What Happened At St. Ivey's (One Direction)

Chapter 5

~BROOKLYN~

“Do you want peanuts on that?” I asked the little girl on the other side of the counter. She twirled around in her little pink dress, not paying me any attention. I smiled at her; she reminded me of Kayla.

“No, thanks,” her mother answered for her. I rang the two up, handing the ice cream over.

“Thanks, guys! Come visit us at Frozen Dreams again!” I said to them, and the mother grunted in response. I’d lost count of how many times I’d said that so far today, but that had been the last customer in a pretty long line. And it was only ten in the morning. What kind of person eats ice cream at ten in the morning?

Yawning, I stretched. I hadn’t gotten home until 12 last night, and that morning a nightmare had woke me up at about six. I’d slapped on some cover-up and went to work, but I could barely keep my eyes open.

I tugged at my dark blue apron, which had icicles threaded in the shape of the words Frozen Dreams splayed across the chest. I wiped down the glass that showcased all of our ice cream flavors. Our little store had a reputation for having, well, unconventional flavors, like peanut butter and jelly, and banana.

Once the last sticky hand print was gone, I drooped over the counter, my head in my hands, and puffed my bangs out of my face. I could barely keep my eyes open. The door suddenly squeaked open, and I quickly stood up, straightening my mandatory black polo.

“Don’t worry, Brooklyn,” Austin smirked as the door shut behind him. “It’s just me.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “You know you’re going to have to order something this time, right?” He leaned over the light blue laminate counter, resting on his forearms. “Asking for a free sample of everything ain’t going to cut it this time.”

Austin literally pouted, sticking his bottom lip out ridiculously far. I l smiled at him and clucked his chin. “Fine,” Austin finally gave up when he realized I wasn’t about to give in. “Give me the nastiest flavor you’ve got.”

I picked up a sugar cone. “You’re so going to regret this.” I scooped a heaping cone full of our least popular flavor, watermelon. It didn’t sound too bad, but the flavor was actually pretty funky. It almost tasted like vegetables.

“Enjoy!” I said, and Austin handed over the money.

“Do you dare me to eat all of this as fast as I can?” He asked, then, without waiting for a reply, he attacked the cone. I timed him on my watch, and when he was done he slammed his fist down on the counter. “Time!” He yelled.

“Four minutes and 37 seconds!” I cheered. “That’s got to be a personal best.”He had ice cream dripping down his chin, and I wiped my finger through it. I licked it off. “Okay, I give you props for finishing that one. That’s gross.”

My best friend heaved himself onto the counter, and since no one else was here, I let him. “Totally worth the brain freeze,” he muttered, wincing as he rubbed his temples.

The store was always playing some radio station over the speakers, and right then the beat to a One Direction song started playing.

“I’ve never been so tired,” I said as I rested my forehead on the counter, “in my whole life.”

He patted my back. “So what’re you and all of those guys doing today?” Austin asked, playing with the napkin dispenser next to the register.

“Not sure yet. Liam said he’d text me or something.”

“Are they nice?”

I lifted my head off the counter long enough to nod. “Totally. And really funny. I guess we all just get along pretty well.”