He's here, I tell myself. Be calm, be cool. Don't screw this up.
"Hey Asher," I stutter out. Damn it.
"Hey Stella," he takes a second to acknowledge me and then goes back to eating his burger.
"Can I get you anything else?" I try once again, hoping and praying that he actually engages in conversation.
"Nope, I'm good."
"Ok, cool. Um, if you need anything, just call."
He doesn't even look up, I sigh. I turn to the family sitting at the next table. "Hi, I'm Stella, and I'll be your server to today. Today our specials are...."
My words kind of fade away from my own hearing. I've said the same thing about 50 times today, so what's the point of me actually listening to what I'm saying?
I take the family's order and move to kitchen. "Stella darling," Charlie calls out, "I'm kind of held up right now. Can you get Table 7's orders?"
"Sure," I smile as I pick of the plates and make my way to the table, stopping short when I see who's sitting there.
Let me introduce you to the "Mean Girls" of Ridgeway. There's Haley Alistair , the stupid, brainless chick who walks around with half of her body showing and laughs at everything her friends say- like I said, she's brainless. Next in line, Jenna Madson. She's a complete 180 turn from Haley. She's smart, but she mainly uses her brains for scheming, not for studying. That's probably why everyone avoids her. NO ONE wants to piss of Jenna Madson due to their fear of finding who know what in who knows where at God knows what time. Yep, basically, she's a snake. And I saved the best for last- Blair Shaden, Ridgeway's most feared witch (or should I say bitch?) who can make your life a living hell if you don't fit into her social standings. With her highlighted brown curls and her amazing hazel eyes, who wouldn't vote her Homecoming queen every year? Plus you kind of have to add to the equation that there isn't really anybody else who has the ovaries to look her in the eye- let alone run against her for Homecoming queen.
"Well if it isn't Penny," Blair sends me a smile of pure malice while flipping his perfect curls over her shoulder.
Penny has been their nickname for me since grade school. When I was in the fourth grade, I just so happened to make the social suicidal decision to be a clown for the Halloween parade at school. Blair, Jenna, and Haley said that I looked like Pennywise the Dancing Clown from that movie "It". I can still remember running into the school bathroom, tears smudging my makeup as they swiftly traveled down my face.
Pushing the bitter memories aside, I plaster a smile as fake as plastic surgery onto my face. "Our specials today are the cucumber soup served with freshly made bread as well as the chili served with cornbread. What would you guys like to drink?"
"I'll have a bottle of Veen," Jenna looks at me.
"I'm sorry, what?" I ask confused. What the hell is Veen?
"It's water... from Finland," she looks at me as if I was an idiot. "It's, like, the most pure water in the world. Don't you guys have any of that here?"
They all look at me like I'm roadkill. "Dasani is probably the most pure water that we have around her," I try to say politely.
"Then get us all Cokes," Blair sneers.
So now that you've officially been introduced to the Witches of Ridgeway, I congratulate you. You have just joined the big group of outcasts that consists of three people. My two best friends, Kennedy and Riley, stick with me through everything. I really would have no one if they weren't there.
"Stella," Asher calls me over.
"Hey," I smile, "what's up?" Please ask me when I'm on break. Ask me to go to the movies. Please, please plea--
"I'll take my bill now."
My stomach sinks. Hopes dashed.
"Oh, ok," I try to cover up any discomfort that shows on my face. "Be right back."
I return with the Witches' drinks and Asher's bill and find him not sitting at his table. "What the-"
I turn to see him sitting in between Blair and Jenna, with both of them draped over his body like blankets. He's actually smiling at them. His hazel eyes sparkle as he talks to them. He's not being evasive with his answers or faking politeness. Why isn't he able to be that way with me? Why can't he just see me?
I walk up to the table feeling sick to my stomach. "Uh, here's your bill Asher," I hold the paper out to him with a steady hand before I stand setting the drinks onto the table.
"Yeah thanks," he mutters as he goes back to talking to Blair.
"Have you guys decided what you would like to order?" I ask hesitantly, knowing that question is going to get me some major insults.
"Yeah," Jenna smiles wickedly, "a hairbrush would be nice, or maybe a bottle of lice control. God knows what lives in your curly mane."
"A mirror would be good too," Blair scoffs as she snuggles into Asher's side. "It might help you in the future if you see how ugly you really are."
Haley doubles over with laughter as Asher shifts uncomfortably. He won't laugh because he's my brother's best friend. He at least knows where the line is.
"I, um... I meant food wise," I whisper, trying to hold myself together.
"You know what," Haley snorts, "I'm not really hungry. Let's get out of here."
"Sounds good to me," Asher joins in. He doesn't even look at me.
"Let's head to my house," Blair says, already moving out of the booth. "Just something you might want to know Stella," she turns to me, splashing the Coke in her glass over my head. "You look better as a wet dog. Maybe you should keep up that image from now on. Girls?" she calls out, and I shut my eyes before two other glass of Coke drench me head to toe.
Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.
They're all gone in seconds, and I walk back to the kitchen to get a mop to clean up the floor.
Just two more years of hell. Two more years of dealing with this. Two more years before I can be the person I want to be- more like the person I'm meant to be. The whole world will know about me, and those people who said I would never be anyone, they'll know that they were wrong. Because once I leave Ridgeway, the true me is coming out. No more being put down by people who prey on the misery of those beneath them. No more cliques. No more being looked down upon. They won't know me as the geek anymore. I'll be someone important. I'll prove all of them wrong.
