A Resilient Heart Continues To Beat

Welcome To Hartville High

                                                                           Chapter 2

"Good morning class we have a new student with us today please welcome her and help her learn the ropes here at Hartville High." My homeroom teacher Mr. Hartford had said. I go to take a seat at an empty desk in the middle of the classroom. "Hi I'm Bridget what's your name?" asked the girl I sat down next to. "I'm Laura it's nice to meet you." I said shaking hands with Bridget. As it turns out I'm in most of Bridget's classes, she was nice and friendly to me all day long and even asked me to sit with her and her friends at lunch. So I did. Then after school, I had to go and start my shift at the coffee shop. "I'm here mom." I had said. "Hey honey go throw on an apron and get started taking people I have errands to do before I go home and it's been busy today." So I throw on an apron and slide my time card then I sign on to a register and start taking customers' orders. "I'll have an iced vanilla caramel swirl cream and sugar medium and an apple turnover, and she'll have a medium hot chocolate with whipped cream and a blueberry muffin." The customer had said. "Ok, that will come to ten dollars and seventy-five cents." The woman shuffles through her purse looking for money and pulls out a twenty dollar bill, and I give her the change. "Nine dollars and twenty-five cents is your change, and here's your receipt, and your order will be up in a few minutes. Is that for here or to go?" "Here." "Ok then here's a buzzer it will vibrate when your food is ready for pickup." So I make their drinks and put their pastries on a paper plate and put them all on the tray with napkins and then press the button that their food was ready and placed the tray on the counter for the customer to pick up. "Next in line please." I yell. I was busy with orders for the next three hours and then finally it started dying down around quarter to seven. I wiped down some tables and swept the floor and changed out the trash. "Laura what time are you planning on leaving?" asked my aunt who is co-managing the business at this location. Yes, we have family that lives here in Hartville Michigan which is also a part of the reason we moved here. "The deal I made with mom is that I would close so that you can go home and relieve the babysitter." "Oh ok well as long as you're sure you got things covered I'll go ahead and leave then." My aunt Shelia had said. "Yeah, I'm good to go head out." "Thanks, honey sees you tomorrow." "Bye Aunt Shelia." The deal I made with mom is that I would work from after school from three to nine every afternoon and from open to close on the weekends which is going to be from eight in the morning to nine at night on Saturday's and until eight o'clock at night on Sunday's. With the only times to be able to study is during lunch, study hall and at night before I go to bed. I have a one-hour long study hall every day, and I only have a twenty-minute lunch break, so that will mean at times studying while eating lunch. Both mom and I have to work these crazy hours to keep a roof over our heads right now. Plus next year I will be a senior and be thinking about my future aspirations after high school, I'm taking double science and math classes right now, so my course load is a little tough where I want to further my education as a pre-med major. Oncology to be more specific that's how my dad died he was sick with cancer. I want to try to find a cure. I know it means years of education and clinical and that it's going to be a long road, but I'm a fighter I will persevere. So my aunt left and I had the next two hours to take care of the coffee shop on my own, while it was quiet I grabbed a multigrain bagel out of the case put some strawberry cream cheese on it and ate it while studying my chemistry book I took a little bit of a break while there were not any customers in the coffee shop. After about forty-five minutes I had a customer come in, "Hi what can I get for you tonight?" I asked putting my chemistry book back in my book bag. "I'll have a hot medium French vanilla coffee with almond milk and two equals, and I'll have a cinnamon bun." "Ok, that's going to come to six dollars and fifty cents." The guy pulls out a ten dollar bill from his denim coat pocket. I then say, "Your change is three dollars and fifty cents." "Is that for here or to go?" I ask as I start to make his coffee. "That will be to go." "Ok, and would you like your cinnamon bun warmed up at all?" "Yes please, that would be great." The customer had said. Once his coffee has been made, and his cinnamon bun was warmed up for thirty seconds I then hand him over his order. "Thank you for your business. I hope you have a nice night." "Thanks, honey you do the same." The customer had said as he walked out of the shop. Around quarter past eight, I had another customer come in. "Hi, how are you tonight?" I asked. "Hi honey I'm going to have a chocolate chip muffin, and an iced mint chip coffee cream and sugar and my husband will have a decaf coffee black and a sesame seed bagel with plain cream cheese on the side." "Ok, will that be all?" I said while I punched everything into the register. "Yes, that will be all." "Okay, that's going to come to eleven dollars even please." The woman rummages through her pants pocket and drops a ten and a five dollar bill down on the counter. "Your change is four dollars and here's your receipt, is that for here or to go?" "I will be taking it to go please." I interact with the customer while I am preparing her food and drink order, once it is ready I bring everything over to her and say, "Here you go thank you for your business tonight have a good one." I said. "Thanks, honey you too." The customer had said. So now it's pushing twenty of nine I start dumping out the coffee canisters and wash them out then I wipe down the counters and lock up the display case. Then I mop the floor and wipe down the tables one more time, I closed out of my register and brought my drawer out back, I happily swipe my time card, put on the alarm and lock up the shop for the night.