Games of Power and Prowess

Chapter 4: Coincidence

I've been "assisting" Mrs Rocher for the entire week and now it's Saturday morning. Honestly, I just spent my sixth and seventh hours running to the printer room for her and fetching her documents from the nurses.

I would like to say something eventful has happened but the woman hasn't even touched me since I told her to make up her mind.

Well, that was a lie. She touched me on Wednesday whilst asking me to call Miss Taylor over but when I told her I'd prefer it if she didn't "lead me on," which is something she definitely wasn't doing, she backed off completely. I can barely get her to look at me.

It hurts if I'm being truthful. I thought it would be okay since we didn't even know each other for a week at that point but having her purposely avoid my gaze was hard.

I finally had a girl who was interested in me and now I've ruined it by asking to put a label on things after a day, a day.

Morgan and Jo texted the group chat early this morning asking if we all wanted to go out for dinner tonight. My mum still isn't home from her business trip and isn't expected to be home until tomorrow evening so I was quick to respond with a yes.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a mother who is as present as Morgan or Jodie's parents are. Ever since I was young I've gotten used to responsibility. My mum stopped hiring a babysitter for me when I turned thirteen because she believed I was big enough to take care of myself by then.

I think I wouldn't be the same person I am today. Loads of adults, at least the ones I speak to at my mum's events, say I am very mature for my age. It's probably because my mum left me to care for an entire household by myself as soon as I got into high school.

But now I'm eighteen and am a lot more prepared for life without parents than some of my peers. I mean I've been living on my own 60% of the time anyway so what's so different about doing it miles away from my home, even with a roommate or two? If anything, I'll have to get used to living with someone full time.

Speaking of full time, I have to get to work in 30 minutes and I'm still in bed.

I get up and get dressed in some black jeans and a white polo shirt that has the logo on the left shoulder. My messy blonde locks are simply pulled back into a french plait to keep it out of my face and I'm ready.

I slip on my black Nike trainers, grab my wallet and keys and I'm out the door. I make sure to lock it before jogging out to my white Kia Soul and making my way to the ice cream shop where I work.

Making it just in time for my shift, I greet Bill who is the man who founded the place and also somehow always here. I tie the little apron around my waist and step behind the bar, ready to take anyone's orders.

The nice thing about working in such a little shop is that we don't get loads of people. Usually just a regular crowd of families who have been coming here for as long as I've been working here and longer.

Bill likes to help out behind the counter so we get some quality time together. I wouldn't say to anyone in my school that one of my best friends is an old man but he truly is a lovely guy. Sometimes he invites me over to his place with his wife and kids for movie night when my mum is out for an extended amount time.

Just as I'm finishing up an order for a man and his two adorable kids, I hear the bell above the door ring and Bill greet some people. I sigh as this shift seems to be going by slower than normal with a crazy amount of people coming. You'd think that as the weather gets colder we'd have less business but oh boy is that wrong.

"Hello, welcome to Ice Cream Scream. Have you been here before?" I ask with my typical cheerful voice. The setup of the counter makes it so that one has to bend down to be able to actually see who you're talking to so usually I just stay standing so I don't end up like those hunched old ladies by the time I'm thirty.