Promised- Rafe Cameron

chapter 2

I got dressed for my very first, non-trained shift at The Wreck.

Kiara taught me everything I needed to know. Thank God she's the one who trained me and not one of the creepy cooks in the back that definitely have a thing for underage girls.

I drove my beat up Toyota to the restaurant and parked in an employee spot. The first day jitters were there, but I was honestly just ready to start making money.

It was finally time to start my shift. After a while, I got the hang of things- Kiara's parents made me literally memorize the whole menu and write it 3 times from memory, so taking peoples orders really wasn't a big deal.

I tried my best to blend in and I think it paid off. The customers seemed to like me and I made pretty good tips (which I would definitely need to hide from JJ). I even saw some of my old friends who didn't act like I was the scum of the earth, so I took that as a win.

Since it was my first shift and I wanted to ease into it, I only worked 4 hours. Luckily for Kie, she was working 7 hours. I promised her I would stay around and chill since I didn't have anything else to do, and we planned to sleep at her house after. I decided to just hang out at the bar and people watch. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to learn more from my new coworkers.

"Well, how would you rate your first shift?" Kie asked before stealing one of my fries.

"Hm, I'd say an 8 out of 10. Knocking off two points for that kid running into me and making me drop those drinks."

We laughed together before Kie was forced to get back to work by her dad.

"If you girls are gonna do this every night, I'm booting you to the back with Tommy." Her dad threatened, but had a smile creeping onto his face. I liked him, he pretty much replaced my dad and he treated me well. Kiara was a lucky girl, even though she thought that she was cursed with her parents. They just cared about her.

I texted JJ out of boredom, almost regretting that I agreed to stay for an extra 3 hours when I could be doing something else.

My texting was interrupted by a voice behind me that I knew all too well.

"Well, look who it is."

I turned around slowly to see Ward Cameron smiling at me. I tried hiding the cringe that wanted to show on my face and smiled back at him.

"Ward! Fancy seeing you here."

"It's been years, Kaylee, what are you doing on this side of the island?"

I pointed at my name tag. "I'm The Wreck's newest employee."

"That's amazing, we will have to start coming here more often to support." He gave me a genuine smile. Ward was one of the only nice people to me after what happened, but seeing him hurt too bad, so I sort of ghosted him.

"Uh, yeah, that would be great. Who all from your family is here?"

"It's just Rose, Wheezie and myself tonight. The other two are probably at a party or something, I don't know. Those kids have more of a social life than I do."

Thank God he didn't say the name that I thought he would.

Kiara was ushering them to their table that was ready. "Hey Kaylee, I'll make sure to let Sarah and Rafe know that you're working here. I bet they would love to see you."

And... there's the name.

I couldn't find any words to say, so I gave him a thumbs up before he walked to his table.

Is it too early to quit my job?

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"God, this is terrible." I whined into my palms on Kiara's bed.

"Tell me about it. If I see either of those boneheads, I'm gonna flip my shit." Kiara said back, snacking on a bag of twizzlers.

"I cannot believe you eat those." I said to her. Those things are disgusting and make my teeth hurt.

"You're just jealous because you can't afford them." She winked at me. Low blow, but I couldn't help but laugh.

"I couldn't before, but maybe now I can afford to actually eat instead of scraping around. What my mom makes is barely enough for us to pay rent."

I made $50 in tips today, plus my hourly wage. Maybe now I'll have more than $5.16 in my bank account.

"Yeah, I think this will be a good thing. You had good interactions with the kooks and with Ward too, so that's good, right?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Don't really want Ward's kids to know where I work because that's a recipe for disaster, but I'm sure they wouldn't want to be within a mile radius of me, so I should be good."

Kie was the girl friend I needed when Sarah and I were done for. We clicked really fast and had a lot of the same interests. When the guys were overwhelming me, she chilled them out enough for me to not have to go running away.

I'm not the wild and carefree type like my friends. Sure, I like to have fun, but I tend to revert back into my shell when a lot is going on around me. Another reason why I don't like to be under the influence of anything.. I don't know how I'll react.

"I'm really happy you'll be at the restaurant with me, Kay. We're going to have the best summer ever, I already know."

I hope she was right.

**

The pogues and I were at the beach, acting like complete idiots and getting stared at. I sat in front of them on the sand and waved awkwardly at the bystanders to try showing I'm not a complete psychopath like my friends are.

John B was on his third beer and you could tell he was vibing. JJ hyped him up of course, smoking his vape and opening his second beer. I have no clue how those two are still alive. 

Pop was drinking too, but he knew better than to go wild on the substances. His dad watches his every move and he's two strikes away from having to ditch his friends.

I took a sip of my sprite, enjoying the beautiful beach weather. I could see a dolphin in the distance which always excited me. Dolphins were my favorite animal.

"What's up, pogue?"

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