Sweet Things (closed)

Anne-Marie took a long sip out of her tea, the cool weather outside and bitter taste of Earl Grey taking her closer than ever to home. The murky weekend pushed the girl towards hanging out indoors, not that she was a lover of the outdoors to begin with. Setting the cup down on the wooden table, the Summer pressed her cheek against the cold window, taking a deep breath. The cafe was cozy, not like the crowded ones of London, and a perfect medium to practice her writing skills.

She resumed typing away on her laptop, rocking her feet gently under her chair and smacking her lips. She wanted to surprise even herself with the plot twist, but everything was bland and predictible, and she was getting bored out of her mind from trying for hours. Her phone was buzzing, probably Harley's messages, but she desperately tried to ignore it and focus. It was useless. She ordered another cup of tea, shifting her attention to the window. The streets, much like the cafe, were empty. Her eyebrows twitched as she caught sight of a passerby, and even more when he entered the cafe. Surprise crossed her face as she realized the boy wasn't much older than her.

Anne-Marie couldn't help but smile, making eye contact with the stranger kid. "I haven't seen you around. Nice to have someone who isn't twice your size for a change." she mused, closing the laptop in front of her.

Miles made his way through the town and into the cafe, frownning and looking around as if waiting for something to jump out of the shadows. "H-hot chocolate, p-please!" he asked in his soft voice, placing his order and paying for his drink.

He jumped slightly at being acknowledged by the girl at the laptop. "I... I'm s-sorry?" he asked, confused. Who was this girl? Why was she talking to him? "...M-may I s-sit here...?" he asked, feeling his voice trail off. He watched her close the laptop in front of her. Was she a writer?

The Summer was taken aback by his sttuter. It gave the already small boy another layer of fragileness. Anne-Marie smiled sweetly, nodding her head at his question. It was nice to have some company, now that she had abandonned her project for the day. She wasn't a sociable person, but it was exciting to talk to someone her age again. Always being surrounded by teens, it felt like she was maturing faster and faster.

"I'm Anne-Marie. I study here at Beata." she gave herself a more proper introduction, perhaps looking to ease the tense air that had settled between them. Had her comment been too straight forward? The preteen nodded gratefully as a second cup was brought to her, the aroma of black tea spreading in the air. The Summer brought it to her lips, drinking a bit, her eyes looking down at the swirling liquid, still hot. "Who are you? You study here too, right?" Anne asked when she was done, wipping her mouth on the sleeve of her sweater.

Miles nodded to himself and sat down across from the girl as she introduced herself, sipping his hot chocolate. "B-beata, huh?" he asked, tilting his head. "No, I... I don't." He tried to return her smile, but felt himself falter. "Not yet, a-anyway. M-maybe next year." He could barely do anything with his gift anyway, so he didn't really see a point in attending the school. "My name is M-miles," he mumbled, barely audible. Why were people so scary? But this girl was... Less intimidating than most of the people he had to interact with each day. That was a start, right? She had asked who he was as well, so... "I-it's nice to meet you, Anne... M-marie."

Anne-Marie considered giving the boy a reassuring gesture, a pat on the back, most likely, but she hesitated. This kid didn't seem like the kind to enjoy contact with a perfect stranger, most likely, but the girl decided not to make any comments on his shyness. She'd gone through some similar phases, so she couldn't say she was a stranger to the wish for people to just stay away. Kind smile not falterring, the Summer tilted her head to look at the gloomy outdoors.

"It's not that bad." she commented, an amused grin thrown towards her phone. Light was barely filterring through the minuscule gap between her phone and the table, no doubt send by Harley once again. "You get to meet people but... you don't seem very sociable." Anne added. Perhaps that was a little out of place, and she gave Miles an apologetic look. She didn't like to comment on people's shyness, she'd found it uncomfortable in the past, but saying random thoughts out loud was one of her habbits when she was distracted. The Summer took another sip of of her tea.

There was more to it than that, but Miles didn't feel comfortable enough to lay out all of his socializing problems to a girl he had just met. Even a pretty girl who wasn't mean to him. Besides, it wasn't an unfair assumption. "I s-suppose so," was what he said in response. He took another sip of his hot chocolate and glanced out the window, watching the world pass by. That was something people did, right? He'd read about it, anyway. "S-so, what brings you h-here?" he asked curiously. He came here fairly often, but hadn't yet met this girl - it was entirely possible that she had been coming on the days he wasn't here, but still he felt he had to ask.