Between You and Me

~~4~~

"Can I take the shot or what, little waitress?" His deep voice calls at me from the door.
"Of course. Go right ahead."

He sets his right foot slightly behind him and then takes a step forward with his left.  His right arm swings around and he releases the ball at just the right time.  My head follows the arc of the ball before it hits the rim of the net and falls off to the left, bouncing on the dark hardwood floor three times.

My jaw slacks and I turn to look back at the town's supposed superstar quarterback.  Obviously the hype about Oliver Barnet is ill placed.

The quarterback's face has gotten unnaturally tense, as have his shoulders and hands, now in fists.  His eyes are glaring holes into the ball, as if the oblong round pigskin ball is to blame for his bluff.  When his eyes slowly flick up towards mine, his eyebrows furrow deeply.

"Let's keep that between you and me.  I know you're the new kid here.  I have the social and financial standing to make sure that your life turns into a living hell." He steps closer to me and I take a few steps back and end up hitting the wall, "Watch yourself."

I nod my head once.

"Good.  Don't think I'm bluffing."

With that, he turns on his heel and heads off towards his friends at his table.  I guess I should keep my mouth shut.  He's right when he says that he could ruin me, and my mum to be honest.  His father is a wealthy lawyer and his mother is a well respected counsel member for the state.  If I were to ruin his all important image at school and in the town, I don't even want to think of what he'd spread about me and my past.

Now what? Do I just ignore the fact that Oliver Barnett just missed the easiest throw he might ever make? Should I even hint of this to Dan? What would he do if he found out about this incident? I literally just got this job, and the hours work perfectly with my schedule. Plus, I'm graduating this year... I need the extra financing.

I'll keep my mouth shut at the expanse of losing the few friends I do already have. I've been hanging around with Shilo's friends. It turns out she's pretty popular in the high school environment. Obviously she isn't as popular as an Oliver Barnet or a Sophia Samuels, but she does pretty well.  It sure helps that she's on the student council.  Everyone at school likes her, which has rubbed off on me apparently, as I am known by quite a few people now.

It makes me happy that I've been accepted into this new situation so quickly.  It's been nice to have had been accepted so quickly.  Even at Dan's I've made friends with the other waitresses.  Jenny and Alexa are so patient with me when I have questions while Chris understands that I might not be as quick as the other girls just yet. 

"Hey girlie!" Sophia calls out to me from her table with Oliver Barnett, "Here's your tip!" She lets a five dollar bill fall to the dark table, but it lands in her still half full glass of lemon water instead.  I hustle over to grab it, but I'm too late. 

I let out a loud sigh and look over at the clock above the entrance to the dining room.  I have half an hour left to go. 

"Running on low energy there, Sage?" Dan's voice calls out from behind me
I turn around and try to smile as widely as I can, although I think it looks more like a grimace, "I guess it's something like that, boss. I'll get back to it."
He chuckles and motions for me to head his way, when I do he puts a hand on my shoulder and turns me around to look at the others working the entire place without me, "The others have this last bit under control. It's just desert and cleaning up leftovers mostly. Why don't you take off before you fall asleep standing here?"
I start to protest but he cuts me off, "I'm your boss and I'm telling you to go home."
"Alright. Thank you, I mean it"

He nods his head at me and smiles as I head off to the back room to grab my bag.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's two hours after the end of my shift. I've been giving myself some me-time so I won't bite anyone's head off tomorrow at school. If I've learned anything about myself over the course of my high school career, it's that I need time to myself if I want to deal with the stress.

Working with Dan has made it easier to keep sane. This is the second time he has let me off my shift about half an hour early. He's very understanding about his worker's personal lives. Once when Jenny had to run off to pick up her son, he let her go and gave her the rest of the day to take care of him. Then, he helped us out in service the rest of the day until night shift came.

He's a very helpful person, and with the amount of terrible, rude and infuriating bosses I've had, I really appreciate it.

I'm laying in bed with a book in my hands when my phone lights up with a new text message. I lift my old iPhone in my hands and notice that the message is coming from an unknown number. I open it up anyways.

Unknown Number: You make sure u keep ur yap tightly shut 'bout what u saw today.
Sage: I'm sorry... Who is this?
Unknown Number: It's Oliver, u expecting a text from another star quarterback 2night?

I rush to update his name into my phone before answering.

Sage: Are you really the superstar QB in this town? Man, I feel bad for the team. How often do you guys loose?
Oliver: That isn't funny, new girl.

I roll my eyes. I barely know this guy and I'm already annoyed with his attitude and entitlement. Can't his massive ego take a joke?

Sage: I think it is. No wind, no chance of sacks. What made you miss? Was it my stunning beauty? XD
Oliver: Of course not. U need a reality check.

Okay, ouch.

Sage: Something tells me you do too.

With that, I silence my phone. Who can't handle a little fun? I just got to this town and I'm already having to deal with really annoying people. But I'm done with this cocky rich boy. For now.

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