“I’m serious. The apron cinches you in at the waist and accentuates your curves. I’d kill for half your boobs.” She grabbed her own admittedly smaller boobs and looked down at her modest cleavage. The table of college guys started squawking and carrying on, nudging each other like a flock of seagulls.
We all rolled our eyes at them.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, changing the topic.
“We went shopping after school and thought we’d grab dinner before heading home,” Donna said, perusing the menu.
“Oh, OK. What can I get you?” I pulled my pen and pad out of my apron pocket, fighting to keep my smile from shaking. I knew they did things without me, had their own lives—how could they not when we went to different schools and had other social circles? Or rather, they had other people they hung out with. I was just alone all the time. It still hurt to be reminded of it.
“You mentioned you were working tonight, so we thought we’d come see you,” Harlow added. My smile became more genuine.
“I’ll have the cheeseburger with a side of fries and a strawberry milkshake, and do you guys wanna share the loaded nachos?” Amaya looked up to find us all staring at her. “What?” She dropped the menu and crossed her arms. “I’m fucking hungry.”
I had no idea how that amount of food would even fit into her tiny stomach, but I recovered first. “Hey, no judgment. The nachos are really good.”
The others ordered, and Donna asked when my break was. I put their order in and, when it was ready, told Chelsea I was taking my break and went to sit with them for a little while.
I stole some of their nachos, Amaya playfully batting my hand back, but the ding of the bell over the door yanked my attention away.
Jayden’s dad walked into the diner in a suit but no tie, the top few buttons of his shirt undone. He was off the clock.
He paused at the door and scanned the room, then smiled and walked forward when he spotted someone. Chelsea. I frowned, completely tuning out the girls as I focused on their exchange.
She smiled widely, as if he’d just handed her a million dollars and not a folded-up scrap of paper. She slipped the paper into her apron pocket, and they spoke briefly before Boyd extended his hand. Chelsea took it, and he covered her hand with his other one, holding on for an inappropriately long time while leaning in to speak into her ear.
Then, as unexpectedly as he’d appeared, he walked back out the door.
What the hell was going on? Was Chelsea having an affair with Jayden’s dad? My stomach rolled at the thought. He was at least fifteen years older than her, but it would explain her sudden good mood and positive outlook. Was he even married though? I’d never cared to learn about Jayden’s family life.
“Earth to Mena!” Harlow waved a hand in front of my face as the others laughed.
“Huh? Sorry!” I snapped out of it. I had enough problems of my own to worry about, and I didn’t want to waste what time I had left with my friends thinking about anyone with the last name Burrows.
We talked shit, discussed the latest episode of the webtoon we were all reading, ranked the college guys in order of hotness. My break was over way too soon, but it was nice to spend time with them and feel normal for half an hour.
“I would’ve said to just hang out with your friends, Philly, but . . .” Chelsea smiled apologetically as she picked up two plates from the servery.
“It’s all good.” I waved her off. A few more people had come in for dinner, and we really couldn’t slack off anymore.
The girls hung around a bit longer, then came to say goodbye when there was a lull.
“It was so nice to see you guys.” I held on to them each a little longer than I had saying hello. I hated saying goodbye, even though I knew I didn’t mean as much to them as they meant to me.
“Same. Come over on the weekend.” Harlow bounced on the spot, her big headphones jostling on her chest.
“Yeah, we can have another pool sesh before the weather turns to shit.” Donna rolled her eyes.
“I gotta work.” I huffed. The weather was already getting cold. Fall was beginning to turn the leaves golden, and I needed a cardigan to sit out on the balcony in the evenings.
“What about during the week?” Amaya asked.
“Homework, and I don’t have a car . . .” I couldn’t get to their place on the nice side of town without a car, and my parents were never home early enough to drive me.
“God, I keep forgetting. I’m such a bitch.” Donna looked guilty. “We’ll come pick you up one night. We’ll sort it out later, OK? Get back to work.”
“Sounds good. I can tell you about this guy I’ve been talking to.”
“What?!” Amaya stopped midturn and faced me again. “Way to bury the lede.”
“Yeah, we’ve been here all night, and you only mention this now?” Harlow whacked me on the arm.
Donna’s eyes just sparkled, her smile brilliant and greedy. She wagged a finger in my face. “You’re not getting away with this. There will be questions, missy. So many questions.”
“And I will provide answers,” I promised. “But I really gotta get back to work. Bye!”
I rushed away without waiting for a response. When I looked over my shoulder, Donna was dragging the other two out the door as they glared at me.
I held in a laugh and went to clear a table. It was nice to have them so interested in something going on with me—even if it was more because of the boy-related gossip than anything else. But as my shift came to a close, I started to worry about what exactly I would tell them. “Oh, I started talking to him on my balcony, and he goes to my school, and I’ve seen him (he’s really hot, BTW—way out of my league), but he has no idea what I look like. Also, we’ve kissed. Also, I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with him.”
Fuck my life . . .
The next time I saw Turner, the sight of his broad shoulders, encased in a dark gray hoodie, stopped me in my tracks before I made it around the corner. I’d spent so much time silently observing him I’d know his build, his mannerisms, anywhere.
I just wasn’t expecting to see him at the bottom of the back stairs in the dingy end of the English and humanities wing. The last two classrooms had busted windows or other issues and weren’t even used. I went out of my way to take these stairs from time to time to avoid bumping into Madison and her friends, or Jayden and his friends. I could count on one hand the number of people I’d seen in this part of the school.
“Just tell me what to do to prove . . . please!” I missed half of what he said as I silently plastered myself against the wall, tightly gripping the strap of my bag.
I was about to walk away, risk the main stairs, but the desperation in his voice kept me glued to the spot.
“. . . that simple.” The small voice that responded was female. Now I definitely wasn’t going anywhere.
“OK, then how about—” Turner’s ocean-deep voice had some ripples in it now, but a sharp shush cut him off.
He resumed talking, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
I chewed on my bottom lip and tried to make myself walk away, but curiosity got the better of me. I took a deep breath and leaned around the corner.