JINXED! Bennett x f!reader
₍ ᐢ.ˬ.ᐢ₎˚୨୧ Incredibly lucky meets incredibly unlucky when two strangers bump into each other at a coffee shop. A boy whose body is covered in bruises from his never-ending misfortune notices that his day started going surprisingly smoothly. A girl who’s tired of being “perfect” is splashed with the colors unpredictability for the very first time.
BENNETT ALMOST CONSIDERED never leaving his house again. He figured that it wouldn't be a good day if he strayed from his routine and gotten a coffee before school, but he had stayed up so late studying for midterms he could barely keep his eyes open. For it being only the first semester, classes were already becoming insanely rigorous. It was no help that teachers were handing out homework like candy.
Almost as if it was second nature, he rounded the corner to the path that led to the local coffee shop.
A cup of coffee wouldn't hurt, right?
He found that the second he stepped forward, he was proven very wrong.
The walk from his house to the shop wasn't a long one, but after several cracked mirrors, his umbrella flying away, being chased by a dog, and tripping over his shoelaces twice, a drenched and bruised Bennett made his way into the cafe. He was surprised he wasn't struck by lightning.
Though he found that series of events to be pretty tame compared to his usual misfortunes, as he stepped inside, he offered a sheepish apology to the barista from a distance—who just so happened to have finished mopping—still dripping from head to toe.
To his misfortune, right as he began drying his shoes on the mat in front of the door, several customers made their way into the line. By the time he had straightened up, the once empty cafe had turned into a line that curled all the way to the door.
With a defeated huff, he found his spot at the back of the line.
He wasn't even surprised when the customers took their sweet, sweet time ordering.
A middle aged woman at the side of the pick-up counter was complaining to the barista—who was still taking orders—that her drink was too sweet. A customer who was ordering was on the phone at the same time, gossiping as if she wasn't holding up the entire cafe. A child a few tables away had spilt their mother's drink and was wailing while the mother frantically called for staff to clean it up.
The barista seemed to be on the verge of tears.
Bennett stared at the scene around him and let out a resigned sigh. He glanced at the poor barista, silently offering a shameful apology.
Yeah. He was never getting his coffee.
He turned to leave, accepting his fate, when the door creaked open. A girl stepped inside as she closed her umbrella, perfectly dry.
He barely noticed her at first. He did notice, however, that the sound of rain had stopped suddenly.
He glanced out the window, only to see that the pouring rain outside had disappeared. The concrete had all of a sudden dried, and there was not a puddle in sight.
All of a sudden, every customer had rushed out of the line, as if she had split the ocean. The complaining woman had gotten a phone call and rushed out. The girl who was ordering saw someone she knew outside and left as well. The kid who was crying earlier had suddenly stopped, walking hand in hand with their mother as if nothing had happened.
In less than a minute, almost the entire cafe had emptied, leaving only them two in line.
Bennett could only gawk at the door where the girl, or, his savior, stood, jaw nearly hitting the floor. Was she a wizard? Did she telepathically convince everyone in line to change their mind about breakfast? He found it a ridiculous thought. People can't just clear an entire cafe by walking in.
Though, he couldn't help but notice that she didn't look pleased. Instead, she had a disappointed expression on her face. It seemed like a perfectly smooth day for her from what he had just seen, so why did she look so discouraged?
She gave him a small, awkward laugh as she gestured toward the now empty counter.
"Um..." she started, offering a polite smile. "Are you gonna order, or...?"
He blinked, snapping out of his daze, suddenly self-conscious that she caught him staring. "Oh- right! Sorry- uh, yes, I'm going. Ordering. I'm ordering."
He quickly shuffled forward to the front of the line, order already in mind. The barista, who, only a moment ago was on the verge of tears, wore a bright smile on her face, greeting him cheerfully. Somehow, it was like nothing had ever been wrong.
"Hi! What can I get for you?"
"Um, one medium coffee, please." He said, still bewildered at his newfound luck.
After hearing his name called and receiving his drink, he stepped aside, glancing back at the girl who had stepped up to order like this was an everyday occurrence for her.
He looked down at his drink, expecting a strange definitely-not-what-he-asked-for concoction, a loose cap, or a horribly butchered name, his eyes widening in disbelief when he noticed nothing wrong.
They had gotten his order right, they didn't misspell his name, and by some miracle, it hadn't miraculously slipped out of his hands and splattered on the floor yet.
He blinked at it like it was about to explode just to prove him wrong, scanning the building for napkins, or even a mop just in case.
He figured that maybe, the universe had decided to give him mercy.
Still inspecting his drink, he turned to leave, before he bumped into someone.
The collision felt as if it were in slow motion.
His cup, along with the girl's, flew dramatically into the air like a scene from a cartoon. He yelped, his hands flailing as he desperately tried to catch the falling drinks.
He braced, expecting to be showered in scalding coffee, but instead of disaster, his cup landed perfectly in his hand. The drink fell straight into the cup with a plop. The lid landed right on the rim, and the straw dropped in neatly through the opening.
He gawked at the drink in his hand, perfectly intact, dry, and drinkable, and then down at his clothes, not a single stain in sight. It was too good to be true.
He then noticed an odd dripping sound to his left.
He turned to see that the girl's drink had landed right on her head, drenching her hair and soaking her uniform, ice cubes sliding tragically down her collar. Coffee dripped from her blouse and onto the floor as she stood frozen in place.
"Oh my god- I'm so sorry!" he burst out, already fumbling for napkins. "I didn't mean to- I didn't think you were-"
He was already kneeling, wiping up the coffee puddles off the wood floor, but when he looked up, he noticed her shoulders shaking.
"No, no, no, don't cry!" he stuttered, immediately standing up. "I-I'll pay for your laundry! And I can buy you a new drink! Just tell me your order and—"
All of a sudden, he noticed the chuckle that left her lips. To his shock, she threw her head back, her laughter growing louder. She looked down at her clothes and examined a soaked strand of hair like it was an ancient artifact, then looked back up at him, coffee dripping from her bangs and down her cheeks. She was smiling at him like a kid who was just given candy.
"Are you kidding? This is the best day of my life!"
