The rest of the school week left Isabelle exhausted, yet she felt accomplished and proud of herself. Pushing herself to try and strive in class had begun to have positive effects on her mental health, and she had already made a new friend.
Nick, the quiet kid who did his best to fade into the background, warmed up to Isabelle, and the two paired up for PE whenever the class' activity allowed. Isabelle found out Nick was in a similar situation to her. His mother had walked out on him and his dad when he was younger, and his dad spent most days at the bottom of a bottle. When his dad was in jail sleeping off the previous night, which was a common occurrence, Nick stayed with his prude grandmother. Like Michael had told her, she found someone who was dealing with a crappy home life, and a bond was formed.
Friday night gave Isabelle more good news. While she had been at school, Marilyn had gotten a call from the Denny's Manager. He asked if Isabelle was available to come in Saturday morning to train, offering her the job for minimum wage, a measly $8.00 an hour, with tips.
Marilyn agreed and got the information of when and where she would need to drop Isabelle off and pick her up. She even went so far as to make sure Isabelle had a plain pair of black pants and a plain white t-shirt ready for the next day. When Isabelle got home and Marilyn broke the news, Isabelle nearly jumped for joy.
The next morning, however, left Isabelle feeling half awake and regretting agreeing for a morning shift. She yawned heavily in the passenger seat of an old green minivan as Marilyn drove her.
"Now, do you remember what time I need to pick you up?" she asked, glancing at Isabelle.
"5pm. Wait by the main entrance, don't run off, call the home phone if something happens or if I need to stay late or get picked up early. I know," she huffed with a playful smile.
"Alright. Will they be providing you with lunch or do you need a few dollars?" Marilyn asked as she reached for her purse.
"I'll be fine. I have a few dollars on me."
"You sure?" she asked, trying to keep her eyes on the road.
"Yeah," Isabelle answered. Truth was, she didn't know if she would be provided lunch, but she had more than enough money to cover a meal.
The rest of the drive was quiet, with the exception of Marilyn changing the radio station now and then. Once they pulled in, Isabelle said "bye" to Marilyn, hopped out of the van, and bee-lined for the front door of Denny's.
"'Morning," smiled the same waitress as before.
"Hey," Isabelle gave her a shy smile.
"First day, right?" the waitress asked. Isabelle looked at her nametag, reading Stevie.
"Yeah. I had my interview over the phone, and the manager said to come in today at 8:00am," Isabelle took off her black hoodie.
"Well, then I guess you're my trainee for the day," Stevie said with excitement. "Come on, let me take you to the back office and get you a shirt, an apron and name tag."
Isabelle followed Stevie past the main counter, through the kitchen, and into a small office. The walls were littered with Denny's corporate posters, clip boards with multiple papers, and filing cabinets. The wall just outside the office had nearly two dozen aprons hanging, over half of them had name tags attached.
"Go ahead and grab one," Stevie pointed to the aprons. Isabelle grabbed a small one that was relatively free of stains and continued into the office. Stevie opened a cabinet drawer, fished out a nametag, and grabbed a label maker off the top of the cabinet. "Any specific way you want your name spelt?" she asked.
YOU ARE READING
Save Me
Ficción General(Trigger Warning for those who suffer or have suffered from abuse) Michael Emmett, a prudish detective for hire, has been working with Child Protection Services for fifteen years. He's rescued the abused from their abusers, and has hunted down runaw...
