Chương 2: Them
"Hmm. I would totally marry Leonardo DiCaprio," my friend Chloe who's probably the bad-ass of our group says. "Kiss Zac Efron, and kill--"
"Beat up," I correct with a frown. I don't like the word "kill." To me, that's in the bad word book, and I'll scold anyone who says it lightly. Words weigh a lot, especially that one.
Chloe huffs and rolls her eyes.
"Okay miss goody-goody. Beat up Shawn Mendes."
"I'm not a goody-goody," I mutter defensively.
"Uh huh. Sure. That's why you're studying right now," she says, eyeing the flashcards in my hands.
"Last minute studying," I say with a sigh. Honestly, I barely studied for this test at all yet everyone expects me to do amazing at it. Yeah right. People aren't born geniuses, plus I was never smart in the first place. People just stereo-typed me.
"Seriously," Chloe says. "There's literally like, two seconds until the bell rings and class starts."
"Then get to class before you're late," I tell her. "Don't you have to go all the way to the other building?"
"Yep."
"Chloe!"
"Mom!"
"I'm serious," I say, but I end cracking a smile as she stands to leave. That girl is probably one of the careless people I've ever met. At times I find it a bad thing, but at the same time, there are times where I'm grateful because she has such a high self-esteem that she makes me feel brave too.
"Ooh, look who's coming. A teasing smile slips onto Chloe's face. I glance over at the door, where a group of guys are coming being loud about who knows what. My eyes find blue-eyed Pierce, probably the cheeriest of them all, who's teasing one of his other friends. There's a lot of different opinions about him. Some say he's a dick, some say he's cute, some say he's annoying, or friendly. A lot of my friends don't like him to be honest, but for some reason, I've had a crush on him for the longest time, always making excuses for anything bad he does.
"Okay," I say, forcing myself to look back at Chloe. "So? And don't you have to get to class?"
"I swear, one of these days, I'm going to force you to have real conversation with him," Chloe says. "Anyways, see ya."
Yeah, along with the fact that my friends don't like him, I can't even seem to muster some courage to actually speak normally, even when he talks to me.
It's a big problem apparently.
"Take your seats!" Mrs. McBride says to us. "I have something to say."
"Please tell me she's moving the test," Jia says as she takes her seat next to me. "I didn't get to study much."
"You think anyone did?" I ask her.
"Mrs. McBride! Can we move the test to Monday?" Pierce says. "Half of the class was gone on that field trip too, so they missed the most important lesson."
"Yeah," Xavier, of of his close friends says. "It would be a lot better if you would."
"Let me talk you two," she scolds. "But that was what I was going to say. I'm moving the test to Monday, and instead you're working on a project that you'll have to work on mostly by yourself. Today will be the only time you work on it in class. Harmony, can you please pass these out?" She puts a stack of papers on the front desk. "I've assigned you groups to work with, they're on the board. If you have questions, feel free to ask."
"Hey, she doesn't seem like normal today," Jia whispers to me. "Do you think something happened?"
"Maybe. I was going to sit here during lunch today, but I heard her yelling at someone on the phone so I left," I whisper back as I search the board for my name.
"Hmm, maybe--oh, hey, we're in the same group! And so are..." she trails off, looking over at Pierce and his friend Jake, who are bringing their stuff over to where we're sitting. "those two," she finishes with a sigh.
"Welp," I say, pursing my lips to contain a smile. "At least--"
"Don't even," Jia interrupts with a glare. I grin.
"Okay."
"Yo, where's your brother?" Jake asks me as he drops his notebook on the table. "It's like he's missing practice today on purpose."
"He's sick," I tell him, covering for my twin Asad. He faked being sick today because that was the only way Mamma was going to let him stay home; apparently he wants to avoid the tons of laps their coach is going to make them run out of anger. I'm pretty lucky. In volleyball we only have to do burpees or like, ten suicides, which isn't that bad.
"Yeah right," Pierce says with a snort. "He totally faked it."
"I'm with you," Jake says. "Dude, I don't even know why he bothered. He could probably survive anything our coach makes us do." That's true. Asad has amazing stamina, plus he workouts out twice a day too. Strength training in the morning and cardio at night. So he probably also stayed home because he didn't study for this test that we're not having.
"Okay." Pierce sits forward and reads over the worksheet with his bright blue eyes. I almost stare at them for too long because they're so pretty. "Let's get this done."
"She barely said anything," Jia informs Chloe an hour later as I gather my bags from my locker. "Oh, and she stared. A lot. I'm shocked he doesn't know." I stand straight abruptly.
"I did not!"
"You're facing is turning red you know," Jia tells me with raised eyebrows.
"I didn't! Besides, you barely talked either."
"I'm not the one who's interested in talking to any of them," Jia retorts. I huff, swinging my backpack over my shoulder, bending down to get my drawstring.
"We seriously need to do something about this," Chloe says. I frown.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I'm about to close my locker when something yellow at the bottom of it catches my eye. An envelope? I reach over and pick it up. "What's this?"
"Ooh, a love letter?" Chloe teases, leaning in to get a good look at it.
"I don't know." I start to open it, but am interrupted when someone calls me from the end of the hall.
"Mishal! You're coming to practice today, right?" I look up and see Harmony, another good friend I've had since freshman year, coming my way with her deep brown ponytail swinging back and forth. She's not friends with Jia or Chloe though, so we hang out at separate times.
"Yeah!" I stuff the envelope into my bag, adjusting the strap of my backpack as I turn to Chloe and Jia. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Bye! Good luck on your first day of work!" Chloe calls. Oh God. That's a whole other stress I can worry about in two hours.
"Hey, I have a little story to tell you," Harmony says to me quietly as we head to the bathroom to change. Immediately, I know what this is about.
"About Jake?" I ask her in a low voice. From many observations and events that have happened since school started two months ago, we think that Jake likes Harmony. He hasn't said anything to her about it directly, but it seems pretty obvious to me. But Harmony doesn't really believe it, since he's a flirt.
"Yeah. I'll tell you after we get changed," she says.
"Okie dokie." I go into a stall and quickly change out of my uniform and into an oversized long-sleeve t-shirt and gray sweatpants, then tie my hair into a high ponytail as I wait for Harmony. Some other team members are here too, so she doesn't tell me until we're in the hall.
"Okay, so basically, I was sitting at our table at lunch, just minding my own business," Harmony starts. I nod. "And Laura and Heather were with me too, but not many other people are in the cafeteria yet. And then when Jake walks in with Pierce and Xavier, he waved at me and said, 'Hey school genius!' and then goes to his table. But then, like literally five minutes later, he comes and sits at our table and starts talking to us, and then Xavier comes too, and then Jake asks if--oh, me and Laura were studying for the test in McBride's-- and so he asked if he could study with us."
"And you guys did? I can't believe I missed that," I say. "Did he talk mostly to you?"
"Well, Laura said he did."
"And you still don't believe that he likes you."
"Well... ugh, I don't know!"
"Well, it doesn't matter really since it's not like you like him or anything, but I just want you to be aware," I tell her.
"Yeah..." she grabs a volleyball from the basket as we enter the gym. "Here, let's--"
"Mishal Qureyshi, you're needed in the office," someone suddenly says over the intercom.
"Huh? Why?" I ask out loud. School is over. Did I do something? Giving Harmony a confused look, I leave the gym and head towards the school's office, which is super cozy by the way. A lot of the staff is so awesome that students go eat there during lunch and rant about all their drama and crushes and everything when they don't want to deal with friends.
As I near the office, I hear angry voices from inside.
"I told you already. I don't need to talk to the counselor and I don't need another therapist." I know that voice. It's Pierce's. My hand hovers over the knob, and I lean closer.
"I know that you're going through a lot," I hear someone say. I think it's our dean Ms. Corleigh. "With your old therapist and your father..." she sighs. "Instead of acting out like this, maybe you should--"
"Don't tell me what to do," Pierce snaps. "And I'm not gonna leave my dad." Therapist? Leave his dad? What's that about? Welp, it's not really any of my business though I'm curious... I can't stand here any longer anyways or they're going to see me on the cameras. I push open the door and walk in awkwardly, hoping I don't look like someone who was just eavesdropping on something I wasn't supposed to. Everyone looks tense. Pierce is standing by the window with his arms folded tightly across his chest, his dark eyebrows slightly furrowed in anger. All the admin immediately straighten their posture when I come in, plastering smiles on their faces. It makes me wonder how fake they were back in high school. Or even now.
"Hi!" the office lady (I can never remember her name) says in an over perky voice. "Are you Mishal Qureyshi?" She forces my name out in a really weird, cringy way, but I nod anyways. She tried.
"Uh, yeah," I say. Pierce coughs to cover a laugh. I guess because he knows how horribly she pronounced my name.
"Great! Your mom sent this bag for you a few hours ago," she says, handing me one of those bags you can get at Marshalls for ninety-nine cents. "She said to let you know you have to take the bus to work today. There's one that comes to the school in fifteen minutes." I peek into my bag on my way out of the office after smiling and thanking the office lady. Inside is some cash, snacks, and my work clothes. What did I expect? My parents can't even leave work half an hour early to see me off on my first day of work. I sigh. It's fine I guess. It's not even that important. As I close the office door behind me, I hear Pierce burst into a fit of laughter then tell the office lady how to correctly say my name. I smile and head back to the gym for practice.
~~ ~~ ~~
"Mishal, right?" The manager of the bakery and coffee shop I'm beginning to work at asks. "I'm Tammi." She holds out her hand for me to shake. Not only is she the manager, but also the owner of Bonnie's. I take her hand.
Tammi is a middle-aged busy looking blonde woman dressed in a navy blue blouse and a tight black skirt. Her other hand is clutching a white Kate Spade purse as if she's ready to go somewhere. I glance at her feet, which are pointed towards the door. Yup, she wants to leave.
"Nice to meet you," I say as clearly as possible. I still have my nervous jitters, plus I just ate a bunch of Kit Kats that Harmony gave me after practice, so I'm sugar high. I always joke around with friends that I don't need drugs because sugar is enough for me. Simple and not illegal.
"I'm glad you're here today," Tammi says. "Today had been such a hectic day at the store, and I was just going to run some errands that might take a couple of hours. I was worried that there would only be one person running the shop, but you're here! I know you were supposed to have training today, but I let Seo know you're new so he can quickly catch you up." She pauses to open the door to the kitchen. "Seo! Get over here kid, I need to head out now!" She turns to me with a smile. "Now excuse me, I need to get going. Take care!" I watch her hurry out of the bakery with raised eyebrows.
"Okay..." I say. I hear I hear the kitchen door creak open from behind me, causing me to jump.
"Yeah, Tammi can be a handful even though she's the manager." I turn around and see an Asian guy coming out of the kitchen, putting some cakes into the glass case. I do a quick look over. The guy looks around my age. He's tall though, and his straight hair seems to be dyed a light brown color, while his eyes are a darker brown. I guess he's Seo. I wonder if that's short for something.
"You're... Seo?" I ask hesitantly to make sure.
He straightens up and closes the case.
"Yeah. Seojun. And you're Mishal, right?" he says. I nod. He's about to say something else, when the bell on the bakery door rings, alerting us that there's a customer.
"Seo! I want the usual." A blonde bounces up to the counter with a huge grin on her face. She's pretty, I think to myself. "Oh, are you the new employee? Awesome. Let me guess, Tammi left you on the first day, huh? That woman is crazy." She laughs. "But we love her anyways."
"Are you working tomorrow?" Seojun asks her as he boxes a chocolate cupcake.
"Yep. You? Wait, don't answer that. You're always here," she says.
"Hey, you act like I live here," he says, as he hands her the change.
"You practically do." She grins again, waving. "Well, see you tomorrow! And you too Mishal!" Uh, what was that? They seem close. Does she work here too? I glance at Seojun, who's putting some change in the cash register. It seems like it.
"Um, so what do I need to do today?" I ask him. He purses his lips and looks around.
"Well, I guess you could be cashier for today, while I prepare the orders. There's going to be a rush in about fifteen minutes because a bunch of college students come here to work soon. Have you ever worked as a cashier?" I shake my head.
"No..." I say. I hope I don't turn out to be a mess on my first day. It would be embarrassing. "I've never worked before."
"That's fine," he says. "I'll show you how to do it." So I go behind the counter and watch him as he explains what buttons to click and what to say when a customer comes up to me. "You're cool with math, right?"
Nope.
"I guess," I say. He smiles again.
"It's simple math. You'll be fine." And before I know it the bakery is crowded, and I'm struggling to keep up with all the people. At one point Seojun has to go to the back and bring out more cakes and stuff. A lot of people order come and eat or drink coffee at the bakery, so he has to go and serve them their food, leaving me to deal with everyone who's making orders. Even though it's super exhausting and some people are being super irritating, I notice Seojun still has a smile anyways.
By ten o'clock the last customer is leaving and I'm cleaning tables. Seojun brings out a mop and starts cleaning the floor.
"You did pretty good today for your first time," he says. Uh, no I didn't.
"Um, thanks," I say. "But I was pretty slow."
"You worked faster than I did when I first starting working here." He laughs. "I was such a klutz. I'm surprised Tammi didn't fire me right then and there." I smile. He managed himself so well today I can't him imagine doing terrible. I toss another wipe into the trash and look around. Speaking of which, where is Tammi? She never showed up while the two of us dealt with these nuisances. Sighing, I put away the box of wipes and re-tie my hair. I can't wait for her to come back or my parents will start yelling to me for showing up late. I have a curfew of ten thirty. They can't get mad at me if I do show up late though, because they didn't bother picking me up. On my first day.
"Well, I gotta go," I say. "Thanks for today." I would ask if he's okay on his own, but I have to make my curfew. And my parents would get pissed if they knew I was working with a guy all day, then stayed late with him. They'd be all, why wasn't there anyone else there? I don't know what they think would happen. I feel bad for leaving him though, especially since he's been pretty nice. It makes me wonder how much of a mask he's wearing.
"No problem. You're working tomorrow too, right? See you then," he says.
"Yeah." I grab my backpack and leave.
~~ ~~ ~~
That night, I'm digging through my bag to look for my Physics stuff when the yellow envelope falls out and flutters to the ground. Surprised, I pick it up. I forgot all about it. I adjust my desk light and open it carefully, taking out its contents. I take one look at them and they drop from my hands. What the hell is this?
Inside are two pictures. One of a scowling Pierce and the other of a smiling Seojun. The pictures look like they were taken without them knowing. From the photography lessons I took last summer, I can tell the background was purposely blurred and the camera focused on the two guys faces. And that's not all. Another slip of paper lands on top of Pierces head, covering his face. On it are two typed up words.
Save them.
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