How To Make Friends [Closed]

The tiny bell on the door of the cafe 'dinged' softly as Matty swung it open. Instantly the muttering of several different conversations reached his ears. It was fairly busy for a Thursday afternoon. As soon as he stepped just inside, he was in the line. Matty sighed and adjusted the strap to his book bag. This promised to be quite the wait. In the meantime, his dark eyes cast a look through the cafe. Everything looked pretty immaculate, save for the empty coffee cups on tables that still waited to be reclaimed by staff. Everyone was far to busy to pick them up at the moment. There was a second in which he considered running to scoop up the dishes and through them at the counter to try and help, but he would instantly lose his place. Internal conflict caused his mouth to falter as he debated. After a second, he tapped the girl in front of him gently on the shoulder, "Would you mind holding my place? I'll be back in a moment."

With that, he took of and carefully staked a variety of cups and small plates which he delivered to the counter in a second. The girl behind the counter offered up a grateful, if not exasperated, smile. It was obvious that she had appreciated the help. With a similar look, but with some added sympathy, the blonde haired boy went back to his spot in line. Not long ago he had worked in a coffee shop that wasn't much different from this place. He understood what it felt like to be in the staff's shoes tonight. Once Matty had reclaimed his position to patiently wait to reach the front, he thanked the girl in line for kindly saving his place. She seemed nice. With a toothy-grin, he stuck out one hand to shake hers.

"The name's Matty. What's yours?"

Bobbi grasped his hand and shook firmly. "The name's Bobbi," she said cheerfully. She noticed that he seemed very thoughtful, by the way he took the time and possibility of losing his spot to help out the workers pick up. "Cheers to you, by the way. These workers are swamped. This is the busiest I've ever seen the place," she told him. She turned slightly pink from embarrassment at the thought that with her power she could've helped as well. But no sense thinking about what she could've done, she thought. She'd much rather focus on what she's going to do.

Matty simply shrugged, "It's no big deal. I used to work at shop, so I understand what they're going through. It's nice to meet you Bobbi." He continued to smile at her. This girl seemed sweet. Even if they never spoke again, he was determined to at least make the most of their time in line together. His hands stuck casually in his pockets. This was shaping up to be a little bit of a wait. Thankfully, he wasn't a super impatient person. After a brief lull in the conversation, he asked, "Are you from around here? I go to Beata up the road." He was not quite sure what the locals thought of the strange boarding school up the road. Matty hadn't spoken to too many people other than the ones that had approached him at school. Maybe, he would finally meet someone outside.

She nodded. "I'm also a student," she replied. "There aren't many people around here that don't go to, have gone, or have family attending the school. Rosebury is very much a campus town for Beata." Noticing out of the corner of her eye that the line had moved, she stepped backwards and caught up. If the boy was looking for someone that didn't have connections to the school, he'd have to go to the nearest city away from Rosebury, although most likely nobody's heard of it. The Gifted community was very hidden to the "Normie" community.

"Oh wow, I had no idea." The boy ran his fingers through his hair with a slight laugh. He felt a little out of place knowing next to nowhere about the town he now lived in. It hadn't been that long, but his cheeks still heated up a little awkwardly. Matty still hadn't talked to too many people at Beata yet. Other than his first day on campus with Anne, he had mostly spent time in his room trying to figure out his new life. Getting off the campus had just been a way to get out of his own head a little bit. It already seemed to be working. The boy managed a quirky smile as he looked at the girl that stood across from him. She wasn't only super sweet, from what he could tell, but she was pretty too. Maybe there was a reason he had been supposed to come out here today.

"So, uh, what do you do if you don't mind me asking?" Matty asked a little slowly. He wasn't quite sure what the formalities were for powered kids. Were you supposed to ask? Or just hear from others? Were they even referred to as powers? He actually was not entirely sure what he did either. It dawned on him what a bad idea it was to bring up this conversation. Without a doubt, she would ask and he would left to stand here grasping for some sort of answer. Both his hands fell to his sides and slipped into his pockets in an attempt to focus himself. Feeling like a complete idiot, he added, "I mean, like, your powers?"

She chuckled as he stumbled through asking what her gift was. She thought it was cute when boys stuttered. She smiled as she says, "Hold my place in line, would you love?" Then she pointed at the menu lying on a random table. "See that?" she asked, teleporting quickly and grabbing it, teleporting back. "That's my gift," she told him, smirking. "What's yours?"

Matty's eyes widened as he watched he disappear and reappear. His mouth dropped slightly before transforming into a crooked smile. He couldn't quite believe his eyes, even if he knew what was happening before him was perfectly logical in the world he now lived in. The boy took a second to form some sort of idea of what to say before muttering, "Well, that was certainly something." Dark eyes lit up with a spark of the happiness that also curled up the sides of his mouth.

"Uh, well, actually... I'm not quite sure what mine is." He laughed awkwardly as his hand raised to scratch at the back of his neck. It felt strange finally admitting it to another student. They all seemed to have things figured out. Given his mother's family had no history of powers, and his father was long gone, he had no background to give him an idea. Besides, since the one moment at school, whatever it was hadn't bothered to show up since. In fact, the Summer had begun to wonder if he really had any power at all, or if he was just a waste space and money here. Matty's smile faded into a neutral expression as he waited for Bobbi to say something.

She smiled back at him nervously at the comment. She still wasn't used to using her gift as freely as she had been the past week. "Thanks," she said with a small laugh. She tilted her head in confusion, furrowing her brows. If he wasn't sure what is gift was, how was he here? "That's odd. Normally people know what their gift is before coming to a school to perfect them," she joked. The line waddled forward as another person got their drink and so she stepped back again. "Does the headmaster know your gift or were you just sent here?"

"I'm not sure? No one in my family knows at least. If my dad had any of it, we would never know. He left before I was born. Doubt he even knows he had a kid..." Matty let his sentence trail off. He rarely thought about his father. The man had never been a part of his life. All he knew is that the two of them shared their names and from what his mom has said, their looks a bit too. Although, his dad was probably not as lanky and skinny as he was. Matty pictured his father as some big, tough character. A big, tough, heartless man who did not care enough to stay with the woman he had knocked up and claimed to love. They hadn't even been married for a month when Matthew Sr had taken off. His fist clenched a little in anger at the thought.

"Whatever it is just kind of showed up," He spoke up once more to try and change the topic away from his family. She was sweet, but he barely knew her. Besides, the subject of his father did not really matter. Him and mom had done just fine on their own. Turning away from family thoughts, he started to remember the moment he had supposedly come into his power, "I threw one of the class jerks clear across the room without touching him." A smirk twitched at the edge of his mouth and he managed a laugh as he followed Bobbi a little closer to the counter.

Bobbi nodded, listening to the boy explain why he was here, despite not knowing what his gift is. "Hmm..." she said, thinking over what he said. "There are a number of gifts you could have, so I'm not sure what your gift is either." She remembered the first time she had teleported, when she was only 14. It happened at her home, thankfully, but it was still shocking to her nonetheless. One second she was sitting in her room and the next she was standing in the kitchen. Bobbi thought back to what might have caused that to happen, but the only thing that made sense to her was that she was really hungry. "My power just showed up one day while I was hungry in my room. One second I'm thinking about how a chocolate chip cookie sounded really good and the next I was standing in the kitchen," she said. "It was very alarming, but my parents explained what was going on. Someone should've been able to do that with you."

"Yeah, that certainly would have been helpful. But, I'm sure I will figure it out while I am here, and maybe learn a thing, or two, huh?" His slightly saddened expression turned into a soft smile. The line shifted forward. An exasperated barista asked Bobbi for her order. As soon as he new friend spoke, he slid around her to add his own order, a medium chai latte, and offer up a twenty dollar bill. There was no way he would not be paying for her today, if not just for the companionship she offered, but also her kindness. Matty then stepped off to the side of the counter to wait for their order. Even though it had probably been a fairly long wait, the time seemed to fly by.

"I hate to sound cliche, but do you come here often?" Matty laughed softly as he looked over her, "I promise this isn't a pickup line." He made sure to clear things up. Feeling a little more at ease, his more open side was coming out. Most people missed out on his genuine personality; it was hidden under his anxiety and tendency to shy away from others. Being labeled at an outcast in high school had not helped. His hands returned to his pockets and he shifted his shoulders to adjust his book bag. There was a brief pause of silence as he waited for a response.

Bobbi had ordered a caramel macchiato and had grabbed her bag to pay, but Matty swooped in like a gentleman and paid for both their drinks. "Oh, alright. Thank you," she said to him. She smiled as she stifled a laugh at his "not pickup line." The teleporter shook her head. "Not really. I just missed good coffee. All the UK is good for is tea, and I really don't like the stuff." As they waited for their orders, a somewhat awkward silence fell between the two, mostly stemming from Bobbi's complete social ineptness in one-to-one conversations. "What about you? Do you enjoy a nice cuppa or are you a coffee person as well?"

"Tea isn't bad," Matty raised his chai latte as soon as it came up to the counter, which was surprisingly fast all things considered, "but, I would never pass up a good coffee." He took a sip of the tea, letting it flood his mouth and burn slightly down his throat. He had missed a good hot drink. Before exploring Rosebury, he had been left to just miss the simple comforts of home. They hadn't had much money, but he worked hard to be able to afford even a moment of peace in cafe. Besides, it had always been a perk of working in their local small shop that he could get free drinks. It had helped to develop his taste for caffeine.

Bobbi's drink arrived shortly after his and he handed it to her before walking over to the closest open table. Two chairs sat a bit away from the rounded wooden table at a bit of an angle. He set his cup on the top and hung his book bag over the back of the chair before taking a seat. His eyes glanced up at the other student's eyes silently asking she continue to join him as they drank. Matty hoped that she had no place to be and had planned on staying here for a while. It occurred to him that his original plans to simply stay here alone for a while now seemed unappealing.

Bobbi nodded as she grabbed her drink from the boy. Following him to a two-chaired table, she sat down. Sipping cautiously at her drink, she looked over at Matty. "How's your drink?" she asked as she set her cup down to cool. Again she despised how completely inept she was at speaking one-to-one.

The corner's of his lips curved slightly upwards in just the faintest hints of a smile. It did not leave as he raised the cup to his lips once more and allowed the hot liquid to both soothe and slightly burn his throat. She had chosen to stay. Sitting with a pretty girl like Bobbi was the last thing he had expected to do today. Normally, he preferred his alone time, but today he found himself longing for her company. Aside from her attractive appearance, her personality seemed both warm and inviting. Besides, it was comforting to realize he was not the only one who was less than practiced at conversation. Working at the coffee shop back home had really developed and drawn out his people skills. Yet, at heart he was still very socially inept and introverted. Classmates had never really been his crowd.

"It's not bad," Matty said slowly, "But, I forgot to ask for cinnamon unfortunately. Chai is never complete without it... how about yours?" There was no doubt he missed the lack of the familiar spice to highlight the flavors, but it did not matter much. This cafe truly did serve excellent chai. It was more a reach for some sort of conversation. He did not want to bore her, but while the wheels turned in his head, that was all he could bring himself to say. So far, they had already discussed the basics of school and a bit of ability. This wasn't a date, there was no desire to prod or press, yet he found himself longing for more details of her life. So, while he waited for a response, the boy sat there deep in thought of what to say in order to keep her sitting there across from him.