The Nerd's Best Friend

•FOURTEEN•

  I sit down at our lunch table, pulling out my Nutella sandwich. Naomi and Luke joined us, along with Luke's friend, Jay. He was Luke's best friend who also move to this school.

  Luke and Jay went to Jersey Village High School, hints to why Luke was dating a girl there. Jay moved here two years ago, when his dad passed away, and Luke moved here when there were complications in school.

  "Hey Rae." Jay greeted me, sitting beside me as Naomi sat on my left and Luke sat to hers.

  "Hey." I say, with warm smile before taking a bite of my sandwich. Marcus then joins us, with Haley of course, and sits down as well.

  "Rae!! They have sign ups for the talent contest!! It's Friday!! We have to do it!!" He exclaims, his eyes wide with excitement. I nod, pulling out my phone for a reminder.

  "Haley!! We need to plan our performance!!" Says a high pitched voice. We all turn to look at Haley's minion, Kayla. She is about 5" and has strawberry blonde hair that curls down to her waist. Her green eyes compliment it as well. If it weren't for her obnoxious personality, I would say she was pretty.

  "Okay Ka!! I'm coming!" Haley groans, getting up. She takes her bag, and slings it over her shoulder, kissing Marcus. "Bye babe." She smirks, as she does an over dramatic hair flip, walking away.

  "We need to plan ours too." I saw, pulling out a notebook and moving to sit beside him. I flatten out my overalls and shrug my hair behind my shoulder.

  "Song." We day in unison. I have an amazing voice, curtesy of my mom, and Marcus knows the guitar.

  "Okay. What country song is it going to be this year?" Naomi joked with us, as I try to think of one.

  "Got it." I smirk, as I tell Marcus. He grins, nodding. We find the lyrics, and begin rehearsals right after school.

  When I got home, I found my mom on the couch with papers scattered everywhere.

  "Hey. You're home early." I say, sitting beside her. She nods, picking up another paper, before putting it down and running a hand through her hair.

  "I can't handle these bills!" She exclaims, leaning back. I glance at them, and sure enough, they are very large. With my dad deployed and mom only on a teacher salary, we tend to have issues with bills.

  "I'll get a job." I announce, pulling up my phone to search for jobs. She immediately takes my phone, disapproving.

"Raelynn. You know I don't want you getting a job. I'll figure out a way to pay them. All you have to do, is enjoy life." She says, honesty in her eyes. I sigh, taking my phone back.

"Mom. I promise, it's fine. I need something to fill up my time anyways. I'll just talk to Ms. Ruby. She always seems to need help." I say, calling the cafe. My moms sighs, one that sounds a bit relieved.

  "Thank you sweetie." She says, organizing the papers, before putting them back into a folder.

"Hello?"

"Hello! Ms. Ruby!! This is Raelynn McKnight. I was hoping I could possibly come in for an interview sometime soon."

"Oh! No need sweetie! You got the job!! I'll see you tomorrow at three!" She says before hanging up.

  Huh. That was easy.

"My first shift is tomorrow at three." I saw, my moms face full of shock.

  "That woman is too nice for her own good." My mom says, a slight chuckle in her voice.
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The next day, at 2:55, I was walking into Mama Ruby's Cafe. The quaint cafe was lively with the white walls that had pink flowers sprinkled all over and the colorful flowers on each table. At the back, there stood a order counter and a pastry case. There was a small reading corner in the back right that was stocked with all sorts of books.