The World Keeps Turning, Even Without You (Anthony)

[Olivia Baker]

It had been a long time since Olivia Baker crossed the threshold of the ever popular Velvet Tone cafe. In the past, the establishment had served her well, filling the rolls of hide out, library, date spot, and unquestionable vice to a whole range of problems and emotions. In Europe Liv had sampled coffee from all over, but none managed to capture her heart quite like the stuff they made in the little coffee shop, in the quiet town, in Vermont. 

The bell rang as she entered and she stepped in, gaining a smile and a wave from the blonde girl behind the counter who recognized her. She smiled back and without a word her order was placed and in progress. 

It was nice to know that despite her unfortunate past few months, and nearly losing her mind, only to find it someplace across seas that some things stayed constant. This was one of those things for her. This would always be her place. 

She paid for her beverage and made her way over to the arm chair next to the window, her favorite spot. But it wasn't empty, not fully. Across from her seat, someone had already taken up residence. 

"Do you mind if I sit here?" She asked the back of the head. The rest of the place was empty, there were plenty of places for her to sit instead but this one, this was her seat. "I know it's ridiculous but I kind of always sit here and I could use it." She admitted with a sheepish smile hoping that they wouldn't mind. She wouldn't talk if they didn't want to. She'd brought her notebook anyway. 

[Deleted]

College was hard, Anthony was quickly finding out. Everything from the pacing to the material and don’t even get him started on class sizes. And he heard that classes at University were even bigger! The idea of it was simply mind-boggling.

One of the hardest things he was discovering was finding a quiet, out-of-the-way place to just sit and study for the classes that assigned an endless amount of reading. Now Anthony enjoyed reading about as much as the next person, but not this much! Studying back at the house was always an option but…well, he found that he didn’t do so well with studying when there was instead the option of playing LoL or Call of Duty or binge Netflixing Orange Is The New Black or even something mundane like cleaning the kitchen. Anthony found out that the more opportunities he had to procrastinate, the more likely he was to pick them over completing this set of calculus problems in time for the next class. On the bright side, he’d never had a cleaner kitchen.

His father would be so proud.

Anthony found that he got a lot more work done when surrounded by people who could potentially peer pressure him into working on assignments instead of seeing him play The SIMs over his shoulder.

So that was why Anthony was at the Velvet-Tone Coffehouse, hunched over a table with a cold cup of vanilla caramel mocha sitting in the middle of the table. A kind voice reached his ears and he lifted his head, fully prepared to say “yes”, when he paused to take in the face of the girl in front of him. “Liv?” he said with a growing smile. “Is that you? You’re…you’re back!” Anthony had been so worked up in his own drama that he had almost forgotten that she left. He felt horrible about it, of course, but that didn’t matter now, did it? “Sure! Yes!” he said a little too excitedly. “Have a seat!”

[Olivia Baker]

The fact that Liv didn't instantly recognize the back of Anthony's head was just proof that she'd been gone too long. No, they hadn't been best friends, but they'd been good friends for the majority of Liv's time at Hammel. When things had gotten really bad before she left he was one of the few people she felt comfortable talking to. It was all she could do but to recognize the back of his head, and she failed.

A smile stretched across her face instantly as Anthony seemed to light up. "Yes it's me." She chuckled as she slid into the seat across from him, setting her coffee down on the table. "And yes I'm back. And you're here... and holy shit in college." She had forgotten that time went on. She was a senior. Anthony was in college. Reece was gone. Kailin she still had yet to check in with. "How is Kails? I haven't seen her yet." Guilt pangged her. She should have texted her a week ago when she got back in.

[Deleted]

Wow, it really was Liv. Anthony thought he might be hallucinating or something, it just seemed so surreal to suddenly see her again. Like the entire time she’d been gone had just been a foggy dream. And considering all the shit that had taken place, it pretty much had been just a long, endless fog in his memory.

Anthony nodded, feeling somewhat proud. “Yeah, just community college though. I figured I may as well take classes while I figure out what to do.” He still wasn’t certain on that front, whether he was going to tough it out through college or join the service. The latter option was looking pretty appealing right about now. At the mention of Kailin, Anthony’s face dropped. “I…I guess she’s doing okay.” The only info he had on her would normally be from Salem, and Salem was just…not himself these days. “We…we broke up.” It stung to say, but Liv was going to find out sooner or later. Best be straight with her.

[Olivia Baker]

"Community college is still something." She said firmly, she was considering it for herself. Granted, the whole Eurotrip thing was given to her only when she promised once she got this out of her system she'd start studying harder again. She needed to go to a prominent college or there'd be more trouble at home, more than she'd had already. She didn't need that.

The Kails bomb hit her just like that, a bomb. Her smile fell and she instantly started to flush. She should have known that. Now it was awkward, again. She wanted to ask why, but knew better. "Oh." Was the only word that managed to slip out of her mouth. Liv picked up her coffee.

"Well... I-I'm sorry to hear that?" She said not sure how to navigate the conversation given her lack of knowledge of events... she wasn't sure she wanted to know though. That was his business. He'd share if he wanted to.

[Deleted]

Community college hadn’t been what Anthony hoped for, he’d hoped to go to University. But with his plans so up in the air, being unsure if he was going to stay in Pilot Ridge or go home or go somewhere else, it was the best thing he could do for the moment. And he wasn’t disliking his classes. Actually, he enjoyed them quite a bit. And he enjoyed the newfound freedom he’d gained after graduation.

Anthony nodded. That was the long and short of it, he wasn’t sure if there was much more to say. He didn’t want to hide what happened, not at all, but he wasn’t sure how to dive into telling someone that he’d been a dick and screwed everything up? Well, regardless of what he did, he’d probably look like a dick. “Thanks. It’s fine. I mean, no, it’s not fine, it’s just…” He shook his head. “I don’t really know what I’m trying to say,” he admitted.

“What’s new with you?” he asked in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

[Olivia Baker]

It was obvious that Anthony was uncomfortable. Truth be told, so was Liv. She felt for Anthony. No, she didn't know the details but she knew heartbreak when she saw it and it was all over his face and in his body language. Hell, she was still struggling with a shattered heart, and she wasn't entirely sure the pieces that she'd glued back together over the past year would ever fit together quite the same again.

"Just trying to get my life back together... taking a dance class down town." She chuckled, "Well... planning to. I haven't exactly signed up yet but," She shrugged. "It's time for new hobbies." Or distractions. Pilot Ridge had grown too small for her. She had few friends, fewer prospects for the future both romantically and career wise... not that she knew what she wanted to do with her career.

The brunette sipped on her coffee, allowing the pauses to take full control. She didn't think that her and Anthony needed to force words into the silences, not when he was hurting, and she was just starting to heal. In a certain way, they were in the exact same place, and totally different places all at the same time.

"Maybe you should join too?" She suggested, doubting it'd be his thing. "Might help take your mind off some things... plus it's just for something fun and stupid to do."

[Deleted]

There was nothing more to do other than simply for himself past the uncomfortable subject. Maybe he would talk about it, but only if Liv asked. To be honest, while he was heartbroken, yes, he was also a little bit relieved. He loved Kailin and Anthony thought he probably still will a year from now, but if he was so weak willed to have done something like that to someone he loved, then maybe Tak was right and he wasn’t ready for any sort of commitment yet. It was difficult to explain though.

“Really? A dance class?” Anthony repeated, his thick brown eyebrows perking up to his hairline with interest. He offered a laugh. “Yeah, I totally get you there, it’s, uh…I’m not in high school anymore. So I’ve been somewhat at a loss of how to spend my ample free time. You know, when I’m not studying.” There were a few student organization at Greenview, but he hadn’t had the time to look into them yet, despite wanting to find something new to get involved in. He still had the internship down at Mr. Bernstein’s office, but he wanted some fun things to do too, not just work related activities.

Her offer didn’t surprise him, he kind of expected it, but it was appreciated still. And…now that she mentioned it, Anthony was interested in trying out something like that. “Maybe. I mean, it sounds like fun.” Anthony smiled. “I might, actually,” he said with a nod, keeping his gaze on Liv. “I need to get out, doing thing that are fun, you know?” He rolled his shoulders back, sitting up from his books. “When’s the class anyway?” he asked.