Danica Waylon got a nostalgic feeling as soon as she looked around the familiar place after getting out of the airport. Welcome home, Danica, she told herself and glanced at her eleven years old brother, who was ecstatic to be back in California.
Danica couldn't help but smile at his excitement. Seeing the sudden confused expression on his face, she ruffled his dark brown hair and said, “Aziel, you don’t have to put pressure on your tiny head. I know the direction to our old place.”
Crossing his arms against his chest, Aziel frowned. “Why can’t I remember where we lived before? It was three years ago, so I shouldn’t have forgotten our hometown.”
Danica pursed her lips, not bothering to answer him immediately, and pulled the luggage along with her as she headed towards the cab. Aziel ran ahead and blocked her way with his small frame.
“Why don’t I remember, Dani?” he asked again with a tint of disappointment in his voice.
She sighed and replied before opening the cab door, “Aziel, you were only eight at that time.” He pouted but got in the cab, nonetheless, like an obedient kid. "Just focus on enjoying your summer time here.” She also hopped in as well and rolled down the windows of her side, blocking the scorching afternoon sunlight.
“Dani, you didn’t forget my birthday wish, right? You will fulfill my wish, won’t you?” he asked with hopeful hazel eyes.
Glancing at him, Danica nodded her head. Aziel grinned in happiness and placed his head on her shoulder. She started to pat his head lightly as she started pondering over how to fulfill this one wish of Aziel. The smile on her face dropped as soon as Aziel closed his eyes; a cold, distant look covered her face.
Danica was back in California after three long years just for his wish. She was absolutely clueless about how to accomplish it. On top of that, coming back to this place brought a lot of happy memories which are now painful. Despite that, it was her decision to return, but now what?
She sighed.
___
“Hey, my stones! How have you been doing? Welcome back to Troy's Reels. If you are new to my channel, let me tell you why I call y’all Stones. It's because you guys are my rock. Without your support, I am nothing. So you guys mean the world to me,” Troy Kingston said, facing the camera kept on his table, recording his new YouTube video. “Today I will do a vlog and it will start with—”
“Troy, I am going to ChocoVivo Café. Want to tag along?” Hernan called out after barging in his bedroom without knocking.
“Wherever there's free food, you will find Troy Kingston with his camera. So is the food free?” Troy asked. He turned off his camera and looked at Hernan Matias, who was one of his best friends and also a YouTuber like him. The eccentric name of the café was enough for him to decline the offer, but that was not the real reason he did not want to visit that place—it would remind him of someone he did not want to remember.
Hernan narrowed his eyes at Troy and let out, “No, but it will be helpful for your vlog. At least your fans won't think you are a social shut-in who almost never goes out and keeps making the same old vlogs which include exercise and takeout.” Troy snickered at the last sentence. He lost his interest from the moment he heard there won't be any free food. “And who knows? If you are in luck, you might just bump into one of your crazy fans whom you can include in the vlog,” Hernan suggested.
Twitching his lips, Troy thought for a while before saying, “Fine, give me two minutes. I'll go change into something better.”
Hernan chuckled looking at his current outfit, which almost made Troy look like he just got out of bed. “I'll be waiting at the parking lot then,” Hernan announced and made his way out of the Rose mansion—a mansion where only a group of young celebrities lived, who happened to be close friends since their middle schools.
___
“Stop,” Danica let out when her eyes fell on a certain café. The cab driver pushed the brakes at that instant moment and glanced at the brown wavy-haired girl through the mirror. “I need to grab a cup of hot chocolate from here.”
The driver smiled and glanced at the coffee shop, which was famous for its special hot chocolate. Aziel was sleeping peacefully in the car, so the driver who looked like he was in his mid-forties, assured, “Get your coffee. The kid is safe here.”
Pushing a few locks of her brown hair behind her ear, Danica got out of the cab. She straightened the light wrinkles that formed on her white top and dusted her mid-thigh length denim skirt before walking inside her favorite coffee shop. She stood in the long queue, patiently waiting for her turn to come.
While she was looking around, her heartbeat fastened all of a sudden. Danica huffed and wished for the line to move faster. Each time her heartbeat sped up, it was because something was about to happen—good or bad, didn’t matter. Given the kind of life she was leading, she didn’t expect anything good to happen to her anymore. Even smiling wholeheartedly was hard for her nowadays.
Was it a good decision to come out of the cab just for a cup of coffee? She had no idea.
Fortunately, the queue moved fast and before she knew it; she was standing in front of the counter lady.
“One ho—”
“Oh my God!” the thirty years old woman who was taking the orders squealed. She couldn't believe her eyes; it was like seeing a ghost in front of her eyes. “Is it really you, Danica?" She touched Danica's cold hand and gasped. "Oh my God. Wait, let me bring your favorite hot chocolate.”
“Hi, Stacy.” Danica tried to force a polite smile on her face, trying to hide her nervousness. She didn't expect to meet one of her old neighbors at this place. “And yeah, it is really me.”
Flashing her dimples, Stacy handed her the takeout drink. “How long will you be staying? Did you return forever or—”
“Are you done yet?” questioned an irritated customer. “Hurry up, please.”
“Come over to my place tonight. I'll answer all your questions there,” Danica offered and grabbed her drink before moving out of the line in a hurry.
Just as Danica was about to pull the door to leave the shop, she froze when she heard a familiar voice, “Guess who's at ChocoVivo Café with his best friend today?” Danica reluctantly turned around and looked at the handsome man, wearing a light brown shirt over his white tee with blue jeans. His blue eyes suddenly shifted from the camera to the woman's face who was looking at him. Just like her, his heart also skipped a beat. The only word that managed to slip through his mouth was her name. “Danica?”
Her breath hitched. She tumbled a step at the unexpected encounter with her first crush. She couldn't believe how her heart jumped at the first sight of him. She thought she was over him—her crush on him was long gone. But little did she know that seeing him up front would awaken that fuzzy feeling in her chest. She was well aware that Troy Kingston had become a famous YouTuber. In fact, she took time out of her busy schedule to watch his daily videos every night.
“Troy,” she managed to mumble, expecting a warm greeting from him. After all, Troy was a very kind, jovial person. Probably she wouldn't even mind if he pulled her in a tight bear hug like old times. What she didn't expect was for him to walk past her, making his way out of the shop without another word. He didn't even spare her a second glance.
Danica stood there shocked at what just happened. She met her former best friend, and he just ignored her. Her instincts told her to run after him, but she didn't have that courage anymore. She didn't know what to say to him. Was he still angry because she had left three years ago without informing him?
"Hazel, is this really you? I can't believe it. No long no see." Danica got startled at the sudden voice of Hernan, who was as charming as ever. He has always called her 'Hazel' ever since middle school.
"Yeah, same. So how's life?" Danica asked awkwardly.
“Great. What about you?” he questioned back. He was really glad to see one of his best friends after such a long time.
“Fine,” she lied and bit her lips.
“Are you back in town now?”
“Yes.” She averted her eyes. She was in no state to talk to him at that moment. She just wanted to escape—like she had been doing for the past three years. “Aziel is alone in the cab, so I really have to go right now. See you later, Hernan.” she said before rushing out of the coffee shop.
Just as she was getting in the cab outside the shop, her hazel eyes briefly met the familiar blue eyes she encountered just a few minutes ago. Troy was standing right near the café entrance.
Even though she had known Troy for years, she couldn't decipher the strange look in his eyes. Without another thought, she closed the door and said to the cab driver, “Start the car.”
