"Chime,"
The door opened again, and of course, the atmosphere in the cafe grew even more crowded, leaving Luke feeling overwhelmed even with his friends helping out. As Luke worked on making coffee while checking the order slips, he noticed that the five girls in front of him were only whispering among themselves and ignoring him; they weren't even looking in his direction at all. Naturally, this sudden change made Luke a bit puzzled, but since he was so busy, he didn't pay it any mind.
Not long after, several tall young men entered the cafe—one of them even had to duck as he came in—and the girl with him was also quite tall, nearly the same height as his friends. They stood by the door, looking confused as they searched for seats in the packed cafe while Lorna and Giselle hurried back and forth delivering orders.
Then one of them, a handsome, tall guy with a crew cut, looked toward the counter.
"Hey... aren't those... the cheerleaders from our school?" he said, pointing toward Irene and her friends.
"Oh, you're right. Let's just go over there and sit at the bar," the tall guy replied.
Eventually, the five men and the exceptionally tall couple walked toward the counter, approaching Irene and the others. They immediately took the empty seats to the right of Irene's group. Naturally, Irene and her friends were suddenly startled to see the handsome, athletic guys sitting next to them at the counter, joined by the tall couple who also looked like athletes.
"Wait... aren't you guys from the senior basketball and volleyball teams?" Irene asked.
"Yeah, that's right. My name's Michael, just call me Mike. You're the underclassmen on the cheer squad, right?" Mike asked.
"Yes, that's right. Nice to meet you, I'm Irene," Irene replied shyly.
"Just the five of you?" Mike asked.
"Yes... that's right," Irene replied.
"Sorry, have you guys ordered yet?"
Mike and his friends turned to see the large figure of Luke behind the bar and were momentarily startled. They stared up at him.
"Oh... sorry, we were just securing some seats first. We're about to order now," Mike answered.
"Oh, I see. Go right ahead then," Luke replied casually while continuing his work.
Eventually, they started choosing what to order from the menu overhead, and one of them went to the front to place their order with Devon behind the bar. After that, Irene, Chloe, Naomi, Jessica, and Hailey introduced themselves to Mike's friends—Jake, Larry, Nelson, and Bryce.
They were all handsome, and except for Larry, who was on the varsity volleyball team, they were all starters on the school's varsity basketball team. There was also a tall couple: Grady, the starting center for the basketball team, and his girlfriend Maya, who was also tall and a starter for the varsity volleyball team.
Once they finished their introductions, the atmosphere at the counter became quite lively. They talked about their respective teams and then moved on to other topics, forcing Luke—who had no interest in eavesdropping—to listen to their teenage conversations while he worked.
"It's been a while since I heard talk like this; they're probably only about the same age as Noel and Ava," Luke thought to himself.
But as time went on, something happened right in front of Luke. They all started shifting seats until, eventually, they ended up in pairs—except for Grady and Maya, of course, who were already a couple from the start. Luke was shocked to see Mike sitting with Irene, Jake with Chloe, Larry with Jessica, Nelson with Naomi, and finally Bryce with Hailey. It looked like they were all exchanging numbers, and suddenly:
"Irene, I feel like you're really easy to talk to. How about going out with me?" Mike asked directly.
"Oh... me? Um... you're easy to talk to as well, and I like talking to you... okay, I will," Irene answered.
The two of them immediately hugged, and of course, Luke's face went blank with shock. Suddenly, the same thing happened with Jake, who was suddenly holding Chloe's hand as she acted shy; Larry, who put his arm around Jessica; Nelson, who rested his hand on the head of a blushing Naomi; and most extreme of all, Bryce kissed Hailey on the cheek, and she did the same back to him.
"Wait... what... what is even happening here," Luke said, genuinely startled.
"Whoa, we've got some new couples! Congratulations!"
Suddenly, a girl sitting at one of the tables shouted out, and the five newly formed couples immediately turned around, looking shy. The atmosphere in the cafe suddenly became festive and cheerful; even Grady and Maya put their arms around each other with wide smiles on their faces as they watched their friends.
Sensing the sudden shift in the room, Lorna, Giselle, Alex, and Devon hurried over to Luke behind the bar, leaving Sarah alone to manage the register. Lorna gripped Luke's shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Lorna whispered, her face looking anxious.
"I'm fine... just a bit shocked because it all happened right in front of me," Luke whispered back.
"Seriously, dude, I'm starting to think your cafe is magical. Maybe those rumors are true—even this idiot managed to find Sarah here, didn't he?" Alex said, gesturing toward Devon beside him with his thumb.
"Yeah, that's right. You'll find someone here too, bro, so make sure you come by often," Devon said, clapping Alex on the shoulder.
"You two are full of it. Don't start with that nonsense," Luke replied, clearly annoyed.
"Wait, what kind of rumors are there about this place anyway?" Giselle asked, since she was completely in the dark.
Alex and Devon immediately began telling Giselle about the rumors quietly spreading around their campus. She was clearly skeptical and didn't buy it for a second.
"That's insane. There's no way that's a thing. Now, if this place is crowded because the barista is handsome, that I'd believe," Giselle remarked.
"Wait... who's handsome?" Luke asked, sounding confused.
"Don't worry about it," Giselle answered, looking like she couldn't be bothered to explain.
"Good grief... he seriously has no idea," Lorna added, shaking her head.
"Hey... the rumors are actually like that, and there's plenty of proof. Right, bro?" Devon asked, nudging Alex.
"For sure. Even I'm starting to believe it now," Alex answered.
"You two are total morons," Giselle replied with a smile, though it was obvious she still didn't believe a word of it.
"Alright, alright... back to work everyone. Stop worrying about rumors and superstitions like that," Lorna called out as she walked.
"Yeah, for real. Let's get moving," Giselle added.
After that, they scattered again to continue their work once they were sure Luke was doing okay—and he really was. But while he worked, he began to think,
"Hm... just a minute ago, those five girls were so eager to talk to me even though I was clearly busy... but it's weird... maybe this cafe really is magical. Now I'm actually starting to wonder myself," Luke said inside his head.
While Luke was busy preparing orders and wondering what was actually happening in his cafe, he didn't notice a notification popping up on the smartphone tucked inside his apron pocket.
***
[Quest: Find 110 match (108/110).]
[Reward per Match: $1500,- x 5 match : $7500,- received.]