Let Love Down

Chapter Eleven

My first day on the job was nearly perfect, and I was hardly tired after my shift. All of the free coffee Sam introduced me to paid off like I thought it would.

As excited as I was when I left, you would think I had just held a baby panda on the moon. I obviously hadn't done any of that, though. I was sitting on a bench in front of the candy store, waiting for my blue-headed idiot friend to come back out. I looked down at a random brochure that I found until Sam came walking out. He started to chuckle, and I shot him a funny look.

"What are you laughing at?"

He pointed at me and stepped out of the store with an arm full of a bulging bag of gumdrops and gummy worms.

"Dude, nobody even likes those."

I stood up and walked toward him.

"Oh, I know. These are all mine."

He acted like it was his child I was coming after, and he held it close to him.

"You can go pick out what you want now."

I furrowed my eyebrows. I expected something like this coming from him, but I didn't want to wait twenty minutes for nothing.

"Fine, I'll be back. I'm taking my time as well."

Half an hour later, I came out with a small bag of six hard peppermint candies.

He looked over at me, hunched over on the bench, and groaned.

"I did not just wait ten years for you to get six pieces of nursing home candy."

I took a peppermint out of the bag and laughed.

"Actually," I said, getting ready to pop one in my mouth, "you did."

After Sam and I sat in the food court and ate all of our candy, we decided to leave. How he ate that whole bag full in the time I ate six peppermints, I have no clue. It was incredible, however he did it.
We got in his car and began driving with his dorky techno music blaring. It was so loud that people on the streets- of NEW YORK- stared at us when we drove by. While he had his mind focused on lip-syncing all of the bee-bops and weird screeching sounds, I checked my phone. Jamie had sent me fourteen messages and three calls. The messages obviously weren't happy, but I got nothing from Steven.

"IF YOU DON'T COME BACK HOME, I'LL SEND YOU TO A NEW ONE!!"

Exhibit A (above). My real mom really must have been close friends with Jamie. I took a deep breath and wrote her back.

"It's okay, I've sent myself to a new house. Less work for you! Love ya!"

I immediately regret hitting send, as I had always been taught to respect my elders. However, Sam is older than me, and I have little respect for him sometimes.

When I had made myself feel better, I showed Sam the message that she had written in capital letters.

"We're going straight to Joanne's."

I shook my head and told him how stupid it was to keep going to the restaurant. Yes, my grandparents are there, but I am pretty sure I wasn't welcome when my mom was.

"Sam, listen. I'll just stay at your place, use money from my first few paychecks, buy a laptop, and then I'll do my schooling that way."

He made a wide-eyed face and said almost immediately, "We're still going to Joanne's."

We both sat in the car listening to a song called Bird Machine on repeat until we got to the family restaurant. Sam got out of the car, and I walked inside the building behind him.