The Girl Who Wrote The Dating Manual

chapter one

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Dedicated to footprints- for the amazing cover that she made! And also just because Ava!! I love the cover; thanks so much!

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"Candice, can you cover my tables for a second?" my roommate, Ava, asked as she bustled past me, her arms full of black trays that had food and beverages lining every free space. She gestured to a table that held a family sitting down, a woman in a turtleneck shirt and pressed pants, and a man in a blue polo and jeans. Sitting with them was a little girl in a high chair with curly red hair and freckles that matched her mother, and an older boy with the same carrot-colored hair.

"Sure," I replied, giving a small smile before turning to the register and grabbing my pen and notepad. With one last breath for encouragement, I continued to the table.

When I had first started college eighteen months ago, working whilst handling the stress of classes and college life had seemed impossible. When you're buried neck deep in papers, how can you worry about assigned shifts? But, when my student fees had begun piling up, I'd known it was time to bite the bullet and seek employment.

So, a year ago, my roommate and best friend Ava Donoghue and I had applied for a job at Giuseppe's, a family-friendly restaurant that boasted the best food and service in town. The commute had been difficult, but with the lovely couple running it, they had been supportive of the college workload Ava and I had to deal with, and were fairly lenient. Still, working at a restaurant filled with screaming children and dirty floors begging to be mopped was not an ideal job, but someone had to do it. And, hey, if it paid the hefty college fees, I'd take a janitorial job.

After taking the order of the family, I made my way back to the counter, pinning up the order, just as Ava buzzed back through, throwing me a smile over her shoulder. "Thanks, Candi."

When I had first moved in as roommates with Ava freshman year of college, I had been unsure what to think of her. She didn't really fit in with any stereotype I could think of. With dark hair, green eyes and a pale pallor, she wasn't your blonde cheerleader stereotype. But with an assortment of dresses and jeans in her wardrobe, she didn't even have a clique there. Ava Donoghue floated somewhere in between, and I loved her for it. With a taste for abstract art and acoustic music, her and I had bonded instantly, and were as close as sisters now. I considered her my own flesh and blood, and I could only hope she felt the same way.

"No problem," I replied, turning back around to start waiting on the tables in my section. I started towards the first table I saw, which held three boys around about our age, give or take a year. They seemed vaguely familiar; the kind of guys that would hang out with Ava's older brother, Jamie.

"Hi, my name is Candice and I'll be your server for today," I started once I reached the table, plastering on the saccharine smile we had to wear while on the job. "How may I help you?"

The three boys sitting there were admittedly very cute, and the one closest to me, whose eyes were a dense brown and his hair a mess of sandy blond curls, gave me a quick once-over, his eyes trailing past my white blouse and apron, with the nametag Candice emblazoned on it, all the way down to my pants and shoes, before meeting my eyes. "Well, hello there."

"Dude, just stop," one of his friends said, toying with the edge of Giuseppe's laminated menu.

The guy's jaw dropped open, and he spun on the one talking to him accusingly. "What? I'm just being friendly."

The one who had stayed quiet during the whole exchange let out a soft snort and shook his head ruefully, as if he were a babysitter watching over two extremely bratty children. He looked up at me with a sheepish smile. "Hey, can I get a cheeseburger, please?"