ExtraOrdinary

Chapter 5-maybe I was wrong

A/N sorry for the semi long intro but I promise it's good

Alice's POV

Last night had been a living nightmare.  I always knew that gas station was dangerous but never had I imagined being the victim of an armed robbery.  It was terrifying and now I was out of a job since they were closing the gas station because it was a safety hazard, but what happened afterwards was even more nerve wracking.

--------------------------at work----------------------

I still hadn't adjusted to the news I had received last night.  Besides you know being robbed by men in black masks, my life had changed drastically in the last ten or so hours.  According to the Chicago Police one of the robbers, named Max Jardsel, had quite the bounty over his head.  Something about drug cartels, robberies, murders.  Anyways in all seriousness, the police said that since I made the 911 call that lead to his arrest, the bounty was mine so I received a good amount of money.  You're probably wondering how much but I'm not going to put a figure here, but let's just say almost enough for a house in the Hamptons.  That's not really important though.  What was important was now things were changing.  When I received the money I didn't even have a bank account to put it in and now I had multiple accounts.  I had enough money to go to college or fly to LA and pursue my dreams or I didn't even know what and I really didn't have time to think about it.

"Alice get your head out of the cloud.  You're being paid to work not daydream!" Ashley's voice called out at me from the back room.

"Yeah sorry," I mumbled under my breath.  I thoroughly realized I didn't have to take all of her nasty nonsense anymore.  I didn't need this job but I intended on keeping it as long as possible.  It was something to do with my day.  A reason for me to get up in the morning and leave my apartment.  The little secret was I actually enjoyed my job, most of the time.  Every day costumers would smile at me and say kind words just like Shailene Woodley did the other day.  None of them could judge for my life outside of the cafe.  To them I was just an ordinary girl, which is exactly what I was.

"And we're open," one of my coworkers by the name of Shawn announced enthusiastically as he flipped the sign to open.  Silence followed his outburst, and all we could hear was the tick tock of the clock.  I burst out laughing for no reason, just admiring how quickly the situation had become awkward.  It had been a long time since I could be carefree and notice the little things.  I hadn't had time to stop and laugh at little moments.  As a matter of fact until then I didn't even remember what my laugh sounded like.  It was rich and full of joys.  It was a welcome sound to me ears, but it all suddenly stopped when she walked in.  I was suddenly embarrassed by how loud I had been laughing.

Shailene Woodley sat down at one of the front tables by the window.

"I'll take this one," Ashley said elbowing me slightly.  Maybe she had forgotten the previous day's humiliation but either way it came as a welcome relief when she served her instead of me.  It wasn't that I didn't like her, but I knew she saw me last night crying in a heap on the pavement.  If there was one thing I never wanted to do, it was show weakness.  The weaker you are it seemed like the more likely you were to get hurt.  I looked up to see a sullen looking Ashley returning to the counter.

"She wants to see you," she mumbled.  I tentatively walked over to where Shailene was sitting.  She looked up at me expectantly.

"Hey sit down," she said gesturing to the seat across from her.

"I really can't I have to..."

She cut me off in a nice sort of way, "It's okay.  Ashley said she would cover you costumers," Shailene informed me.  I turned around and offered Ashley a wave of thanks, and Ashley returned the world's fakest smile.

"So...what's up?" I asked, nervously wringing my hands.

"Nothing much," she replied.  "I just really wanted to come see you again.  I don't have many friends here in Chicago since I normally live in California.  I just, ya know, wanna to make some friends."

"You know that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me in a long time," I genuinely smiled.  I knew exactly how she felt.  I hadn't had any good friends in a long time and her kindness just seemed to fill me with warmth.  We talked for about an hour and never once did she bring up last night.  Maybe I was wrong, maybe she hadn't seen me.

----------------------Shailene's POV-----------------------

I settled into my trailer after an afternoon spent in the cafe with Alice.  I wanted desperately to ask her about the other night, to make sure she was okay.  But I knew that would just drive her away.  I wanted to be her friend, bring some joy back into her life and if I was going to do that I would have to get close to her first.  I would have to gain her trust.