Chapter One: Derrick Meets Amelia

Derrick Dun awoke from his sleep to the sound of his phone alarm blaring loudly on his bedside table. Derrick sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes harshly as he tried to wake himself up, as he turned his phone alarm off and threw himself backward onto his bed. Derrick had pale white skin, short brown hair, and green eyes. "Just five more minutes" he groaned as his head hit his pillow, before Derrick could even close his eyes his phone began to ring, it was his best friend and brother from another mother Roger.

Derrick sat up in his bed and rolled his eyes, "Ugh it's too early for this" he groaned as he answered the phone. "Hey bro, what's up?" asked Derrick as he tried his best to not sound like he's just been woken up. "Ah Ricky, do I have some amazing news for you" said Roger in a cheerful tone. Derrick rolled his eyes unamused, "If this is going to be like the time you had the winning lottery numbers then I'd rather pass" groaned Derrick.

"No, you dope, there's someone new on our college course, I reckon you and her will hit things off straight away, that is if you are ready to get back on the horse, after all, it has been two months since you and Charlotte broke up" replied Roger in a friendly voice.  Derrick thought to himself for a moment, he is unsure whether he wants to take the risk and get hurt again. "Tell you what, meet me in an hour at Carl's Coffee and we'll discuss this further, but I need all the details you can provide, do you understand?" Derrick responded.

"Yeah of course, I read you loud and clear, I'll see you in about an hour Ricky mate" said Roger as he ended the phone call. Derrick stood up from his bed, "The least he could have done is give me the girl's name, it'll be awkward if I meet her and I have to speak first" he joked to himself. Derrick walked over to the large wardrobe in his apartment and pulled out a pair of blue jeans and a green zip-up hoodie. "I hope this doesn't turn out to be one of his pranks where he's got one of his cousins to dress up for a joke, wait no he wouldn't do that, not for a fifth time anyway" Derrick muttered under his breath. Derrick pulled out his phone and checked his banking app before smiling joyfully, "Who'd have thought I'd be making five grand a day from republishing old public domain books at nineteen" he joked as he grabbed his Bluetooth headphones and headed to the meeting spot.

When Derrick arrived at Carl's Coffee he looked around, the building was small and hidden away on the end of a busy high street. "Well, here goes nothing" he sighed as he walked through the sliding door and into the coffee shop. The coffee shop was dimly lit and was rather dead with dozens of empty booths. Derrick saw Roger sitting in a booth on his own by the toilets, he was writing something on his laptop, as Derrick approached he took his headphones off his head and slid them down to his neck. "Hey man, what you working on?" asked Derrick calmly, Roger looked up at Derrick and smiled at his longtime friend, "Ah Derrick me old mate, come sit down there's loads of stuff I want to discuss with you" said Roger cheerfully.

Derrick sat down opposite Roger, "So this girl you want to discuss with me?" asked Derrick as he signaled a waitress to come over to him. "One second and I'll explain, let me just finish this paragraph" said Roger. A young waitress approached the table the duo was sitting at, she had curly ginger hair, black circular glasses, pale skin, and wore a yellow and brown apron with her name badge pinned to her apron with the name "Amelia". "Hello sir, what can I get you today?" asked Amelia in a friendly but nervous voice, Derrick smiled at Amelia cheerfully "Can I get a caramel mocha please?" asked Derrick cheerfully.

Amelia nodded her head, "Yes sir, that's three pounds twenty" she stuttered as she pulled out a portable card machine and punched in the numbers. Derrick smiled at Amelia cheerfully as he tapped his card on the machine. "You're new here, right? I've never seen you working here before"  said Derrick in a friendly voice, Amelia nodded her head, "Yes sir, I've only been here for a few weeks, would you like a receipt ?" stuttered Amelia as she started pulling on her fingers anxiously, she was surprised Derrick had shown any interest in her.

Derrick dug into the pocket of his jeans and grabbed a folded twenty-pound note, "No thanks my dear, here take this" said Derrick as he handed Amelia the twenty-pound note. Amelia looked at Derrick shocked, "But sir, I can't just take that" she stuttered as her face turned bright red in embarrassment. "Go ahead my dear, it's a tip because you have a beautiful smile" stated Derrick cheerfully.  Amelia smiled at Derrick with a grin of gratitude, "Thank you, sir, you're very kind, I'll bring your coffee over when it's done and thank you genuinely you don't know how much your kindness is appreciated" she stated as she walked away from the table.

Roger looked up from his laptop at Derrick, "And just like that you've won Amelia's heart" he joked cheerfully, Derrick chuckled to himself, "Well she seems sweet, but I'm curious who this girl you wanted me to meet is" said Derrick curiously. Roger chuckled, "Derrick you literally just had a full-on conversation with her" he teased. Derrick smiled, "Well she seems nice, can you give me any information on her?" he asked cheerfully.

Roger nodded his head, "She's from Cambridge, she was orphaned at the age of nine and was homeless for about a year after a huge dispute with her grandma, she also has a disability that I can't disclose without her consent" he stated. Derrick looked at Roger with wide eyes, "That is pretty deep, yet she still seems to be soldiering on, she is clearly a strong woman" said Derrick calmly. "You guys are talking about me?" asked Amelia as she approached the table and handed Derrick his coffee in a takeaway cup. Derrick shakes his head, "No of course, not" replied Derrick as his face turned bright red. Amelia shook her head, "Most people would find it creepy, I'm just confused why you're interested in me, I'm nothing special" stuttered Amelia anxiously.

Derrick shook his head, "If you start hanging out with us then maybe you will understand" he replied, still red in the face. Amelia flashed Derrick a small cheery smile, "Yeah sure, I'd like to have friends and see where it goes, I've not got much to lose anyway as you may know thanks to captain creeper over here" joked Amelia cheerfully. Derrick smiled cheerfully, Roger rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Well what time do you get off work?" asked Derrick cheerfully. Amelia nodded her head, "I finish in twenty minutes, but if you have some time do you mind waiting for me out front? I might take a little longer because I have to get changed" stated Amelia joyfully.

Derrick nodded her head, "Sure, I'll wait for you out front" he said cheerfully as he stood up from the booth. Amelia's Manager a short angry bearded man walked out of the staff room. "Oi Amelia get back to work instead of skiving, you still have twenty minutes on the clock" he bellowed angrily. Amelia bowed her head, "I'm sorry sir, I'll do better next time"  she stuttered as she walked away from Derrick and Roger's table and started clearing a table across the room from them.

Derrick smiled as he watched Amelia work, "She is rather stunning" he whispered under his breath as he stood up. Roger nodded his head, "Yeah bro, I got to make some phone calls about something important, do you mind if I catch you and your little love bug in class?" he asked calmly. Derrick smiled cheerfully, "Yeah bro do what you got to do, I'll be here for a while anyway" joked Derrick as Roger left Carl's Coffee. Derrick walked out to the front part of Carl's Coffee and sat down at an empty table, he put his headphones back on and started listening to music as he waited for Amelia to finish her shift.