The next day, I skip school. I would skip school for the rest of my life if I could, run away from here and never come back. I pull my knees tighter into my chest and bury my head into them. I can’t feel anything – not the sand between my toes or the warmth of the sun on my skin. The only thing I could feel was the ghost of Eli’s hands on me, inside me. The events of last night played over and over and over inside my head and I couldn’t find the button to make it stop. Was it ever going to stop?

I sit there all day, and I would have sat there longer if I didn’t have to go to my first day of work. I couldn’t miss it, no matter how shitty I felt, no matter how bad I wanted to die. I had to keep my job so I could make money, buy a car, save up money and get the fuck out of here. That thought was the only thing keeping me going.

The café didn’t have a uniform, which made having a job so much easier. I never understood those jobs that insisted on new employees to go out and buy a whole set of clothes before they started – with what money? The reason why people get a job is generally because they need one, therefore, they have no money to spend on a bullshit uniform. I guess some teenagers had parents that gave them an allowance, hell I used to be one of those kids, but I'm not anymore. I don’t know what I would have done if the café required a certain set of clothes.

I guess I could have asked mom for money, after all, I'm not entirely sure she would have said no, I just assume she would. If that didn’t work and I was super fucking desperate I could have asked Zack to spot me the cash. After all, all my dignity was lost the day a gave a convenience store clerk a blowjob in exchange for ecstasy a couple of years back. I guess I could have given Zack a blowjob in exchange for cash for the uniform money but he was really nice and I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to know that side of me. Can’t imagine a guy to turn down a blowjob, though…

“What are you making that face for?”

I look up from my hands and realize I'm sitting at a table in the café. I don’t even remember arriving here. I lock eyes with Zack; he’s standing just inside the door, a smile on his face and a green apron in his hand. “What look?” I ask, returning his smile.

He shrugs, making his way deeper into the café. I stand and follow him but stop once he goes behind the counter. “You just looked like you were amused for a second there,” he replies.

“Oh,” I force out a laugh. I feel my cheeks get warm and I try to push the embarrassment to the back of my mind. There was no reason to feel embarrassed, I mean, it’s not like Zack would know what I was thinking about unless I told him.

Zack hands me something green that’s in a plastic package, I recognize it as the same apron Zack now has around his neck. “Put that on and then we will get started,” he instructs. I nod and do as I'm told. The apron is long and though it ties around my neck, it still hits just under my knees when it’s on. I tie it around my waist as Zack continues talking. “At about this time, you would clock in but Drake doesn’t have your shit for that ready quite yet, but don’t worry we will get it in before time goes in on Sunday, okay?”

“Okay,” I nod again.

Zack gives me another one of his smiles. “So trusting, I like it.”

I chuckle. “Well, should I not be trusting?”

Zack doesn’t reply immediately, he only looks up at me with a cute, goofy smile on his lips before turning around and grabbing a binder. “We offer all sorts of different coffees and smoothies. They are all really easy to make but the recipe for them will be in this binder. It’s separated by type, you know, coffee in the front and smoothies in the back, and then from there everything is in alphabetical order.”

I nod. “Got it.”

“Weeknights are pretty slow unless there’s something going on in town and has everyone out and about. Oh, or if it’s time for finals or something and everyone’s out studying,” He shrugs, nibbling his lip. “Um, there’s supposed to be two people on the same shift during those days, but the other high school girl that works nights with us calls in a lot. Don’t get me wrong, she’s really cool but she’s very unreliable. That’s probably another reason why Drake has you with me so many days, you know, can’t really train when your trainer calls in.”

Zack spends the next few hours showing me where everything is and how the machines work and whatnot. After the dinner rush – which wasn’t busy at all – Zack pulled two of the prepackaged salads out of the cooler and motioned for me to sit down with him at a table. Once I do, he slides one of the salads in my direction before tearing the plastic top off his.

“Oh, I can’t pay for this,” I admit. Blood flooded my cheeks again and I silently cursed myself. I used to never get embarrassed over stupid stuff like this, what in the hell was going on with me?

“Oh, no,” Zack smiles, chuckling slightly. “It’s free. Sorry, did I not mention that? Drake allows his employees all the free coffee they want and a meal on their shift. I mean, all we sell is soup, salads, baked goods and yogurt, so it’s not like you can go too crazy. One of the perks of working here, I guess.” Zack shrugs, pouring his dressing on his salad in a circular motion.

I nod again, suddenly feeling like a bobble head doll with all this nodding I’ve been doing, and tear the plastic from my salad bowl. Zack suddenly gets up and makes his way over to the only guy in the café, on the other side of the room. They talk for a brief second before Zack refills his coffee. I allow my eyes to follow him, as he returns the coffee pot to its place and then walks back over to our table and takes his seat again.

“So, I didn’t see you at school this morning and you seem quieter than usual. Is everything alright?”

I feel my cheeks tug into a smile and I glance up at Zack. “Keeping tabs on me at school, Zachary?”

He smirks. “I was going to invite you to sit with me and my friends at lunch again.”

“Ah,” I grin, taking a bite of my salad.

Zack raises a brow. “And I like to look at you in calculus. You make that class a little more bearable.”

I laugh, ignoring the heat rising back into my face. “Oh, so, like, two days ago, the first time I come in here it was all oh, we go to school together, I think and I think we have a class together, blah blah blah and now it’s all I like to stare at you in calculus. Does that line ever actually work for you?”

Zack throws his head back in a laugh. “Hey, I said ‘look’ not ‘stare.’ Big difference.”

I give him a skeptical look. “Uh, not really,” I joke.

Zack mocks my look with a smile. “Oh, yes, it is! The word ‘stare’ sounds so fucking creepy!”

I laugh. “Alright, fine. I guess you’re not that creepy.”

Zack opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted by the door of the café opening. Zack and I both look and I have to force myself to suppress a groan. The beautiful blonde takes a quick look around before spotting me and Zack. Gena’s smile falters just a smidge before she composes herself and skips over to us.

“Hi, baby,” she smiles, setting a Tupperware container down on the table. “I brought you dinner.”

I raise an eyebrow at Zack who gives Gena a weird look before glancing down at his half-eaten salad. “Gena, you know if I'm working, I eat here.”

She sits down, ignoring me completely and allowing Zack all of her attention. “I know, but my mom made her casserole that you love so much and so I thought I would bring you some.” Gena finally glances in my direction. “Oh, Sherryl! I didn’t even see you there! I didn’t think you were going to make it in today since you were sick.” She gives me what I'm sure is her best fake sympathetic smile.

I return her fake smile. “It’s Sheridan and I’m not sick. Thank you, so much for your concern, though.”

“Hm. Well, I only brought enough for one. Sorry,” she replies half-heartedly. Well, more like one-sixteenth-heartedly.

Zack clears his throat. “Well, thanks, Gena. I’ve already eaten, but I’ll take it home for later,” he reassures.

“I’m going to go see if he needs any more coffee,” I pipe up. I gather my salad and water before leaving the table. I trash the remainder of the salad before washing my hands and making my way over to the guy. I checked up on him, even though it wasn’t really my job to, and tried to eavesdrop on Zack and Gena. Due to their hushed voices, however, it was pretty impossible and after a minute I returned back to the counter and tried my best to mind my own business.

After a few minutes of cleaning the counter that no one had sat at since the last time I wiped it down, Gena catches my attention with a long, exaggerated sigh. Once she sees I'm looking at her, she smirks before brushing her lips against Zack’s cheek and then leaves. After another moment, Zack stands from his seat, trashes his salad as well, and then tosses the Tupperware container onto the counter.

“Sorry about that,” Zack says. “Gena can be a little…”

“It’s fine,” I reassure him when he trails off. “Really, I used to deal with girls like her all the time back in Kansas…hell, I think I used to be a girl like her.”

“A girl like her?” he asks, arching an eyebrow.

I shrug. “You know, the kind of girl that knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go a little psycho to get it.”

Zack chuckles slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s uh…it’s complicated, but I guess that’s the gist of it.”

I give him a smile. “I get it, really.”

“Okay,” he nods. “Well, I can uh, close up by myself, so you can get out of here. I know you probably have lots and lots of unnecessary studying to do.”

“I can stay,” I tell him with a shrug. “Skipped today, remember?”

“It’s fine, really, just some boring shit I can show you tomorrow night,” he smiles.

“Oh, okay.” I take off my apron. “Well, guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Are you going to be at school?” Zack asks me.

I nod. “Yeah, I guess I’ll allow you to stare at me in calculus tomorrow,” I wink as I begin walking to the exit.

Zack laughs. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Nah.”

“Okay, well, come sit with us again. My friends like you, they asked about you today,” Zack tells me.

I think about it for a second. Sitting with Zack and his friends sounded fun, but that meant I had to deal with Gena and her shitty attitude. “I’ll think about it,” I tell him.

“See you tomorrow at lunch then,” Zack calls as I walk out of the building.

Notes

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Title credit: Good Charlotte "Walk By"

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