Bittersweet Moments

23 | Lemonade

23 | Lemonade

"Oliver, get your feet off the table."

There goes my calm inner monologue while Mom passed my spot. Obediently, but grudgingly, I took my feet off the table and rested them on the ground as I mentally apologized to my boots for not giving them their proper glory. The shop was mostly filled with Clevemore students, and the other usual who frequented.

There was a whole crowd gathered around Bernardo's table, where people vied to get back row tickets for Brennan's concert tonight. That seemed to be the only thing everyone talked about today. Even the juniors GC, Perry and Brenda had approached me this morning, offering tickets to the show. It took all my willpower not throw away the front-row passes I had in my pocket. Mitch would knife me if I did so.

I begged my head to concentrate on my History homework. I begged my head to blur out the sounds of chatter. I begged my head to stop me from ripping my ticket in half.

I called Voira over to me after she cleaned up a table, "Voira, hey," I whispered, keeping a keen eye on Mom, "Do you think you can grab me something from the kitchen?"

My stomach was hungry and I had no choice.

Also, my uterus was craving something. Have to replace all that blood with food.

"I don't know, Ollie," Voira glanced warily at Mel, who was by the counter, chewing bubblegum. "Raquel might get mad."

I stifled a snort. My mother? Get mad? Of course it happened. It happened on a daily basis. It was the usual. But we always fell unaffected. "Who told you that? Melanie? You have to stop listening to her stories."

I knew for a fact that Melanie targeted newbies on the job. Once, she drove a guy away because he was convinced she was a vampire.

Voira's eyes went wide. "I can't do – do that!" she squeaked, "The food is for customers."

"So," I went for a slow nod, "If I'm not wearing my Sweet Moments apron and hairnet, and I'm not working here, does that mean I'm not a customer?" Mom let me off the hook today. She had Heron in charge of the ice cream station because the others just couldn't get the orders right.

Voira looked utterly conflicted. Mel's hawk-like eyes glanced up from her phone and narrowed at the poor girl beside me. Voira choked on a gasp and scurried away. There was an unspoken rule at our shop: if you were intimidated by Melanie Torrez, you were most likely new to the job.

"You have to stop getting my food plans backfired!" I yelled at Mel. Just making sure she heard me because I was way on the corner of the room.

Mel pretended not to hear but I knew damn right that she could. She pointed to the earphones on her head and did an exaggerated shrugging motion. What a poop.

My plan B to get food secretively was to snatch a plate from a customer's table. But it would be stupid to do so, because Mom had cameras in the shop. The reason wasn't to spot thieves, but to catch me on the act of stealing food. The woman had eyes everywhere.

In surrender, I slumped and began to run the options in my head. The most logical thing to do was to wait for Mitch to arrive and have her order something for me. God knew Mel wouldn't let me buy anything from the menu.

The upstairs kitchen in the house was tempting, but I was in no mood to hike up to the second floor or to cook.

Phone buzzing. That could be Jackson. I whipped out my phone and really, it was him. Hold the freezer, didn't he have class at this time? Unwilling, I answered the call. "Um, Winchesters' hotline. Did Castiel invade your lawn again?"