Hold On

Chapter Five: Legs and a Tutor

Wednesday right after school was my first day. I arrived at the dinner with butterflies in my stomach, nervous to spend longer then usual with these boys.

When I walked into the diner, I was greeted by Michael smiling at me.

"Welcome to your first day! Follow me for the tour" Michael cheerily exclaims, throwing an apron at me.

Laughing, I take the apron, and follow Michael who walked to the back, towards the kitchen. "This is where the cooking happens, which is what we like to call Ashton's home" Michael explains, motioning his hand to the grill and such. "He will brag about what he can cook, but really he's got Maxie helping him with every new order"

Next on the tour was the counter and the cash register, where I learned how to keep the money drawer from jamming itself every other time.

"And now- the honours" Michael announces, bending down to grab something from a cupboard. "Your note pad, m'lady" He presents the note pad on his open palm, head bowed and about to kneel down.

I laughed and grabbed the note pad, curtsying at his awkward attempt to act like a servant.

"Get up off your knees, Clifford" A deep voice startles me, bringing my attention to the front of the diner.

"Shut up Luke, I was just giving Julia her honorary note pad to start off her career as the only female employee at Maxie's Diner- other then Maxie" Michael announces again, standing up and brushing off his knees.

"Wait, she's working here n-now?" Luke asks, stuttering and brushing his hand through his blonde hair.

"Yes, JULIA is working here now" Michael answers, walking around the counter to go to the door, to flip the sign to say 'OPEN'

Luke gives me a look that I don't know how to perceive, almost like he wants to say something but its also a really confused look. I'd say I was the more confused one, watching Luke eye me awkwardly.

Before any of us could say anything, Calum came through the door bouncing on his own feet. "Julia!"

I smiled at Calum while Luke shrugged off his jacket and put it on the coat hanger behind the counter. "Hey Calum"

"Ready for day one?" He smirked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

The first few days were fairly decent, I was on clean up duty, clearing the plates and wiping down the tables. It was a pretty easy job, only dropping a plate once, and that was because I was watching to see if Calum could really carry five plates of food out to a table. (Answer was: yes he could, and I couldn't even carry two empty plates back to the kitchen).

The boys at the diner made me feel really welcome, like they always had, but this was different. They would include me in their inside jokes, and when the diner was empty, they got a little louder and would turn on music to pass the time.

But what really shocked me was that I showed up to work on Saturday morning, and the boys were all there and in diner-y uniforms. Like the whole deal. Black dress pants, black belt, and blue diner shirt tucked into their pants.

I stifled a laugh when I saw how awkward they all looked, but when Luke saw me, he smirked. "It's Saturday, get in your uniform"

I scrunched my eyebrows at him, and said, "I didn't know we had uniforms"

"Only on weekends" Calum clears up, but I still questioned him.

"What about last Sunday when I came here the first time?"

"We skipped on it because Maxie wasn't here"

"And we won't ever let that happen again, right boys?" Maxie says in a teasing tone, while coming out of the office she does her paper work in. "Julia, could follow me for a minute?"