I wake up early Monday morning and see Jody and Jay sitting at the kitchen table with Nick. They turn in my direction as I start making breakfast. "Morning," I say, between yawns. "What time are you heading out?"
Jay turns his attention to me. "Shortly,"
"I wish it was me leaving for UCLA today, instead of going to work. Since, I got accepted I've been looking forward to getting away from this trailer park and moving on from this life. This weekend I'm going to experience my first party on campus and I'm looking forward to that."
Jay stands up and moves towards me. "Jody and I want to give you some helpful information for when you go to UCLA over the weekend."
Jody nods. "The first thing you should know is that the frat houses tend to throw the wildest parties, because they need to let off steam after they play ball. You should go to the party with a group of people instead of your own."
I plan too.
Jay takes over where Jody stopped. "The things you should take away from this conversation is never take a drink from someone you don't know. It's easy for someone you don't know to spike your drink and we don't want that to happen to you. So, make sure that you fill your cup up yourself. Also, don't drink too much, that's asking for trouble and guys will take advantage of that."
"Thanks, Jay, Jody. This information is helpful for me." Looking at Jody I say. "I'll give you a call on Sunday night and tell you how the party goes. I hope I don't run into Damien there."
Jody laughs. "You could avoid him by leaving the room he enters. That way he won't see you and you can still avoid him at all costs."
Walking over to her I hug her. "Thanks, I'll do just that."
Jay looks at us and says. "Whose, Damien?"
Nick's the first one to jump in. "He's a douche bag, but a great football player. He took the high school team to Nationals where they won the competition. I believe after he's finished his four years at University he'll get recruited to play for a huge team. He's that good."
"What's his last name?"
"Josef," I say. "You saw him the other night at Donna's bar 'n' grill. He's the one that chased me down when I took your order to the kitchen."
"Oh," He looks out the window as a black BMW pulls in front of the house. The door to the car opens and I see Damien step out. He walks over to the trailer door and knocks.
Looking at everyone I say. "Tell him I'm not here."
Jody shakes her head. "That's not going to work, Paige. Just go to the door and talk to him. I'm sure this is the last time he'll do something like this."
"Fine," the knocking on the door starts again and Damien says. "Paige, I know you're inside. I saw you when I stepped out of the car."
I open the door and look at him. "What do you want, Damien?" Looking on the ground I see a box of my stuff on the ground. "I thought you would have thrown all this stuff out?"
He shakes his head. "I can't throw out anything you own, Paige. I needed things around my room to remind me of you, but this weekend has shown me that there's not a chance for us. So, I thought that I would give you this back." He runs a hand through his dirty blonde locks. "Paige, I'm truly sorry for the way I broke up with you. It was cruel and..." he cuts himself off.
I wrap my arms around his waist. "I forgive you, Damien." I lie my cheek on his chest as he slowly wraps his arms around me. A tear falls down my face.
This is the last time we'll ever be like this. I'm going to be set free when I let him go.
Damien kisses the top of my head. "This is 'goodbye, Paige.' I hope you have a great life at whatever campus you chose. The school is going to be lucky to have a girl like you there."
UCLA, is going to be lucky to have me.
I step away from him. "Bye, Damien." I watch him walks away from the trailer. He opens the door to BMW and steps inside. I sit on the stairs and watch as the car pulls away.
Tears begin to fall down my face.
Why am I crying so much? This is what I wanted.
The door to the trailer opens and Jody steps out. She moves down the stairs and holds me as I cry. She whispers soothing words to me. "Shhh, its okay, Paige. I know he was you're first love, but that's all he'll ever be. My brother is taking up a better part of your heart. Just let him in."
"I will." I promise my best friend. "We should go inside. I don't want Nick to worry." Standing up I walk over to the box and carry it inside. I place it on the kitchen table.
I'll sort it out when I get home.
Looking at the clock on the wall I see that I have ten minutes to get to work. "I better get to work. Have a safe trip home, guys." I hug Jody and Jay before walking out of the house. I climb into the car and start the engine.
At the café I see Renee opening the door and I beep the horn, gaining her attention. She turns in my direction and waves. "I'll leave the door unlocked."
"Okay," I drive down the road and find a parking spot. Pulling into it I park the car and turn the engine off. I grab my bag off the passenger seat and step out of the car. I lock the doors before heading to the café.
When I get to the café Renee is making two coffees. She looks up as the door jingles. "I made you a coffee. You look like you need one."
"I do." I walk over to the counter and put my bag under it. "I had an unexpected visitor this morning and I missed out on my coffee and breakfast."
Antonia steps out from in the kitchen. "Well, Dear. You might as well help me in the kitchen and I'll give you something to eat. I can't let my favorite employee miss out on the most important meal of the day."
Renee crosses her arms and pouts like a little child. "I thought I was your favorite?"
Antonia laughs. "Out of my immediate family you are, but since Paige joined us she's been my favorite."
Aw, that's so sweet of her.
"Antonia?"
She looks at me. "Yes, Paige?"
"I don't think I'll be your favorite when I give you my resignation."
Her mouth opens and closes a couple of times, before she says. "Resignation? Are you leaving?"
I nod. "I start at UCLA in January."
Renee and Antonia hug me. "That's great."
Yes, it is.
Renee turns her attention back to the coffee and she gives me my cup. "You better get in the kitchen. The cakes aren't going to ice themselves."
I laugh and follow Antonia into the kitchen where I help her ice the cakes.
Antonia has a dozen croissants sitting on the table and she says. "Help yourself."
I grab two and put margarine and jelly on it. I take it over to my seat and start eating. It doesn't take long until I've finished my breakfast and walking to the front.
A group of people walk through the door and I take their orders and then help Renee make them. I give them all their orders and they walk out of the café.
Grabbing a cloth from under the counter I walk around the tables and wipe them down for the new customers that's going to come in.
Where's Annabeth?
Renee is wiping down the coffee machine when Jody and Jay walk into the café. She looks at them and says. "Hey, what can I get you this morning?"
Jay places their orders as I lean over the counter to talk to Jody.
"What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't leave without a good coffee for the road trip. My brother can't make coffee to save his life, but Antonia's is the one place you can get the coffee you want."
"You're not supposed to drink coffee while you're pregnant." I tell her.
A smile spreads across her face. "I'm glad you care, but I'm having a hot chocolate, Paige. You know I don't drink much coffee." She looks in the display case and looks at all the cakes. "Can I get a chocolate donut?"
"Sure," I use the tongs and give her one of the cakes I iced. Placing it in a bag I give it to her. "I made that one."
She pulls it out of the bag and starts eating it. "It's good. Maybe, you should move to us and make stuff like this for me."
I shake my head. "Nah I don't want to be the one looking after you when the cravings sets in. I'm sure Jay will do whatever you need him to do."
Once there drinks are made they walk out of the cafe hand in hand.
Renee looks at me. "They didn't pay for the cake?"
Pulling money out of my purse I say. "That's because it was on me. They need to save a little extra money for their trip home. The price of fuel's gone up and I wouldn't want them to be left in the middle of nowhere."
She looks at the door. "The girl looks familiar. Is she related to the guy I've seen you hanging around with lately?"
"Yes, that's his sister and my best friend, Jody.
The rest of the day starts to fly by as we get rushes out people coming into the café wanting a hot drink.
Looking outside I see that it's starting to pour down.
I really don't want to drive home in that.
Walking out from behind the counter I flip the open sign to closed and start cleaning the tables and putting the chair on top of it.
Someone knocks on the window and I see Annabeth with a little girl as it pours outside. Turning towards Renee I say. "Can I let Annabeth and her sister in?"
She looks up from the till. "Sure, but tell them we won't be able to make them a drink."
"I will." Moving over to the door I open it for Annabeth. "I can't make you a drink."
"That's fine. I just needed to get Raya out of the rain. If Mom..." she claps her hand over her mouth. "Shit, that woman's not here to get mad at me for letting Raya get wet while we were out there."
"I should have said this earlier, but I'm sorry about your Mom."
Annabeth places her hand on my arm. "You don't need to apologize, Paige. She wasn't a nice person towards the end and everyone in my family starting hating her because of the way she treated us." She opens up her bag and pulls out a manila envelope. "I got news and I thought you would be the perfect person to share it with."
"Okay,"
"I got into UCLA and Harvard. Both those schools have different stuff I want to study, but I'm not sure which one to go too."
A smile spreads across my face. "That's great, An. I got accepted into UCLA too. I'm going there this weekend to see the campus and party."
She laughs. "Dad told me that I should go to Harvard this weekend and check out the school. He told me that whatever school I choose will be fine by him."