return

Maybe this was a bad idea.

There was a beignet place down the street from Phoenix Effect. It was no Cafe Du Monde or Cafe Beignet, the two great rivals for the title of best in the city (Andy would give it to the latter, hands down, any day of the week), but it was nice and inexpensive and had decent seating, which he was currently taking advantage of. It also had chickory coffee Andy himself had not brewed, which was a treat on its own, though loyally he thought the recipe at Phoenix Effect was better.

So the location part was fine, but the social interaction to come—that was the bad part. Maybe. The nervous anticipation, of course, was terrible, but he remembered his school therapist (mandated by the district, which his dad had reluctantly agreed to but scoffed about in private) saying how breaking through shyness, making friends, only got easier with a lot of practice. And he actually had gotten better, thanks to being a barista—he could make light small talk while making a drink, answer questions and chuckle politely at bad jokes.

But face-to-face, direct interaction with a potential friend? That was way more intimidating. Especially since he couldn't help but suspect Katie was just doing this because he'd offered to mention her mural services to the manager. Which was fair! He guessed! He certainly couldn't have said anything that made him seem genuinely interesting.

Maybe it would be better if she just didn't show up. Or maybe that would be much, much worse.