A Little Backwards

There is no way in hell your ass is straight.

I smile at Linda as she hands me Mr.Bayer's plate and skate over to his table.

"Here you are, Mr. Bayer. Is there anything else I can get for you?" I set his plate down in front of him and smile. He shakes his head no, already diving into the eggs and bacon.

"No, no, Billie. I'll be fine from here. Thank you, darling." He waves his fork and grins back at me, watching as I skate back to the counter.

Reaching the counter, I make my way to the register and start to organize the receipts from previous customers. I easily lose myself in thoughts of Natalie and our plans for the evening: romantic comedies and lots of ice cream. She texted me this morning saying she needed another night in with me to forget Andrew, a guy she hooked up with a few times that decided he wanted nothing more than that. I sigh as I remembered the fact that she was now single, well as single as Natalie could be, and there was nothing stopping me from telling her my feelings.

Well, besides the fact that I was terrified to tell her of my feelings. Oh, and Kennedy. My thoughts turn back to New Briar, as they had been the past few days, and remembering the rejection stung once again.

"Thinking about me, Angel?" I jump back and almost fall straight on my bottom as a voice interrupts my inner monologue. I look up and meet Kennedy's bright eyes. Well, speak of the devil."Ken! I didn't know you were visiting me at work today.""Is there ever a day I don't visit you here?" He flashes me his heart-stopping grin.

Heart-stopping to other females, of course. Not me. He leans across the counter, his lips hovering over mine as he grins.

"I know you don't like PDA at work, but one kiss won't hurt, will it?"

"Yes, Kennedy. Yes it will." I push away from the counter and move to the soda fountain, opening it up to check which soda's are running low, and effectively, ignoring Kennedy.

I'm feeling off today, and I know I'm being rude to him for no reason, but putting up an act is hard for me right now. He huffs in frustration and takes a seat on one of the stools at the counter.

"What is up with you lately? You never kiss me anymore, you hardly want to hang out, and to top it all off, you act like your job is more important than me when you know that you wouldn't need this job if you'd just let me take care of you!"

I give him a dry look and turn back to the soda fountain, bending down to open the cabinet beneath it to grab a refill cartridge for Coke.

"Billie. Are you listening? Do you even care about the things I'm saying? Listen, I know you're upset about New Briar, but honestly, you've got a full ride to Asnola. Why can't you just go there?" He half-shouts, and I know that by now some of the customers closer to him must be looking our way.

I stand up quickly, leaning across the counter until I'm dangerously close to his face.

"Kennedy. I'm listening to you, but I'm at work right now and PDA and drama are not what I want to bring into my workplace. We can talk when I get off in," I glance at the watch on my wrist, "two hours. Can you wait two damn hours? You're already attracting customer's attention and it's embarrassing. And you know why I want to go to New Briar. I don't know why you'd even say something like that."

We both stare each other in the eyes, neither of us wanting to back down. His jaw clenches and his eyes grow fiery, and now I know I'm in trouble. He's always had such a bad temper. I chance a glance into the kitchen, seeing Linda watching us with narrowed eyes. She nods toward the door and I nod back.

"Okay Ken, we're going to take this outside. How about that? Sound good?" I come around the counter and grab his arm, trying to pull him up from the stool.