Maybe Then...

Chapter 9: if my fingers weren't blistered

If my fingers weren't blistered,

Maybe then, I wouldn't have to work through the pain.
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"Week two," I mumbled to myself as I cracked my knuckles. I took the faded white apron and slipped it on before quickly tying it behind my back. "Here we go!"

"You're really serious about your job, now aren't you?" Zeke chuckled.

"And you aren't?"

He sent a smile my way before returning his attention back to the fruit he was cutting. "According to my grandfather, not so much."

"Maybe it's just harder to work on smoothies and milkshakes than it is to scoop ice cream?"

"Try telling that to him," he smiled as I started for the door.

My shift had barely begun when my fingers started hurting every time I touched the register. It wasn't a throbbing kind of pain, like the kind you get when your bones are growing (let's face it, I was probably done with all of my growth spurts by now). It wasn't even a sore muscle feeling. It was just two fingers on my right hand; in other words, it was the two specific fingers of preference for plucking the bass.

Daniel had warned me about the blistering, so it's not like I wasn't expecting such a thing to happen. The severity of the blistering, though, is what I didn't know of. One of them was a blood blister on my middle finger, while the other one on my index finger had managed to turn into a water blister to match another on my middle finger. To top it all off, areas where my skin had begun callousing felt like stiff band aids on my finger tips.

Ariel was handling the food, but like always, we rotated between serving the food and handling the money. This came in handy when we wanted to let our arms take breaks from scooping. When we finally decided to rotate after a couple of hours, I washed up my hands after handling money that's been who knows where, and began scooping when the next customer ordered.

Not long after I started scooping did my fingers give me trouble. The blisters on them kept me paranoid for fear of them popping while handling food. I don't think anyone wants to eat ice cream dressed with water from water blisters. At least my personal preference would be whipped cream. So for health precautions, I started scooping with my left hand.

Not long after starting, Ariel began catching on to the switched switched arms. "Are you ambidextrous?" 

"What?"

"Ambidextrous, meaning both hands are your dominant hands," she explained. "My sister is ambidextrous."

"Oh, no," I said simply.

"I could have sworn you were right-handed..." she muttered. 

"Oh, I am right-handed," I said. 

She creased her eyebrows. "Then why are you using your left hand?"

I opened up my palm towards her to show off my new blisters, giving a half-smile when her eyes met mine. "I started playing the bass, and I usually use my index and middle fingers to pluck the strings. My cousin Dan says that it will callus over soon, I just have to work through the pain." 

"Does it hurt that bad to scoop?" 

"I'm fine, I just don't want to get the food dirty. A couple of them are water blisters, so in case they pop, I want them to be away from the food. You know, just trying to be considerate of the customers."

"You're a good worker, Amelia," she smiled. "You run the register, I can handle the scooping on my own." 

"You sure?" 

"Yes, I'm sure. You try too hard. Cut yourself some slack." 

Even though she was the one that had offered and insisted on it, I still felt guilty. I felt guilty that she was doing the laborous work just because a stupid hobby was getting in the way. Maybe I also felt a little incapable, and I don't like being thought of as such. Ariel ended up being the one who did the scooping for the rest of the day, and I ended up popping those water blisters as soon as I got home. They still hurt, but at least they were a little more hygienic. 

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Hey everyone, thanks for reading, and sorry about the long wait for an update. Granted, this update probably didn't take as long as the other, but I still understand how it feels to be waiting and anticipating the release of another chapter on Wattpad. 

Happy belated birthday to my best friend (no, I didn't forget her birthday, I just didn't publish this chapter on the day of her birthday like I'd hoped I would).

I like seeing comments and your feedback, it's really encouraging. It's also really encouraging to see frequent readers. Thanks to you all! God bless! Love ya!