Hope [ON HOLD]

Pranking the Hopeless Little Girl

If I had to describe my best friend, Zoe in one word, it would be courageous. Or maybe gutsy. Or if I were writing her in a poem, I might use plucky, because that what she is! That doesn’t matter though, they all mean the same things- brave, and Zoe was nothing if not brave.

It was one of the things that I liked the best about her. She always understood right from wrong, and had a clear since of where her life was going. I remember when we were in 2nd grade, and this boy named Ethan Miller pushed me down in the sandbox and kicked sand in my face. All of a sudden I see Zoe who was almost a head shorter than he, yell at him and tell him to help me up. He did end up helping me up and walking me to the bathroom to wash the sand of my face. From that day forward was the birth of Zoe and my friendship.

But sometimes her braveness is a little too hard to ignore. It was a Tuesday afternoon around 4:15, and I was handling the cash register at Soup Bowl (my job, it’s a café) when Zoe walked in with her untied converse, her dirty blond hair was windblown, and she was somewhat rocking the messy bun look.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly, leaning against the countertop, “Can you help me with my math homework?” She dropped her elbow up on the counter, and gave me the puppy dog eyes.

“Zoe! I am working!” I hissed at her, keeping my eyes on the cash register. 

“And?” She gave me a bored look; I stole a glimpse at my manager Lynn. She glanced back at me, and raised an eyebrow. I got the message and turned slowly back to Zoe, who was waiting for me impatiently.

I looked up a sighed, "Fine, go to an empty table and I will be will of in about an hour. 

She nodded and walked away. I locked the cash register and looked back a Lynn, who was talking to another colleague of mine. I sighed in relief and resumed to picking up crumpled sandwich wrappers and stuffing them into a cup.   

I made my way towards the kitchen, trying to slip by Lynn unnoticed.

“Skylar come into my office please, we need to talk.” My shoulders sagged, and I shot a look a mock hatred towards Zoe.

“Sorry.” She mouthed to me; I took my visor off and undid my tired long brown hair. Lynn sat down and tapped a few things into her computer, and wrote down numbers on a form.

“All this paperwork…” she muttered, and then said in a louder voice, “Please control your little friend. Mr. Davidson has been hangin’ around the Café lately. And I don’t want any trouble…..”  Her voice trailed off. Mr. Davidson is our employer; he can fire someone on the spot if he wants to.

I nodded and started towards the kitchen.

“Don’t forget what I said. I know you have a tendency to be a scatterbrain, through one ear and out the other.” She sighed.

I stopped, leaned back into the office, and nodded again, “Whatever mother.” I said with a wave of my hand.

“If you say so,” she said. “I’ve got too much to do to argue with you. Just don’t be doing anything stupid or else I’ll come after you myself.”

I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly. “I should be getting back to work.” I said with a half smile.

The hour crept by, and trying to look constantly busy eventually made it so that there was no work to do.   

Lynn popped out of her office.

“Skylar honey, go on home. I lock up for you.” Lynn said, “And make sure Zoe is a little quiet next time.” She added.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Zoe ’s shocked expression. She was sitting down at a table texting someone most likely Cade. 

“Psst! Waitress! Can I get some service over here? Zoe hissed raising any eyebrow at me. "I was waiting for 45 minutes."  

“Heck no, I am officially off in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” I said in a deadpan kind of voice.

“Whatever, let’s go meet Cade. He said he’s waiting outside for us.” She checked her phone and showed me the message.

As we exited the Café the cold hit my bare skin and I began to shiver.

“Hey wait for me, I forgot my sweater inside.” She nodded as I scampered back inside.

As I walked back inside I didn’t see Zoe.

“Hey Zoe where are you? This is not funny if you are trying it scare me.” I could hear my voice begin to quiver and shake.

What if she got hurt? What if someone kidnapped her? What if someone is holding her hostage and waiting to kill me too? My mind began to race with all these kind of “what if” questions.

As I slowly approached the corner, I swear if anyone was around me they would hear how loud my heart is beating. Beads of sweat began to form on my forehead, just a little farther and-

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Someone behind me screamed bloody murder!I flung my purse into the air, and let out a blood curdling scream.

“HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!”

 I knew those laughs from anywhere.

“Cade Alan Thomas and Zoe Rose-Lena Ferguson, how dare you scare me like that?! How dare you scare me like that!?” I whipped around and saw both Zoe and Cade on the ground laughing.

Cade is my other best friend. If I were to describe him in one word I would protective. Or maybe caring in a weird, scary way. Because Cade can be the overprotective big brother, pervish uncle, and annoying little cousin all in one. 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days. He was supposed to pick me up and drop me to work and school since my car is in the shop. 

Our friendship began when my mom died and I would walk to the cemetery after school every day, and talk with her. And one day Cade followed me and sat down next to me, and listened. I didn’t mind, and he did that for a week until he invited over to house for a play date. That was how our relationship grew from there.

Anyways……

“We were just joking around Skylar!” Cade said, as he tried to excuse himself.

I felt deflated and a little relived that Zoe was okay. She was trying to contain her laughter as I approached them.

“Can I tell her?” She glanced at Cade as if I wasn’t even there.

“No! Wait until she figures it out.” He argued back. He was typing something on his phone, and in the darkness of the night, his phone gave his face a pinkish tint.

“Figures out what?” I demanded crossing my arms.

“That I just uploaded the video of you screaming to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter!” He said still typing. 

My mouth hung open as I watched the video, but I couldn’t help breaking into a fit of laughter.

“You see I told you it was funny!” Zoe ’s whole face was bright red, because she is usually pale.

“And thanks to me, you may become an Internet sensation!” Cade boasted..