Survival Of The Fittest

"Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, I shake it off, shake it off."

((Alvaro Vacanti: Begin))

Alvaro was currently sitting on the counter of the café, moving his leg and humming along with the music. This happened to be a song that appeared on the radio commonly, and he was able to familiarize himself enough with the song to know all the lyrics. He liked it, in particular noting the instrumentation as something that kept itself in his ears long after listening to it. It wasn't his favourite of the rotation of songs, though; that "Uptown Funk" song did what this song was trying to do better, and it seemed that his close friends agreed. Both songs seemed to have taken the world by storm. He wondered if either song would end up being forgotten, as many others had. He shrugged at himself. Time would likely give him the answer, plus, there were more important things to do now, the other students would likely be arriving soon, and he'd need to be prepared for them.

Plus, the song had at this point ended, and gone on to somebody talking. Now was a time as ever to get motivated.

He looked around, at the café, the tables, the empty chairs. He smiled, slightly. This was the place that shaped his life, changed it. It allowed him to start his life in riches, gave him an education. It made him move to Kingman, caused the paranoia to start. He tried to improve, to get out of that cycle, but it got worse. It seemed, that every time he talked to a person, he kept questioning why they were talking to him, and what motives they had. He sometimes thought that people hated him, were just lying to him to keep up their appearances and take advantage of his father's café. It probably wasn't true, that's what he kept telling himself, he was being paranoid and he shouldn't have to worry; but the thought kept coming back into his mind, like a-

Oh.

Right.

Café.

He jumped out of the counter, and got the notepad and pen from next to him. He clicked it, saw the point came up. The first customers were here, and he had to be ready for them.

The door opened.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Then:

"Heya, welcome to Vacanti's! What can I do for you today?"

(Adelaide Walker: Pregame START)

Adelaide had walked into the café hankering for an afternoon snack. Her grandmother had a doctor's appointment that day, so she had decided to walk home from school. However, she was annoyed at how winded she was by the time she passed main street, and decided Vacanti's would be a suitable rest stop. She preferred the establishment in terms of food better than the more popular Cheryl's. The first time she and her family had gone there, her father too exhausted from the move to make dinner, both Adelaide and her mother had gotten food poisoning. An incredible welcome Kingman, Arizona. Cheryl's, the best restaurant in miles, as long as you don't order the shrimp! Such irony. After that Vacanti's ended up the usual first choice when her family went out to eat.

The girl focused back on the current situation at hand, as Alvaro Vacanti slid across the counter and asked for her order. He was an upperclassman of hers, and always friendly and polite. The perfect host for a restaurant, but part of that disposition could get on Adelaide's nerves. Nevertheless, he was the one who could get her a meal, and she was not going to be one of those fussy customers that complained about every little thing.

"I would like a glass of ice water, and could you tell me today's specials?" she replied, tossing her braid back, which had rested against the side of her neck during the walk over. It was times like this she wanted to get her hair cut short.

The door opened fully, and Alvaro could now tell who his first customer was.

Adelaide Walker was certainly someone he knew, carrying a high class status with her around school. Her family was rich, and he was thankful for that, with them being frequent customers to his café. With money to throw away, as well; the Walkers always ordered tall, basically making the Vacanti's slightly richer every time they came, which Alvaro was thankful for. He knew that not everyone shared the same opinion on her as him, though, with some people he knew attacking her attitude that she was better than them and that everyone should follow everything she said. He felt the same way, kinda, sometimes thinking she was a snob in the way she acted and carried herself.

But hey, did it matter? She was willing to tolerate him and pay for service,  so he didn't mind if she did that. So long as it didn't affect him, he was fine with it.

She made her order, asking for the specials and for some iced water. He checked the blackboard on the side, and recited what was on it, but not before writing the order for water on his notepad.

"Uh... let's see." He adjusted his glasses, despite not needing to. It was just a habit for him that he picked up.

"After school specials for today are custard tarts, caramel slice and strawberry cheesecake."

He turned back to Adelaide, and noticed her flipping her braid back. He noticed her natural beauty, with her long hair, lean body, and brown eyes. He was reminded about his future,  in a way, when he saw that. Vacanti's was a family business,  and he had to carry on the family name. While he, personally, wasn't attracted to her, he was reminded of some of the people who he did have romantic interest in, and of Uncle Al, who kept urging him to get a girlfriend. Al was working the counter, and when Alvaro looked at him, he seemed to be focused on something on his computer.

Eh, he might as well be kind to the girl. It's what Al would be telling him to do.

"Oh, by the way, we have extra stocks, so milkshakes are 25 percent off, today."

Everything on special for the day was sweets. Adelaide frowned. Though she enjoyed baking, having such heavy foods after a workout were not the best choice. However, she was interested in the strawberry cheesecake. She had not had that particular sweet at the café yet, and wondered if trying it would give her some ideas about making the treat herself.

"I think I'll stick with the strawberry cheesecake." Adelaide replied with her order. It was always interesting to see Alvaro working. Nearly every time she came in, he was there waiting, if not serving than taking other people's orders or talking with the man at the reception desk. Her father told her once about what happened to that man, Alejandro, but she refrained from sticking her nose into that kind of business. It was beyond her  grasp having a family member with such a debilitating injury. Despite her fall, Grandmother Marie was still able to get along well enough, and that made Adelaide secretly relieved whenever she caught a glimpse of the man confined to a chair. It was probably selfish of her to think that, but then again, most people did whenever they saw someone they considered less fortunate.

But then her focus went back on Alvaro. His parents were probably proud of how much time he spent in working at the family restaurant. They probably intended for him to take over the family business one of these days. The desire for children to do exactly what their parents did before them was another thing she did not get, though Alvaro also appeared to be a hard worker. Maybe he was being forced into it.

"...You know, I always see you around here when I come. Does your family make you work everyday?" she decided to ask, seeing very few other customers around that acquired Alvaro's attention.

((Lily Caldwell continued from Don't Call it a Comeback))

Lily liked the cafe. It was nice, they made decent cake and she'd never gotten a case of food poisoning from it. All the plus signs. Plus, Alvaro worked there and that was also nice, as long as it wasn't one of those times where she just needed to recharge. If it was, she'd probably risk the food poisoning at Cheryl's. But she'd spent the last weekend by herself, tinkering with this robot kit she'd found online, so she was all charged up.

She pushed the door open, in time to hear the last part of a conversation. Alvaro was there, working. He usually was. Alvaro was pretty cool. Sometimes they played chess. Though Lily didn't know enough to tell if he was good at it. She was pretty sure she wasn't. She'd tried reading up on it and hadn't understood a lot of the maneuvers.

She recognised the other girl, too. Adelaide. They'd never really spoken. Lily might have seen her at a party once or twice. Pretty. Kind of cold. That was about the extent of Lily's knowledge.

She didn't want to interrupt, so she approached quietly and stood in line. She fiddled a little with her bag strap while she peered at the menu absently, trying to give the impression that she wasn't in a hurry. It was true enough, and she wouldn't want to ruin a conversation.

Ooh, cheesecake.

She ordered the cheesecake. Alvaro nodded, and took her order on his notepad. It shouldn't be too hard to remember, and since she was the first in, she got to have hers quickly. He ripped the page out of his notepad and took it to the metal hole in-between the serving room and the kitchen. Normally he would go out and give it to the cook face to face but he was talking to a guest and suddenly breaking conversation would be rude and she wouldn't like him. Ice Water and Cheesecake for Adelaide, shouldn't be too hard to remember.

She then asked him a question, about his working at the café. His family had made him work here since he was fifteen. Said it was to teach him work ethic and that it was to prepare him for taking over the café full time. He didn't mind, he could always use whatever other time he had to study and practice chess. He didn't have much else that would require him to be here full time.

"Yeah, my parents make me work here everyday." He paused, "They figure that since I'm their son, they can pay me slightly less than the average worker."

He hoped that his attempt at a joke passed.

"I don't mind it though. It allows me to talk to new people and prepares me for when I take over this place." He moved his arms up, signifying the rest of the café.

The door opened again, and Lily Caldwell entered.

Heeeee

Liked her, he guessed? He didn't really know why, to be honest. But there was something about her that attracted him to her? She was short, flat chested, scrawny; that wasn't why he liked her. It might be personality, he guessed? That might be it. Doesn't matter anyway, the lady's there and Al would want you to serve her.

"Lily! What would you like to order today?" He said rather quickly. Hopefully she wouldn't notice. That would make things super awkward for him and likely trigger the paranoia.

Adelaide wrinkled her brow at how Alvaro said he could be paid less than the average worker. Was that supposed to be a joke? It wasn't that funny, even if she was meant to take it as sarcasm. Yet when he assured her that it was a good way to meet people, Adelaide wasn't so sure.

"So that's your plan? To take over the family business?" Adelaide questioned. It wasn't something that she would personally want. Though her father owned restaurants, he had never pressured her into learning how to run them herself. Partly she was grateful for that, but when Alvaro seemed so involved with his own family, she was almost envious. It was a conflicting feeling, to be sure. However, Alvaro's attention was quickly brought to another customer that entered.

Adelaide turned to look down at Lily Caldwell's tiny figure behind her in line. They were in the same grade, though the other girl was regularly out due to sickness. Adelaide always thought that with her big eyes and knitted, homemade clothes, Lily usually looked like a child's doll. She did better in the sciences than Adelaide, which earned some respect from her. Still, Adelaide was sure if she picked the other girl up, she'd be no trouble at all.

"Hello, Lily." Adelaide said tersely, before turning back to Alvaro. She tried to hide the heat that had risen in her cheeks at the thought of picking Lily up and carrying her around. It wasn't embarrassing, not really, but she still felt her face flush. Lily was around the same height as...

"Should I pay up front or after I get my order?" she decided to ask, though she already knew. Adelaide wanted to find a way to focus her attention back in the present and not in ridiculous fantasies.

Alvaro seemed in a rush. Maybe he wanted to keep talking with Adelaide. Lily couldn't blame him for that. She seemed pretty terse, too. Yeah, Lily had definitely interrupted a conversation or something. Maybe about sports? She knew Alvaro liked soccer and she was sure Adelaide did something sporty... was it soccer, as well? Or maybe they were just engaged in small talk.

Either way, maybe she should have waited a few minutes before entering the cafe. No helping it now.

"Hello. I didn't mean to interrupt the conversation, sorry." She gave it a moment's more thought before saying, "Could I get a piece of strawberry cheesecake, please? When you're not busy?"

She gave a small, slightly sheepish smile at both of them as she rummaged around in her bag for her wallet.

"What were you talking about? Anything interesting?" She could get them back on topic, at least until someone else wandered in, and then slip away to a table.

Alvaro had heard Adelaide's question,  but didn't pay much attention to it, simply nodding. Instead,  he had gotten his notebook out, and was writing Lily's order on it. He ripped the page out of his notepad, and he put it in the metal hole. Ice water and cheesecake for Adelaide, cheesecake for Lily, not much harder than what it was previously,  although he hoped that he didn't mess it up; he'd look like an idiot and he'd be doing it in front of the girl he loved, as well.

Lily asked what they were talking about, and Alvaro responded in kind. "We were talking about my job, nothing too interesting." Wait, didn't Adelaide ask something earlier?

"Oh right, yeah, that's the plan. My parents have drilled it into me ever since I moved here." He smilied, slightly, although he was panicing inside. Why didn't you answer her earlier? What if she now thinks you're asleep in the head now? She'll still likely come here but now she won't think you're good enough to talk to now!

Wait, no, keep it together,  Alvaro. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in,  breathe out.

"Also, once you've finished,  go to the desk and give the money to Uncle Al."

Adelaide nodded to show that she understood both things that Alvaro had said. She still did not understand how the senior could be so happy about remaining in Kingman, probably for the rest of his life by the sound of it. Yet, like Alvaro, lots of people did. He was probably even more better off than others going into family businesses.

"Alright. Thank you." Adelaide said, saying a quiet 'excuse me' as she passed by Lily and walked towards one of the tables by the window.

Now that she was seated, it would probably be a good time as any to do some homework. Adelaide has already done some of the reading for English in advance, and the Spanish worksheet would be a breeze to go through, so she left them both for her science textbook. Her grade in the class was slipping due to labs, so homework was the only place she could keep up.

Adelaide scowled as she flipped through the pages of the text book to the correct chapter, before getting out her worksheet to start grinding through problems. Barely three minute in, however, and she hit a roadblock.

"What even...?" she grumbled under her breath at the formula she had never seen before. She didn't remember going over this in class. How the hell did the teacher think they were supposed to know it if they never taught it?

Ugh, parents and their pressuring. Worst. Pressure to continue a family business had to be bad. Although at least Alvaro seemed to like the cafe. That probably dulled the edge. (Lily tried to imagine the idea of succeeding her family's jobs, but supervising miners or dentistry weren't exactly family businesses.

Lily stepped aside to make room for Adelaide to leave. Not that she really needed to, but it was instinct. She didn't go and sit down yet. Since Adelaide had left the conversation—seemed like Alvaro being in a rush was a mistaken assumption—she figured, hey, might as well make conversation. At least until Alvaro needed to get back to work. She saw Adelaide take out a science textbook, out of the corner of her eye.

Peering at the book reminded her of something she'd meant to bring up. She turned back to Alvaro, back to fiddling around with her bag strap absently.

"By the way, sorry, before I forget... I found some good second-hand chess books. Admittedly, I can't ever remember the combinations the moves are meant to go in. Interesting stuff, though! But wanted to ask if maybe you'd want to borrow them? I didn't bring them here—didn't want to clutter up the cafe—but if you were interested...? There were some chess jokes included in one, too. But I didn't really get a lot of them."

Lily finished that last sentence with a shrug. Her gaze drifted a little, as it tended to do during most conversations—it wasn't Alvaro's fault, she just liked seeing what was happening around the room, that's all—and she peered briefly at Adelaide again. She didn't look happy. Was she stuck? Maybe Lily could try and help, but maybe Adelaide wouldn't want help. Like how Lily didn't like people trying to help her carry things. She could lift things fine, darn it. And in any case, running off mid-conversation would be what was commonly referred to as 'an asshole move.'

Adelaide decided to leave the situation, and sat down at a table. He wasn't quite sure why, but he assumed it was because he had been rude and she didn't want to talk to him right now. Don't worry about it, Alvaro, just act nice to her from now on and it shouldn't be a problem for you.

He started paying attention to Lily now, apparently she forgot about something earlier? She reached into her bag, and got out some chess books, apparently they were second hand and

Wait

Is she giving them to you?

Is she giving you a gift?

She is! Wait wait wait wait wait, this must mean something. Nobody would give you a gift if they hated you, Alvaro. This means that she at least likes you. Even with this, this means that you could possibly

Ding!

A bell rang.

"Wait, hang on a moment, Lily." Alvaro turned around, looked at the metal hole. There were two plates with cake on them (with each of them making about... one eighth of the whole thing? Alvaro wasn't good at maths) andone of them having a cup full of iced water. Both of their orders were ready, and it was... cake and water for Adelaide and just cake for Lily. Yeah, that sounded right.

He grabbed one piece and the iced water, and walked over to where Adelaide was sitting.

"There you go." He said in a singsong tone as he placed both on the table. He walked back, got the spare piece and gave it to Lily.

"And there you go."

Adelaide decided to give up on her homework for the time being. She told herself that as soon as she finished her food she would start again. She had to, if she wanted to get a decent grade in the class. Instead, she focused her attention on Lily and Alvaro's conversation. The café was not busy, so it was easy enough to overhear the conversation. They were talking about chess. She didn't know people played chess at their school. From what she could see of Alvaro's expression, he was absolutely ecstatic about it. Wow, working part time to take over the family business and chess... it sounded like an absolutely thrilling way to live.

Then again, she watched foreign films for enjoyment and she considered her grandmother as a best friend. Adelaide did not have room to judge.

But then Lily's eyes shifted towards her and Adelaide had to force her head back down to make it look like she was still focused on her homework. Trying to escape her embarrassment at possibly having been caught spying with the formulas again only soured her mood.

"Mon Dieu..." she muttered under her breath as she spent another minute trying to understand what she was reading when Alvaro came to the table and set down her order.

"Thank you, Alvaro," she replied, pushing her work to the side. First she took a long sip of the ice water, letting the cool liquid calm her nerves. She was still a bit winded from the walk, so it also helped rejuvenate her.

She brought the plate close to her, wanting to taste the flavors of the cheesecake in front of her, only to find that no silverware had been placed on the table. It was still early, so Alvaro had probably not gotten around to it yet. Oh well.

Adelaide rose from her seat and walked back up to the front, waiting for a lull in Lilly's and Alvaro's conversation before she spoke up. "Can I have a fork? There are no utensils on the table."

Lily took the plate of cake with a little smile. "Oh, thank you. Looks delicious." When did cake ever look bad?

She tried, for a moment, to remember what she'd been saying. Chess books? Chess. Chess jokes that made no sense. Something along those lines.

Alvaro looked happy about the chess books. Who wasn't pleased about books, though? Books were great. Like tiny treasure maps for knowledge.

"Anyway, we should play again when there's a chance. See how the stuff from the books work. It's kinda hard to tell from just reading it. If you're fine with that, I mean."

She started shifting the plate of cheesecake in her hands as she spoke. As she shifted the plate around, Adelaide approached them for forks. Lily stayed quiet as Adelaide spoke, mostly playing around the plate and gazing out the window.

Lily seemed to drop the subject of the books, but she thanked him for the cake! That was good, right? She asked if they could play chess again sometime. This had to be good, right? Wanting to be with you must mean she doesn't hate your guts! She likes you Alvaro, you can stop being paranoid about her now.

Then Adelaide came in, asking for more cutlery.

Um.

Whoops.

Uh....

He realized that he looked unprofessional now, and now hoped that Adelaide didn't care about it too much. He was trying not to spark up his paranoia, trying not to panic. Breathe in, breathe out.

"Whoops, hang on a moment, Lily." He broke from the conversation and took several forks out of the kitchen, and started to place them on the table. He hoped that nobody came in during this time.