One Summer

     Patricia Williamson shuffled through more people, avoiding eye contact with them. She knew everyone of them; it was a small town. She chose not to make eye contact with them. She would rather not get to know them better. It was easier to avoid them. It was better that way.

      "Excuse me!" she exclaimed. "Out of the way!" A blonde girl's purse made her stumble, almost dropping the nacho boat she was carrying to table 11. When she finally reached the family waiting for the nachos, the kids applauded, happy to finally get their food.

     "Over here!" a table of teenage boys said. Patricia recognized most of them from school. All except one, that is. "Patty!" they teased her, calling her the nickname they knew she hated, but not in a mean way. She hurried over to them.

     "What do you want?" she asked in a sarcastic voice. It had been a long, busy day and she wasn't in the mood for their games.

     "What a nice thing to hear in the afternoon." Jack—one of the guys—teased.

      "Do you have an order or not? If not, would you mind leaving?" Patricia rolled her eyes.

     "We actually came to show Eddie here around town." Cody explained. He motioned to the guy Patricia didn't know.

     "So you brought him to the best diner in town?"

     "Sure. Or maybe we came to see you." Drew said.

     "Excuse me?" Patricia dared them to continue.

      "Your breakup with Ben was pretty bad…" Cody said. Patricia felt her face go red with anger.

     "You're not ordering, are you? Get out, please." Patricia turned around.

     "Trixie!" The guys called.

     "Wait!" Drew said, standing up to go after her.

     "What?" Patricia yelled.

      Drew hesitated. "We… We have our order." Patricia gave the boys the finger, and then walked back into the kitchen area to ask her twin sister, Piper, to deal with the table while Patricia took her break.

     Patricia stepped out of Williamson's Diner using the back door. She took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the last two minutes. Yes, her recent breakup had been bad, but it didn't need to be brought up. She hated the fact that they had brought that up in front of someone she didn't even know. It was as if they were trying to set her up.

     "Big mistake." She said to herself. She groaned. "My summer has been horrible."

     "Too bad it's only the beginning." An American voice said from behind her. Patricia whipped around to find… Eddie.

      "This is an employee exit. Meant for employees." She said to him as if he were a small child.

      "I know." He rolled his eyes. "That's why I'm here."

     "What do you mean? You don't work here."

     "I do now. Your sister just hired me." Eddie pointed to his name tag.

      "What? Why would she do that?"

      "Because of my good looks and charming personality."

     "Oh, right. No, I want the real reason."

      Eddie sighed. "So annoying." He rolled his eyes. "I needed work, so I asked her. I'm visiting my dad this summer, so I need something to do. Even if that something is ruining someone else's summer."

      "Mission accomplished." Patricia said, and then stormed back inside.