~•¤ Chapter 8 ¤•~
"Look, I know that you lost your job, but look at the bright side. We get to finally hangout properly," Marie spoke as we walked down the hallway of our school.
I chuckled at her and said, "I know." We entered the cafeteria and stood in the line. We had pizza for lunch today. Nice.
"So, where do you wanna go today?" Marie asked excitedly as the cafeteria worker put two slices of pizza on Marie's dish.
I thought for a second and said, "How about we go play bowling?" I got myself some pizza too. I and Marie both took juice then made our way to a table.
"Yeah, good idea!" Marie smiled as we both took places on the old grey chairs that surrounded the small black tables. Our school wasn't the best at its accessories and furniture. Everything was old at this place, even the cafeteria woman! No lie. But one thing about our school made it a good one; it's that it had some well educated teachers.
As we were halfway through our meals, Jake and his friend Austin approached us. "Hello ladies." Jake said and immediately, Marie chocked on the juice. She started coughing wildly and I gave her my bottle of water. She gulped the half of it and looked at Jake.
"H-hey," she stuttered, her cheeks turning to a shade of pink. I held in my laugh and looked at Jake.
"Anyway. Uhm, I wanted to ask if you'd like to go out with us? You know, me and Marie, Natalie and Austin. The double date thing, ya know?" Jake stated and I looked at Marie who had the widest eyes I'd ever seen. I waited for her to respond since I knew she would love to. I didn't mind going out because I was pretty sure Marie wanted to. I mean, come on, who would refuse going out on a date with their crush?
Marie looked at me for approval, so to assure her, I said, "Sure. We'd love to!" To be honest, I didn't really like Jake and Austin. I didn't dislike them either, but if I had a choice, I wouldn't go out with them. But I had to agree because I didn't want to ruin Marie's happines at the fact that her crush asked her out. It's not like this can happen everyday.
"How about we go watch a movie after school?" Austin offered
Marie immediately nodded and said, "Of course." I looked at her weirdly. We were supposed to hangout by ourselves. We'd waited for this day for a long time, but she didn't hesitate to change our plans. I felt kind of sad that she preffered a date with Jake rather than hanging out with me. Maybe she was too excited about going out with Jake, so I shrugged it off.
Austin said, "All right. We'll see you later," and they both left.
"Oh my God! Do you believe what just happened? They freaking asked us out. Jeez, this is amazing!" Marie shrieked excitedly and I smiled at her.
"I know. It's unbelievable," I commented and continued eating my pizza, but soon the bell rang. The cafeteria started getting empty slowly and I stood up. I held my tray and put it in the trashcan as Marie did the same, then we both walked to our classes.
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"That will be the end of the book. We'll start The Crucible next week," Mrs. Smith said. "Now, don't forget to sign up for the writing contest. Te admissions will be open only till next Tuesday. Now class, you may leave, and have a nice weekend," Mrs. Smith dismissed the class and everyone started leaving the classroom. I collected my stuff and walked out of the classroom with Marie trailing behind. As we got out of the school, my eyes landed on Jake and Austin who were waiting in the schoolyard for us.
Marie nudged me and gave me a smile, which I returned. We walked up to them and Jake asked, "You guys ready?"
"Yes," Marie said as we all walked to the parking lot. We walked to Jake's car, which was a black Porsche. Everyone admired him and his car, and anyone who saw us would be thinking how lucky Marie and I were to get a chance to hang out with Jake and Austin.
As we got into the car, Jake sat in the driver's seat and Marie took the shotgun, leaving me and Austin to sit at the back seat. I awkwardly sat beside him as Jake drove to the cinema.
"So, tell me about yourself," Austin spoke and I shrugged.
"What do you want to know?" I asked. I was an awkward type of person, and me being with someone I didn't really know wasn't helping at all.
"You know what, never mind. Let's enjoy the music right now," he said causing me to frown.I could already tell that he didn't want to be here as much as I was. At least we had something in common.
In about fifteen minutes, we were already in front of the theater. We all stepped out of the car and entered the theater. "What do you guys wanna watch?" Jake asked and we all shrugged.
"How about Mama? It seems like a good movie," Marie suggested and so we nodded. Jake walked to the box office to get us the tickets.
I suddenly felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I got it out and saw Sarah's number written on the screen. "Excuse me for a second," I told MArie and Austin and walked away.
"Hey, Sarah," I greeted as soon as I answered the call.
"Natalie, hi. How are you doing?" she asked. For a moment I thought about telling her about Nathan last night, but decided against it. I didn't want to bring her mood down because of my problems.
"I'm fine," I lied.
"Listen, can you make it down here to Starbucks? Mr. Fitz needs to talk to you immediately. It seems really important." she told me and I frowned in confusion.
I looked back at Marie and said, "Is it neccessary? I'm kind of busy right now."
"You need to be here, Natalie."
"Fine, I guess I'll come. Do you know what is it about though? "
"Not really. He didn't tell me."
"Okay. I'll be there in ten minutes," I said and hung up. I walked back to Marie and Austin and said, "I'm sorry you guys, but I have to leave right now. Something came up."
"What? Why?" Marie asked me with a frown on her face.
"Sarah just called me and said that Mr. Fitz needs me in something which is important. It definitely has something to do with my job," I cleared out and her frown only deepened.
She pulled me to the side. "Natalie, you can't leave me again, espicially at this time. We finally got to have some time together out of school and now you want to leave? You're fired. It's not like he's gonna hire you again."
I felt taken aback from her words. "Look, I'm sorry, but I have to leave," I said and turned on my heels. I didn't want her to get mad at me at all, but my old boss wanted me for something and it had to be important! I knew that. Whatever it was, I felt that I had to go.
I made sure I looked okay from my reflection on my phone's screen then took a cab to Starbucks. I should have probably gotten a bike since I couldn't afford a car and I couldn't keep spending money on cabs. Bikes could make moving from one place to another a lot easier to me and keep me fit. So both ways it was good to me.
I reached the place and entered. Sarah's head snapped at my direction and a smile formed on her face. I smiled back as I walked up to her. "Hey Sarah."
"Hey honey, Mr.Fitz is waiting for you right there," she said and pointed at a table that was in the corner, and indeed, Mr. Fitz was sitting there. I nodded at her and made my way to him.
"Mr. Fitz," I said and he looked up at me.
"Natalie. You may have a seat." I followed his words and took a place in front of him. "I want you back at work." He stated so bluntly and I stared at him weirdly. Why did he want me back out of a sudden?
"...Sure, I guess. But why did you change your mind?" I asked and saw him shift uncomfortably in his seat.
"I'm sorry I kicked you out. Now you may have your job back," he said and stood up to leave. "You can get back tomorrow and start your ordinary shifts," he added and quickly left. That was... odd.
I saw Sarah stealing glances at us few moments ago, so I walked up to her. I waited for her to finish with a customer which was taking a long time to decide whether to buy a cupcake or a pie.
When the customer finally left, Sarah turned to me and said, "What was it?"
"He rehired me. Weird, I know!"
She grinned very wide. "Weird or not, you're back." Leaning in, she gave me a hug from behind the counter.
I chuckled and said, "I'll start tomorrow, but I have to go know "
She nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I waved at her and walked back home. This week had been a bit busy to me, and I sure wanted to have some rest, but I thought about Marie. She and both Jake and Austin would be halfway through the movie by now. I didn't have to go back there and interrupt them. As long as Marie was spending time with Jake, then there was no problem. And now, I could have some rest before going back to work.