The Breakfast Club

Realization

  "Oh, now you decide to show up." His boss spoke harshly. Her words were sharp shards of glass. Wafflehouse stood there in confusion. She told him that he could have the day off, why was she mad?

    " I th-" Wafflehouse was interupted by the boss who's face was now red.

     "I get it." She scoffed " You think since you won that debate you don't have to come into work." She threw her hands in the air " If you wanted a day off you could've asked, I glady would've gave it to you!" She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

     "Y-you weren't the one who called and told me I could have the days off?" Wafflehouse started to sweat.

     " Did you just fucking hear me? If I was the one who gave you the days off, we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?" She said sarcastically, strans of her frizzy blonde hair were falling into her face. Wafflehouse had never seen such an old woman be so aggressive.

     "I'm sorry, I must've been misinformed." Wafflehouse apologized, he now knew exactly who told him. It was Ihop. But she wouldn't believe him of he told her.

     "Misinformed my ass." She mumbled as she started to walk away. "You have one more chance Wafflehouse! You lose this upcoming debate; you will be gone!" She shook her head and mumbled to herself "Don't mess it up."

      Everyone in the kitchen was staring at Wafflehouse, he looked down and quickly grabbed his materials for work, and everyone went back to work. Every so often a coworker would spare him a glance. It was a different person everytime, he could feel the the eyes staring at him, he wanted to turn around and tell them to stop but it would only make it worse.

      Wafflehouse finished his shift and quickly left his work. He looked for his car in the parking lot for ten minutes. He looked around the Wafflehouse three times till he remembered that his car was at home. It was starting to get dark so he quickly began walking home. As he walked down the busy streets a few people honked at him as they passed. The chilly night with the sounds of all the cars sent a chill up his spine.

       The debate was on Saturday and he needed to win or his job would be down the drain. He mumbled to himself different arguments he had put together. If he wins, all his coworkers would think he's a hero, he could possibly get a raise. He smiled at the thought; he needed something to go right.

      The sunset began to become more dim as night took over. If it weren't for the cars he would be in the dark. The chilly wind started to become more frequent and the air began to drop temperature. Wafflehouse started to shiver. He walked off the main road onto a less used road that led to his house. He still had around 45 minutes of walking he would have to do. It would only take around ten minutes to get to work by car but walking is a whole different story.

     Wafflehouse was on a dark corner, the only thing that gave him light was the moon and a pair of headlights coming his way. He continued to walk as the car drove past him. The car slowed down and came to a stop. Wafflehouse sighed. He was not in the mood to be murdered tonight. He quickened his pace and attempted to pass the car. He tried not to even glance at it as he passed it. His heart started to beat faster. Wafflehouse almost succeeded to pass the car but before he could he heard a voice.

     "Hello!" A woman's voice was heard. Wafflehouse knew this voice. He looked back and waved.

      "Hey." He gave a small smile to seem more friendly but he was obviously uncomfortable.

      "Do you want a ride? I'm off my shift, just don't tell my boss, he'll kill me." She chuckled after the last part of her sentence. Wafflehouse didn't want to ride with her but he was afraid to refuse. Would she kill him? Plus, he needed to get home soon.

      "Uh, sure." He slowly made his way to the car and got in. They sat in silence as she started to drive. Wafflehouse was too nervous to get onto his phone. He was making sure she was going the right direction.

     "Thanks for giving me 5 stars." She said randomly. Uber had happiness in her voice like it was the first time she had ever received that. Which wasn't a shock to Wafflehouse.

   "Oh, um, no problem." She glanced at the mirror to see him and she smiled. Wafflehouse forced a smile and looked down.

   "If you ever need a ride you can just contact me!" She sounded excited. "Everyone else just tells me they're uncomfortable when they're in the car with me. But I'm glad that you enjoyed your ride last time!" Her forced smile started to seem more genuine.

  "Yeah...I'll make sure to do that." Wafflehouse said hesitantly. There was no way he would ask her for another ride. She made him too uncomfortable. But he wasn't going to tell her that. She actually seemed happy and he didn't want to take that away from anyone.

    For the rest of the ride they sat in silence. Eventually Wafflehouse was home. "Are you sure you don't want money?"

    "Positive. It's what friends do!" She smiled and started to drive off. Wafflehouse's eyes widened at her statement. He did not want to be friends with her. He sighed. But the thought of the free rides popped into his head. He liked the idea of that. But he didn't want to use her for free rides. He would rather just take his own car.

     He made his way inside and locked the door behind him. He laid down for a few minutes and thought to himself. "I cannot screw this up." He repeated to himself. He got up and grabbed his laptop. He logged on and instead of going onto his document for the debate, he looked up Ihop. He read review after review. But every comment and review was perfect. Wafflehouse sighed and clicked onto a website. He signed up for an account and made his username very obscure. He then proceeded to type: fuck Ihop. He stared at the statement thinking of other things to type. But he seemed content with that phrase. It really captured how he felt. He clicked submit and leaned back. "I love Yelp." He clicked off the website and onto his document. Wafflehouse needed to get to work. He had to win this thing.