I tossed my phone on the empty spot next to me and squeezed my eyes shut, hoping I could find sleep once again, but what my mother said was gnawing at me. I knew I said I was done with everyone back home, but I was still curious. I grabbed my phone and tapped on the Facebook icon. I had hundreds of notifications and a few friend requests from people I had met on campus.
One of Marley’s posts popped up right away, so I quickly scanned it. Apparently, I had gotten knocked up and had been whisked away to an undisclosed location until the baby was born. As one of my best friends, she felt necessary to inform everyone. Right.
I tossed my phone back onto the bed. I really didn’t want to look at it anymore. I was done with those people, and I had a life to live here.
********
“Hi, I saw that you were hiring. I was wondering if I could get an application.” The bartender at the sports bar I had stopped by on my way to the bus stop did a double take, looking me over with a tight smile at least three times before finally answering me.
“Honey, I’m sure this is a little more grueling than what you’re used to. Why don’t you look at a tanning salon or something? I’m sure that’s more your…style.”
I pursed my lips at the guy. He clearly had a stick up his ass and was judging me based on what I was wearing. Sure, my makeup and hair were done perfectly, and what I was wearing wasn’t really waitress material, but I needed a job. My limited funds were slowly dwindling, and I knew that waitressing would boost those up quickly.
I wet my lips, giving him the most flirtatious smile I could muster, even though I didn’t think it would really work on him in the first place. “Please, could I have an application?” I repeated sweetly. He let out a loud huff before opening a folder and yanking out a paper to shove at me.
“RJ, are you giving someone trouble again?” A tall, tan man, probably in his thirties, came walking out of the back, patting RJ on the back and giving me a shockingly white smile. RJ muttered something before moving farther down to put glasses away, all while glaring at me.
“Sorry, he likes to be the hottest thing in here, so he tends to be a little rude when girls like you come in,” he quietly told me as he handed me a pen. “My name’s Brian, I’m the manager here. We really are looking for waitresses, in fact, I’m sort of desperate. What’s your availability?”
“Well, I have classes during the day, so mainly at night time. I’m really looking to work as many hours as possible. I really need the money.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, not convinced as he studied me just like RJ had done. Okay, just because my clothes were designer did not mean I was rolling around in the dough, at least not anymore. I finished filling out the application and he quickly looked it over, before looking up. “Think you can come in for training Thursday night? If I could have you ready for the weekend that would be excellent.”
“I don’t think that would be a problem at all.” I gave him a wide smile, mentally patting myself on the back for scoring my first job ever so easily.
“See you then, Della.”
I practically skipped to the bus stop in glee after leaving Shorty’s. Sure, I was going to be kept pretty busy with school, studying, and now a job, but I think I could handle it.
“Well, don’t you look happy? I’m sure it doesn’t have anything to do with going to visit my boyfriend.” I stopped abruptly when I heard that icy tone directed at me and turned to see Mariah glaring at me with both hands placed on her hips.
“Um…well…I just-”
“Don’t try to deny it. I know all about your little ‘hang out session’ tonight. Nash might be excited that you’re back in town, but he still tells me everything.” I was just about to argue that he didn’t mention who he was meeting up with the other night, but I decided to keep my lips sealed. No need to get Nash in trouble for no reason.
“You’re more than welcome to come. I was actually just heading over that way.” She looked like she was really considering just that, before she sharply shook her head.
“I think I’ll pass, but trust me, if I wanted to be there, I would, I don’t need an invitation from you. So how much catching up have you and Nash done? Has he learned about your dirty little secret yet?”
My stomach rolled at her words, and by the evil smile she was giving me I knew, I just knew that somehow she had found out about my past. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, I know all about you, Della,” she replied leaning in to whisper in my ear. “And I don’t think Nash would like how much you’ve really changed. You do know about his little sis getting knocked up when she was sixteen, right? It was a little bit of a family secret, but Nash never acted that way. When she wanted to get an abortion, Nash did everything in his power to make her change her mind and she did. He’s now a proud uncle,” she added in a spiteful tone, leading me to believe she wasn’t exactly happy about having to share Nash’s attention.