Don't Cry Over Phở

Chapter 6: Surprises

"You will be working at the restaurant after school every day from now on," she said finally.

"What?" I said in shock. Did I hear that right?

"Good so it's settled," said the principal while standing up. "Wait but mom I have homework!! How am I going to have time-" I protested before getting cut off with a glare from my mom. I closed my mouth knowing it would be pointless to argue with her.

Working at the phở restaurant? I hated the idea of dealing with customers and the busy rush hours. I barely had enough free time as it is and working there would give me zero time to do anything!! At least it was better than my parents murdering me I guess.

Glumly leaving the principal's office after my parents left, I shuffled to the cafeteria feeling my stomach growl with hunger. As I entered the cafeteria, I instinctively looked for Hailey before seeing her sitting with another group of girls. Right. She didn't really want to be friends anymore.

Grabbing my lunch, I let my eyes wander over the tables wondering where to sit. "Hey Allison!" called a voice from behind me. I turned around. It was Zoey, the friendly Asian girl I knew from the tutoring club. I smiled tentatively and waved back at her.

She smiled as she reached me. She handed me a flyer that said "Asian Student Union Club."

I looked up at her questioningly. "You want me to join this?"

"Yeah it's for fellow Asian American students. It would be cool if you joined," Zoey said excitedly. "We could really use more students."

I hesitated. Asian clubs were never really my thing and most of the time I forgot about my ethnicity when I was at school. "Uh it sounds nice, but I think I'm good. I'm pretty busy anyway," I said as an excuse. Technically it wasn't a lie.

Zoey frowned a little as she asked, "Why not?" She clearly looked disappointed.

"I just don't want to," I said bluntly.

"Okayyy then," Zoey replied, not sounding too convinced. She gave me a quick goodbye wave before moving on to the next student. I decided to eat lunch outside by myself after Zoey left.

Hearing the bell ring, I headed to my math class knowing I'd probably zone out the entire period. Suddenly I remembered that cute blonde boy that sat across from me. Alex Harper was it? Hm looks like math won't be so boring after all.

As I got seated in class, I snuck a peak at his desk. Like I expected, he was sitting there looking down at his paper with his blonde hair resembling a golden halo against the sun. Although I tried paying attention to Mr. Peters droning on about Calculus, I felt my eyes drift over to Alex's direction constantly.

"Alright guys I'm giving you guys 10 minutes to complete this set of problems," Mr. Peters announced. Oh oops I was zoning out so much I almost forgot what we were supposed to be working on. As I was filling out the problems, I realized I had no idea how to approach number 5. Looking up to see who I could ask, I saw that Mr. Peters was busy helping another student much for my disappointment.

Maybe I could ask Hailey? I looked over at her hunched figure as she was writing. No she wasn't my friend anymore I forgot. My eyes drifted over to Alex. Should I ask Alex? This could be a good excuse to talk to him, I thought gleefully.

I took a small breath. Well here goes nothing. Leaning over, I tapped his shoulder to get his attention. He looked up in surprise, his blue eyes meeting mine. "Hey uh I was wondering if you knew how to do number 5?" I asked hopefully.

He smiled at me, "Oh yea that was a tricky one. Here I'll show you how I did it." He stood up from his desk and leaned over mine, examining my work. I felt nervous at his close proximity and up close, I had a better look at his freckles and his toned arms. This boy was stunning sheeeeeeesh.

His voice suddenly cut into my thoughts, "...so you're just going to multiply these 2 numbers together and convert them to the right unit." I nodded, pretending I heard what he was saying the entire time. "Thanks so much for your help," I said.

He flashed me a gorgeous grin, "Anytime." I felt heat rise to my cheeks. Thank god my skin tone doesn't show my blushing that well. Alex Harper was good looking AND sweet. What a bonus.

After class ended, I walked to the classroom where the Tutoring Club was being held. As I was waiting for it to start, I noticed a figure approaching me from the distance. As the person got closer, my eyebrows rose in surprise. "Dad? What are you doing here?" I exclaimed.

My dad took my arm, "Liên you'll be working at the restaurant after school from now on starting today remember?"

I groaned, "We're starting today?"

He led me to the car and it was silent as we drove the restaurant. "You know I am very disappointed in you for cheating so maybe working will teach you a lesson," my dad said.

I sighed while looking out of the window. "I know. I'm sorry."

Arriving outside the restaurant, I took in the familiar small gray building with the words, "Backyard Phở" in huge neon letters. "Let me show you where you'll be working first though," said my dad, leading me into the restaurant.

The place was surprisingly somewhat empty except for a couple eating at one of the corner tables. I frowned a little, expecting more customers. Was it always this empty?

My dad led me to the back of the restaurant where the kitchen was which I assumed was where the employees mostly hung around. Showing me each of the equipment, my dad explained what they did and how they worked. Suddenly, the back doors opened and I heard someone shuffle inside.

"Ah just in time. Allison meet our new coworker!" my dad announced in an excited tone. I turned around and gasped, slapping my hand over my mouth in surprise.

No way! It couldn't be!!