It's a Friday afternoon when Sana stumbles into the coffee shop, seeking refuge from the pollen outside. It's spring and while she loves all the sunshine, pretty flowers, and promises of summer break approaching fast, her allergies prevent her from enjoying the season to its fullest. She desparately needs to breathe air that isn't pollen-saturated, and heck, while she doesn't even like coffee all that much, at least it smells nice. Better than pollen.

She scans the menu, frowning when she sees that all the drinks are coffee something. No tea section, not even hot chocolate, so she resigns herself to asking the barista for a recommendation. "Is there a drink you recommend?"

The barista—she's cute, Sana thinks—taps her chin thoughtfully. "If you like sweet things, you can try our mocha latte. If you want something darker I recommend the house brew."

"I'll get the latte, then." 

"Great, that'll be $4.50! Can I get your name?"

"Sana."

The barista grabs a pen and scribbles her name onto a cup. "Your order will be ready in a few minutes. Feel free to take a seat."

Sana nods at the girl before making her way to the seating area, choosing a table from which she can see the counter. The shop is nice and ambient, Sana decides, and would make a good study spot. A cup of coffee is a small price to pay for the luxury of being able to study in peace for a few hours, away from the chaos of her friends. 

Her gaze shifts to the girl behind the counter, who is busy with her drink. She's tall and slender, with cascading brown hair, and Sana can't believe she's never seen this girl around campus before. She seems like the type of girl that people (herself included) would throw themselves at. 

The barista finishes up her drink and slides it onto the counter, calling her name, and Sana gets a better look at her face, and she swears she's never seen a prettier girl before. She stands up to retrieve her drink and tries to think of a non-cringe-inducing line to introduce herself, but by the time she makes it to the counter, the barista is already at the register, tapping in another customer's order.

Mildly disappointed, Sana sits back down and pulls out her laptop, determined to stop staring at the barista and actually finish the paper that's due tonight at midnight. 

-

About four hours later, Sana reaches the end of her second drink (the barista hadn't lied, the mocha latte really was good), rattling the ice cubes against each other. She's been surprisingly productive, so she decides to reward herself with a few minutes of subtle staring at the barista, who seems to be wrapping up her shift.

As she exits the shop, the barista thanks her for her patronage, and Sana instantly decides that she's definitely coming back again to the shop to study. Definitely because the coffee was good (she doesn't even like coffee all that much) and the shop was nice and cozy, and definitely not because of the cute barista.