Thankfully, Gwen and Mitch were still talking when I reached her. Which meant I didn’t think she saw the embarrassing exchange that had just taken place. I went up to her and looped my arm in hers, loving that we had already reached a point in our friendship where I could do itconfidently.
I looked around at all the different people in the water when we got to the entry point. Some I recognized, others I didn’t. I couldn’t help but look for Julian, especially after that conversation with Tyler. I didn’t see himanywhere.
I tried to pretend Ididn’tcare.
But, despite that disappointment, I had a great time. Like, areallygreattime.
It was probably one of the best moments I’d had since my mom’s death, enough to make me want to get back out there and start enjoying life again. I realized it was okay to have fun. Gwen and Mitch had become fast friends and I enjoyed spending timewiththem.
That day, I decided maybe my time in River Valley wouldn’t be as horrible as I had originallythought.
ChapterEight
Julian
It wasa busy Friday night as I watched Gwen and Katie run around the dining area. Even though most of the guys I went to school with had already left for their first semester of college, we still had the new group of high school kids who would soon be claiming this place astheirown.
We were short staffed in the back of the house. Frank, a middle aged guy with a bunch of tats, usually had my back on nights like this. He was a permanent fixture as long as I’d been here. But his daughter had a school play or something and he was nowhere tobeseen.
You know whowas?Mike.
For owning the place, he certainly didn’t have any business making food. It was like he had never worked a day of his life in the kitchen. Thinking back to my first days at the diner, when I was just an eager sophomore looking for a way to make some extra money, I couldn’t remember ever seeing himbackhere.
There had been a string of guys who had come and gone and decided the hot atmosphere was too much. Although, for some, I suspected they were unwilling to stop getting high long enough to be able to handle the multitasking required to make sure meals went out at the same time and were all stillpipinghot.
Mike, in his button down shirt and slacks, was keeping up as well as the latter. He walked with an air of confidence that only came from the fact his name was on the front door followed by the wordsOwner/Operator. But beneath that, I saw a guy in his fifties who had no clue how to tell the difference between a burger that was cooked medium or well. Someone who didn’t know you couldn’t drop fries too soon unless you wanted a soggy mess going to thetable.
“Table six has three burgers and a melt.” He told me as if I didn’t just see that ordercomein.
“Yeah, I got it,” I said with a distracted tone, as I plated some tenders and fries for a differenttable.
“Right. Just making sure you knew that needed to be done. I’ll just get these onion rings readytodrop.”
I took a deep breath and set back to my task. It would almost be better to be back here on my own than trying to work around him and fix everythinghedid.
“Hey, Jules.” I heard a familiar voice from thewindow.
“Jules?” I asked back in wonder. “That’s a girl’s name. You do know that,right?”
Gwen laughed, as she hung a new ticket. “Yeah, it just came out and I didn’t realize just how wrong it sounded until I said it.” She shrugged her shoulderunrepentantly.
“Whatever you say,Gwendinno.”
“Julianna.”
“Gwen-tlman” I said, knowing itwasweak.
Gwen’s shook her head and gave me a pity laugh. “Juliet.”
“Gwen…” I struggled with a comeback. “Fine,youwin.”
There was no good way to turn Gwen into a masculine name. I couldn’t help it. My name, on the other hand, gave Gwen plenty of fuel. I didn’t care though; it was fun to joke around after being the town pariah forsolong.
Oh, I was still the outcast but the shifts I worked with Gwen made it a little better. There still wasn’t a romantic pull on my end, and thankfully I think Gwen was caught up on someone else. There was an ease between the two of us that came from neither one of us crushing on theother.
We’d been working a lot together lately. The other high school students that had been here were off at college. Gwen and I had fallen into an easy rhythm that made things run so much more smoothly than when other people werearound.
Gwen lifted up on her toes to look past me and see if Mike was within hearing range before quietly asking how it was going. I shook my head inresponse.
