In Search of Tomorrow ✓

Twenty-One

When I turned to my locker to put away my biology textbook, he placed his hands on my shoulders and squeezed lightly. "It'll be okay," he said. "It's not the end of the world. You can find a job somewhere else. Hey, I think I know a restaurant that's hiring."

He thought everything was so simple. I kicked my locker shut and heaved my heavy backpack back over my shoulder, turning to face him for the first time that morning. "Thanks, Cameron," I said, trying to sound sincere. "I've got to go. I'll be late for pre-calc."

He let me go, though a little reluctantly, and I pushed my way through the crowd of high schoolers without looking back. It was true that I needed a job, but Katie had always been flexible with my hours, knowing I needed to pick up Maddie and Clare from school. Would my new boss be so relenting?

When I got to Mr. Roberts classroom, I took my normal seat and set my homework on his desk, then leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. Most of the class was already inside, chatting easily and reflecting on the previous night's homework.

Mr. Roberts walked in a few moments later and started the lecture, and I forced myself to take notes as he worked through problems and demonstrated the steps for navigating polar coordinates. My eyes were drooping by the time the bell rang, and I realized I'd forgotten my coffee that morning.

The rest of the morning dragged by slowly. I spent Spanish class working on the activities Sra. Olivera had assigned and trying not to let my thoughts keep tracing back to my job dilemma, and I passed art class by staring at Cameron's painting of the mountains and idly shading in my dandelion. When the lunch bell rang, I hurried to the cafeteria to grab food and then went to sit alone.

"Hey, Evelyn!"

I turned around and saw Cameron hurrying towards me, balancing a tray filled with food that probably wouldn't even satisfy his enormous appetite. "You planning on eating alone?" he asked.

"Yeah." I let my gaze shift to his group of friends, all waiting for us expectantly at their table. "I just want to be alone for a while."

"Well, would you tolerate it if I ate with you?" he asked.

We ended up going around to the back of the cafeteria to eat in the spot we'd once used to study math during lunch. I slowly ate my chicken fingers and yogurt, not really focusing as Cameron inhaled his food and then opened his science textbook.

"Why are you always reading that?" I asked finally.

He glanced up, looking surprised that I'd even spoken. "It's just fascinating to me," he said. "Isn't there anything that just fascinates you?"

I disappointed myself by not being able to name anything, and I jabbed my spoon in my yogurt crankily before eating an enormous bite.

"So, about your job," he said, turning a page. "My aunt and uncle own this awesome little café down the street from your house, and I think they're hiring. They're heard so much about you, and I'm sure they'd love to have you work for them."

"Your real aunt and uncle?" I found myself asking before I could stop myself.

He chewed down on his lip in a somewhat adorable way. "My adopted mom's sister and her husband," he said. "But I still consider them family."

"I don't know," I said. "I don't have much flexibility with hours because of helping with Maddie and Clare."

He shot me that knowing, penetrating look that made my insides flip nervously, and I'd just reached up a hand to begin finger-combing my hair when he said, "Look, I'll just take you by this evening and you can talk to them and see if you can work it out. I know you need a job."