It was only six in the morning when the sun began to shine through my bedroom window.
I groaned and tried to fall asleep again, but to no avail. After a few minutes, I dragged myself out of bed and went to take a shower.
When I was done, I headed downstairs for breakfast, passing my dad's room on the way. He was asleep at his desk, and still wearing his clothes from yesterday.
Ugh, I thought. Yesterday, when Akio broke up with me. I guess neither of us actually said the words, but it was clear enough. Besides, I wasn't about to go and talk to him about it.
I started rummaging through the cupboards, and realized we literally had no breakfast food. I put my head against the wall. "Dad," I complained. He had forgotten to get groceries again.
So I grabbed my keys, deciding to go out for breakfast instead.
Starbucks was too crowded with old people and adults on their way to work, so I found myself pulling into the parking lot of an all day restaurant called Amberley's.
I parked next to an ugly, tawny van and got out of my car. The bell chimed when I pushed open the door, and I found the place mostly deserted except for an elderly couple sitting in one of the wooden booths on the left. The floor was a much darker wood, and the bottom half of the walls where white birch wood, with a faded pink paint job on top. There were paintings across the walls of scenery and abstract things.
The counter was at the very back, but no one was standing there, or in the open kitchen behind, that I could see. The wall opened up to more dining area off the right side of the wall.
Not sure what to do, I slid into the third booth on the right and did what I always did; took out my phone. They had free Wi-Fi here, so I opened up my favourite blog PhireLove. The girl had been running it for three years, and was the most popular fashion blog on the Internet. I absolutely loved everything she did.
While I was looking at different styles of wedding dresses she posted, people started shouting. Alarmed, I looked up, and the voices seemed to be carrying from a back room.
"I QUIT!" A female voice shouted. "I am done working here!"
"Hey," said a calm, male voice. "Don't say that. We need you and-"
"No!" The girl shrieked. "I can't take it anymore. This is a totally dead end job and not what I want to do with my life."
"Denise," the guy sounded agitated. "This isn't what you have to do with your life. Can't we talk about this later?"
"Absolutely not! I can't spend another second in here. You can have this back!"
Then the girl came storming out of the swinging door next to the counter. She was completely fuming. She pushed open the front door, making the bell chime, and ran outside.
"Denise!" The guy ran out from the back room, holding a crumpled apron in his hand. He seemed to want to chase after her, but was hesitant.
With a grit of his teeth, he turned to me. "Could you watch the place, for like, two minutes?" He threw the apron at me and ran out the door, shouting "Thanks!" before I could even answer.
I looked down at the apron, it was a warm yellow with a stark white trim around the edge and the Amberley's logo right in the middle.
The elderly couple, hardly bothered by the scene, put down some crumpled up bills and left, meaning I was alone and in charge of a restaurant.
Just as I stood up, the guy pushed open the front door and walked inside, looking defeat.
"She's really gone this time," he sighed. "The girl does that every month for the past year and always comes back. But now she's gone." He shook his head and looked up at me.
I realized he seemed familiar, but I couldn't think of why. He had short, dirty blonde curls and grey/blue eyes. He was probably a little over six feet tall and had sun-kissed skin. Basically, he looked the complete opposite as I did, with my long dark hair, black eyes, and pale skin.
He stuck out his hand. "Thanks so much. I'm Jules." Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Jules Amberley."
I smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Saya Mori."
All of a sudden, he squinted at me. "You look familiar..."
"You do too!" I said, glad he noticed.
Jules bit his lip and crossed his arms. Then his eyes widened. "I got it! You were in that car yesterday at the mall! We almost ran into you. Our friends yelled at each other." He smiled like he had uncovered the biggest secret in the world.
I thought back to yesterday, when Faith had woken me up by yelling at two guys in an ugly van. I looked over my shoulder and out the window, where my car was parked next to the same ugly van.
I grinned with him. "Yeah, that was you."
Jules laughed and grabbed the apron from me. He took the money off the elderly couple's table then walked behind the counter. "Small world," he said. "And thanks again, for watching the place. Sorry for, uh, just throwing that on you out of nowhere. I'll make it up to you."
I shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal. No one came in."
Jules smiled at me then went and grabbed the dishes from the other table. He walked backwards into the kitchen and started loading the dish washer.
I leaned against the cold counter as he started talking again. "So Saya, what brings you here at 6:45 am? Kind of an ungodly time to wake up, don't you think?"
I laughed. "Actually, I had no intentions of leaving the house. First I couldn't fall asleep, then I didn't have any food in the house, and Starbucks was too crowded..." I trailed off.
The corner of Jules' mouth twitched. "Almost like something wanted you to come here this morning."
I nodded. "Maybe."
Just then, a group of five or six middle aged people walked in, all chatting brightly.
"Saya," Jules said, getting my attention. I looked back around to him. "You wanna put that apron back on for a little while?"
I sighed. "I don't know, I should probably get back home..."
Jules' shoulders sank, reminding me of the way Akio's did yesterday before he pressured me into coming to dinner. I braced myself for the same pressuring, but Jules just said, "Alright. Just come back again some time. I owe you a breakfast."
Jules walked out of the kitchen and back to the counter. He started rummaging in a drawer and came back up with a notepad and pen. Behind him, no one was in the kitchen. I looked over at the group of people, still talking loudly, then back to Jules.
I held out my hand. "I'll get their order."
Jules' eyes shined. He gave me the apron back and I tied it around my waist, then I took the notepad and pen and walked over to the table.
"My name's Saya and I'll be your waitress. What can I get for you all?"
_______
Three hours later, some other employees had arrived for their shifts, and Jules gave me a wad of bills.
"What's this for?" I asked, confused.
"You work, you get paid."
"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly.
Jules snorted. "I'm pretty sure that's how money works."
I blushed and put the money in my pocket. "Oh, right."
"Feel like going to the beach, Saya?" Jules queried randomly after I gave him the apron again.
We walked out the door together. "I wasn't planning on going to the beach today..." In all honesty, I was planning to look at different clubs my university had, which would look good on job applications. I looked at Jules, and his eyes were shining again. "Okay, yeah," I decided. "That would be fun."
"Great!" He walked to the driver's side of his ugly van and opened the door. "Wanna ride with me?"
This is so stupid. This is so stupid. I thought. You don't even know this guy. But I found myself sliding into the passenger seat.
Surprisingly, it was actually quite nice on the inside. An air freshener made the enclosed space smell like pine, and it was mostly tidy. There was a stack of novels piled in the very back seat and some CD's scattered across the two middle ones.
"We call him Hermes," Jules explained as we pulled out of the parking lot. "The car, I mean," he added, noticing my confused expression. "It's because this thing might as well be as old as a god, but still travels like a charm."
"That's really clever," I noted.
Jules smiled a little. "My sister came up with it when we were kids. All those books are hers, by the way." He gestured to the pile. "She just got home from university for the summer. She'll be at the beach, you'll love her."
"What's her name?" I could see the beach at the far end of the road. It really wasn't that far from Amberley's.
"Ruby," he told me. "And my oldest sister's name is Sapphire. But Saf's out buying wedding dresses or something. She's getting married in August."
I smiled. "That's so sweet." But in a split second it kind of made me feel down, because I realized I wasn't in a relationship anymore.
I tried to shake the thought. I should try and have fun today. With total strangers. Why not?
A familiar rhythm started on the radio, and Jules turned it up to full blast. "I love this song!" He shouted, before beginning to sing along to 'Summer of 69'.
"Got my first real six string, bought it at the five-and-dime," Jules belted out the words extremely off-key. "Played it 'til my fingers bled, was the summer of 69!"
I chuckled. "You like classic rock?"
"Nothing better!" Jules told me, before jumping into the chorus.
Just as the song ended, Jules parked next to the sand and we both got out. He jogged ahead of me excitedly. Jules seemed to do everything excitedly, and I had only known him for a few hours. "C'mon! You'll love my friends."
I followed him to a group of four people. A girl was sat on a bench with her face buried in a book, two guys were playing catch, and another guy was propped shirtless on his elbows, a cigarette hanging limply from his mouth. I noticed the edges of what appeared to be a tattoo on his right shoulder, though since it was facing away from me, I couldn't be sure of what it was.
"Fear not, my friends! The fun can start because I have finally arrived!" Jules announced, causing me to giggle slightly.
One of the guys playing catch whistled. He had warm, Latino skin and a mop of shaggy brown hair. "Who's that with ya, man?"
"This," Jules said as we reached them all, "is my new best friend Saya. Saya, these are my friends."
He pointed each one of them out in turn. First he gestured to the Latino boy. "This is Daniel Sanchez, I wouldn't engage in too much conversation with him because he doesn't listen to a thing anyone else says."
Daniel laughed. "That's so unfair. I listened when you were talking about Ruby coming home from university for the summer."
The girl with her head buried in a book sighed loudly.
"That," Jules told me, "is my lovely sister Ruby. Dan is hopelessly in love with her."
"Not hopeless!" Daniel protested.
"Pretty hopeless," Ruby muttered, looking up from her book.
I laughed at her comment. Ruby bore a striking resemblance to her brother. They had the same grey/blue eyes, sun-kissed skin, and dirty blonde hair. Though hers was wavy and reached her shoulders. She had a curvy figure that could keep anyone staring. Ruby also wore a pair of horn rimmed glasses with black frames.
"Over here we have aspiring jazz musician Isir Thakkar. Seriously, you need to hear this guy rock a saxophone." Jules pointed to the guy who was playing catch with Daniel. He was a thin Indian boy with a bright smile and dark brown eyes.
"And last, but not least-" Jules began to announce.
"Don't," muttered the guy with the cigarette. Jules hardly seemed bothered.
"-we have the mysterious, dark and brooding bad boy; Cash!"
Cash sighed and let his head fall back on the sand. His hair was platinum blonde and I only caught a glimpse of his baby blue eyes before he closed them to avoid glare from the sun. He was extremely well built and had shining olive skin. "Why am I best friends with you?"
Jules stood over him. "You've been asking yourself that since we were nine, Cash, and you still haven't found the answer. I'm starting to doubt your skills."
Cash frowned, his mouth curling around the cigarette. "Just... don't use the term bad boy again. I'll have to hit you." I recognized him as the boy who had yelled at Faith from the van yesterday. In his defence, she had yelled at his friend first.
Jules turned to me with finality. "These are my friends."
I smiled. "It's nice to meet you guys."
"You too, Saya," Isir piped. "The ratio of white people to non-white people in this group was getting ridiculous."
I blinked. "Um..."
"Don't mind him," Ruby told me. "Come take a seat." She patted the small expanse of bench next to her, so I went and sat down. "Tell me if I'm wrong, but you don't seem like the type of person to make friends with a stranger then immediately go meet the people he knows."
I shook my head with laughter. "You're absolutely right. I just..." I faltered. "...maybe I needed something new."
Ruby smiled at me, almost sadly, and said, "I know what you mean."
_______
Once I was home, I couldn't stop thinking. This was a terrible time to make friends. In two months, I'd be living across the country. There was no time for now, I had to focus on the future. I couldn't let myself get wrapped up in some new world.
But I had had so much fun with Jules and his friends.
Realizing that none of this was productive, I decided to do something. I trudged upstairs to my room and pulled out an empty box from my closet. Then I grabbed everything keeping me tied to my ex-boyfriend. It wasn't fun, but it was something to do, something to get my mind to slow down.
First was the golden necklace with the elegant heart charm Akio had gotten me for our one year anniversary, and the other necklaces for the years after those. I never wore them. They simply didn't mean anything to me. They were all just requisite, mandatory to signify our time together.
Alongside the yearly necklaces were some earrings and other pieces of expensive yet redundant jewelry. I stared at the promise ring Akio gave me seven months ago; a silver band with a small, bejewelled infinity symbol. I hardly wore it. Some infinity, some promise.
After that was out of the way, I gathered all of the pictures. Our first date (To the movies, some cheesy romantic comedy. He paid for both of us), Valentine's Day (We went to a boring restaurant), his brother's wedding (We were told that we'd be next), prom (Everyone cared more about their dresses than their dates. I was part of 'everyone'), some others, and the last photo we had together, when I was over at his parents' for dinner. Akio was standing behind me with his hand on my waist. We were both hardly smiling, and looking back, I couldn't believe how unhappy I looked. I clearly didn't love him, and he didn't love me. I guess we never loved each other. We said it, but it was never true.
I couldn't blame him, our lack of love was mutual. Sighing, I tossed the pictures in the box and sealed the top. I tucked it under my arm and headed back downstairs the the garage. With mom moving all of her stuff out, the place was already packed with boxes. I would have to remember to put this one at the side of the road on garbage day. I stood on my toes and put the box on top of the fridge.
I walked to the edge of the garage to pull down the door, but just as I was about to, a sleek black car pulled into the driveway.
My sister stepped out, the sound of her heels click-clacking across the pavement as she came closer. "Saya," she said, her voice a clipped tone, "I'm here to pick you up."
I knit my eyebrows. "Ah, one; I have a car to drive myself anywhere, and two; pick me up for what?"
Sachi pulled off her sunglasses. "For dinner. Didn't you get my email? I told my assistant to send it last night."
"We've talked about the email thing," I sighed. "You can just text me. Or call."
Sachi looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "I only text for work, for things I need to attend to immediately."
What if I was bleeding to death and called you for help? I thought, but didn't say anything. The most important things in Sachi's life were her job, money, and her fiancé: probably in that order. Anything else came after.
"Okay," I said, "should I go get dad?"
"He's not invited."
The way Sachi said that was like a stab to the heart. I loved my dad, and he loved me and Sachi, more than anything. He's never done anything wrong but since he isn't contributing as much money as mom is to her wedding, and since mom and dad split up, Sachi had cut dad out of her life and was only spending time with mom. We had chosen our sides and that was that. For this summer, at least. Soon I'd be off to university and away from all of this.
"Why not?" I grumbled.
Sachi rolled her eyes and avoided my question. "C'mon. Mom and Kenzou are probably already there."
"No," I told her, crossing my arms at a probably pathetic attempt for intimidation.
"No?" Sachi looked like an annoyed mother. I wouldn't be surprised if she started to count to three.
"No," I repeated. "You can't ignore dad like this. But if you're going to anyway, you might as well ignore me too."
Steam practically billowed out of my sister's ears. "You're being a brat, Saya."
I laughed bitterly, and stared at Sachi with cold eyes. "Screw off, sis." I stepped backwards before turning around and heading back inside.
Once I was in the kitchen, I leaned against the wall and sunk to the floor. "Two more months," I muttered, not for the first time. I was constantly reminding myself that things would be better soon. I just had to hold on a little while longer.
"Only two more months."
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Hey everyone!
I was so happy to introduce Jules and his friends. I hope you like them, and there is so much more to come.
As for Saya and Sachi... awkward. How do you think that'll turn out?
Anyway, thanks so much for reading!
Please vote, comment, and share this story with someone whose family owns a restaurant.
~Paige