(1395 words)
"You know there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees."
⚘
I watch the fuzzing screen light up, my wrists sore from how much I had been thrashing around. The sound of their staticky laugh echoes through the room, my eyes focusing on their lips smiling so gently. I couldn't see the fine details of their face because of how grainy the footage was, but I still felt my chest warm up.
The woman looks down at me, curiosity swimming in her sinister eyes. She glances at the screen, like she was trying to figure out what was causing me to react this way. She flicks her eyes to the man, "Ready?"
He nods. As the man walks towards the knobs and switches, the woman herself walks up from behind me.
Chris Sturniolo
The rush of people and the loud chatter was creating such a stressful atmosphere, my hands struggling to keep straight while my arms wobbled from the weight of five plates on each arm. My hair is falling out of the braid Michel did at the beginning of my shift which is making my nose itch since the ends of my hair are ghosting over my skin.
Jesus, I hate this job sometimes.
I go to my first table, giving them a big smile as I set down their food. "Okay we have the Alfredo and the regular, is there anything else I can get you guys tonight?"
The woman shakes her head, "No thank you," She smiles warmly while the man picks up his fork and huffs, beginning to eat without a word.
I nod, turning around and going to my next table. The next was a regular pair, a woman named Chloe and another named Samantha but goes by the name Sam. They always got the mushroom soup but one with sour cream on the side.
I give them their food and then move on to the next, my heart pounding into my chest with my lungs barely keeping up with my fast pace. I can feel my entire body shutting down once I go into the back and finally sit down, my head whirling like I had gotten whiplash from all of those orders.
The door opens and in comes Charlie, seeing me sitting down and sweating buckets. "Damn, might not be a good time to tell you that some people just sat in your section."
I groan, rubbing my eyes as I force myself to stand back up. "Oh by the way, one of them is really fucking hot." Charlie winks at me with a cheeky smile, making me nod at him with a tight smile.
Once I walk back into the main section of the restaurant, I scan my section to see three people sitting in one of the booths. I put my smile back on and make my way towards them, seeing that there were two girls and one boy.
"Hello, what can I get started for you guys?" I smile, pulling out my little notebook that I kept in my back pocket.
The man looks up at me, his neck and arms completely covered up with black and red tattoos, the one on his neck seemed to trail pass his shirt's collar and his eyes were a piercing blue color. "Hey man, can I get a cheese burger?"
"I'm sorry sir, we don't have burgers." I bite the inside of my cheek, waiting for him to pick something else but all he does is pinch his eyebrows together.
"What kind of restaurant doesn't have burgers?" He asks, sounding disappointed and angry at the same time. "What do you guys do when kids come in?"
"We don't normally get children in here," I mumble, standing awkwardly as the guy looks back at the menu.
"Oh! But you have chicken nuggets!" He sets his menu down, looking up at me with anger written all over his face. His eyes stay on mine and I can feel myself begin to get extremely uncomfortable, shifting from side to side on my feet.
He snorts, a smile spreading across his face. "I'm just fucking with you man, I'll get medium rare steak."
I let out a small sigh, nodding while letting my smile show again. "Okay, one medium rare steak."
I scribble his order down then look to the two girls sitting across from them and I drop my good customer service act for a second, recognizing the woman on the inner seat but I can't remember where I know her from.
"And for you guys?" I ask, trying to keep my eyes off of that woman until I remember where I recognize her from.
Work? But she'd know me too. One of my brother's friends? I'd know who they were, I always hang out with them.
"Um I'll have the lasagna," The blonde girl next to her says, she had on black sunglasses with sharp points. She was shining a smile at me that made something click in my mind. I know her too.
I nod, writing it down and finally looking back at the woman. "And for you?"
She squints at me slightly, looking to be very focused on something as I just stand there basically doing the same thing to try and figure out how I know this girl. Her eyes widen slightly and she snaps her fingers, making everyone turn their heads towards her.
"You're that underaged guy at the bar," She points her finger at me.
What bar- Ohhh.
"You're the clumsy bartender," I smile at her, looking at the two other people and realizing that they were this bartender's friends.
"Guess so," She lightly shrugs with a smirk and I smile lightly, shaking my head as I put my arms behind me back.
"I thought I recognized you," I chuckle, remembering how they basically teased me in a friendly manner and made me feel comfortable with them in seconds. It was kinda cool.
"This is sober boy?" The man points at me, someone who I now remember to be the guy that kept guessing my age and failing.
I wave awkwardly, still nodding as they kept asking me questions instead of the girl. I think I remember the blonde saying her name when she spilled the drink.
Wiley, right? I think it's Wiley.
"Well put it here!" The man raises his hand and I slap my hand to his, feeling his fingers wrap around my hand and give it one firm shake.
"I'm Jackson man and this is my little sister Sophie," He points to the blonde sitting across from him and I stick my hand out for her.
"Hi, it's nice to formally meet you." I say as she takes my hand and gives me a much more softer hand shake. I turn to Wiley and she takes my hand as well.
"I'm Ivy," She nods gently and my eyes widen slightly, not enough for anyone to notice but jeez, I really thought her name was Wiley.
"I'm Chris," I introduce myself, standing back up and placing my hand behind my back again.
"Chris, would you want to come with us to the Santa Monic Pier?" Jackson asks, he has a very light voice but a dark appearance, it's unique.
"Oh, when?" I furrow my brows, I didn't expect them to ask me to hang out when we barely know each other.
"Tonight, when does your shift end?" Sophie chimes in, putting her upper weight on her elbows that were planted on the table.
"Nine, are you guys sure you're okay with me going?" I can feel my suspicion rising, I feel like they're going to ditch me and have a good laugh about the fact that they fooled a nineteen year old into thinking they were all going to be buddies.
"Yeah, why not?" Ivy shrugs, she doesn't speak very much. Maybe it's because she doesn't know me and doesn't wanna reveal too much or say too much to a stranger. I understand that.
I mean, hey, stranger danger.
"Well alright then!" Jackson smiles up at me with his shining white teeth that basically shined with his blue blobs for eyes.
I give them one last nod, bringing my notebook in front of me again and taking in a deep breath.
"Okay, what can I get for you?"
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