Bubblegum and Cigarettes

7

"Are you chewing gum?" Linda who was another waitress about a million years older than me asked as she picked up half finished mugs of tea from a deserted table.

I blew a large powder pink bubble then popped it and sucked it back in. "Bubble gum."

"Well you shouldn't be," she gave me dagger eyes as she swayed past. She was flatter than an ironing board but liked to swish her nonexistent hips in the hope for a tip. A tip to bugger off more like. I stared after her hatefully until the man I had been in the middle of chatting to cleared his throat and grabbed my attention once more. I gave him a distracted smile.

I was bringing out a little girl a large banana milkshake when the door chimed and in strode a gaggle of teenage girls. They sat down but refused to order from Linda. I sloped over making sure it was evident I didn't want to be there. "Yes?" I demanded.

"Not how you should talk to customers," Clarissa raised her eyebrows in disapproval. She was only here to rub my nose in it. If you pardon the nose pun. They ordered so much and then said "But leave out the" or "but I'll have this instead" which was infuriating. My damn notepad didn't make much sense by the end of it. I didn't bother to repeat the order back to them, I knew they would change it.

When I got home I was in a foul mood. My homework was overdue and mum was laughing flirtatiously on the phone to someone. Probably the headmaster. Throwing my bag at the bottom of the stairs I went straight to the kitchen and picked up the bottle of red wine by the fridge. I put it back down. I reached out to take it but pulled away. I even turned my back. I turned and quickly unscrewed the lid as if the faster it happened the quicker I could bounce back. I took several gulps straight from the bottle before throwing the lid back on it and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. My teeth were stained red I could tell.

Mum told me she was going out but didn't say a whole lot more. The last time she'd been so secretive was when she stopped the car when we moved down here. I curled up on the sofa with one of my assigned books to read. "Will you be alright on your own?" She hesitated when she came downstairs an hour later.

"Look at you all dressed up," I raised an eyebrow. She had rouge lips and silhouetted eyes and a short dress that clung to her curves. "Who are you going on a date with?"

"No one."

"Right..."

"Will you be alright on your own Jessica?" She asked a little sharper. I shrugged and told her I would be fine. I was seventeen not seven. So she left and I cracked on with the book which quickly grew very boring. Lighting a cigarette I shimmied to the kitchen and rummaged around for a pizza. I imagined the pizza was a mix match of Clarissa and Dylan's face and I would cook it up and devour it. While I waited I sat on the floor with my back pressed against the cupboards and the red bottle cradled between my bare knees. My jumper was creased and my skirt had slithered up transforming into a denim belt. I pushed my hair out of my face as I tried to think things through.

Sometime later while I was wining and pizza eating I had grabbed a notepad and scrawled some notes while I was drinking heavily. It would probably make no sense when I sobered up but they felt important at the time.

When I went to bed I shoved the empty bottle of wine under my bed where it clanked. I glanced underneath to find a sea of empty alcohol bottles. I frowned then let it go, barely making it out of my clothes before falling into a heavy sleep.

Mum shook me violently, her hand digging into my shoulder. "Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up."

"You what?" I groaned. My hangover was virtually nonexistent.

"You're going to be late if you don't get a move on. Wait, scratch that. You already are late." I moved about the room in a trance as I got ready, I wasn't even completely sure I was wearing matching shoes when I left the house swinging my bag over my shoulder and pushing my sunglasses down from the top of my head.