*Hazel's pov*
I sipped my strawberry milkshake in the booth as Prom Queen by Beach Bunny played in the diner.
I sat alone in the same booth from yesterday at Sunset Sally's Diner. I'd been coming everyday since then later at night to spy on my dad. He sure did have a lot of grocery shopping to do. But we didn't need that much milk... On the days Asher had shifts, he'd stay extra late to help me out. I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted.
Peeking over the top of the seat, I spied the cashier, Claire. She was talking to one of the waitresses. She went to Glenwood High, I knew I had her in art class. I strained a bit to hear their conversation.
"Isn't he...taken, though?" The waitress asked with a raised eyebrow.
Claire just rolled her eyes. "They got divorced like three years ago. Sure they're "dating" now, but if he isn't married, then he's not really tied down. Ya know?"
The waitress scratched her arm and laughed uncomfortably. "Yeah, yeah. But isn't that kinda messed up?"
Claire gave her a glare. "Girlie, you're still in high school. What do you know? You'll understand when you get older."
"Oh, I understand more than you think." The waitress mumbled when the bell on the door suddenly chimed and in walked my dad.
In routine, he walked up to the cashier and I saw Claire quickly push the waitress into the kitchen.
"Hey, Clary." My dad flirted just as he had been for the past few days. I literally gagged as their conversation went on.
~~~~~~~
I was in the middle of sipping my milkshake and listening to Claire and my dad talk about each other's...anatomy, when someone came up to the table.
I looked up to find the waitress that was talking to Claire smiling down at me. She wore the usual waitress uniform, very similar to the waiter uniform. It included a white button down shirt tucked into a black skirt with suspenders, and black lace up dress shoes. She had her curly hair in pigtails.
I looked at her name tag and saw that her name was Athena Bisset.
"Is there anything else I can get for you?" Athena asked, referring to my milkshake.
I smiled. "Oh, no. Thank you. I'm fine." My stomach disagreed. It made that apparent when it decided to make whale noises. "... Actually, can I get some mozarella sticks please?"
She giggled before bringing out a little notepad and pen, and started scribbling. "Of course, I'll be right back with your order." She walked off into the back kitchen. My eyes followed after her but stopped on the disgusting lovebirds as she passed by them.
They were making out. Claire was leaning against the counter and he held her waist, pulling their hips together. I cringed as I watched what they were doing. I just wanted to scream,"PDA should be prohibited in such a place! People are trying to eat you twerps!!" But I didn't, just to keep my cover.
I kept my eyes on them as Athena came out with my mozarella sticks. She followed my gaze as she arrived at my table and sighed.
"Kinda sad, huh? You know, for the family." She frowned as she set down my food.
"You wanna know something?" I said, and she turned her gaze towards me. "That's my dad." I didn't know why I told her, but I just needed to tell someone. It was so hard to keep it from my family. I mean, I was planning on telling them, but I wanted to investigate more.
I expected her eyes to widen and for her to say 'sorry' for my situation. Instead, she sighed and sat down across from me. She lowered her eyes to her fidgeting hands. "It sucks, doesn't it?"
I looked at her with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"No, it's-it's nothing." She looked back up at me and gave me the most heartbreaking smile ever. It was one of those smiles that didn't come from happiness, but rather sadness. It made me want to cry.
"But yeah, it definitely sucks." I was gonna turn back to my dad and Claire, but she reached out to touch my hand in a way to get me to stop.
"Don't look. It just makes the pain greater. Let's talk, instead. I have you fifth period. Hazel, right?" I nod. "Hmm, what do you like to do for fun?"
I thought about it. "I love to read, watch movies, and listen to music, and stuff."
She grinned. "Look,my shift ends in a few. I'll run to change, then I'll show you how to really have fun." When she was smiling, I got to take in the beauty of her features. Her dark skin, even darker hair, and her chocolate brown eyes that stood out, especially with the mascara she was wearing. She also had on a dark shade of lipstick that contrasted against her white smile. I liked when she was smiling. It was nice to see the difference in her when she was happy.
I grinned back. "Can't wait."
~~~~~~~
"Ahhhh, brain freeze!" I shrieked after slurping my blue slushie.
"Don't drink it so fast, girl." Athena laughed. She was now wearing a yellow cropped t-shirt with black high-waisted jeans and slip on vans.
We were walking out of a 7-eleven with my blue slushie and her red one after a ride through the town in her beige 1970s Chevy. We blasted a bunch of music from the 2000s and sang along as we looked up at the nighttime views. For a while, I forgot about all my problems.
We were walking back to her car when a man passing by us whistled and blurted out,"You ladies looking for a late night quickie? Cause I'd be happy to help."
Athena rolled her eyes and I asked,"What's a quickie?" She whispered it in my ear and I gasped. "Dude, we're seventeen!"
He grinned. "Close enough to eighteen. What'd'ya say?"
I'd been cat called before, but each time, my brothers were beside me to quickly shut it down or threaten the guy that did it. This time, it was night and we were two teenage girls alone at a 7-eleven.
Sure, I'd love to have made a sarcastic remark, but seeing as I wanted to be safe, I'd play it safe. "Uh, sir, it's really late and we should be heading home. So if you don't mind, we'll just be going-"
"Hey, don't leave yet! Come on, don't be a prude. Show me something sweet." He stepped closer to us.
"Sir, please. We don't want trouble. Just leave us alone." Athena said in a tired voice.
The man snarled. "What? So now I'm some creepy guy causing you trouble? That's really rude. Didn't your mothers ever teach you manners?"
"No, we're not saying that! We just need be be heading off." My voice was getting a bit shaky and I was ready to cry from fear.
"Don't head off yet! Show me a good time first."
"Sir, I'm going to tell you one more time. Leave. Us. Alone." Athena said as politely as possible.
"I'll leave you alone after you show me something worth my time." He had this disgusting smile on his face.
Athena mumbled angrily,"Oh, I'll show you something worth your time." Then she did something unexpected. She did one of those fancy martial arts spin kick things and knocked the guy out.
My mouth hung open in shock. "H-he...H-how...Huh?"
She smirked. "Learned a bit of self defense."
I was going to question her further, but she smiled and motioned for me to get into the car.
"We should probably call it a night. I wanted to do more, but I don't wanna deal with any more creeps like him. They're always out around these times." She chuckled as she drove onto my street.
Don't worry, she wasn't a stalker. I told her my address.
"Yeah. I had fun, though. We should hang out more often." I smiled as she parked the car in front of my house.
She smiled back. "Yeah. Friends?"
"Friends."
A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for taking so long to update. We didn't have WiFi for about two weeks. I'm sorry you had to wait but I'm finally back. What do you think about Athena? What do you think she was talking about when she said it sucked? Hmm, guess we'll have to find out. I hope you liked this chapter! Make sure to follow for notifications and announcements! Please keep reading and vote! Thank you!! By my lovelies!!!❤❤❤
---Your Smøl Bean, Gen