Before Us (GirlXGirl)

Chapter 2

Lainey

After school, Lainey headed off school grounds before hoping on her skateboard. She pushed some ear phones in her ears and skated off into the busy San Fransisco city. Have you ever heard the term "working 9-5"? That's a common saying everywhere, people working full time jobs or 8 hour shifts for normal work places open 9am to 5pm. Making the rush hour traffic through the state of California anywhere from 7am to 10am and then 1pm to 7pm. The traffic covers every street in the big city from these times, always managing to make everywhere you go in San Fransisco feel like it's so far away than what it really is.

Lainey walked through the door of her house in the lower-class, ran down side of San Fransisco. Her father was a single dad, not like he even parented her past the time her mother, Caroline passed away when Lainey was 4. He could never hold down a job due to the crippling depression. Lainey couldn't imagine what it must feel like for the love of your life just to leave you for someone else with the child you created and then just die under horrible circumstances, but she also couldn't imagine laying around day drinking all day let alone drinking at all and not doing a single thing but watching the news.

Her father didn't say anything to Lainey when she walked through the door. That was typical, she didn't expect him to say anything. In fact, if he did say something, it would probably make her speechless like last night. But who's to say he was even listening to her, maybe it was the news. She locked herself away in her messy bedroom and began to do homework.

She let time slip away as she got deep into her U.S. History homework, she was always a history junkie. When she looked up from the last of her homework, it was 4:45. Lainey nearly jumped up from her chair and started to change into a nice attire for a job.

She quickly headed out the door and down to the bar that was definitely more than 15 minutes away on her skateboard. She rushed as fast as she could, but got there a few minutes late.

Lainey busted through the doors of the bar and Jess looked up from behind the counter with a smile, "so nice of you to join us." She said jokingly, but some part of it sounded serious as well.

"I'm so sorry, I got too into my homework." Lainey was huffing and puffing and trying to catch her breath.

Jess smiled and shook her head, coming around the bar to head towards the back with Lainey, "so we have a- what are you wearing." Jess partially laughed and looked Lainey up and down. The black pants she got on managed to become wrinkled and the black shirt was untucked and something or somebody caught the shirt, leaving two nasty holes in it. Lainey looked at her own self in disappointment and then back up at Jess. "Just wear what makes you feel most like you. This is a bar where people like to feel people being who they really are, don't try and be impressive." She smiled and headed into the back, Lainey followed her willingly.

"How do you feel about muscle shirts?" She asked once they reached the back of the bar where people clock in.

"I-uhm. I don't mind them." She said. As the words left her mouth, Jess turned around swiftly, smiling at her and ripped the sleeve off her left arm starting from the hole in the sleeve and then quickly after; her right. Lainey was speechless. She was so close, closer than all of this morning, even when they were in her car. She could smell her perfume she wore and it suited her well. The shirt already had a hole in it and Lainey didn't mind. At the same time, she was into how fast Jess impulsively ruined one of Lainey's shirts... at least she asked first, but then again, not really.

"There. That looks much better." Jess smiled eagerly, tossing the ripped off short-sleeves into the trash.

Lainey sat there speechless. It didn't help her look more like herself, but it did help her look more like her alter ego of not giving a shit, maybe Jess was into that. Jess helped her clock in and showed her around the rest of the bar and other areas, showing her how to mix drinks.

"So this is one of our more popular mixed drinks." Jess replied while pulling almost every top shelf drink off the shelves and onto the bar top. Lainey watched her closely.

"When you mix alcohol, doesn't that fuck you up more?" Lainey said, chuckling at the amount of bottles around the little cup she would pour them all in.

"Exactly, Lainey. This isn't Alcoholic's Anonymous, it's a bar. We create the alcoholics, that's just our job." Jess smiled shortly at her.

Lainey shook her head with a hard to miss smile, watching a shot of vodka, rum, whiskey, and tequila be mixed in a glass with a golden juice of some kind.  Jess grabbed a spray bottle and sprayed the air in a swift motion with it. The colored lights from the bar refracted off the water, creating a rainbow into the vicinity of the cup. She smiled at her creation and slid the drink to a nearby customer after the effect was over. The customer watched it with a smile.

"That's awesome." They replied, taking a sip. "Mm. Even better."

Lainey looked at Jess in partial confusion, "what the actual fuck was that," Lainey laughed, "that was so extra..."

"That is our pot of gold, my dad thinks it has a better touch with the rainbow." She rolled her eyes, "he got the special bright lights and everything."

Lainey and Jess laughed together as they served the rest of the customers waiting for drinks. It was a good training day, but Lainey wasn't quite there on the making drinks part. She didn't even drink them let alone know how to make them. Closing time came and Lainey learned how to kick out drunk customers quick enough to do closing duties in an hour.

After closing, Lainey was so tired and sore. She grabbed her skateboard after clocking out and headed for the front door.

"Hey, Lainey, hold up." Jess called after her.

Lainey stopped and looked back at her as she ran up with her keys, "let me give you a ride home, I don't feel safe sending you home this late out here."

Lainey felt bad for agreeing, she should've thought smarter than that, knowing she would be off in early am. She was grateful that at least Jess was paying attention, "thank you, that would honestly be great." She said, rubbing her sore neck.

They walked to Jess's car together talking about the shift and people they served. Lainey liked Jess, but not in the way one would think. She was beautiful and absolutely left Lainey speechless at times, but she was also funny and kind and overall a good person. Lainey knew Jess was way out of her league and it would never happen, but the friendship they would have would be worth it in the end.

The car roared to life and Lainey nearly fell asleep in the passenger side seat, she was exhausted, staying up last night to finish that essay and then school and now work. She surely would go home and pass out. That's what Lainey thought she would do anyways. Jess dropped her off at her house, Lainey was partially ashamed of the way her house looked. She walked up the steps and into the cluttered house. Her father, asleep on the couch, drunk of course. Lainey pulled a blanket over him and went into her own room. She quietly undressed and crawled under her covers, away from the rest of the world. She fell asleep instantly, leaving her school work to be done another day.