I Hate You, but I Love You!

Chapter 11:Unpleasant Memories "Flashback"!

Hey beautiful, I'll have the triple meat burger and a side of you." The guy winked at me for the thousandth time and I tried my best not to gag.

I smiled tightly and looked over at his friend. "Is that all?"

"Yeah, but make sure you bring that side. It looks...delicious." His friend smiled creepily and I made a face. Really? Was this really necessary? A shiver ran its way down my spine as I stared at the two middle-aged truck drivers.

Again, I smiled tightly and replied, "I'm afraid it's not on the menu. Your food will be here shortly." I rolled my eyes as I walked away, making note to tell Diego to take over that table.

I dropped the order off and breathed a sigh of relief when I noticed that my shift was over in 23 minutes. I blew hair out of my face as I went to pick up and drop off food for another table.

"Chloe darling, would you mind taking over Annette's shift on Thursday? It would mean the world to me if you did." The diner owner Linda emerged from her office and asked in her thick British accent.

Linda was the owner of two successful diner's named D&D Burgers. She worked at the location I was employed at and her husband worked at the other location, about 30 minutes away. They had both moved from Britain 16 years ago and had started their own burger restaurant. All in all Linda was a sweet person and a great boss who somehow understood my need to work as many hours as I did.

I didn't even hesitate before I said yes. She smiled and touched me on the shoulder in thanks as she walked back into her office. I sighed and got back to work. Anytime I was offered extra time working I always accepted. It wasn't a secret that I needed the money; paying for college all on your own and providing for yourself takes a lot. Don't get me wrong, I was actually thankful for the extra time, it just didn't make me any happier.

The minutes ticked by but I ended up staying a lot longer since the diner randomly got very packed and they needed the extra staff. By the time I was done, it was 10:00PM and I was completely exhausted. I collected my bag from the back and jiggled my keys in my hand as I said bye to everyone and made my way through the back employees-only door.

I walked to my car quickly, constantly looking around me in paranoia. The diner was a pretty popular one, but at this time it just attracted the wrong kind of people.

It was still hot outside, the early October weather still not quite catching up to the whole "fall" memo. I got in my car and started driving, blasting the radio to keep my eyelids from falling down.

By the time I got home it was 10:17PM and I still hadn't even touched my books. I dragged myself up the stairs and hastily unlocked the door. I was so tired I was sure I would pass out any minute. With a tired sigh, I set my stuff down on my bed, noting Clair's empty one.

I scowled at my schoolbag and complained to myself. Well, at least the light won't bother Clair.

I went into the bathroom and washed my hands and face, trying to think up of valid excuses to convince myself to just go to bed.

From the bathroom I could hear "Radioactive" by Imagine start playing from my bag in the other room. I started humming along as I dried my face with a towel when I realized that Radioactive was my cell phone ringtone.

"Crap!" I said as I hastily set the towel aside and hurried to my bag in search of my phone. My fingers clumsily unzipped random pockets and emptied out the contents, creating a complete mess on the inside. When my fingers grabbed at nothing I made a weird frustrated sounding zombie noise. Ugh! I always put my phone in random pockets and can never find it when I need it most.