T H R E E

Her eyes met her mother’s tight smile and while squeezing the fisted hand even harder in her pocket, Emmie placed the box of cereals back onto the counter. The older woman walked over to her youngest daughter and took the cereals, lifting them onto the shelf.

“You shouldn’t be eating that,” she told her.

“I don’t have time to make eggs and cut tomatoes right now, mom,” Emmie murmured, stomach growling.

“Well, that is your own fault.”

Emmie gulped quietly and gave her a nod before opening the fridge. She grabbed a yogurt that had absolutely no taste and opened the small cup, placing some chia seeds on it and looking at her mother for approval.

The woman smiled warmly this time and nodded, kissing the girl’s head before walking out of the kitchen. Emmie sighed and blinking back her tears, consumed the yogurt rapidly, wishing to vomit.

She had always been in love with food. Any food, from salads to burgers. But, as she started had growing up and her body had started developing, her mother found a way to destroy those feelings. She still loved baking and cooking, but seldom got it done without wanting to cry to herself.

She needed food for living. But, for some reason, pleasing her mother was a higher priority. She wanted to be a good daughter and craved for someone to support her—even if it were under those circumstances, she found it better than being alone.

#

Working in a diner had its ups and downs. While Mateo was feeding the early-risers and workers, half asleep himself, Emmie was baking in the kitchen alongside Carl Tate who was energetic and happy as always. The blonde girl still was tired of going to sleep as late as she had last night and waking up early in the morning.

After baking some fresh pies and frosting the cakes that had stayed in the fridge for the night, she was put on the waitress duty. Mateo left with a small wave to her, and Emmie smiled back, mentally prepping herself for the very first customers ever.

She didn’t have to wait long though and was greeted by an old couple who seemed to have gone to Carl’s since forever. At least Emmie thought so from the way they didn’t even have to read the menu before ordering. “Are you new here, honey?” the woman asked.

“Yes,” Emmie smiled. “I’m working during the summer break.”

“Oh, that’s sweet of you,” she smiled warmly. “Guess we will see you around here more often, then.”

“I guess so,” Emmie chuckled. “I’ll be back with your order soon.”

“Oh, no need to hurry, we have time,” the grey-haired man assured. Emmie gave him a warm smile and a nod before going back to push the order through the small window separating her from the kitchen. As Carl grabbed it, Emmie took a deep breath and seeing that everyone in the diner was happily enjoying their food, started making the coffee the couple had asked for.

She made sure it was nicely done, adding two sugars beside the cups for both of them and cream on top of one. Carrying them to the table, she smiled at the two. “Here you go.”

“Thank you, sweetie.”

Emmie smiled again and, releasing a happy breath, made her way back to the counter. She finally opened the bill for the couple, and frowned to herself a bit, knowing she should’ve done it earlier.

The bell over the door rang, announcing the arrival of a new customer. Content with herself after the first one, she smiled sweetly at the man who walked up to the counter, asking for an order to go.

#

“Shit,” Emmie cursed under her breath, trying to remember which table the double cheeseburger and strawberry milkshake were for. She was almost certain it was one of her tables and not the middle-aged woman with who she was sharing her shift.

Starting to panic a bit, the blonde walked back to the counter. “Jessy?” she asked, getting the woman’s attention. “I don’t- I don’t remember- wh- what table, I-”

“Relax,” the woman said sweetly, placing her hand on Emmie’s shoulder. She only needed one look at the dish on Emmie’s plate before stating the customers who had ordered it.

“Thank you,” she breathed and put a smile on her face when carrying it to the small girl with her dad in booth number eleven. “Enjoy,” she told them, and the man smiled, quietly thanking her before Emmie walked off again.

She hated that she was so bad at this. The customers seemed to be okay with her though, judging from the amount of tip she had gotten already. Now that most of the booths were full and people only kept coming and ordering, her head was getting messy and her memory wasn’t the best.

“Don’t worry, Emmie. It’s your first day, you’re doing an amazing job,” Jessy stated, passing her with another tray of food.

“Thanks,” the blonde breathed, and internally groaned when the bell rang again, no one leaving but new people coming. She planted a smile on her face when the two teens from the day before—Mateo’s friends, she recalled—sat behind the counter, on two stools.

The girl was gorgeous. Her brown hair had been dyed with some purple and pink, and Emmie loved the look, wishing she had the ability to pull pink hair off. And then the guy next to her… he was absolutely beautiful. From his weirdly colored eyes to the odd beanie on his head, she couldn’t take her eyes off him and his ‘leather jacket-bad boy’ look.

“Hello,” she chirped. “What can I get you?”

The two simply sat there, looking at Emmie together, until the blonde arched her eyebrows a bit, waiting for an answer. That was when they both smirked and the boy opened his mouth.

“Uh, yeah… what do you sell here?”

The smile on her face was wiped off as she frowned. “Um…” She was almost sure they were messing with her because who in New Field hadn’t been to Carl’s? But then again, maybe they only had been there yesterday thanks to her free pastries. “Everything you would want from an all-American diner.”

She pointed at the menus in front of them, and just as before, the two smirked in unison (creepily, she had to mention) and flipped them over. They didn’t want to read the menu. They were testing her, she realized.

“Emmie, order for table seventeen!” Carl shouted suddenly and she wasn’t sure if she was a bad waitress or not, but she immediately turned away from the two Southsiders, grabbing the plates and serving them to her customers in a booth.

On her way back, Emmie noticed Jessy talking to the weird boy and girl, and sighed in relief, hoping she wouldn’t have to be their waitress. “Please, Jessy? We want her to be our waitress today?” the pink-haired girl asked with a sweet tone and a warm smile.

“She’s a nice girl, you two. Don’t do anything stupid,” the woman warned before walking off.

Emmie wanted to groan as she faced the two again. “Okay. What would you like?”

“What’s on the menu?” the leather-wearing boy asked.

Emmie gritted her teeth as the two held their menus down, waiting for her to tell them all of it. She faked a smile and they seemed to get even more amused at that. “What would you like? We have all kinds of breakfast, salads, burgers, sandwiches… They all come with additional sides of fries or onion rings. And you can also solely get sides which are different types of fries, onion rings, and coleslaw.”

“Okay, what about the drinks?” the girl asked.

“We have some soda, water, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and our specialty—milkshakes.”

Emmie got more confident with every item listed, and the two seemed impressed as she held her head up high and shoulders back the way her mother had always taught her. “What kinds of milkshakes?”

“Strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, cherry, peanut butter and jelly, Nutella, cookies and cream, java chip, coffee, and s’mores. You can either get large, medium, or small. And additional toppings are practically whatever you’d like.”

“Oh,” the boy said brightly, faking a huge smile that made the girl next to him giggle. “I’d like a large Oreo milkshake, please.”

Emmie kept her tight smile and gave him a nod, deciding just to go with it. The two Southsiders seemed surprised, but she directed her eyes at the girl now. “And for you?”

“Large chocolate, please.”

Emmie breathed quietly, a real smile appearing, and wrote it down. “And for food? Need some time to think?”

“Yeah, we’ll think a bit,” the guy stated. Emmie nodded and turned around, going to some of the other customers who needed their bills or ordered some pastries for dessert.

After that, she made the milkshakes, using the Oreos that usually were meant for additional toppings. Jessy chuckled while passing her, shaking her head, having heard most of the conversation earlier. She admired Emmie’s strength and stubbornness. She wasn’t about to tell those two Southsiders who had been going to the diner for years that they didn’t serve Oreo milkshakes. She was a nice girl; she didn’t want to tell them to fuck off. So, she improvised, throwing the cookies into the blender and served the Oreo milkshake just minutes later, having crumbled some of them even on top.

Both seemed surprised, but Emmie beamed at them, making the two smirk again, with the difference that this time it was real and kind. “Thank you,” the guy murmured, sipping it and groaning at the taste.

When Emmie walked off to serve her pie to someone, she heard him murmuring, “Is there something she can’t cook?”

That brought a huge grin to her face.

#

“Hey, Emmie.”

The blonde dusted the sugar from her hands into her apron and smiled at her friend. “Hey, Sam. What’s up?”

“My mom’s here,” he said, making the girl smile happily in surprise.

“Oh. That’s nice. How long will she be staying for?”

“A few days,” the boy smiled. “So, I’m here to get takeout.”

“Right,” Emmie chuckled, grabbing her pen and paper. “Usual?”

“Yeah, for me and my dad. And for my mom Bacon Cheeseburger, but change it to curly fries, and strawberry. Oh and then one vanilla until I wait.”

“Got it,” she said and pushed the order towards the kitchen. “You’ll need to wait a bit though; this place is packed.”

“I can see that,” Samuel mused. “So, how’s the first day of work, princess?”

Emmie chuckled at the nickname he had given her years ago, in grade school. “Kind of overwhelming, but I’m managing.”

She balanced three plates on her hands and served them to a young family in booth number thirteen. Then, as she got back, Emmie smirked at the way Samuel was drumming his fingers against the counter, anticipating the question he was going to throw at her soon.

“Hey, Em?”

She smirked while making milkshakes. “Yes, Sam?”

“You know that cute guy yesterday?” Suddenly understanding what this was about, Emmie raised her eyebrows questioningly. “The waiter who showed you around?”

Chuckling a bit, the blonde shrugged. “Mateo? What about him?”

“When he left today in the morning or yesterday… Was there a girl waiting for him?”

Emmie’s eyes slid onto the two Southsiders she had momentarily forgotten about. They were sitting almost next to Samuel, the judging eyes directed at him. “Nope, why?”

“Well… You know how my gay radar never flaws, yes?”

“Sam,” the girl sighed, not necessarily because he liked Mateo, but because she knew he was in a gang and even if they did ever work out, his father would have never approved.

“So, what I need for you to do is ask him for his number.”

“Sam,” she said again, this time with a stricter look and voice.

“Emmie, come on,” he whined. “I’ve been dry for a few weeks now.” Just as the girl was about to open her mouth, he continued, “And yes, I know for you this isn’t a long time, but for me it is.”

“Wow,” she breathed, giggling when he made a face.

“I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Right,” she smirked. “First of all, you’re seventeen. You’re meeting new boys and men every day. What are you doing, collecting them?”

“I’m making polite conversations with likable gentlemen,” he corrected with a peaceful smile on his face as Emmie handed him his milkshake and walked off to serve a few booths.

“And second,” she continued as she reached him again. “Don’t worry about me.”

Samuel rolled his eyes, “You’ve been my best friend since we were five, Davis. I worry about you every second of every day.”

“Well, you shouldn’t.” She packed his food in a takeout bag while letting a customer pay their bill, and then handed the bag to Samuel. “Sorry, Sam.”

“The conversation isn’t over yet,” he said while sipping a vanilla milkshake and paying for his family’s meal as well. “You do this for me, Emmie, and I’ll let you choose the movie at every sleepover for the next year.”

The blonde bit her lower lip in thought, eyes sparkling in amusement. “Sam, if it were Christopher saying that, I’d consider agreeing. But with you…”

“What does Christopher have that I don’t?” he pouted.

“Well,” Emmie chuckled. “You and I have quite a similar taste in movies, so it wouldn’t really be any different when you chose one…”

Samuel sighed deeply in frustration. “What do you want then, Emmie?”

“A favor,” she smiled.

“Okay… What is it?”

“No no no,” she chuckled. “A favor. Whenever I need one, you owe me.”

Samuel’s face beamed up, clapping his hands quickly. “Great!” He leaned over the counter to kiss her cheek. “Love you, Davis. Text me.”

“Love ya too,” the blonde breathed and walked away to serve the customers again, Ramsay and Ani’s eyes still lingering on her back, having heard the whole conversation, eyes amused.