Friendzoned

Emily the Waitress

I woke up the next morning still replaying the actions of last night over and over again in my head. As much as I wanted to think that Danielle had actually wanted to kiss me, something told me she hadn't. Why were girls so confusing?

Danielle had never thought of me more than a friend, and now she suddenly felt the urge to kiss me. It didn't make any sense. I rolled over to the other side of my bed, 7:32 AM. I was going to be late for school! 

I hopped out from under the covers and hurried to the shower as fast as I could. After settling on an outfit and tying my worn out tennis shoes it was nearing 7:40, ten minutes until class started. I grabbed a cold poptart from the cupboard. Just as I was about to leave the house, a lady's voice caught my attention.

"Brenden?" I turned around to see who it was.

"Mom," I said in utter  surprise, "I didn't know you were coming so early." 

She looked at me as if she had just found a lost puppy. Her bare feet neared my tennis shoes, as the inherited brown eyes locked with mine, "Michael's appointment is at ten," she explained, "I wanted to help him be prepared." 

I nodded, remembering that I needed to get to school, "Michael has been doing just fine without you." I told her the truth, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get to going." 

I started for the front door again, not hearing another word. I never understood girls, not even my own mother. She only came to visit us a few times a year, then one of us gets a life threatening disease and she suddenly wants to get involved again? I tried to clear my head of those thoughts as I drove down the street. Thinking of Michael only made things worse, because I didn't understand Michael's condition even more than I didn't understand girls.

I got to school with two minutes remaining until the first bell rang, and quickly I made my way to Spanish class. Somehow, I managed to make it into my desk before class started. Senorita Alvarez was just about to start a lesson, but my mind wandered places far beyond the classroom walls. 

I took some time to study the people around me. In the front of the class sat Tiffany Ollbright who was writing down everything Senorita was saying word for word. I noticed next to her was Jett Wardorf, probably the dumbest kid in the senior class, drooling over the short skirt Senorita had decided to wear.  Behind him was Frode Reksterberg, the foreign exchange student from Norway, who, even though had been in America for five years, still looked as lost as he was when he first got  here. Through my endless evaluations of the students around me, a new one caught my eye. Her seat near the window made her red hair shine like the sun. Lightly, she brushed through it with her hand and caught a glimpse of my starring. She rolled her lip into a half smile, and I knew she recognized me right away. 

Emily the waitress was in my Spanish class. 

The minute Senorita sent us to talk to each other in Spanish, I marched right over to Emily, "Hola, me recuerdas?" Emily scrunched her eyebrows at my question, "Remember me?" I translated.

"Oh," she nodded, "Sorry. I'm not great with Spanish," she explained, "You're friends with the arrogant blond boy that tried to ask me out yesterday, right?" 

I shrugged my shoulders, it was times like these where being friends with Schoop wasn't such a good thing. "I'm Brenden." 

"Emily," she returned the introduction. 

I looked at her gently, "I'm really sorry about my friend, he's...harmless."

I watched as Emily crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm sure I can handle him. Besides, he wasn't the only one that made a pass at me yesterday." Emily continued to piece together her work experience from the previous day to me. She said that she had just started part-time and already hated it. Her uncle owned the chain of restaurants, which is why she got the job in the first place. After a series of repeated "Schoop incidents", Emily decided that waitressing just wasn't for her. "I guess I'm not as much as a people person as I thought."