Atlantis Academy: The First Element

CHAPTER FIVE

"Yep." I gotta get the hell outta here. "I'll be right back with your—"

"You know what?" Her voice brightens, and she gives me a huge, fake smile. "It's okay. Totally fine. You don't need college. It's not for everyone. You look like you belong here, anyway. I bet you're just an awesome waitress. There's nothing wrong with staying here forever. Get married, have some kids..." She shoots an amused look at Amanda. "Maybe your kids can work here too."

My pen cracks in my hand.

Shannon's fake smile vanishes, and now she's just having fun at my expense. "Of course..." She drags out the words, exchanging another glance with Amanda. "You gotta be really careful working in a place like this. What with the... you know... alcohol problems that run in your family."

My stomach lurches so hard, I feel like I could throw up right then and there.

I want to rip out her hair.

I wanna gouge out her eyes.

My hatred is naked on my face, and I know it, but I can't wipe it away.

Amanda lets out a little noise, like she's choking back a response. Or a laugh. I can't help but look at her. She's got her hand over her mouth.

Jason and Dan are looking at their phones.

"Sure, well, I'll have your drinks right out." I whirl and have to force myself to walk away with some dignity. Not that I have any left after that.

My stomach hurts so bad, and my throat is so tight I can hardly breathe as I hand Mateo their orders. I fantasize for a moment about spitting in Shannon's food. But that's just not me, unfortunately.

"You okay?" Mateo sees me standing there not moving and lifts a brow. "You're doing great tonight, okay? Really good. We got this."

I lick my lips and nod. "Thanks. Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

I blow out a breath, replace my broken pen with a new one, and start making my ex-classmates' drinks.

Did I really look that upset? Ugh. I am not upset. Shannon's awful, but she can't get to me. I won't let her. She's just a dumb, immature girl who's always had everything handed to her. I don't know what happened to her to make her so cruel. I should be happy I'm not her.

Happy I dropped out of school.

Happy I'm stuck here waitressing.

Shannon's right, and I'll probably spend my whole life here.

I'm never getting out of Port Ashford.

I load their drinks on a tray and head to their table. Amanda and Shannon are talking animatedly, and Shannon lets out a loud laugh. They all completely ignore me as I set their drinks down and hurry away.

They're getting out of here tomorrow, going to college... something I will never do, not now. Not ever.

At least I won't have to see them for a while.

"More beer!" Angry Al is calling to me. "Can't I get any damn service?"

All his friends chime in, demanding more beers too.

I give Al the side-eye as I get them all another round, trying to gauge how he's doing. He's ranting to Rude Ralph about his ex-wife, talking about how she screwed him over.

According to Angry Al, everyone's always screwing him over. He's quiet when sober, but I can usually tell how drunk he is by how much he's blaming everyone else for his problems. That "low" vibe he's got going is swirling around him like a storm, and he's already gotten to the point where he's accusing his ex-wife of sleeping with the whole town. So, yeah, he's pretty wasted.

If I owned this place, I'd cut him off right now. But I can't. If I stop serving him, he'll decide I'm screwing him over, and the last thing I need is him raging about me to my boss tomorrow.

So I wait as long as I can before giving him his next beer.

Mateo thankfully gets my ex-classmates' food out fast, and I approach their table with dread. But Shannon has apparently decided to pretend I'm invisible, and no one says a word to me.

I get out of there fast, then continue to go through the motions. At least my medication is working, and I can get stuff done now. I manage to avoid an increasingly drunk Boob-lovin' Bob, serve more food, take more orders, and clean my empty tables.

And I try extra, extra hard to avoid looking at Jason.

A half-hour later, the restaurant finally begins to empty out, and no one new has walked through the door in a long time. I can't wait for this night to be over.

My ex-classmates are about done with their food, so I deliver the apple pie slices and their check.

"Thanks, Erica!" Shannon says brightly.

"Have a great night." I hightail it outta there to go scrub down another empty booth.

It's so hard not to look back at Jason, but he doesn't care that I exist. I probably won't see him again. Not for a long time. Maybe not ever, if he escapes Port Ashford and moves somewhere else.

Escape.

What is wrong with me right now? I need to freakin' survive and keep this job, not worry about what anyone else is doing with their lives.

Something crashes near the counter.

I drop my rag on the table and whirl around.

"You slept with her!" It's Angry Al, on his feet and screaming.

Boob-Lovin' Bob jumps up, knocking his bar stool over with a clatter. "I didn't, I swear!"

Uh-oh.