The Heart of Nine

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

“Number 21 your order’s ready” I announce over the counter in the tiny store to the few customers waiting at the tables. A man in his mid-forties comes up to the counter and pays for his little pink box that contains a mini red velvet cake with white icing and “Happy Anniversary” written on top in red icing. He gives me a smile in thanks and walks out of the store.

“Hope his wife enjoys that, I made it really pretty just for her” a voice says next to me. I look over and see my coworker, Danny, looking after the man that just walked out. Daniel Johnson has been my coworker at Diana’s Bakery for two years now, since I was fifteen. He has short, curly brown hair and lively gray eyes. Tan skin and a sweet smile complete his looks. He’s one of those laid back people who smile a lot and can make you laugh at almost anything. He’s really cute, but we’re just good friends. He’s in the same grade as me but he goes to our rival high school in the town next to ours.

The bakery is owned by an older couple in their sixties, Jon and Marianne Whitely. It’s been open for about forty years now, and was named after their first child and daughter Diana, who they lost shortly after she was born. It wasn’t the first choice on my list of places I wanted to work but, I needed it, and I’ve never regretted it.

The Whitely’s are probably the nicest people I have ever met. When I came here to ask for a job, they just asked a few question as to why I wanted it. Looking at them I could tell that I could trust them and that they wouldn’t judge me, so I told them everything. How my parents left and I really needed this job to help my older brothers out a bit, everything. They looked at me with faces full of sympathy before they replaced it with a smile and asked some other questions, like if I could bake, or decorate cakes. When I said no, they said that it was no problem and I could start the next day handling the register.

I’ve been here ever since.

Jon and Marianne always give me and Danny the first week of school off, we’re three weeks into school now.  It’s been two weeks since Tristan came to my house for the first time and worked on the project, which we just turned in today. I found out a lot more about him, he came to my house almost every day after school for the last two weeks. Most of the time we weren’t even working on the project, we were just talking.

I never asked about his bruise again and he never brought it up. It’s gone now anyway. The days he didn’t come, because he said he had to take care of his brother and sister, we would text or call each other. Besides his siblings, he never talked about his family again. I really wanted to know more about his family but I could tell that was a subject he tends to avoid.

Other than that we’re becoming really good friends. He talks animatedly at lunch now and has really gotten along with Alex. Of course my heart still races whenever he’s around but there’s nothing I can really do about that. The more I get to know him the more I like him.

Kim is back at school, still little miss popular despite the way her ‘friends’ were talking about her just two weeks ago. Seth is still my family spy, he says he likes his new job and lets me know anything and everything he finds out. Zach is still acting strange. He’s not at home as much as he used to be and he still looks sick. When he is home and I try to ask him about it he just yells at me to stay out of his life and goes to his room.

Nick is turning out to be a real pain in the ass. Not only does he constantly try to hit on me, he hits on Kim too, which she just loves, she flirts right back. He’s also a complete jerk, he treats everyone like crap. Not just the nine of us but Alex, Tristan, and Rosa too. I don’t think we can really take much more of him. Either one of us is going to snap and kill him or we’re sending him back to dad.