Excerpt: Mal'Chalir

Robert Callin blinked, his green eyes slowly coming back into focus. Where was he again? Right, Julienne’s. He drew himself back up into a standing position—he’d fallen asleep on the counter. It wasn’t like it was the first time; he’d fall asleep at work often. He heard the sound of someone chuckling.
“Hey, sleepyhead! Stop dozing and hit us up, will you?” a bright-eyed boy around Robert’s age grinned, holding up a cup of soda that was nearing empty. Robert rolled his eyes and brushed his brown hair out of his face, frowning. “Why don’t you get it yourself?”
“That’s not my job. You are the server after all,” the boy answered. The boy’s name was Nathan Craines, one of Robert’s best friends from childhood. His hair, which was dark brown that matched the dark pools of his eyes, was a little floppy and it hung in his eyes sometimes. He shook his cup, making the small ice cubes rattle against the glass and he smiled his trademark crooked smile.
“Can I get my drink, or no?” he asked. He earned a smack on the head from the girl beside him, a pretty young woman of sixteen with blonde hair that was streaked with green and pulled up into an elegant bun on top of her head. She had chopsticks stuck in, mimicking the Asian hairstyle. Lily Fitzgerald sent an angry look at Nathan and then a much more comforting and loving look at Robert.
“He doesn’t mean it,” she reassured. She glared at Nathan. “Don’t you dare order my boyfriend around just because he’s shorter than you.” She yanked his glass out of his hand and then grabbed her own. She turned to the dark-skinned girl sitting across from her and Nathan. She was currently bent over a sketchbook, scratching furiously at her paper with her pencil.
“Do you want me to get you a refill, Nazia?”
The girl, presumably Nazia, didn’t respond, still drawing. Lily cleared her throat.
“Nazi,” Lily called. Nazia’s head shot up when she heard that cursed nickname. Lily had come with the name back when they were younger, in middle school. It had occurred to her during their History lesson about the Holocaust that Nazia shared a name that sounded similar to the soldiers in Hitler’s regime, and the name-calling had started soon after, despite Nazia’s pleading. She didn’t want the name of people she had been taught were involved in such a horrific thing as the Holocaust. But, Lily insisted, though she used the name sparingly, if only to get her friend’s attention when she wanted it.
“What did you say?” Nazia asked warningly. Her brown eyes drifted to her empty glass, the remaining sliver of what used to be lemonade still sat in the cup with ice cubes barely floating on top of it. She looked back at the blonde. “Yeah…” she said quietly, remembering her friend’s question. “I had lemonade.”
Lily smiled. “Alright! Coming right up!” She twirled towards the soda machine.