Everyone But Us

Eight // Lauren

Lauren (A waitress)

Work was shit. My boss was shit. The café was good, but the work vibe was shit. Everything was shit. I was only here to put myself through university, otherwise I'd be out. It paid better than any other place in this town and here, I got to work with a couple of non-idiots I called my friends and stay close to home.

It was still shit.

"Lauren!" One of the non-idiots, Valerie, called from behind the coffee machine. She kept me sane. Or at least she kept me from strangling the customers. "You're up. These ones go to table ten out back."

I frowned but took the tray with the hot beverages on it, making Val laugh. "Lighten up, chick! It's only four thirty and you've still got an hour 'til close."

That makes me want to scowl even more, but I put up a smile and walk into the back garden where the boss made a stupid mistake of putting tables and chairs. It was the biggest inconvenience to get to. It was a shit idea.

There were these two guys, one I recognized as a friend of my little brother. His name was Aspen, and he was here with another guy who seemed vaguely familiar.

"You're going to that party tomorrow night, yeah?"

The other guy shrugged. "Not sure if I'm up for another party. I'd rather just stay home."

"And do what? Wait, let me guess!" Aspen was sarcastic, his face holding fake enthusiasm. "You're going to stay home and read?"

"Bingo," the guy clicked his tongue, then drummed his fingers on the table.

"You need to learn how to separate from your books, man. It's not healthy. As your best friend, I'm advising you to put the things away and come out for once. A little bit of fun ain't gonna kill you."

I made it to the table where they were sitting and put on my best fake smile. "The cappuccino?"

"Here, thank you," the guy said with a smile that made me want to roll my eyes. He was being so nice, it was weird.

"So I'm guessing the black coffee is yours?" I said to Aspen, holding it up.

"Yeah. Thanks, Lauren."

"No problem," I lied, then headed back inside.

"Was that so hard?" Val asked, her wild red hair struggling to be contained by her headband.

"It was Theodore's friend," I shrugged. "Aspen and some other guy. Wasn't so bad, I s'pose."

"Oh, the super polite one?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. He was kinda polite, I guess? Why does it matter?"

"He's such a cutie and I swear, he's in here all the time. He's one of my favourites!"

"Val. You're like, four years older than he is."

"So? A girl can dream," she laughed, then shoved me towards the register. We were the only two on which left no one on till, meaning we had to go back and forth to manage everything. Another reason why our boss was shit; he didn't understand that there needed to be three people to run this café at a time. It was simply too hard with two.

I put on my work smile and greeted the two girls, one of them struck me as too familiar. "Hi, welcome to Willow's. What can I get for you?"

"Could I please get a Melbourne Breakfast tea?" The older one asked, her voice kinda shaky as if she was nervous or something. Where did I know her from?

"And I'll have a hot chocolate please!" A mini version of the brunette added, but she had darker hair. "With lots of marshmallows."

"Sure thing," I nodded, tapping in their order. "Are you going to have here or take away?"

"Take away, thank you," the older sister, I presume, said.

"Awh. Can't we drink them here, Harlow? Please?" The little girl begged. Harlow. Harlow. Harlow. Oh! Right! Harlow! Theodore's primary school best friend. I remembered now. She was such a kind girl. I wished my brother hadn't been such a dickhead 'cause then they might have stayed friends.

"We need to be home so that Nanna won't arrive without us. We'll stay next time."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"That's eight fifty," I said.

Harlow handed over a shitload of change that I had to count.

"Sorry, it's all I've got," she apologized. Usually I'd be pissed off when I got given coins but today I wasn't. She caught me in a good mood.

"It's alright. And it's perfect change. Your order will be called over there-" I motioned to beside the coffee machine "-in a few minutes."

"Thank you," Harlow said, before looking at her sister expectantly.

"Yeah. Thanks!"

I headed to the coffee machine to help Val make these girls' coffees.

"You were just nice. And not just I'm-working-so-I-have-to-be-nice nice. Just, nice. It was weird."

I shrugged. "I dunno. She was my brother's best friend in primary school and she's just a good person."

Val's face scrunched up as she poured the milk into the take away cup. "I don't think I like you this way. Cut it out."

I laughed, and put the lids on both of the drinks. "Don't worry. Give me five minutes and I'll be back to my moody self."

"You better be. Otherwise I don't think we can be friends."

"Deal," I grinned, then called out the order. "One hot chocolate and one Melbourne Breakfast?"

I knew their names but figured it'd be weird if I used them. I don't think Harlow remembered who I was anyway.

The girls got up from a table and took their drinks, thanking me again.

"No problem," I said, meaning it.

"Seriously, Lauren. Cut it out," Val shook her head and then sauntered off, checking on the few occupied tables for empty mugs or plates.

Work was still shit, but at least it was not-so-shitty for a few minutes thanks to Theodore's ex-best friend. Unfortunately for everyone around me, it wasn't enough to end my perpetually shitty mood.