One
“I’msobummedIhave to work,” I grumble from behind the counter at the cafe. “What fun stuff have I been missing out on?”
“We haven’t headed to the skatepark yet, if that’s what you’re asking,” Tyler says with a smirk as he takes the cardboard box of bakery treats. “Kai was adamant we can’t go there without you.”
I groan. “I wish my aunt could cut me some slack and let me skip one Sunday shift.”
Tyler laughs. “You act like you’ve got the strictest parent out of all of us. Do you realize we’d all do anything to live with your Aunt Maddy.”
I roll my eyes. Everyone thinks I get away with murder because my aunt is in her twenties. Plus, my friends are guys who think she’s hot.
“Hey Tyler,” Aunt Maddy says, walking out of the kitchen with two plates of food. “Are you picking up Mrs. Nelson’s order?”
Tyler pats the cardboard box. “Yeah, I’d better get back before she flips her lid.”
Aunt Maddy smiles and moves over to a table, saying, “See you soon.”
Tyler looks back at me, gesturing to the box. “Thanks again for these.”
“Noproblem,” I say as Kylie makes her way behind the counter. “Kylie made the cookies and muffins this morning.”
Kylie glimpses Tyler, and then puts her head down as she moves past me. Tyler waves and leaves, and anxiety floods through my body. It happens around most women, but especially girls from my school. Whenever I’m around other girls, I get the same feeling. Slight dizziness, dreaded clamminess, a sloshing stomach, knocking knees, and horrible stammering.
I flex my trembling fingers, trying to get it together. Perhaps if I envision Tyler still standing at the other side of the counter, my body will calm down. Kylie turns from washing her hands at the sink, and there’s a calmness about her. With Tyler gone, so is the redness blotting her face.
She eyes me warily, frowning. My shoulders lock and I recoil.
“How do you do that?” she asks in a timid voice.
“Huh?” My heart pounds as my imagination fires up the worst possible things she could ask me.
She huffs and grabs a wet cloth, running it along the counter. “You talk to them like it’s nothing.”
I scratch my head, digging my nails into my scalp. My mind whirrs, creating a more horrible situation than what’s currently happening.
Kylie scowls, muttering under her breath, “I don’t get why boys like you.”
I turn away, letting my eyes roll. Yeah, freaking, right. Boys don’tlikelike me. I am the most friend-zoned girl ever. Not that I’m romantically interested in any of my friends, but besides them, there are no other boys in my life. Plus, they keep me around because I’m a tomboy. If they knew I secretly wanted a boyfriend and fantasized about kissing my perfect guy, it’d be friendship over.
I don’t know if life would be easier if I had other girls to talk about this stuff. I mean, I have Aunt Maddy, but she’s not another sixteen-year-old girl. Kylie is, and in a year of working together, we’ve barely shared a five-minute conversation. Part of me wants a friend that is a girl, but the other part remembers how my mother warned me about other women.
“Hi Jamie,” an enthusiastic yet grating voice says from the other side of the counter.
My jaw clenches and I push all my effort into a smile as my head pivots toward him. “Hi David. Maddy’s taking orders at a booth.”
David glances over his shoulder and turns back to me with a cheesy grin. “I know. I gave her a wave as I came in. If I hadn’t seen her on the way in, I would’ve thought you were her. You both have such similar side profiles.”
“Mhmm.” It comes out through tight lips. Everyone asks if Maddy and I are sisters because there’s only twelve years between us. It trips most people out when they learn that the reality is Aunt Maddy is my sole caregiver.
“Oh, but you’re so young,”customers always say to Maddy. Regardless of her age, she didn’t have a choice. Mom was gone when Maddy was eighteen, and it was only us and Grams left.
Kylie leaves the counter to clean an empty section, and David asks, “Has it been a busy day?”
“Sundays always are,” I reply, looking at his linen charcoal suit, crisp white shirt, and red with white pinstripe tie. Who dresses like this on a Sunday? Unfortunately, he’s like most people in Victoria Falls. Mr. Stuffy wants everyone to know he has a high-paying job.
“Yeah. The pancake stacks are legendary,” David says, cheesy smile maxing out.
I wish he’d stop trying so hard with me. Does he not realize I find him so annoying?
