The Matchmaker (On Hold)

3 {Tobin} 3

I balanced four sodas and set them on the table. "Are you guys ready to order or do you need more time?" I asked pulling out my notepad and a pen.

The wife looked at her husband expectantly. He smiled at me and said, "We need a little more time if that's okay." His wife helped their youngest son with his drink.

I nodded in understanding. "No problem," I said coolly and walked back to the counter. Arry sat, spinning herself on the swivel stool.

She moaned and flopped on top of the register. She pointed to a young couple across the restaurant. "That couple has been sitting their for two hours. Make them pay. Please. I haven't used the register in three hours. I'm so bored." She pressed random buttons on the register.

After school, we worked at the Brian's Family Pizzeria. In our town people just referred to it as the BFP. Lauren came out from the kitchen with a pie. "Vickie and George said we could leave early, right?" I clarified.

Lauren nodded carrying the food to a table near the window. She said from the table, "Yeah. They're closing up early so that we can leave."

"Sweet," Arry said.

Lauren tended to the customers she served and then came back. "Yeah but they made me promise to bring all the left over pizza since we're making them close up early." She shrugged. The kitchen door swung as Julie and Morgan walked through.

We crowded behind the counter. "The parties at eleven, right?" Morgan asked.

Lauren eyed her cautiously, "You're going?"

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Please don't get all mom on me." Lauren and Morgan were stepsisters. They had actually grown closer ever since Lauren had moved in with us. We wouldn't be working at the pizzeria if Lauren hadn't gotten emancipated.

Lauren pursed her lips. "Just please don't drink."

"Are you?" She retaliated. Before Lauren could respond, she took my notepad and went to the table with the couple and two kids.

Arry shook her head at all of us. "Remember what happened last time? None of us are gonna drink."

+ + +

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!"

Music pulsed through my body. It seemed like the vibrations were shaking my bones. My cup was almost empty, and I couldn't remember how much alcohol was coursing through my veins. I was sprawled on the couch, casually sipping my drink. Arry slammed her cup down, demolishing the pride of Drifton's star quarterback. The crowd yelled and hollered.

Syd and Pinoe had been next door neighbors for as long as they could remember. Even their grade school birthday parties were wild. Both their houses were always flooded with people and their groups were connected by the intertwined backyards.

Amy pushed me off the couch. She jumped over the back and sat down. "Hey! I was sitting their!" I slurred. I gripped the couch cushions to try and stand up. I got to my knees when she pushed my head back. I fell to the ground again. "That's not funny!"

She laughed and said, "Where's the new girl? I thought you said she was coming."

"I said she might."

"Or maybe you wanted her to," she teased. She wiggled her eyebrow. 

I blinked and then laughed. I swatted her empty cup out of her hand. It rolled to the floor with a hollow clatter, but no one heard. "That's the alcohol talking." I sat on her despite the empty other half of the couch. "Where's everybody else?" She looked around the room.