3:15

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Sophie's POV

I tie my long greasy brunette hair into a high ponytail and top it off with a big red bow before pulling up my knee high socks. I apply one last layer of lip gloss before taking my bag and heading out the door with my car keys.

Having a job at nearly 17 has its perks. Making my own money really brightens up my life a bit. I've been working at the Fleetwood Diner for about four months now and I'm really loving it.

I work with a few kids from school but also some cranky old adults like my assistant manager named Jim who's a real pain in my ass. Hey, what can I say? The man yells whenever he pleases even when customers are around which is super unprofessional.

I'm extremely close with three of my co-workers though. Andrew being my best guy friend, Josh being Andrew's best friend who's also my other guy best friend, and Alyssa who's been my best friend since we were about five. I could care less about the rest of the staff except our keyholder Mindy.

As I pull up to the diner, I spot Andrew's car in one of the parking spaces. A wave of happiness rushes over me knowing I'm not going to be alone with my other co-workers the rest of the night.

The wood chimes above the diner door signal that somebody has entered, meaning me. I glance around the restaurant to see who's working. Looks like it's just Andrew, Samuel, Jim, Pauline, and I tonight.  Pauline and I usually wait the tables when Alyssa, Stanley, and Morgan aren't here and we serve the food while Andrew is our main hostess unless Josh is there to help out and or take his place. Samuel is our main chef but Jim does help him in the kitchen if we're short staffed. Usually Mindy and Gabe help him cook but they're off tonight which means Jim is helping, Lord help these poor customers. Our janitors who keep the restaurant clean are Logan and Valeria.

Unfortunately, our janitors don't work on Sundays.

I smile at Andrew and pull up my blood red skirt. He hands me my apron before I put on my roller skates. In this diner, we skate to serve food just like at the fast food restaurant called Sonic. No, we did not copy Sonic. This diner has been around since the early 1900's so technically nobody copied anybody.

Andrew helps me up off the bench. I gratefully smile and grab my notepad and pen to take orders.

"Ready for boring ole school tomorrow?" Drew teased and only I can call him Drew.

"Of course." I say being sarcastic.

"How's mom?" He asked.

"She's alright, I guess. She hasn't been home very much lately but I don't blame her. With my dad being deployed, it's hard for her to pay most of the bills by herself. My dad only pays for our mortgage which is highly expensive and he uses any extra money to put into our bank accounts." I reply realizing that I was rambling.

"You miss him?" He turns his head to the side to look at me.

My gaze was fixed on a very unfamiliar face walking into the diner. We usually have regulars come in since this is a small town in Lansing.

"Yeah, he wants to fly us to Germany over break to spend time with him. He said you, Aly, and Josh are more than welcome to come." I smile remembering what my dad told me about them coming along.

"I think I'll pass, I don't have the money. I'm trying to save up for a new guitar and new YouTube equipment." He declined politely.

"My dad's willing to pay. Come on, we're rich and you know my father by now. He adores you guys." I try to convince him hoping to change his mind.

"Fine, but I owe you!" He gives in.

I chuckle slightly and then skate on over to the booth with the mysterious new face while thinking about how successful Andrew's YouTube channel gotten lately. His subscriber count keeps rising rapidly. Can't say I'm not proud.

Ever since we were 11, all he wanted to do was sing. The kid has the voice of an angel and can get into any college he wants with his great talent. We both applied to Michigan State University since it's the only good college in our state and we live two hours away from the campus.

You see, I'm an actress. I've done many plays where I was the lead role. Girls used to be extremely jealous of me because I would have to kiss their boyfriends in the stupid plays. I never thought it was that big of a deal. It's just acting.

Drew moved to East Lansing at the end of 5th grade. He lives down the block from my house while Josh is his next door neighbor and Aly living across the street from both of them.

My house is bigger than all of theirs. My dad is in the military as an Air force officer. Right now he's deployed in Germany. My mother, on the other hand, is an Air Force psychologist. She works long hours only to pay the bills that my father can't pay and that's understandable. I have an older brother named Matthew who's in his first year of college at UVA and I have a younger sister named Katie (short for Katelyn) who's 14 almost 15.

I'm a junior at Plymouth-Canton High School. My birthday is at the end of October which is coming up shortly. I'll be 17 finally. Drew already turned 17 back in August.

I snap out of my thoughts and politely approach the booth.

"Hi, welcome to Fleetwood Diner. What can I do for ya?" I put on a bright smile.

I study the dirty blonde haired boy in front of me. His eyes are brown. He looks younger looking as if he could be my age.

"Ah, yes. I saw an ad about a job opening here. Is there a manager I could possibly speak to about that?" He kindly replied.

"Our assistant manager is in today. Would you like to speak to Jim?" I question.

He nods.

I skate to the back kitchen where Jim is helping Samuel cook.

"Jim, there's somebody who would like to speak with you." I calmly say.

"Jesus, who could it be now? Why does everyone bother me of all people on a Sunday?" He slightly shouts.

Samuel quietly cooks while obviously listening.

"I guess I'll have to handle this!" He storms out.

I look at Samuel and give him an apologetic look. He just chuckles to himself.

I skate to the hostess stand and approach Drew.

"So you made the big man angry?" He teased.

"In all fairness, the young looking dirty blonde guy looking for a job here started it." I defended myself.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Sure, Miss Trouble." He laughs.

I flip him off and Jim accidentally sees.

"Sophie, back to work! Stop embarrassing me in front of the customers!" Jim yells at me while holding a random empty milkshake in his hand.

Andrew bursts out laughing and Pauline shakes her head at his idiocy to yell at me in front of the poor customers.

Boy, this was going to be a long night with Mr. Grouchy Pants.