Behind Close Doors

Chapter Seventeen

AS SOON AS I ARRIVED at the pizzeria for my shift, Lester was the first one to greet me in his black cape. He wouldn't let me pass without making me guess his costume, and in one lucky guess, I correctly determined that he was dressed up as Count Dracula.

"Wait a minute. What gave me away?" He asked, his voice slightly muffled by the fake vampire teeth. "Giovanni just thought I was a regular vampire."

"The cape, your gelled hair, and fake teeth," I quickly told him before brushing past him.

"Hmm ok. Who are you supposed to be?" Lester inquired when he caught up to me, following me into the kitchen.

"Well, if you must know. I'm just, I'm just Jenny from the Block," I sang in my best J-LO voice.

After I broke out in song, Lester removed his fake fangs and busted out laughing, his shoulders shaking vigorously. A blush tinted my cheeks in embarrassment, and I playfully shoved at his chest to get him to stop.

"Whew–Your singing was hilarious, but who is this Jenny from the block though?" He asked me once he calmed down.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes at him. "It's a song by Jennifer Lopez. I thought my costume embodied it well so if anyone asks, I'll just say I'm Jenny from the block," I told him.

"Not sing," Lester coughed into his hand.

I shot him a glare before looking at the restaurant computer to see if any deliveries were inputted into the system through Seamless. Only two orders were in the machine as of now, but they were both pick-ups.

When I wasn't out delivering pizzas or giving out candy to the kids who came inside the pizzeria, I made a point to ignore Lester for the rest of my shift even though he tried bribing me by waving a Kit Kat bar in my face. Maybe, just maybe, I would have caved if he offered me a Twix, but he couldn't because he didn't have one.

The hours of my shift seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I was walking back inside of Adrian's pizzeria, having just completed my last delivery of the night when I received a text from Harry.

Harry: Hey, party is from 11pm-3am. Meet me on the corner of Fenton St. at 10:30pm & I'll pick u up.

The message said. I frowned after reading over the part where he mentioned the time of the party. Geez, why must it be so late? I thought to myself. Nevertheless, I didn't let my concerns show when I sent Harry my reply.

Me: Okay Harry. Cya then :)

10:30pm was only a half an hour away, so I decided to grab a slice of pizza to go while I waited for the bus at the bus stop.

I grabbed a paper plate from the pile next to the cash register and a brown bag before taking the slice of pizza with chicken cutlets on it. I placed the pizza onto the paper plate and then stuffed it inside of the bag alongside a handful of napkins.

"Leaving already?" A low voice asked, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.

I whipped my head around to see Lester standing behind me a little too close for my comfort. I clutched the paper bag in my hand tightly and nodded my head.

"I'm going to a party," I informed him.

"Oh, that sounds fun," Lester said, though his face lacked his usual smile, "Hey, do you think your dad will mind if I bring the bag of sour patch kids home with me? My brother loves them."