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Riley eyed up the swarm of high school girls who were giggling with Brad as he took their orders. “As long as I don’t have to go up there.”
“I’ll bring it over,” Ally said. “Tell me what you want and I’ll go get it.”
Three minutes later she carried two cups of iced latte to Riley’s table. She passed one to the girl. “You mind if I sit with you for a minute?” she asked.
Riley glanced over at the counter. “You sure my dad won’t yell at you for slacking off?” she asked. “Because he can shout really loud when he wants to.”
Ally raised her brow. “I’m due a break.” She didn’t bother to tell her she rarely took one.
Riley shrugged, so Ally sat down, taking a sip of her icy drink. She glanced at the book Riley was working from. “Algebra?” she asked, her voice sympathetic. “I swear it was invented by some evil genius to drive me crazy.”
“It’s not so bad,” Riley said. “Better than Spanish anyway.”
“I was bad at that, too,” Ally confessed. She’d been pretty bad at all subjects except for physical education. “We had this teacher, Senora Palmer, and every time I tried to speak she’d scream ‘yo no entiendo’ to me. Sometimes when I fall asleep I can still hear it.” Ally grimaced.
“She’s still there. And still screaming it.”
“Shut up!” Ally grinned. “She was old when I was at school and that was over ten years ago.”
“Maybe she’s one of those vampires that never ages a day,” Riley said drily. “All I know is she can’t hear any of us and she thinks it’s our fault.”
“Some things never change.” Ally took another mouthful of drink. “How are you settling in otherwise? Your dad said you moved down from Seattle. Do you miss it?”
“Seattle? No. I miss home, but that was never Seattle.”
Ally hesitated for a moment. Should she say something about Riley’s mom? She could remember how intense everything felt when she was a teenager. How she hated people offering sympathy about her mother when they hadn’t even known her. No, best to wait for Riley to bring it up.
“Well this isn’t such a bad place once you get used to it. There’s the beach for a start, plus the mountains. If you enjoy being outside there’s always something to do.”
“Did my dad ask you to tell me that?” Riley inquired, her expression suspicious.
“No.” The truth was, Ally was enjoying this conversation. Talking about Riley’s problems was a great way to distract her from her own.
“Yeah, well I’m not exactly the outdoorsy type,” Riley told her, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms in front of her.
“You looked pretty outdoorsy on the beach the other day.” Ally leaned forward. “Especially when you fell over.”
“You fell over first.”
Ally grinned. “Yep. And it was the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
“You should get out more.”
“I probably should. But I’ve got this new boss and I hear he’s a dragon.”
“Touché.” Riley nodded, her eyes serious.
The teenage girls who’d been standing by the register moved down the counter to pick up their drinks. Ally heard their laughter get louder as they approached. Riley slumped down in her chair, as though she was trying to avoid them.
Ally remembered how that felt, too. Trying not to be the center of the mean girls’ attention. On a whim, she grabbed a piece of paper from the pocket in her apron, and scribbled on it with a pencil. Leaning forward, she passed it to Riley.
“What’s this?” Riley asked.
“It’s my number. You’re new in town and you probably don’t know many people yet. But if you ever need some help, or someone to talk to you, please call me.”
“Why? I hardly know you.”
But I know you, Ally thought. Or at least I know who I used to be at your age. “My name’s Ally,” she said. “I’ve lived in Angel Sands since birth. I’ve worked here since I was fourteen and I hate beets. There, now you know me.”
