Stuck Up

Salem ~ That One Girl

"Salem!"

My head shoots up from the bright-ass computer in front of me. What time is it? What day is it? "What?" I call back to my father screaming at me from who knows where.

"We're opening soon. Did you get through the emails?"

"Uh huh," I scroll through the remaining 50% of the new emails, hardly looking at them.

"Anything important?" I hear something clatter in the background, followed by some liquid splashing. "Damn it!" he curses.

We're pretty overloaded. Business has been growing dramatically and our crew is trying to keep up. We have a decent amount of staff all together, but we don't really have someone to manage billing, phone calls, and all of the important computer shit. I can do it, but I don't want to. I have the bar to manage, and I'd much rather be near the alcohol than near the telephone. With me here, my dad has had to pick up on stuff that I couldn't get to.

We need help, as much as I hate to say it. I'm not shy, but I'm not a fan of people. They're either stupid or mean, which has driven me to be mean. I've become what I hate.

"Not really," I respond to his usual question.

"Did you check the website for applications?"

I groan, throwing my head back. There's a position open for the bar and I don't want to train anyone. "I'll check later. We can handle it, today."

My father finally walks into the office, dusting his hands. "We need the help, Salem. And you need the social interaction."

My jaw drops and I cross my arms. "I get plenty of social interaction, thank you." And by this, I mean sleeping around. Don't judge me – I wasn't always like this.

He rolls his eyes and grabs the keys to the club's doors. "Get some whiskey in your chest and let's go."

***

I never thought I'd get used to the atmosphere of a nightclub. Believe it or not, I used to have social anxiety. That changed after I graduated from high school. In fact, I changed. Completely. High school is indeed a life of it's own. Once you leave, you really are going onto the next phase of your life. I was a weird, nerdy kid and dealing with a lot of loss. Other kids are mean, even the most beautiful ones.

Oh man...remember that one girl?

I roll my eyes and chuckle at the memory. Being violently gay didn't help absolute hell I went through. I had my eyes on the most popular girl in high school. Literally – she caught me staring at her, several times. I couldn't help it. That wild platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes...she didn't deserve to be that gorgeous. It didn't stop me from wanting her, though.

But boy, did it cost me. I was nothing to look at back then, and she made sure that I knew. She'd gotten it through my head that it could never happen, in a million years, not if we were the last ones on the planet. I always had a gentle reminder of that when she and her friends would pass me in the hall and snicker at me. Or smooch at me mockingly.

Constance Fuller – the one the got away.

I know I'm crazy, but all of her verbal abuse secretly made me want her more. I want what I can't have. Though I was awkward, I wasn't sensitive. I'm way too hard on my damn self for anyone else to get into my skin.