by Remi Rose
“Most of the time.” He grins.
Shaking my head, I focus on the raggedy chucks on my feet that should have been thrown away years ago. They were falling apart at the seams, but I didn’t have it in me to toss them out, they were my favorite pair.
“How’s Claire?” He asks, changing the subject.
“She’s good, she has a new boyfriend.” I lift my head.
“He good to her?”
Nodding, I glance down at my watch.
“You got somewhere to be?” He motions toward the gold watch that’s wrapped around my wrist.
“Just work.”
His eyes widened in shock. “You gotta job? You didn’t say anything.”
“Yea, it’s no big deal though.” I shrug.
“Not a big deal? That’s awesome Bec, I’m so proud of you!” He praises. “You hear that Joe? My daughter’s got a job.” He twists his head around towards the guard behind him, but by the expression on his face, he could care less.
“Dad, please stop.” I groan, rubbing my forehead. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for seventeen-year-olds to have a job.
“Where are you working?” He presses.
“Cool Times, the ice cream shop.”
I wasn’t wearing that god-awful outfit for just shits and giggles. A plaid-colored pair of thigh length shorts and a red polo should be banned. But don’t even get me started on the hat I have to wear...
“Good for you.” He smiles proudly, showcasing his gold covered tooth.
“Thanks.” I smile back.
I promised myself long ago I would never end up like my mom or dad. I’d work hard in school and save up money, so I could leave this town and all its memories in the past. As much as I loved my dad, I needed a fresh start somewhere else, with or without him.
“When’s school start? Soon, right?” He questions.
“Yeah, tomorrow actually.” I inform.
He pulls the phone away from his ear and starts to shake his head back and forth grinning ear to ear. “Senior year.” He says like he’s reminiscing on the days he was in school. “My girl’s last year of school.” He stares at me in wonderment. “Where has the time gone?”
Lifting the side of my mouth in a half smile, I start to fidget with the phone cord. “Don’t get all emotional on me now.” I tease.
“I’m trying.” He says truthfully. “You make your old man proud.”
Holding back the tears that wanted to fall, I avert my eyes from his stare. “Well, I hate to cut our time short, but I have work in ten minutes.”
“No, it’s okay. Get that money.” He jokes.
“Dad, stop.” I can’t help but let out a small giggle as I place my head in my palm.
“I’ll see you next month?”
“Of course.” I nod.
“Good.” He smiles. “Good luck on your first day of school.”
“Thanks. And you,” I point a black painted nail at him. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Yah, yah, yah. Love yah kid.” He places the phone back on the wall before I could respond.
“Love you too.” I whisper to myself. As he walks away, I push out of the plastic chair, and make my way to work.
Arriving two minutes before I had to clock in, I hurriedly pull my hair up in a messy bun, letting my curtain bangs fall and strap my ugly visor to the top of my head.
“The appropriate time to arrive to work is five minutes before you’re scheduled.” My manager’s nasally voice echoed through the empty shop as I quickly walked behind the register and clocked in.
“Sorry.” I mumble, hoping he doesn’t give me any more shit. My boss was a prick. He was a thirty-three-year-old man who worked at an ice cream shop. I mean come one dude. Don’t you have anything better to do than harass a teenage girl.
“Yah, well, sorry won’t cut it next time.” He quips. Turning around to face him, I silently pray that he leaves soon so I don’t have to deal with him any more than I have too already. He goes over a few things about what needs to be done on my shift, then suddenly his eyes drop down to my shoes.
“You can’t wear those shoes here.” He curls his lip like it sickens him to see that I’m wearing them.
“Why not?” I ask confused. Sure, they were a little worn out but they did their job.
“Look at them.” He points down. “I’d hardly call those shoes.”
“No one’s complained about them before.”
Lifting his heavily freckled nose, he crosses his arms across his chest. “Well, I am now. And if you want to keep your job here, I suggest you invest in a more suitable pair of shoes for work.” With that, he turns his heel and walks away.
Flipping him the bird, I’m relieved when he finally leaves me here by myself. Tonight was slower than usual, we normally had a rush of people come in around seven, mostly loud families that were indecisive and took forever to order. But tonight was different. Chipping away at the black paint on my nails, I stand by the register waiting for the clock to hit nine. Slow nights were the absolute worst. I’d take busy over slow in a heartbeat. Hearing the door swing open, I immediately lift my head but instantly regret it. My eyes lock onto his and I automatically feel my cheeks warm up.
Travis fucking Haynes, with some eye candy on his arm who looks a little too comfortable being there. Star quarterback. Notorious playboy. Everyone knew his motives with women, he was manwhore to say the least, a hit it and quit it type of guy who had no interest in being in a relationship. And trust me, I would know, but not for the reason you’d think. Last year, I stupidly forgot my jacket in Mr. Wilson’s English class, so I decided to go back and get it when the school was empty. Apparently, it wasn’t. Hearing groans coming from the classroom, I cautiously opened the door but was met by Travis pile driving Holly James against the teacher’s desk. With her head tossed back, she was oblivious to her onlooker but Travis immediately caught me. With a devious smirk on his face, he continued pounding into her, never wavering his eyes from mine. Disgusted, I speedily got out of there without grabbing my jacket and luckily the whole matter seemed to have been forgotten by the next day.
“O’Connor? Is that you?” He rose a dark brow, scanning me from top to bottom. As he got closer, I noticed the brunette next to him was assessing me as if I was some sort of competition.
Don’t worry. He’s all yours sweetie.
“Travis.” I nod, focusing on anything other than his emerald eyes. There was no denying he was good looking. Dark hair that messily fell over to one side of his head, tall and muscled physique, and a wicked smile that had girls falling at his feet.
“It’s been a while since I’ve last seen you.” He goes on to say with his arm still draped over the brunette’s shoulder, ignoring the obvious glare she was burning into the side of his head.
“Yup.” I pretend to mess with the register. “What can I get you both?”
“What do you have?” She asks arrogantly, running a finger down the center of Travis’ chest. Dressed in cut off jean shorts and a revealing tank top, she was exactly his type. Attractive, nice figure, and most of all, easy.
“All our flavors are listed up here.” I point to the sign above me. Travis’s eyes were still locked on me until the brunette forced his attention on her.
“What do you want?” She stands tall on her toes, brushing her glossed lips against the shell of his ear.
“What’s good, O’Connor?” He nods his head towards the sign.
“I’ll have cookie dough.” The brunette interrupts, grinning as she interlocks her fingers with Travis.
Nodding, I wait for Travis to tell me what he wants.
“Uh, why don’t you get us a table, Bree?” He gestures toward the vacant lobby. “I’ll bring us our ice cream.”
Clearly, that wasn’t what she wanted to hear by the scowl across her face. “But...”
“Go.” He says a little forcibly.
Frowning, she looks back and forth between us confused, before scampering away.
“That was rude.” I walk towards the freezer of ice cream and begin scooping the dessert into a cup. Being left alone with Travis sent my heart into a wild frenzy. The last thing I wanted was to be left alone with him.
When it came to boys, I was clueless. I avoided them like the plague and they avoided me right back. I was always the loner type in school, few friends, little words and, right now, having the attention of Westwood High’s most sought-after individual was too good to be true.
“She’ll get over it.” He says straight faced, keeping his eyes locked onto mine.
It wasn’t that I disliked Travis, I just didn’t particularly like him. He was arrogant and full of himself, the complete opposite of me. Where he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, I was blessed with a dirty plastic spoon.
“What can I get you?” I huff, placing his date’s cup onto the counter.
“Chocolate.” He licks his bottom lip.
Swallowing, I start scooping the chocolate.
“Why do I sense that you don’t really like me?” He chuckles, shoving his hands into his jean pockets.
Why did he care if I didn’t like him? I was basically a nobody anyway.
“I.. I don’t not like you.” Caught off guard by his question, I shake my head, shoveling out more ice cream.
“It’s because of that time in the classroom? Isn’t it?” He counters, causing my cheeks to flare.
Jesus, why did he have to bring that up?
“I.. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I deny as it brings flashbacks from that night. His naked body, her naked body….
“Don’t play dumb, O’Connor.” He takes a step closer so he’s leaning against the top of the freezer. “I saw you watching us.” He smirks, resembling the same face he gave me that night.
“I wasn’t watching.” I snarl in disbelief. “I left my jacket on the back of my chair, and wasn’t expecting to walk in on… that.”
“You’re right, you weren’t watching.” He states. “You were wishing.”
Taken aback, I slam both cups of ice cream onto the counter next to the register, splashing some chocolate onto my shirt. “Wishing what exactly?”
“For someone so sexy, you sure are naive.” He rests his palms on the counter, taking his time to look me over.
“If you think that I was wishing that you were screwing me, you’re most certainly, incredibly, most definitely wrong.” I punch in buttons on the register a little too roughly, risking breaking it. But right now, I didn’t care. The nerve of this guy was unbelievable.
Laughing, he leans in close. “After you ran off, I imagined it was you.” He confesses.
With bulged eyes, I keep my head down at all costs. “That’s ridiculous.”
“What’s ridiculous is that I never see you with a guy. What’s up with that?” He lifts his chin, studying me like he’s trying to figure me out.
“There’s nothing up with that… like it’s any of your business anyway.”
A sly grin appeared on his face, making it obvious he liked our little back and forth game. “You think I haven’t noticed you before that night?”
There was no way he did. He never even once glanced in my direction throughout all our high school years. I was basically invisible to him and the rest of the boys at Westwood.
“I’m not interested.”
“No?” He raises a dark brow like he’s egging me on.
“Not at all.”
Glancing around his frame, I notice his date, Bree, fuming as she watches our conversation from afar.
“Your total’s 9.50.” I announce, holding out my palm. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his wallet and hands me a fifty. Placing the bill in my hand, he purposely brushes his fingertips across my palm.
“Keep the change.” He shoves his wallet back in his pocket.
“I’m not keeping that.” I scoff. “I’m not a charity case.”
“I never said you were.” He grabs both cups of ice cream. “I’ll see you around.” He winks before stalking off towards his irate date, who’s giving me a death stare. But as soon as Travis was is in her vicinity, she throws her arms around his neck, and pulls him down onto her lips for an over-the-top kiss. Rolling my eyes, I notice he doesn’t pull away at first. He lets her take charge, letting her run her fake nails down his back and peer over his shoulder with a satisfied twinkle in her eye. She was definitely trying to prove a point that didn’t need to be made.
Travis then pushes her away looking flustered and irritated by her advance, like seconds ago he wasn’t shoving his tongue down her throat. I watched as he leaned in, whispered something that caused her to frown and take a step back. As if he could feel my stare, Travis spun his head around and caught me watching.
Once again.
But this time, I didn’t back down. I stood my ground and leered back as they both made their way for the exit. Opening the door, he lets his date pass through, then stops. He holds the door with his foot.
“See you tomorrow, O’Connor.” He rubs the bottom of his lip, wiping away some chocolate that was stuck in the corner of his mouth. But what I didn’t expect, was for him to put that finger in his mouth and lick it clean.
Scoffing, I don’t bother saying anything back, just continue to focus on cleaning the counters till I hear the door close shut. Relieved he left, my heart began to beat at a normal pace again and I could finally relax.
By tomorrow, Travis will have already forgotten about me. Sure, he seemed to have had fun riling me up and making his date jealous but there’s no way he’d actually pursue me. If anything, he just wanted to get in my pants and get me out of his system. Too bad for him, he’s the last person on earth I’d sleep with.
******
As soon as the clock struck nine, I quickly went through my checklist of closing procedures and was out of there by nine thirty. Knowing tomorrow was going to be an early day for me, I hustled home in a record time of fifteen minutes. The lights were still on inside when I pulled up, so I knew Aunt Claire was sleeping here tonight instead of at her boyfriend’s place.
“Hey, sweetie. How was work?” She yawned, while pushing herself up into a seated position. Her short blonde hair was the same shade as mine, but dyed a darker color of brown underneath, giving her an edgier look. The resemblance between her and my dad was unbelievable, most people thought they were identical but they were only half siblings who shared the same mom.
“It was fine.” I fidget with the torn strings on my shoes trying to unlace them.
“How’s Shane doing?” She asks, running a hand through her bed head. Her and my dad always had a love-hate relationship. Growing up, she was the favored child. Good grades, obedient, and had a promising future, where my dad was the complete opposite.
“He’s good. I didn’t stay for too long though.” I toss my shoes into the small closet beside me.
“Hm.” She pushes herself off the couch, peering off into the distance like she wants to say more. “Well, let’s hope he gets his shit together once he gets out.”
Saying that was like hoping one day the Bears would win the super bowl, highly unlikely. Deep down, I had high hopes for him. That once he’s out, he’ll finally step up and be the man I knew he could be. But Aunt Claire couldn’t disagree more. She knew better than to believe that her brother could be a model citizen.
“Yah.” I nod, agreeing, not wanting to discuss it further. I loved my Aunt Claire. She was the mom I never had, but at times I wished she’d take a little more interest in wanting to visit my dad. After all they were siblings, and the rest of his family shit on him. Maybe knowing there’s people out there that care about him and want to see him succeed, he’d want to put effort in making a better life for himself.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” She squeals, running into the kitchen and coming back with a wrapped box in her hands. Sighing, I give her the “Why’d you get me something” look before taking the box from her grip. “It’s just a little something for your last f
irst day of school tomorrow.” She grins.
Tearing at the polka dot paper, I lift up the top of the box revealing a light blue wash jean jacket. It looked two sizes too big for me, but that’s exactly how I liked my clothes. Baggy and concealing. “Thank you.” I peer up, giving her a thankful smirk. “But you didn’t have to get me this.” I shake my head, placing the box onto the arm of the couch.
“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.” She smiles warmly. “Plus, it was on sale and looked like something you’d wear.”
I had to give it to her though, she had good taste in clothes. Not just because she was a fashion stylist for a living, because some of those people just plainly sucked at it, but because she knew everyone had a different style.
“Still.” I sigh, gnawing at my bottom lip. I always felt uncomfortable when she splurged on getting me things. I wasn’t her kid or her problem, yet she treated me like I was her own.
“Stop.” She rests her single hand on my shoulder. “What did I tell you about overthinking?”
“I know, I just wish...” I stare down at my black painted toes.
“We all wish your parents weren’t shit bags, but they are. And it’s not your fault.” She interrupts my train of thought. “I took you in, and I made the commitment to provide for you and give you things you deserve. So please, stop feeling guilty about accepting gifts or anything from me.”
Feeling a slight twitch of my mouth, I reluctantly give in and nod. “Fine, but one day I’m going to pay you back for everything.” I promised.
“No, you’re not.” She shook my shoulder. “I took you in knowing I had to buy you everything. If anyone should pay me back, it should be your father.” She says straight faced, but a small laugh escapes her lips. “But who am I kidding? He’d end up in prison again trying to get the money to pay me back.”
Joining in, I laugh with her even if it was a jab on my dad. “I better get to bed.” I motion upstairs. “Thank you again for the jacket. I love it.”
“Yea, of course.” She removes her hand from my shoulder. “Sleep good.”
