Lonely Together

'If I'm no one then I'm safe.'

The next morning my Mother left for work again. Her job always required her to work weekends so I never really got to spend a full day with her unless I didn't have school. I saw her off then readied myself for another weekend alone. Jodie had invited me to join her and her family for dinner that night but I had to work, but I promised her I would call her the following day for a catch up. Warren's parents were still not home from their work trip; their housekeeper had told Mom over coffee the day before. Nothing had happened in any way shape or form between Warren and I since I caught him watching me at lunch. In fact I had barely seen him since then so it was obvious that things had indeed gone back to normal for us and I was glad of that, wasn't I? Yes, of course I was. I spent the day cleaning my room and catching up on school reading before I had to get ready for work.

To say work was busy was a complete understatement, the place was absolutely rammed and it was mostly the drunk Saturday crowd. Why I had agreed to work the late Saturday shifts I would never know, yes I did, as Warren had put it I was such a Pollyanna. I really would have rathered dinner with Jodie and her family over serving this crowd. I was so rushed off my feet I had nearly missed Warren and his friends walking in. They sat at a booth in someone else's section thank god; I was way too busy to contemplate whether he was going to acknowledge me at all. They had all clearly come from some form of party because they were dressed nice and fancy like and you could tell they had been drinking. I couldn't help but notice Warren looked good in his black t-shirt and jeans. I had noticed through our meetings that he always wore a ring on his right index finger and a leather band on his wrist. I liked how they looked on him. I shook off those kinds of thoughts immediately and got back to work. I had to pass by their table at one point and caught a glimpse of Selena draped across Warren's lap, feeding him her tongue like he was a little baby bird. Why had I given myself that image? I ignored the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach at the sight and made it a goal to avoid passing their booth again. Thank god I didn't have to serve them, I wasn't sure I would be able to stop myself glaring quite clearly at him for absolutely no reason at all unless I had suddenly decided I was opposed to public displays of affection. Unfortunately, although I didn't have to serve Warren and his friends, I did have to serve the abundance of drunk idiots that were sitting in my section, including a table of loud and rowdy college guys, who kept making any excuse possible to make me go over to their booth.

  'Hey Darling, you couldn't get us another round of fries could you?' The one boy shouted at me once again after I answered his wave. He was the one who kept beckoning me over to them, Gregg I was sure his friends had called him. I could feel him leering at me as I served other tables just waiting for the opportunity to call on me again.

  'No problem, coming right up.' I answered.

  'If she keeps coming to this table something else will be coming right up.' Gregg not so whispered to his friends, who just sniggered at his stupid gross joke.

I walked away calmly to get their order, praying silently that they would leave soon. Boys like them made me anxious but I wouldn't show them that, as quiet a person I was, I had learned quickly working the weekends at the bar to hold my own when it came to customers like this guy. I took their fries to the table and he tried his luck.

  'Hey darling why don't you come sit with us?'

  'I'm working, sorry.'

I began to walk away but he grabbed my wrist and stopped me in my tracks.

  'Come on, a sweet little thing like you, you need a bit of fun.' He insisted, his eyes raking over the length of my body as he spoke.

I pulled my wrist out of his grip and moved out of his reach. As much as I could handle myself, there was something about him that made me feel extremely uncomfortable, not to mention repulsed.