A Typical Fanfiction [Completed]

Chapter Seven

Being a waitress wasn't the worst thing she could be doing, Sarah reminded herself. Working as Emily's assistant for her first day was fairly uneventful for her. Emily was energetic and outgoing enough for the both of them, and Sarah merely had to observe. 

~Le Time Skip~

After working under Emily for a few days, Sarah was starting to settle into her new life. Today was the day that she would be working on her own for the first time. It won't going to be that difficult really, Sarah told herself, Emily leaves me alone all the time anyway. At first, it was hard to speak up and do her job. Then, slowly, she got used to it. People hardly paid attention to their waitresses and she just repeated the same things like "Can I take your order?".

Still, she was nervous. She rushed through her morning routine, but slowed on the walk to work. She had to take several deep breaths, her hand resting on the door handle, before she entered. She changed quickly, though, and started her shift. As it was early morning, she only had two tables to wait on. 

Few people were here quite that early. One had a little old lady in a pink floral dress, the typical customers in this place. But the other table was strange - a fairly large group of teenage boys. They talked and laughed loudly. The lady soon had her food. Then, Sarah had to approach the table.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" Sarah asked politely. And then she froze. Sitting in front of her were... those boys. The boys she had meet at school; the boys that had caused her secret to be revealed; the boys that she had run away from, were here. On her first day alone, they were here!

"Water, please," Mitch replied. She held her breath, hoping she wouldn't be recognized. She wasn't that important anyway, maybe they'd forgotten about her? "Sarah." With one word, Mitch dashed her flimsy hopes.

"Same." The rest of the boys ordered. She was shaking when she went back to the kitchen. She got their water anyway. Maybe they wouldn't make a scene here. Her hands were still shaking as she delivered the water, and she nearly dropped it into Adam's lap.

"Careful," Jerome warned as he steadied her. His tone was lighthearted, as if he wasn't really concerned about the water, but still serious.

"Sorry," Sarah muttered. She stepped back after delivering drinks and wiped her hands on her apron.

"Waitress!" The old lady called. "Check!" With a sigh of relief, she left to help the lady. But once the lady was gone, there was no one to distract her from the boys. She reluctantly returned.

"Can I help you?" She asked, doing her job.

"Sit down." Quentin patted the seat next to him in the booth and his voice hinted that there was no getting away from this.

"Mind telling us why you ran away?" Ty's tone was hard and full of hurt.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"No, you're not. Tell us the truth." Ty demanded. She flinched slightly. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again before any words could be spoken. Then the door burst open. Sarah looked up.

"Sarah!" Emily shouted, expecting the restaurant to be empty. She made a beeline for Sarah anyway. 

"Sarah, what's going on? You don't look to well. Are you sick?" Emily began to fuss over her. She out a hand to Sarah's forehead, but Sarah pushed it away.

"You worry to much, Emily," she protested. Her voice was small and weak, but she smiled just a bit. Emily put get hands on her hips.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to clean up your puck again! Have you been eating?" Emily challenged in a sassy tone. Taking Sarah's silence as a no, Emily turned to the boys. "You boys want anything to eat?" She asked. They all began to order and the table was silent until Emily returned shortly with food. She set down a plate in front of Sarah, glaring at her as if daring her to reject it.

"Eat, Sarah.You should know better." Emily scolded. Sarah sighed, but picked up the fork to eat her omelet. "And I'll leave guys alone, since it looks like you were in the middle of something. Sarah, I'll take the shift. My thing got cancelled." Sarah didn't respond as dread twisted in her gut, and Emily left.

"So. Explain." Ty demanded. Sarah set down her fork, only halfway through the omelet. Emily was busy, of course. Sarah didn't know what to say. She stared down at the table cloth and nervously messed with it between her fingertips. Ty looked fed up with her silence already. She wanted you answer him, but she couldn't.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered out the only words she could.

"We're not mad at you, Sarah," Jason tried to soothe her. "We just want the truth." Sarah shook her head. She couldn't speak. She wanted to cry.

"Hey!" Emily interrupted. She looked angry. She stalked over to the table and slapped Ty on the back off the head. "Stop whatever you're doing to Sarah! She's going to cry, for goodness sake!" Ty looked shocked. "Look at her!" Ty stared at me and he looked guilty. I bit my lip, looking away.  "Sarah." Emily addressed me. "Just talk to them, alright? I won't let then hurt you while you're here." I nodded ever so slightly and Emily left again.

"Look, we aren't going to hurt you," Adam said. "We just want you to trust us." His voice was almost pleading, and it broke her heart.

"I'm sorry," she insisted. Her voice cracked. She had nothing else she could say."I just..." She closed her eyes, hoping to block them out.

"Sarah," Adam practically whispered.

"I just... couldn't handle it, okay?" Sarah finished.

"But why?" Jason urged her to continue. She shook her head, opening her eyes slowly. What else could she say? How could she ever explain herself to these practical strangers?

"What are you so scared of?" Mitch asked. That was the question, wasn't it? There wasn't much else for her to lose. All of her secrets had already been revealed, but she still didn't want to face the aftermath. Everyone would hate or pity her. She didn't deserve or want their pity. She didn't want to face the disappointment.

"Look, we're just here to help," Jerome tried to persuade her to talk. She couldn't handle it. She shot to her feet.

"I don't want your pity!" She spat, storming through the front door and into the cold world outside. The boys stared after her for a shocked moment before scrambling to follow. Yet again, they were chasing her. But she had no where to run this time. Despite this knowledge, she rushed towards her hotel room. Unfortunately for her, it was too early for large crowds that she could hide in. They could easily track her. 

When she burst into the hotel, she stormed to her room and slammed the door shut behind her. Yet, she could hear the boys' arrival. They spoke to the hotel manager briefly, and then she heard footsteps approach her room. There was nowhere to hide now - except the bathroom. Still, the door was locked and going into the bathroom wouldn't help anymore if they had a key. The doorknob began to rattle and there was pounding on the door. She sat down in the bed, her head in one hand, and stared at the key in the other.

"Sarah!" Adam yelled. She refused to respond.

"Do you have an extra key?" Jason asked, presumably to the manager.

"Yes," the manager replied. "But she doesn't want to be disturbed. Leave her alone for now."

"But-" Jerome began to protest.

"Would you like some coffee while you wait?" The manager continued. The pounding and rattling continued for a while. Eventually, there was silence. The sound of their attempted entry was replaced by her sobs. Why couldn't she let them in?! She was scared...