Chapter 04: Bartender The beach was bare in early November. The waves were almost white, and the sand was a pale yellow. It's like winter sucked the color out of nature. Well, either that or I should really check my eyesight. Luke parked his black Jeep wrangler in employee parking. "Why are you staring at yourself like that?" he asked me. I pulled away from the car mirror, not even ashamed about it. "Do I need contacts?" I looked back at him and his flawless face. He had one hand on the steering wheel and the left side of his face was highlighted by the sun streaming in from the glass window behind him. I wouldn't even be sad if he was the last thing I saw. "Your eyes are beautiful," he answered and then pushed open his car door, "Now let's go." He strolled around the car and opened the door for me. I only then saw the giant 'E' in front of us. "Are we in employee parking?!" I exclaimed as I hopped out. "Maybe you do need contacts," he replied. ** We had dropped Cearra off on our way to the Surfside Shack. She'd wanted to come but had to babysit her step-siblings. If only she could babysit me - I've turned an afternoon at the Surfside Shack into chaos once before. Surfboards rested against the blue building and a wooden sign hung overhead: Surfside Shack. Seniors spilled out of the front door, loud music coming from inside. Luke was still in a black t-shirt and I wished I didn't notice the girls staring. I couldn't blame them. I'd shamelessly stared too when we first met... when he walked out of his bedroom in boxers during summer camp... Or when he relaxed under the sun shirtless... Right before he'd open his mouth and say something obnoxious. Luke turned around, as if he could hear my brainwaves and reached out for my hand. And that's when I realized. I don't need to wait for summer to see Luke shirtless. ;) The booths at the Surfside Shack were packed and the bar was crowded. Cocktails were swapping hands and people were stripping off their winter clothing. Heat within the bar was turning the place up. 'Last day of summer' was the theme of the party. After today, the Surfside Shack would be closed for winter. Someone grabbed onto Luke soon after we stepped in. I wasn't so surprised. I knew his friends would surround him, and I didn't want to interrupt it. At parties, he was like a fish in water, and I was like a fish... not in water. I walked to the bar and squeezed into a free spot. I tried to get the bartender's attention, but it wasn't working. The bartender kept talking to the group next to me. Minutes passed and I was seriously starting to question whether I wasn't invisible... when I felt someone behind me. His arm brushed my shoulder. Luke wrapped his arm around my waist as he stood behind me at the bar. I forgot about the crowd around us or about how I was the one the crowd had forgotten. He pulled me against him. I felt the warmth of his hand holding me and breathed in his t-shirt smell. Luke leant his head down and whispered in my ear, "Chocolate milkshake?" He knows the way to my heart. "And whipped cream," I whispered back, our faces touching, "With cherries." Chad suddenly squeezed in between us, "And I'll have a beer." Chad's cologne overpowered my nostrils as his tall body split mine away from Luke's. Where did he even come from? Romantic moment ruined. Chad was a confident guy with a black eye. The bruises from the fight on Friday hadn't fully healed. "You'll have to try that entrance again, man," Luke said, shoving him back and stepping towards me defensively. Chad didn't mind the push. Instead, he slid onto a barstool on Luke's left and said, "Your date went well I take it." Luke squeezed my hand. Chad's eye twinkled, "Did you two-" "Bartender," Luke put his hand against the counter, "Two beers and a chocolate milkshake." The bartender stopped chatting and immediately paid attention. I sighed, frustrated that I couldn't get that same reaction. Ten minutes and I still hadn't ordered my drink. One minute with Luke and we were getting served. Luke saw my sigh and misunderstood it. "With whipped cream and cherries. Can't forget that." "Sure thing. He'll get it for you," the bartender pointed at his colleague serving the other side of the bar, "Did you hear that, AT? Two beers and a milkshake." AT was dealing with customers on the other side. He turned towards us and my mouth dropped open when I saw who it was. It was Austin. Austin was bartending. "Austin?!" I exclaimed. Since when did Austin work at the bar? "What are you doing there?!" I exclaimed and turned to Luke, "How are you not surprised by this?" Luke shrugged, "It's Austin." As if that explains anything. "This is weird," Chad agreed. Finally someone who agrees with me. "No one calls him AT. Why do you?" That's so not my point. The first bartender shrugged and muttered something about it being Austin's name. "It's not his name," Chad said. Meanwhile, Austin abandoned the customer he was serving and rushed towards us with relief. "You're here!" "I've been here all afternoon," Chad answered, still glaring at the first bartender. "Not you," Austin told Chad, "I needed Millie." Austin was wearing a black Surfside apron, with his arm in a cast. He stared at me with pleading, puppy dog eyes. "The crazy gambler you know made me work at the bar," Austin explained, "He saw me hanging out here, told me to stop playing around and get to work. Something about needing more discipline." The gambler had only met Austin three times before. Once at a fight in the Surfside shack, once at a fight in a comedy bar and once at a fight on the street. He probably thought working the bar would keep Austin out of trouble. In reality, Luke or I usually created it. Chad stared at his empty hand, "I thought I ordered a beer." "The gambler's here?" I repeated, excited to see my old friend, "You know I met him at this exact bar. I was in Luke's car when I came back for napkins-" I felt a bit of nostalgia for the first time I ever came here. Luke had taken me to the beach, where I first met Austin. He'd emerged from the water with his surfboard like a lifeguard out of Baywatch. This was back in the day when Luke found me incredibly annoying. He still finds me annoying... but in a cute way now. Hopefully. "Oh yes, that was the first time I got beaten up in front of you," Luke commented dryly, "I remember." Good times. "Before Millie helps you out of this situation," Chad asked, interrupting our trip down memory lane, "Can you get us those drinks?" Austin agreed and got to making our drinks. That lasted 0.05 seconds before he said: "I have no idea what I'm doing," he confessed, looking around cluelessly for some glasses. Luke leaned over the counter and pulled a couple out from right under his nose. "Thanks, man." Austin took the glasses and retrieved two beers from a fridge under the bar. He cracked the bottles open and then looked at me. "About your milkshake," he said, before winking at Luke, "Is the whipped cream to go?" ** "Aww come on, Millie! I'm sorry! Come back, I really need your help. I'll be stuck behind the bar all night if you don't talk to the gambler guy." Austin followed me out of the Surfside Shack, pleading with me to come back inside. I was making him suffer for his whipped cream joke. "Hey, hey! What are you doing near my car?" Luke confronted the traffic warden circling his car. Someone had given Luke the heads up that a traffic warden was on his jeep wrangler and we'd come outside to check it out. "I am giving you a ticket. This is employee only parking and you are not an employee," the traffic warden responded. That's some fool proof logic right there. "But he's an employee," Luke pointed at Austin, "See that apron." Austin pointed at his own apron to confirm it. "This is an apron. I work here." If this traffic warden believes- "Alright kids, but show your proof next time you park," the traffic warden sighed, putting her machine away. "AT! You can't leave mid shift!" the bartender came outside the shack, yelling for Austin. "I can," Austin answered. "I quit!" The traffic warden had started to walk away but turned around now. He pulled out his machine. Great timing, Austin. "OK, time to leave," Luke mumbled to me, unlocking his car and sliding into the front seat. We needed to get out of here before the traffic warden circled back. The back door opened, and Chad slid in, "I'm coming too. Are we leaving Austin?" We looked out of the window in time to see Austin rip his apron off and dramatically throw it onto the concrete. "You can't quit," the bartender said, "That scary guy told you-" "Actually, I like this apron," Austin mumbled to himself and picked the apron back up, "So I'll keep this." He folded the apron and walked towards our car. Luke leaned back from the front seat and unlocked the back door, pushing it open for Austin. Both the traffic warden and the bartender stared at Austin. Austin put one foot in the car, raised his arm into the air and yelled out, "I don't even get benefits!" "OK AT," Luke grabbed him and pulled him into the car. Chad slammed the door shut and we drove off. ** I thought the ride back would be smooth, but only five minutes into the drive, Chad said: "It's cool that Austin and I know about you two, but does anyone else?" The silence in the car confirmed his point. Luke and I went on our first date this weekend and no one knew about us. "Because tomorrow's Monday," Chad said, "And we have school on Mondays. If you two walk in together, people are going to freak out. You guys got a game plan for that?" Game plan? Go on Luke, you're the basketball player.