"Welcome to The Shack! What can I get for you?" I looked away from the menu and right into the face of Jessie. Good for him for having an afterschool job, but did it have to be here? Plus, whatever he was doing in the back with the other server was definitely a violation of the health code.
He stopped walking a couple feet away from the counter, a look of irritation when he realized it was me.
"What do you want?" His voice was flat and cold. Nothing unusual, but it was starting to irk me that he was so rude all of the time.
"Ice cream. What do you think? This is an ice cream shack." I looked up at their menu and then back down at him. "I want a scoop of The Reese's Runaway." Giving him a small smile, I quickly added, "Please."
"Why would I get you anything after what happened today?" He just stared at me dumbfounded as if he actually thought I was the one in the wrong. He was the one who hit Chrissie with the door and then refused to apologize. He was also the one who was rude to me anytime we interacted.
"Maybe, because you work here. It's your job, and I'm paying for it." I snapped back, unable to hide my irritation.
"Well, we do have the right to refuse service to anyone..." My mouth dropped open when he said that, and I couldn't seem to pull enough words together to form a response.
He continued to stare at me with a look of confusion and irritation. "What?" I asked.
Why was he looking at me like that? He shook his head before bending forward to scoop the ice cream, despite his last comment.
"Nothing. Did you do the homework in math?" I knew it! I knew he would try to get me to give him my work or something.
"Why?" I didn't meet his gaze, no matter how much I wanted to give him a dirty look. Even though it was clear that we didn't like each other, it still stung to know that he was probably only talking to me so he could copy my homework.
I bit back the urge to throw some choice words at him. I don't like to be mean unless that person did something to really piss me off. Even then, I was never a bitch to people. I'm just me with a slice of attitude, but he was getting really close.
"I was just trying to make conversation. Figured maybe we started on the wrong foot.” He didn't look hurt or mad…or any emotion really. His face was just blank. What the heck was with this man? It was like he was a statue with how little he showed any emotion.
"Oh." Boy! That was the smartest thing I have ever said.
"So, why are you so quiet all the time?" Is this his version of small talk or something? It kind of sucks.
"I don't know." I mean, I see what he means. I always knew I was a loner, and I liked it that way but that didn't make it a good conversation topic.
"You should really talk more. It would help you make more friends." Is he trying to give me advice? The new guy that made me dislike him in the first five seconds of seeing him on campus?
"I prefer not to." My head was still down, watching as he mixed the Reese's in the scoop of ice cream.
"Why not?" He stopped and looked up at me. I noticed the woman from before as she returned and set up a few feet down the counter. She smiled when she saw me looking at her, and began to mix Chrissie's ice cream.
"Because . . . I don't know . . . I've gone to school with a lot of them since the 1st grade. I've seen it a hundred times. No matter how good of friends you are with them, they seem to always find a way to turn on you or stab you in the back. I have never been in that position, but I watched it time and time again. It's just unnecessary drama." I pulled my hands out in front of me and began to fidget with them on the metal counter.
"Well, you know, everyone gets hurt eventually, but they always have someone to stitch them back up." Is he trying to be sweet now? I'm not sure who I am talking to at the moment. Maybe Jessie had a twin brother who didn't come to class today, and that was who I was talking to right now. A quick glance at his nametag ruled that theory out.
After today with the attitude and the door incident, is he trying to be nice? Really? The thought briefly passed through my mind, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was bipolar or had some personality disorder that could explain his mood swing.
"Not everybody wants to have to put someone in the position to stitch them back up." Is that really that hard to understand? When you are putting them on the spot to stitch you back up…what if they think it's a waste of time or that they have better things to be doing? What if you become a burden or seen as annoying?
"I wouldn't mind stitching you back up." He said with a smirk, his eyes not leaving my ice cream as he continued to fold in the chopped-up Reese's into the peanut butter ice cream. "So, in the middle of the night, when you get lonely and sad, you can just come on over. I would happily make all your pain go away and replace it with instant pleasure instead." My jaw dropped open as he glanced up at me with his irritating smirk. I knew him being nice was too good to be true. It was all a set-up for him to pick fun at me.
The girl making Chrissie's ice cream next to him lost her rhythm as she folded in the brownie batter, and a look of hurt flashed over her face.
He handed me the scoop of ice cream, and I gave him the twenty to cover both bowls of Ice cream. He was quick to give me my change, so I took it and walked away.
"What, no reply?" He asked as I approached the table that Cole was waiting at. He always came with us because he wanted to spend time with Chris, but he never ate anything because he was lactose intolerant and hated sherbet.
I turned to face Jessie once again.
"I don't want to hurt your feelings." I said as I pulled out the chair to sit down and took a small bite of my ice cream. I didn't bother looking over my shoulder to know that Chris was trying to start a conversation with him, much to Cole's dismay. She wasn't very quiet about her interest in him earlier in the day, and she made it clear that she wanted to know more about the new kid.
"Why the fuck would you think that?!" Jessie suddenly was almost yelling. His voice dropped, and I couldn't hear him anymore. He said something back to her, and by the look on his face, it wasn't pleasant.
"I don't know… I'm sorry." She grabbed her ice cream and walked over to the table.
What did he say to her? Why the heck is she so sad?"So, do you guys want to go to the park or something?" She forced out. I watched as she swallowed hard to bite back the tears that lined her eyes.Should I ask her why she is upset? Most of the time, she liked to take a minute to calm herself before we talked about anything emotional. If she didn’t she wouldn’t be able to contain herself and she hated crying in front of people."I think that would be fun." I scooted back in my chair and stood up. Cole walked around to Chris's seat and pulled it out for her. Awe. He likes her so much. It's so cute.We walked down the street slowly, enjoying our ice cream. Cole was on one side of Chris, and I was on the other."So, what were you and Jessie talking about?" Cole asked. I wasn't sure if she was ready to answer, but it seemed like she was no longer on the verge of crying. She turned towards Cole."Do you mind if I talk to Julie alone
"What?" Her voice was strained as if she were trying not to show the hurt. She practically just threw herself at him, and he straight out rejected her.For the hundredth time in the past twenty four hours, I had to ask myself, ‘what is his problem?!’"Look, I just met you! It's kind of pathetic how you threw yourself at me so quickly. I thought we were just messing around back at work." Her eyes filled up with tears, and she didn't move. It was like she was frozen.I quickly left my hiding place and went to confront him. He immediately saw me stomping over and groaned. This kid has an attitude problem, and I'm so sick of it."What do you want?! What, are you stocking me now?" He glared cold and hard."Um, excuse me, but I was here long before you were," I said with as much venom as possible, but not sounding as confident as I thought I would have. "What the heck is your problem?! Why are you being such a jerk to everyone?" He let out a
"You do know who started these rumors, don't you?" Chris's music was blaring in the background, making her have to shout into the phone."If I had to guess, it would be the same assholes as always, but I don't really care. I don't even know what the rumor is this time. I'm so sick of it all." I looked down at my homework as I packed it up into my backpack so it would be ready for tomorrow. I'm finally done!"Why wouldn't you want to know? The rumors are spreading fast." I could tell that she was frowning. Her voice wasn't the normal high and happy Chris, and she turned down her music."I really don't care anymore. These people who keep starting rumors about me just to make me miserable, don't realize that they aren't hurting me. I just want to do my time and be done with it." I sighed.For a brief moment the thought actually popped into my head, 'Why does Jessie hate me so much? How can a man be proud of himself by bullying a woman he didn't even know
Why can't he understand that I am not interested?Today was my own personal Hell on Earth. No matter where I turned, I saw that horrible flyer mocking me. That, and those five flipping words were haunting me, rolling around in my head."You won't be for long."What the heck was that supposed to mean? I don't like him, I don't want him, and I never will. But, his words were like a threat... or a promise. That infuriating man. Apparently, he doesn't know what "not interested" means.Then again, with the way I hadn't been able to get him out of my head, I didn't either. It wasn't that I wanted to be attracted to him. I just was.I walked upstairs and crawled into bed. Flipping on the television, I went channel surfing. My phone vibrated on my nightstand, and I grabbed it, hoping it would be Chris."Hello?" No answer."Hello?" Why is this person not talking? Wait, what if this is the person who put out those fliers?"Hello, Julie."
I opened my locker and sighed. People were still putting those stupid flipping fliers in my locker. Really?I truly hoped that people would be over this. Apparently, the people at my stuck-up school are just that immature. I took them out along with the English book. Closing my locker, I walked down the hall in search of a trash can. The fliers fluttered down into the first one I found.I made sure all of the fliers were in the bin before I turned and began to walk back to class. A smile stretched across my face, and my bad mood lifted away when I was stopped by Chrissie."Oh my God! Jules, what happened? Did you get the mysterious phone call? Who was it? What did they say? Are you okay?" She must have had a little too much sugar this morning."Yeah, I got the phone call. It was Jessie. He is the one who did the fliers. He said it was a dare and then hung up on me. Jack left my mom last night. I think I'm okay. Wait, did I answer all of your
By the time I found my car keys, I had ended up destroying my room, just to find it in my sister's. Okay, she can take my clothes or my stuff, but NO ONE can touch my baby but me! I walked outside and instantly put my hood up to protect my impending frizzy hair from the rain.After locking the door, I walked out to my car. It was nothing special, but it was mine.As I pulled up to The Shack, I could already see the nervous look on her face through the window from where she sat. I got out and locked my car. Sucking in a deep breath, I walked into The Shack and sat down with Chrissie, not bothering to go to the counter to get some ice cream."So, how was the rest of your day Chrissie?" I forced a painted smile on my face."It was really good. During sixth hour Mrs. Bough partnered me up with Cole, so at least now I know that I don't have to do the project by myself and have some stupid jock take half of the credit. Then, during seventh period,
After a very long and confusing class, I went straight to my locker. Every time I caught Jessie staring at me, he would revert back to his usual glare and then look away. It wasn't unusual for him per se, but I thought we had reached an agreement of sorts that we could be civil to one another."So, how did it go?" I jumped back, and my hand flew up to my chest. Air was forced into my lungs at a rapid pace as I looked up to see my best friend standing behind me. I was still a little touchy about going to my locker after the angry mob incident."Jesus, Chrissie! Are you trying to scare me to death?" She was laughing hysterically at my reaction, resulting in a glare from me."Dude! You should have seen your face!" She gasped for air and laughed out the rest, "It was so priceless!" She caught her breath but looked excited."So now tell me what happened. Did you guys talk? Did he flirt with you again?" I shook my head, and her face dropped. "Well, then what ha
"Mom!" I screamed through the front door, "Mom! I'm home!" I looked into the kitchen, but she wasn't there. The text I received from her was nerve-racking. It said, 'Come home immediately after school'. That was never a good thing. It was like when the significant other says, 'We need to talk.'I heard a noise coming from the living room, so I walked that way. She was sitting on the couch, legs crossed, arms folded, and eyes glaring. What did I do now?"Sit!" I did what she said instantly without thinking about it. "Now, I better get a damn good explanation on why one of your teachers called me and told me that you were sent to the principal's office again!" Of course, that stupid teacher just had to tell my mother as payback for me sitting on his couch.I sucked in a deep breath and began speaking without a break or stop. "I was sitting down. This girl, Jessica, walked up to me and told me to move because she wanted my seat, but this guy Jessie stood up and tol