Limitations || Luke Hemmings

Chapter Two

The next morning I woke up on a cold leather couch, and luckily I still had all of my clothes on. My head was pounding and a loud alarm was sounding too closely. I realized the source of the irritating beeping was from my phone, and I reached into the pocket of my black shorts to shut off the alarm.

8:00 am. Saturday morning.

Fuck.

I quickly slid off the uncomfortable leather couch and yawn. My lips were chapped and I could smell the faint scent of cigarette smoke and cheap vodka from my breath. On the matching but smaller leather couch across from me, Calum was spread across with barely any clothing on. His shirt was off and drawings of penises were drawn in black ink all over his chest. I quickly take a picture-to look back on-and start to shake his body, containing my laughter.

"Calum, Calum, wake up we have to be at work in twenty minutes." His hazel eyes begin to flutter open and he stretches out his arms. His eyes were still bloodshot and the dark shade under his eyes showed how tired he was. It took him awhile to realize what I just said, and he fills with panic as he jumps from the couch.

"Shit, get dressed and whatever girls need to do to get ready. Quickly though, we can't be late again, or else Barbara is going to fire us." Calum mumbles as he runs up the stairs towards his room and slams the door behind him. When I am left alone in is living room, I see garbage scattered everywhere, but the disgusting appearance of his house doesn't distract me from admiring how silent everything was; as if everything had stopped moving. I make my way back to the front door, where my bag was still placed. I grab my uniform that is neatly folded in one of the pockets.

Calum and I both work at a local diner since both of our parents refuse to provide us any money. We both relied heavily on our jobs and were grateful the owner gave us the chance to work for her. Rapidly, I undress and change into my tight black jeans and white shirt that had the name of the diner printed in a small font across the back. After changing, I make my way towards the bathroom, where Calum is standing in front of the mirror. I join him and we both stare at ourselves, laughing at our reflections.

"It looks like we were rammed by three trucks, then tossed in the dump. And who would draw this shit on me, I can't get it off." Calum whines and I roll my eyes. I turn on the faucet and dampen my hands, running it through my tangled brown hair. I turn towards Calum and gently run my fingers through his dark hair, staring into his warm eyes.

"Alright, you ready Effy?" Calum asks me, giving me a sweet smile. He gently pushes me out of the bathroom and down the stairs, making our way out the door. Yet again I had to remind Calum to lock the door to the house, although it wasn't necessary since there was nothing valuable or sentimental worth loosing.

"I don't think I can stay away from Barbara any longer," I jokingly say referring to our boss of the diner. Calum bursts into laughter as we make our way towards his truck. He puts in a CD that I made him recently as soon as the ignition starts, practically speeding as we make our way to the diner.

As he drives fast on the smooth road, Calum sings out loud as we pull into the crowded parking lot of Barbara's Diner. I would prefer to listen to him sing all day, but he is always too modest to admit he can sing well. I check the time to see that we arrived early, so Barb wouldn't have a reason to yell at us so soon. Calum and I enter through the back, and quickly put on our name tags and the small aprons that hold our notepads to take orders in.

"How many times do I have to ask the woman to change the name to Effy, I hate being called Elizabeth." I complain to Calum about the name tag with my full name labeled. Effy suited me better than Elizabeth.

"You're lucky this woman still keeps you employed," Barbara says walking through the kitchen door, placing herself in front of me and Calum.

"Barb, babe! How've you been?" Calum asks as he pulls the fragile old woman in for a hug. She simply pats his shoulder and I can't help but give them a small smile.