However, I’m hating my boyfriend right now. I know, how could I when I can hardly believe he’s really my boyfriend? But why does he have to be so attractive? Why does everything have to look good on him? The Dream Burgers uniform is the most antisensual clothing in the world, and yet Ares looks great in it.
I grunt, noticing a group of three girls smiling at him and sharing glances while he’s taking orders behind the register. I understand them, I really do, but this Dream Burgers has turned into a fucking circus since Ares started working here a week ago. I swear we’ve seen an increase in our female clientele because of him. The manager is just as fascinated with Ares, and I have to watch half the town come in here every day to see my boyfriend.
I sigh dramatically, preparing a coffee for one of the orders. Gabo laughs beside me.
“Oh,” he teases. “You seem a little upset.”
“Of course not,” I practically snort in response. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“I have been dethroned,” he says in a dramatic tone, putting his hand on his heart. “Before, I was the king of this Dream Burgers.”
I burst out laughing and tap him on the shoulder.
“Idiot.”
“Oh look.” Gabo points behind me to the group of girls still ordering. “Today they were brave enough to give him their numbers.” We watch the girls give Ares scraps of paper between giggles. Ares takes them kindly, but he doesn’t smile. His expression remains disinterested.
Sorry, but they have a lot of work to do to get to where I am now.
“I don’t know why they keep coming,” Gabo says. He puts some fries in a to-go bag, completing an order. “He doesn’t even smile at them. Can you imagine if he smiled at them? We’d have a fucking ovary explosion in here.”
“Or a flood,” Apolo chimes in, walking out of the kitchen. He looks cute with the transparent beanie over his hair.
“You’re not helping,” I say as I prepare orders for the drive-thru. Apolo gives me that innocent smile he has.
“Calm down, your break is coming up.”
It hasn’t been easy to ignore all the attention Ares receives, but I’ve tried to manage it as best I can. Even though we don’t earn much working half shifts at Dream Burgers after school, it’s something. Apolo decided to work to support his brother as well. Ares and I have both applied for several scholarships and are waiting for the responses.
I wait until Ares has finished attending to the group of girls and they leave before I pass behind him and whisper slyly: “I’m watching you.”
Ares turns, with that crooked smile I love so much forming on his lips, and I feel like the queen of the world because he smiles for me so easily.
“Watching me has always been your hobby, hasn’t it?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, but of course, I know exactly what he’s referring to—my stalker days.
“No? Wasn’t AresAndMeForever your Wi-Fi password?”
“You’re not the only Ares in the world,” I tell him.
“I am the only Ares in your world,” he counters. I raise an eyebrow.
“Why so sure?”
Apolo appears beside us.
“Stop flirting, we have customers.” He points to two girls waiting for Ares to take their order. “My God, where do all these girls come from?”
I let out a sigh of annoyance and stand in front of the register.
“Welcome, may I take your order?” I ask. The girls don’t hide their disappointment.
“Hey.” They share a look between them before the bolder of the two responds. “We don’t know what we want yet, so we’ll think about it.” They take a few steps back and start to walk away. Really? Ares puts his hand on my waist, pushing me slightly away from the register.
“Trust me, Witch.” As soon as Ares takes charge, the two girls return, smiling like there’s no tomorrow.
Breathe, Raquel.
“It’s time for your fifteen-minute break. Go,” my boss tells me, and I don’t hesitate to get out of there. The fresh spring air hits me as I leave. I sit on the sidewalk beside the store, relaxing my legs. I need to get away from girls chasing my boyfriend for a while.
I hear the door open, and a twenty-something girl who always orders a Dream Burgers coffee and sits down to write at one of the tables comes out, carrying her backpack. She’s a regular customer, but I still don’t understand why she’s always here. There’s nothing special about this place. We make eye contact, and she smiles kindly at me.
“Are you all right?” she asks.
“Yeah, I think so,” I reply.
She seems to hesitate for a second, before sitting down next to me.
“I don’t want to sound weird, but I’ve seen it all.”
“What do you mean?” I frown at her.
“Is the new guy your boyfriend?”
“How do you know?” I ask.
She laughs, and her blue eyes light up.
“I’m very observant, the advantages of being a writer, and, besides, I’ve been there.” I give her a look of disbelief, and she looks away. “Oh, believe me, being the hot guy’s girlfriend is not as great as it sounds. I can’t tell you how many times I found myself wondering if I was enough for him, or what the heck he saw in me when he had so many other options.”
Exactly.
“It’s really easy to put yourself down in a situation like this.” She turns to me. “But the reality is that love isn’t something that’s born and grows based on appearances. It needs substance to be real. Physical attraction can be the beginning of feelings, but it’ll never be enough. It’ll always need that something more, that connection that you can’t get with just anyone.”
I don’t know what to say, so she continues.
“For him, you’re that something more, that connection. Sure, there are people prettier than you, smarter than you, more talented than you, but no one is better or worse than you, and no one is you.” Silence falls between us, but it’s not uncomfortable. I nod and smile at her.
“Thank you. I feel much better.”
“I’m glad.”
“I’m curious,” I begin. “Are you still the girlfriend of that handsome guy?”
“No.” She shakes her head and raises her hand, showing me her ring. “I’m his wife now.”
“Oh wow.” The joy she exudes when she says it is contagious. “You look so happy.”
“I am, but it wasn’t easy at first.”
“I wish I was more mature and didn’t get jealous, but sometimes I can’t help it,” I say. She laughs at my honesty.
“Jealousy is completely normal when you’re in love, but how you act about it is what will tell you if it’s harmful or natural.”
“You sound too wise to be so young.” I snort.
“I told you, I’ve been through a lot, and I think it helped me.”
A car passes by and parks in front of us at a safe distance. The young woman stands and brushes off her pants.
“My ride’s here,” she says.
“Your husband?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. She nods and we stand up.
“I hope I helped.” She smiles again.
“You have, really.”
I catch a movement out of the corner of my eye, and see a man getting out of the car. Virgin of Abdominals!
He’s tall, with dark eyes and messy black hair around his face. He’s wearing a dark blue suit, but the tie is half-loose as if he’s just tucked his fingers behind it, and he has a mysterious, half-hidden tattoo on his neck. The young woman lets out a giggle next to me.
“He’s hot, isn’t he?”
I blush. It wasn’t my intention to look at her husband that way. He walks over to us and looks at her with pure adoration on his face.
“Hello, strawberry,” he says, giving her a quick, short kiss.
She turns her gaze to me.
“Evan, this is Raquel, she works here.” Evan smiles kindly at me, and I see dimples forming on his cheeks.
“I hope my wife didn’t bother you too much,” he says.
“No, not at all.” I shake my head. “She just gave me some very good advice.”
He runs his hand around her shoulders.
“Yeah, she’s good at it.”
She laughs, and her whole face lights up.
“We should go. It was a pleasure, Raquel.” They start walking, when she suddenly turns around.
“Oh, by the way, my name is Jules. I’ll see you around.” I watch them tease and push each other and then hug again as they walk to the car.
What a cute couple, I think. I decide to get back to work.
FIFTY-ONE
The Birthday
I love you . . .