I'm Still Sadie

Brandi

BRANDI

Imposter Sadie soon left, leaving half her tuna sandwich untouched. As I watched her leave, I did nothing to stop her.

Part of me I wondered if I was angry or relieve to see her go. Angry, I decided when I realized that I had been left with the bill.

Yes, I had offered to pay for lunch, but I had seriously overestimated how much this twenty dollar bill would get me. I glanced at the three plates on the table and winced. How was I going to get out of this one?

The waitress came by the table and refilled my water, so I dug out my bill from my pocket. I did the math in my head, and once I discovered the verdict, I clenched my teeth tight.

I was seven dollars short.

"Shit," I mumbled.

"What was that?" the waitress asked.

"Oh, I said I'm done," I said, too embarrassed to look up at her.

"Three sandwiches is twenty-seven dollars," she told me.

Any satisfaction I could have gotten from learning that my math was correct was counteracted by the reassurance that I didn't have the money to pay for it.

"Do you do discounts?" I asked hopefully. It was a long shot, but it was also buying time for me to figure something out. Could I complain that Imposter Sadie only ate half her sandwich and therefore I should pay half the price of it?

"Yes," she said. "For students. With student ID, you get fifteen percent off your meal."

I let out a deep exhale. "Wow, that sounds great."

More than just that, it sounded amazing, impeccable. This would be one of the few things to turn up in my favor today.

But then, little old me had to do the math. Fifteen percent off my grand total still wouldn't be enough to cover the bill, but at least it was something.

Yet all that spontaneous optimism could not last. When I reached for my nonpresent wallet, it faded away into nothing.

Oh right, though in a familiar setting, I wasn't in my body. It was Imposter Sadie who kept my wallet and student ID.

And so whoever I was today had nothing.

"Do you need a minute?" the waitress asked, drumming her fingers on the table.

Part of me was ready to explode, exclaiming "Yes! I need all the minutes!" but I managed to keep my cool for a little while longer. Certainly I could worm my way out of this one, right?

I plastered on a smile for the waitress and tried to encompass the puppy-dog eyes of Tegan and her mind tricks galore, but when I got a good look at my waitress's face, my smile ditched my face.

"Brandi?" I asked way too loudly.

She jumped before giving me a suspicious nod. "Yes?"

Wasn't this just rich? My one-sided nemesis was standing right in front of me. Better yet, she was my waitress and I was in no place of power.

"Since we go to school together, you don't need my ID to prove I'm a student," I said, waving my hand around.

"Wait a minute. Slow down," she said.