The Project

Chapter 17

                                       "The Diner"

            Aidan’s mom finally caught up to me just as I was pushing through the girl’s bathroom door. She quietly followed me in there and waited patiently as I took deep breathes and counted to ten.

            “What happened,” she asked gently after I turned back to her.

            “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “We’ve been getting along great and then today he got mad because I watched Josh as he walked away. Then of course we got in a fight about it.”

            “He’s going to get mad anytime he sees you interested in a boy,” she said as she rubbed my back.

            “Why?”

            “He’s not going to want the girl he likes looking at other boys,” she said with a gentle smile.

            “He doesn’t like me like that,” I told her back.

            “And why would you think that,” she asked me with a slight frown on her face.

            “Why would he? He’s….Aidan Riley and I’m just me. Plain little me,” I said sadly.

            “Don’t talk about yourself like that! You are beautiful and you need to learn that. I’ve never seen him as happy as I did yesterday when he came home. Nor have I seen him as excited as he was when he went to pick you up this morning,” she said almost angry.

            “He was probably just relaxed from the vacation,” I said. “I really should get to work. What do you want me to do?”

            “Go to the kitchen and talk to my husband. He’ll give you a uniform and you can waitress for the day,” she said after a minute.

            “Ok,” I said as I turned and walked out of the bathroom. I walked into the kitchen and saw Aidan talking to his father. Instead of bringing attention to myself I turned and walked back out.  A few minutes later Mrs. Riley walked out of the bathroom and saw me. She instantly headed towards me.

            “Why are you out here,” she asked me.

            “Aidan’s in there,” I said quietly.

            “Don’t be scared to see him little girl,” she said as she took my arm and pulled me into the kitchen. As soon as we walked in there both Aidan and his father looked over at us.

            “Get her a uniform Michael,” she said to the older man.

            “Yes dear,” he said with a smile as he nodded for me to follow him. “What size are you?”

            “Four,” I said as we walked into a room. He walked over to a wall and looked for a minute before pulling out a clear package with a uniform in it.

            “Thank you,” I said.

            “Not a problem. And don’t be too hard on him. Boys do stupid stuff when their jealous,” he said before he walked out and left me to change.

            Instead of replying I closed and locked the door to strip out of my clothes. I quickly changed into the uniform. It was actually kind of cute. The blue skirt was pleated and came down to about an inch above my knee. The shirt was a white polo and had the diners name embroidered on it. I put on my own shoes and pulled a ponytail off my wrist to pull my hair up. When I was done I looked into the mirror they had in the room. It actually looked pretty good. I picked up my clothes and phone and stuffed them into the bag I had gotten the uniform out of. After putting it in a cubbyhole I unlocked the door and opened it just to come face to face with Josh.