Beyond the Ordinary

Chapter 10

A/N - Penny^^

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KATE 

"Kate, over here!" Corey called me over.

I sat next to her, pulling out my lunchbox.

Amy and Kyle joined us moments later, walking hand in hand.

"What's up, Blondie?" Kyle asked, sitting across from me while Amy followed and sat down beside him.

I blushed shyly now that my new nickname had been announced.

Amy looked at her boyfriend skeptically. "Blondie?"

Kyle chuckled and kissed Amy's cheek, making her blush.

I pulled out my turkey sandwich and took a bite.

Corey turned to me and smiled. "How was your second day of classes?"

I swallowed the bite of food, before I said, "It was okay, I found history pretty boring as usual."

"Who's your teacher?" Kyle asked, taking a swig of his root beer.

"Um, Mrs. Barnes," I replied.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "God, I hated her. She gave me detention three times during my sophomore year."

Amy playfully slapped Kyle's shoulder. "That's because you always threw pencils at her when you thought she wasn't paying attention. If you were my student, I'd give you detention too! You could've poked her eye out!"

Kyle scoffed. "Yeah, right. None of my pencils ever went anywhere near her."

✡ ✡ ✡

The bell rang, signaling the end of day two.

After saying goodbye to all my friends, I strolled out to my dad's car, a skip in my step.

My phone buzzed with a text right as I got into the car and I took out my phone to see that it was a text from Kyle.

KYLE - See u in pre-calc tmr, Blondie. Good luck with ur job interview! Ur gonna do great!

I smiled and typed my response.

KATE - Thanks, Kyle! See u tmr!

I shut off my phone and faced my father.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Oh, just my pre-calc partner for a project."

This time, I didn't have to completely lie.

My father smiled. "Are they as smart as you?"

I shrugged. "Not even close."

He chuckled. "Good girl."

We drove home since we still have an hour to kill before my interview and I decided to get all of my homework out of the way before we would head over.

Forty-five minutes later, my father walked into my room, a hopeful smile on his face. "You ready?"

I nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

He left my room and I grabbed my phone before following right behind him.

We'd arrived at our destination ten minutes early, when my father said, "You got this, Kate. I'll just wait here."

I smiled at my father and gave him a wave before I headed inside.

I strolled up to the first employee that I see, which happens to be a very attractive male.

"Hi, um, do you know where I can find Penny?" I asked him.

He looked at me crookedly. "And you are?" He asked, his tone friendly.

"Um, I'm Kate, I'm here for an interview."

I glanced down at his nametag and it read, Axel.

Axel had wavy dark black hair and eyes so brown that they almost look black. His skin was tan, but not from the harsh sun. He smirked, showing a small dimple on his cheek.

I realized that I'd been staring at him for a bit too long and he let out an awkward cough. "Uh, her office is right over there," he said, pointing down a narrow hallway.

"Thank you," I replied, embarrassed.

Sure enough, I found a wooden door to my left labeled, manager. I knocked and the door opened within seconds. In the doorframe, stood a girl who I assumed was in her late twenties. Despite being the manager, her name tag still read, Penny. Her name.

Penny had long blonde hair that was pulled back into a tight low ponytail and her eyes were a pale green that contrasted well with her tanned skin.

"You must be Kate, come on in," she said.

I entered her office, which was quite small, but still cozy enough. I took a seat in a small cushioned chair across from her desk.

"Now, I'm Penny in case your father hadn't mentioned me," she said, shaking my hand over her desk, "I've been the manager here for a couple of years so I'm not going anywhere for awhile."

I smiled at her friendliness.

"Now, will this be your first job?" She asked, taking out a notepad and a pen from a drawer in her desk.

I nodded, then remembered that I'm supposed to speak. "Yes."

Penny wrote this down. "Cool. So you don't have any experience waitressing or anything like that?"

I shook my head. "No, but I'm a pretty fast learner so I'm sure it wouldn't be too much of an issue."

Penny wrote this down as well. "Awesome. Any allergies?"

"No, but I am diabetic."

Penny looked up from her notepad, looking surprised. "Really? What type?"

"Two. I take metformin for it, though, so it also shouldn't really be a problem. Just don't give me really sugary things," I said that last part with a small chuckle.

I twisted my bracelet around my wrist nervously as Penny continued to scribble down some notes. "Why do you want this job?" She asked.

"Well, I've never really had one before and I figured that it's time that I learn some skills that will be necessary for other jobs that I'll apply for in the future."

Penny smiled. "Are you planning on going to college?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I am, though I'm still not sure what I want to be. I'm only a sophomore, though, so I have time to decide."

Penny wrote down one final note and stood, extending her hand. "Welcome to the team, Kate."

I took her hand, shaking it firmly.

We went over final details, like when my first day of training will be, when the work schedule will be posted, and what my availability is, before we walked out of her office together.

"Now, I will have Axel train you in waitressing and busing. He's trained everyone else, so I trust him."

I nodded. "Okay."

"Hey, Axel!" Penny called him over.

Axel ambled up to us with a few beads of sweat on his forehead. "Yes, Penny?"

She smiled at him. "Could you find a shirt for Kate?"

Axel nodded and turned to me. "What size are you?"

"Um, small."

He nodded once again and walked to the back of the store and called, "Welcome to the team, Kate," behind me.

"Thank you," I whispered, even though I knew that he'd already disappeared.