Chapter 7: IV. Persistence-2

Would this be about the football game? I suddenly got the urge to ask him about Zoey, but I held my tongue. "Why?" was all I said. "There's a football game on this Friday night. We're playing Newtown High –" "Do you play?" I suddenly asked. Of course, he had to. He was built like a tank. Footballers looked like him, didn't they? Shea chuckled nervously. "Uh, no. I don't play. But I like the sport. And there's a party after, at Zoey's. You should come. I'll introduce you to a few people." We stood at the end of the lunch line with our trays as I stared up at him. Emotions crossed his face quite quickly, almost too quick for me to determine what they were. He'll introduce me to a few people? I wasn't sure what I didn't like about that invitation, but it reminded me of a damn pimp searching for clients. "Zoey won't want me there," I replied, instantly cursing myself. I should have just said I was busy. "She'll be fine," Shea insisted. "Zoey's just being dramatic. I'll get her to be nicer. She'll do whatever I tell her to do." I was taken aback by that. Did he seriously just say that? I wasn't Zoey's number one fan, but he was really treating her like crap. No matter how Shea made me feel, I couldn't excuse a guy that behaved disrespectfully. "I can't go," I said firmly, staring up at him with all the confidence I could muster. "And you are the one who ought to be nicer to Zoey. I've heard it from a couple of people now. You don't treat her very nicely and she obviously has feelings for you. You can't tell her what to do any more than you can tell me what to do." With that, I turned on my heel and took my lunch outside into the sunshine. Shea wisely didn't follow me. And he wisely didn't try to speak to me for the rest of the day. I managed to make it to the final bell having a reasonably normal time. I felt empowered, as though I had done the right thing. I wasn't going to allow myself to forget the things I cared about, or the values that I held deep in my heart, for a cute guy. I expected to be treated a certain way. No amount of flattery would change my mind. I drove to Sally's straight after school. I was excited to be working, to be earning my own money. I really hoped that Sally liked me enough to keep me on, and not just as a favour to Shea. As soon as I walked in the diner, Sally greeted me with a warm smile. She beckoned me behind the counter and brought me into the back room with her. It was a small store room that housed metal shelving containing coffee and non-perishables that didn't need refrigeration. There were two hooks behind the door. One held a dark leather purse, and the other, a small blue uniform on a hanger. She had already made me a nametag! "You can leave your things in here, Sara. I'll give you a moment to get changed and then I'll show you around the diner and let you know how things work." Sally left me. I quickly stripped off my jeans and t-shirt and slipped into the blue dress. I buttoned the buttons and straightened my nametag. I hoped Sally didn't mind that I was wearing Converse sneakers with her uniform. I would have to find a store to buy some practical work shoes. My shoes from my restaurant days were in a box somewhere. I left the store room and looked over the diner from behind the counter. There was a mixture of different sized tables with an eclectic collection of chairs. There were two groups in the diner enjoying coffee, and Sally was serving one of them. She looked delightful and friendly as she stood there chatting with her coffee pot in hand. Once finished, she made her way back to the counter to meet me. "Okay, so welcome to Sally's." She laughed, clapping her hands together. "I bought this diner with my husband twenty years ago. It's my baby, and I like to treat my customers like family. I will expect the same from you." I nodded obediently. Sally showed me how to work the coffee machine, the cash register, and then showed me where everything I might need or be asked for was stored. After my tour, she sighed, and said, "Gosh, you look so like your mother." "Did you know her?" I realised if Sally's had been here for twenty years, she would have crossed over with my mom's time in Providence. Sally nodded. "Oh, yes. She was a frequent visitor in my early days. Lived on coffee that girl, helped her get through her studies." I noticed that she didn't speak of my mother in the tender way that Cherie and Glenda had the day before at school. She had a tone, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. Had my mom been rude? Maybe she was cranky while studying? "Did you know my dad, too?" I asked curiously. I didn't know much about my dad. Only that he died when I was two, and that he had been a few years older than my mom. Truthfully, I didn't even know what he looked like. Mom never displayed pictures of him, and I wasn't even sure if she had any. She never spoke about him, and I didn't want to upset her by asking. I could make informed guesses. I mean, if I had lived here until I was two, he had to have lived here as well. Maybe I could find out some more about him now that we were here. "No, I didn't," was all Sally said in reply.