi, another person who had a secret most people wouldn't want to comprehend. He was small, his face was round, his cheeks were sunken in. He was wrapped up in a large hoodie, way too big for a little boy like him. Evergreen found it strange that so many of the stories she was going to write were about a bunch of abandoned kids. But she supposed, the story wasn't a story if there was no sadness.

She turned to the next kid, who was extremely tall for a thirteen year old. He was sitting right beside her with his soft blue hair. Eros proved to be a happy kid. He was playful and flirty, and he was very openly gay. Evergreen had always had fun talking with him. She liked to take him to pride festivals and show him all the places where he could be free. Freedom was a gift in a world like this. She thought of Eros as her own son often.

"I really am excited to tell you our story, Eva!" was all he said.

Finally, she looked at the parents of Venus Heart. They were divorced, and they'd only been married for four years. How old was Angel, again? Twenty-Eight? Lilly was the same. The two were quite young in Evergreen's opinion, especially to have been married and have a child. Eva was more than ready to hear how it all happened. After all, it meant they'd been seventeen when they had Venus. They were twenty when they married, but past that, their story was a mystery.

"I don't think Lilly and I have much of an excuse for being idiots." Angel laughed, kissing his daughter's head.

"I have an excuse, neither of us truly wanted it. Peer pressure from our loved ones." Lilly commented.

These three, although they had a weird relationship, were known as the "Sweetheart trio". They were the nicest people you'd ever meet, but you'd never guess by the way they interacted. Lilly barely liked looking at the child she had created and Heart was always sad around his ex. Venus loved her parents dearly, but when it came to being together with them…? Evergreen knew the secrets in this little family were going to be hard to fish out.

Beep, beep, beep. The timer Evergreen had set at the beginning of this meeting went off. She picked up her phone, her pad, and her pencil. She smiled sweetly at the people she adored so much. She pushed her glasses up over her brown eyes, her dark skin and hair glowing as she stood. She straightened out her turtleneck, patting down her skirt. She lifted up her coffee, feeling good about the day's events.

Her notes were filled, and she was ready to begin her next story.