Quiet As A Mouse (Outsiders Fanfic)

Chapter 28- I'm Not Your Pet

When we got to Jay's, the place was fairly full for a Saturday, but it was nearing the afternoon and in a couple more hours no doubt the place would be packed. I wandered around outside with Johnny since I didn't know too many other people there and Soda and Steve had already run off to woo women most likely, or at least something along those lines.

The parking lot was just as full as the bar was, but right before I was about to head inside to get a Pepsi, I spotted a Help Wanted sign hanging on the door. It said to speak to the manager, and I suppose working here couldn't be too bad, it was better than the Dingo, so I went inside and asked the bartender to talk to the manager.

The bartender disappeared into the kitchen and a little while later a scruffy-looking man came out, wearing an apron over jeans, boots, and a faded T-shirt. He was probably the same age as Darry and he needed a shave, but other than that he didn't look like one of your typical mean hoods just grown up a few years, so I figured it'd be all right.

We went down to the quieter end of the bar, and then he said, "Chuck said you wanted to talk to me," as he wiped his hands on his apron.

"Yeah, I saw the sign on the door. I was wondering if you'd hire me, for after-school and weekend hours," I asked politely.

"Well we're not open on Monday and Tuesday and we don't get too busy during the week, so how about working Friday and Saturday nights, and every other Sunday? Waitressing," he stated.

"I don't have any experience waitressing," I admitted tentatively.

"That's all right, it's not too hard and we'll train you. You're hired. I'm Denny, and the bartender's Chuck. What's your name, kid?" he asked.

"Mickey Pearson," I replied, since my mom and Two-Bit's mom were sisters and they had both married, therefore I didn't have the same last name as him.

"You're staying at Matthew's?" he asked, and I wasn't really surprised that he knew that, everyone seemed to know I was Two-Bit's cousin by now.

I nodded and he gave a grunt of acknowledgement before heading back to the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, "Be here at three thirty Friday," he said.

"I will, thank you," I called, trying to keep a smile off my face. That was only half as hard as I expected, and the hours seemed good since I only wanted to work enough to help out with the bills and stuff for my aunt.

I barely remembered to grab a Pepsi before going back outside to tell Johnny the news, but when I got there I found him talking to Dally.

"What are you so happy about, Mick?" Dal asked coolly when he saw me.

"I just met this really cute guy in the bar," I said shyly, looking away like some love-struck ditz. Of course I was lying, but I don't think I wanted Dally to know that I got a job here.

"Yeah? What's his name?" Dal asked, taking a drag on his cigarette and sounding like he could care less what this imaginary guy's name was.

"He didn't tell me..." I trailed off, pretending to be disappointed at my own misfortune that a cute guy hadn't told me his name, and my acting seemed so real I almost believed it myself.

I choked on my soda trying to keep myself from laughing at how easily I was fooling them, but then Johnny must have caught on since he could tell I was hiding a laugh. A barely perceptible smirk showed on his face and then he walked off to talk to someone else.

Leaving me with Dally again. Damn it, Johnny.

"He must not think you're as cute as you think he is if he didn't give you his name," Dally remarked.

"Or it could just be I'm not desperate so I didn't ask," I said flatly, immediately dropping the façade. Fooling him wasn't as fun when all he did was act like a jerk about it, but it's not like I expected anything else from Dallas Winston.

He figured out I was lying and said coyly, "Almost convinced me, Mick. Almost."

"I'm not your pet, so stop calling me by pet names," I snapped at him.

He chuckled meanly and walked away without another word, and I wandered off to find Johnny cause I was sick of dealing with Dally, but once I couldn't find him I headed home.

My meeting with Mr. Cavanaugh on Sunday was fine, and the rest of the following week were uneventful, or at least as uneventful as it could be with a cousin like Two-Bit and friends like Soda and Steve. My cousin managed to break a window at the Curtis's via shaking up an unopened Coke in an attempt to make a bottle rocket--Darry was none to happy about that--and while Soda and Steve were tossing a football around in the house, Steve managed to tackle Soda with such force they busted a hole in the drywall. We all kind of avoided Darry on Wednesday and Thursday because of that, but on Friday I had my first night of work at Jay's.

Waitressing wasn't that hard, you had to balance five plates of food at once and not spill drinks, and pretend to be polite to the rude customers, but the drunks were entertaining and everyone tipped well. Saturday was no different, except for when Dally and Two-Bit and Tim Shepard and his brother Curly decided to come down.

Then I hated the job more than anything, though I don't know why I thought I'd be able to work here without anyone finding out. Everyone knew everyone around here, but it was only my second day so it's not like word had gotten around yet. I hadn't told Aunt Kat or Two-Bit or any of our friends though, I was waiting for Aunt Kat to tell us if she had gotten one of the numerous jobs she'd applied to or not since I hadn't seen her around a lot that week.

But of course the bartender Chuck had to go grab another keg of beer from the walk-in and asked me to watch the bar for just a sec, and right then Dal, Two-Bit, Tim, and Curly decided to sit right down at the bar and order beers.

"Hey baby, can we get some beers?" Tim asked, and when I turned around to face them, Two-Bit first decided to notice me standing behind the bar, an apron tied around my waist and a tray in my hand.

"Mickey, what in the world are you doing here?" Two-Bit asked me in disbelief.

"I kind of work here," I said flatly, and Dally, Tim, and Curly smirked at me. Ugh, why did Chuck have to go get another keg now?