• chapter 3
    “Jessica, its time to wake up” Angie sang as she danced into my room. I moaned and opened my eyes to look at the alarm clock, it read 6:23. I closed my eyes and rolled over pulling the blanket over my head as I did so. “Wake up big sister.” She sang some more.

    I sat up, and she was twirling in my room, why in my room? When she has her own room. I grabbed one of my small pillows and threw it at her; it missed. The pillow slid into the hall.

    “I’m telling,” she said looking at me. I turned and grabbed another one. Her eyes grew wide she knew; I wouldn’t miss again, she dashed from my room. I lay back down smiling. I probably shouldn’t have done that but it made me feel so good. I closed my eyes and drifted off back to sleep.

    I don’t know how long I was asleep but it wasn’t long enough. It was only a few minutes before Angie was back in my room twirling about. She was still singing my name. I decided it was time to listen to Angie and wake up. I wonder if she brought any one with her. I looked at her and sure enough our mother was in the hall.

    “I’m up, I’m up, now get out of my room,” I said sitting up as I flipped the covers off of me. Angie just kept dancing about. “Get out, you crazy dancing shrimp,” I yelled at her. She got the hint and danced over to mother, Janet stood there staring at me for a minute and I at her. Then she left.
    I made my bed and went to my dresser to fetch my signs. I needed to hang them somewhere, but where I thought. I decided to hang them around the room. I always loved looking at my signs. My favorite one yet would be “Call me a b***h and ill show you one”

    I still didn’t know where to put them all. I always had a door to hang them and scare away-uninvited guests from my room, but now, my room was open for everyone to see.

    I painted my walls black, much better than when mother painted them bright pink. I looked around my room, everything was black, if not then they were a dark color, I could barely stand Angie wearing bright colors, I wasn’t going to sleep with them around me.

    I decided to hang my favorite one above my bed for now, I grabbed another sign, “A world without music is nothing” next to In the Midnight poster, my favorite band. They were what made the world go around.
    After I finished hanging my signs I went and jumped in a hot shower before meeting up with Erik. I didn’t realize I was so cold until the water touched my skin and a shiver went up my spine.

    I was very grateful that I had my own bathroom. I don’t think I could stand sharing one with my entire family let alone Angie. I wrapped myself up and went to find some suitable clothes. I will get this job, just you wait and see father. I will do things my way. I didn’t have anything super fancy to wear; in fact I had nothing fancy at all. I decided to throw on my simple black clothing and walked down stairs to eat some breakfast.

    “Good morning sister” Angie sang, she seemed to be bouncing up and down in her seat something got her excited. I decided I should be good, even if it’s just for this morning.

    “Good morning Angie, you seem to be happy today what brings this about?” I said smiling slightly; I wouldn’t be me if I smiled for real. She gasped.

    “Mommy, something is wrong with sister she’s being weird” she yelled.

    “What’s the matter, dear?” Mother said as she turned the corner of the kitchen.

    “Jessie’s being weird.”

    “How is she doing that?” she said giving me an evil look.

    “I didn’t do anything,” I mouthed quietly.

    “She’s being cheerful and its scaring me”

    “Jessica, eat your breakfast and stop scaring your sister”

    “But I didn’t…” too late, she went back around the corner. I turned and glared at Angie. Why couldn’t I be an only child? I changed my mind about breakfast grabbed some money and went out the door.

    I wonder if the presence I felt last night would be back? Probably not, it was still too early in the morning.

    Then I realized that its probably too early for Vampiric to be open. At least this way I can sleep in. I thought; that would be nice, work at my favorite place in the world and sleep till at least 9.

    I entered the city and felt no presence, I was happy about this. At least I wouldn’t start my day with losing my mind. I walked to the café half hoping it would be open, I don’t want to go somewhere else for my mocha. I walked over to the door; it was still closed.

    I looked for when they would open. Sat -10 A.M to 2 A.M it said. I looked at the city clock. It read 8:27. Hm, it looks like I have an hour to fool around. I still needed to eat and went to the café down the street. I wonder if people will stare at me.
    Brie’s Café; how quaint I thought. I walked in the door and was almost blind sited.

    They had the light on higher than the sun shone. I walked to the back of the café. I was right; I got stares the entire time, even after I sat down. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to wait an hour outside of Vampiric. A waitress came up to me looking scared. I don’t see why people were afraid of me because I was different. But I won’t worry about that. I like who I am.

    “Good morning miss, my name is Whitney and I will be your waitress for this morning what would you like?” she said smiling. For a minute I was taken aback when she didn’t use my name but then this would be the first time I walked in here.

    “Just a mocha, thank you” I said looking out the window.

    “Dark or light”

    “Dark please.”

    “Isn’t that a bit strong for a young girl like you? She asked. I turned my head and glared at her.

    “A dark mocha if you please.” I said coldly. She wrote in her little notepad and almost took off running. I could see she didn’t want to be my waitress anymore. Good I thought. I only want to be served by the best. I stared back out the window; it looked like it was going to rain.

    Whitney came out with my mocha and left without a word. I wanted to scare them really badly but then they’d throw me out in the rain. Not that I would mind it. But I wanted to stay somewhat dry till after I talked to Eric.

    “Mind if I sit with you?” someone asked. The voice sounded familiar, but I was much too tired to recognize it.

    “Why would you sit with someone like me?” I asked as I continued to stare out the window.

    “Well, I did last night and you didn’t say anything.” I turned my head and there stood Eric, my eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped. He was wearing white. He laughed at my expression. “Different isn’t it?” he said. All I could do was nod. “Mind if I sit down” I shook my head. He sat down across from me.

    He looked at the Mocha “You never get tired of that stuff do you?”

    “It tastes really good. And I feel like all my problems disappear with every cup I have.” I said staring back out the window.

    “So what happened last night”?

    “Not much really, I didn’t get grounded, they didn’t even yell at me”

    “You don’t look too cheerful about this. What did they do”?

    “Well, they took my door as a replacement for the front door that I busted down”

    “That is bad, but that’s not the worst of it?”

    “No, if I want my door back then I have to get a job”

    “Aren’t you a bit young to get a job?”

    “Yea, but my dad doesn’t care. He wants me to learn responsibility and respect for my elders.” He laughed.

    “But you respect every one at the café.”

    “I know and so does he, I think he wants me to respect my family some more.”

    “Where do you plan to work?” I didn’t answer him; instead I just looked at him, hoping he would get what I meant. “Shall we get going then?”

    “Hm?” I said tilting my head.

    “You want to work at Vampiric right? Well, we better get you a uniform and teach you the basics.”

    “Don’t you need to interview me?”

    “That’s only if we don’t know the people, and besides you seem to get along with everyone. So why waste time when it can be used for getting money.”

    “Okay” I said. I went into my pocket to grab the money for the mocha. Eric stopped me.

    “Don’t worry about it, ill pay for it.”

    “You don’t have to do that, I can pay for it.”

    “You need the money and besides ill just pay it with this paycheck, let me go get the rest of my money and we’ll head over to the café,” He said as he went towards the kitchen. I nodded and went to wait by the door.

    He came out of the kitchen in his usual clothing. Not white but black, his wonderful black clothing. He got more stares then when I walked in. All the girls seemed to be surprised, yet they couldn’t stop drooling. Haha girls, and I'm the one he's leaving with. I bet you hate me more. I laughed as we left the café. He looked at me.

    “It’s nothing,” I said. I looked back at the café and saw all the girls glaring out the windows at me. I stuck my tongue out at them. Sure, it was childish, but their reactions were hilarious. When we reached the café I headed towards the front door, but Eric went towards the alley. He laughed.

    “Employees are allowed to use the back door, which reminds me.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. “This is now yours. It unlocks the back door, we don’t have a spare key for the front door but we’ll get you one soon.”

    We walked into the kitchen of the café, it wasn’t as bright as the other café, but it still had some light. I sighed in relief. Eric mistook it as a sigh of unhappiness.

    “You didn’t think we did everything in the dark, did you?”

    “No, I know there are certain things you cant do in the dark, but I’m happy to be in a place that isn’t so bright.”

    “I know what you mean. The place was way too bright.” We started walking towards the employee’s office.

    “By the way, what were you doing there?”

    “They saw me walking and knew I worked here, they asked if I could cover for someone who just quit until the other employee came. I almost kept walking but then the manager said he'd pay me $20 to work for 2 hours. So I decided to take it.”

    “But you were wearing white. $20 is not worth it just to work for 3 hours in clothes I cant stand.”

    “Yea, I know what you mean. The manager handed me the uniform. I gave it back to him and said it wasn’t worth it. He said he would double my twenty, so I sucked it up, and I’m glad I did.” He was now searching for a uniform that would fit me. He found a skirt and handed it to me. “I don’t think we have a top that could fit you so you can keep what you have on. Just change the pants.”

    “Okay” I said. “But isn’t it bad business to be working for a rival company even if it is for a few hours?”

    “I’ll answer your question once your done changing.” He shooed me to the women’s bathroom. I quickly changed into the skirt and looked in the mirror.
    I said I would never wear a skirt again, and here I am in another one. Well, at least its black. I decided to lose the boots. It looked much too weird. I went out to find Eric, I found him by the cash register getting everything set up.

    “Eric” I said quietly. He looked up from the register and a smile sneaked onto his face, then it disappeared. I could see he wanted to laugh. I knew I looked ridiculous.

    “Yes?”

    “What can I do with my clothes?”

    “You can put them in your locker, here let me show you.” He finished putting the cash away and led me back towards the kitchen. He led me to a room in the way back of the kitchen, I never noticed the door before, and he opened it and let me through. I stopped at the door, it looked like a locker room, and even the lockers were red. Eric went searching for an empty locker for me. “Here you go jess,” he said. I walked over to my locker and put my clothes in.

    “Should I wear my boots?” I asked.

    “Hm, I don’t know, let me call Katie and see if she can bring an extra pair of black high heels.” He said as he headed back towards the door.

    “High heels” My voice almost squeaked. I couldn’t walk in high heels; there was a reason why I wore boots. I’m going to get hurt, or end up hurting someone else. I thought.

    “You never wore high heels before have you?” I shook my head no. He grinned, “Well, maybe Katie can help you out there too” he went out the door. I stood there for a while. What was I going to do? I despised high heels, but I really love this place. I guess I could suck it up and learn. I’m going to have to pay Katie back somehow for all the work she’s going to have. I put my boots in the locker and closed it.

    I walked back to the café and saw Eric on the phone. Guess he wasn’t kidding. I sat in a chair and waited till he was done, I still needed to learn how to make coffee. I looked out the front window and saw three of the girls from Brie’s café standing outside. They never learn do they? I looked at Eric; he smiled. I looked back at the girls. They were still drooling.

    “You’re in luck, Jess; Katie said shed bring an extra pair”

    “Thanks, now about my question…”

    “What question?” he said sitting across from me, his back was to the window.

    “Isn’t it bad for business to work for a rival company”

    “Ah, that question. Well, first of all no one saw me there except you and besides, it brings more costumers to our café,” he said turning his body so he faced the window. The three girls jaws dropped and the scampered away from the window. Eric and I laughed. “See, they’re just waiting for the café to open”

    “But they’re not here for the delicious coffee, you know that right?”

    “Not everyone can be like you. But they’ll have to buy something or they’ll get shooed out by Katie.”

    “I’d like to see that”

    “I bet you would,” He laughed. “Now lets get you started on the basics.” He got up and I followed him. He first showed me how to make a simple cup of coffee. He was just showing me how to make a cup of Turtle caramel Mocha when Katie walked in.

    “Good morning Eric, Jessica.” Katie said.

    “Good morning Katie” I said. Katie was wearing a long black jacket with black pants and had her brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She had her uniform in a bag she was carrying.

    “You finally made it” Eric said.

    “Oh, Shut up. I had to look for the shoes for Jess,”

    “Thanks so much Katie. I don’t know how to repay you”

    “Don’t worry about it, just do your best and get that door paid for.”

    “You told her,” I said looking shocked at Eric.

    “Well I had to, she wanted to know why you were working. She thought it was funny too; right Katie”

    “Of course. I probably would have done the same thing.” Katie said smiling. “By the way Eric, when are the girls out front going to disappear, they’re making the front windows dirty.”

    “They are still there huh? They’ve been out there since we got here. What time is it?”

    “Its time to open the café and let those girls in before I make them clean the windows.” Eric and me laughed at this.

    “You should have them clean the windows, they haven’t been cleaned in a while but we want them to spend money here not earn money, like they need anymore” Eric said.

    “Don’t tempt me Eric, and I never said id be paying them” Katie said as she walked into the women’s bathroom.

    “Its always a joy with Katie around. Why don’t you stay by the register and ill open the café” I nodded and walked over to the café. I felt like I needed to organize something but everything was clean. There wasn’t much for me to do. I could hear the girls giggle all the way from across the café. Eric came back over handing me a notepad and pen. “Why don’t you go take their orders?”

    “Of course.” I said. I began to walk towards the three very loud and very obnoxious girls.

    “And jess,”

    “Yea” I said turning around.

    “Don’t let them get to you ok?”

    “Of course.” I walked to the girls. They were suddenly quiet. Were you hoping to be served by Eric? Well, to bad ladies I am your waitress so deal with it. I thought. “Good morning ladies, and what would you like this morning?” I asked politely. It felt so weird. They didn’t answer me and continued to whisper amongst themselves.

    I wanted so bad to slap all three of them across the face and tell them to order something or get the hell out, but that would be bad for business so I continued to smile.

    “Do you mind?” One of the girls finally said. She had long blonde hair that went down her back and had jade green eyes. She wore a blue dress; she looked like she belonged on a magazine. The other two girls stopped whispering and looked at me. “What do you want?” She said coldly.

    “Is there anything I can get you?”

    “Yea, there is. A plate of you going back to the trash where you belong and a cup of that hottie serving us.” I could feel my face fluster and the girls started laughing. I composed my face and tried again.

    “I’m sorry, but he is very busy, is there anything you ladies would like to eat or drink?”

    “You’re lying. He’s not busy, he’s just standing by the cash register watching.” Another girl said. She had short sandy blonde hair that went to her neck. She wore a yellow dress the same design as the blondie.

    “Go tell him we want to be served by him” the third one said. She had long curly red hair. It seemed to be longer than the blonde’s. She wore a red dress like the other two. They belong in a circus, not this heaven. They’re lucky no one else is here. Or they’d be scared out of their minds.

    “Of course.” I said. I turned back towards the counter and I knew anger showed on my face. Eric’s face went to worry for a minute.

    “What happened?” He asked. “Did they order?”

    “Yes they ordered.” I said. Slamming the notepad and pen on the counter. I went into the kitchen. Eric followed me, the girls were laughing so loud.

    “Well, what did they order?”

    “You don’t want to know.” I said

    “I asked didn’t I? So that means I want to know.” Katie walked into the kitchen now. She just came from the locker room.

    “What’s going on?” She asked.

    “Jess went to take the order of the three girls and came back pissed, like she wanted to strangle them”

    “Trust me, I do. If it wasn’t for me loving this place so much I WOULD have.”

    “What happened Jess, what did they order?” Katie asked. Both Eric and Katie seemed scared, they’ve never known me to be violent towards guests here. I sighed. They weren’t going to let this drop until they knew.

    “They wanted a plate of me going back to the trash cans where I belong and a cup of the hottie serving them” I said looking away. When I didn’t get an immediate response I looked at them. Both of their jaws dropped about and inch, Eric a little more and just stared at me. Then Katie composed her face and rolled up her sleeves.

    “I’ll show them who belongs in the trash.” She began to walk towards the door. I quickly grabbed her sleeves, but she was stronger than me and I was being pulled along with her.

    Chapter 4~

    “Eric!” I yelled. He snapped out of it and grabbed Katie’s other arm. Both of us were able to stop her before she went out the kitchen door. She was still steaming.

    “Come on Kate, calm down.” It was the first time that I heard Eric use Katie’s nickname. This meant he was pretty serious and by the look in his eyes proved me right.

    “Come on Eric, let me at them, they can’t get away with talking to Jessica like that” She said. She glared out the kitchen window, the girls were just laughing like nothing in the world matters.

    “Don’t worry they wont” He slowly let go of her arm making sure she wouldn’t take after them again. “I won’t let them. I followed his lead and let go of her. She rolled down her sleeves and faced towards Eric. He was now leaning against a counter. I could see he was thinking of a way to get back at them.

    “Why? Why can’t I beat the living hell out of them Eric, give me one good reason” He sighed.

    “Because, the Blondie, their leader; her father owns the land that our café sits on.” My jaw dropped so that’s why she thinks she’s top b***h around here. Katie just stood there.

    “Then what are we going to do?” I asked. I didn’t want to see my heaven especially not because of some pomp-a** princess.

    “I don’t know yet, we just can’t abuse any of them” he walked into the locker room. I looked back out the window, they were still laughing. I partly wished they would die of laughter then it wouldn’t be our fault.

    “What are we going to do Katie?”

    “I don’t know either, I just want to slap them around a bit then kick them out. But Eric said no so I’m stumped.” I thought about it. There are two things I am good at, one, kicking some major a** and two…trickery. I grinned. I figured a way to get them back and to make Katie happy.

    “Hey Katie, can you fetch Eric, I have an idea”

    “Sure” she went back to the locker room and less than a minute later returned with Eric. Both of them had happy yet confused looks on their faces.

    “Ok Jess, what’s your plan?” Katie asked.
    “Its really quite simple actually…just give them what they want.”

    “What!” they both said.

    “Look, they wanted Eric to serve them, so let him”

    “Are you insane?” Eric said.

    “No, each of them wants you but with only one of you and three of them. They’re going to end up arguing.”

    “Not to mention tear me apart”

    “I don’t think they will, if you can do it right they wont notice until after you are gone.” He sighed

    “Just tell me what I have to do”

    “All you have to do is flirt with each of them but in a different way. Like gently brushing one of their hands and making eye contact. Then maybe compliment the dress of the other one. And as for their leader, just wink at her”

    “That settles it, you are insane. They’re going to kill me.” Eric said.

    “No they won’t”

    “What a devilish mind you have, Jess.” Katie said. She was grinning

    “Why thank you, I do try.”

    “But what about their orders?” Eric asked.

    “Oh, just raise the prices for them by a few bucks.”

    “How much is a few?” He asked

    “Well…. depending on what they order really. You said they were rich so just raise each item by at least $10.”

    “You are insane but that’s why it’s going to be fun having you around.” He said as he walked out the kitchen door.

    “Should we get to work then?” Katie said.

    “Yep, what should we do?”

    “Well… since they are our first customers we don’t have anything to do till Eric comes back with their orders.”

    “Shall we” I said grinning.

    “We shall,” she said returning the grin. Katie and I couldn’t help but watch. Even if we did have other customers they were going to have to wait. Of course they wouldn’t notice their orders were late. Everyone would be paying attention to the three bitches in color.
    Eric was doing exactly what I said, except he added one of his own. He had a dazzling smile that seemed to keep the girls hypnotized. They didn’t notice anything going on around them except when Eric “flirted” with them. We couldn’t help but laugh. This was very interesting to watch. He finally came to the Blondie, the head b***h of the three dogs. She nearly fainted when he winked at her. This was truly entertaining. He finished the orders and started to come back. Katie and I nearly flew away from the door so he wouldn’t see us. We didn’t have much to do so we acted like we were doing dishes…. even though they were already clean. He came through the door smiling.

    “I’ve got to hand it to you Jess; you knew exactly what you were doing”

    “See, I told you so. You didn’t get hurt one bit”

    “No, but even if they did start to attack me, I’m sure Katie would love to tear them to shreds and kick them out. I saw it in her eyes”

    “What ever do you mean?” Katie asked. We looked at each other and smiled.

    “Don’t try to fool me you two, I saw you watching. I looked up when neither of you were looking”

    “Guess we're busted then huh?” Katie said laughing.

    “Most definitely.” I replied.

    “So what did you think of the show?”

    “It was very interesting, you had them tripping over themselves.” Katie said

    “And you nearly made their leader faint, she probably would have if you did anything more.” I answered.

    “Well, lets get to work; we have orders to fulfill if we want these three out before our other guests arrive.”

    “Right away sir, what did they order?” I said.

    “They each ordered the veggie sandwich and a mocha, light” he said this looking at me. “Ill take care of the mochas, Jess you can watch as Katie makes the sandwiches.”

    “Right away” Katie said. She walked over to the fridge.

    “And don’t think about slipping meat into the sandwich Kate, I’m going to be checking them before they go out” For a minute there I thought I heard Katie swear under breath. But I couldn’t be positive. I watched as Katie made the sandwiches. I couldn’t really tell the difference between how to make sandwiches here and how to make them at home. I was going to have to ask Eric about that after those three left.
    Katie finished the sandwiches just as Eric completed the mochas. I couldn’t understand why people could drink light mochas. It was insanity. I guess that’s why Eric took the mochas. He did as he said and checked the sandwiches for meat. Katie didn’t put anything on them except what was expected. But I could see she wanted to do more than just put meat on them, like maybe some poison. Eric went to deliver the dogs their meals and again we watched. He had that dazzling smile and flirtatious face again. The dogs giggled.

    “I guess you don’t see that everyday.” I laughed. Katie looked at me confused

    “What do you mean?”

    “I didn’t know dogs could giggle, maybe when I get one ill train it to giggle like that” Me and Katie broke out in laughter. When we looked back through the windows, Eric was looking at us, giving us a weird look. We split from the doors, still laughing. Eric walked in while we making fun of the dogs. He couldn’t get why we were laughing so hard.

    “What is the matter with you two?” he said looking at us. “I’ve never seen you laugh like this before Kate, what has gotten into you.”

    “Hey, Eric, do dogs eat at a table?” Katie asked

    “No, they eat on the floor. Why do you ask?”

    “Well, you better go back out there and tell those three dogs to get back on the floor to eat their food.” That just set us off even more. We were laughing so hard that we were crying. I wanted them to die of laughter but it feels like I'm going to die laughing at them.

    “You two are so impossible,” he sighed. “Not a bad spot for those three though”

    “What do we do now?” I asked. I tried to stop laughing. That wasn’t very easy.

    “Well, since they are our only customers at the current moment, we just have to wait until they are done eating. Then we give them their bill and send them on their way”
    “How much did you raise the cost?”

    “I raised the mochas by $1.78 and the sandwiches by $2.15”

    “So now the mochas are $4.63 and the sandwiches are $5.83,” I answered. They looked at me weirdly. “What, just because I don’t like school doesn’t mean that I’m bad at it” Eric just rolled his eyes.

    “Don’t you two get us into trouble now okay?” he said as he walked into the locker room

    “What should we do while we wait” I asked.

    “I don’t know, I’m going to head into the locker room and do some work though. You can do whatever.” She walked into the locker room. I didn’t know what to do. I did have homework but that was all the way at home and I wouldn’t have done it even if I did bring it. I walked out the kitchen doors and went to the cash register. The three “dogs” stopped talking and looked at me when I walked through the door. I didn’t pay them much attention.
    I didn’t know what to do, there was nothing to do in the kitchen and even less to do here. I could cause chaos, but Eric said not to. I looked over at the girls, they were whispering amongst themselves. They haven’t even touched the food. Just then the red head looked up.

    “Waitress, Come here.” She said. I slowly walked over to them. Hoping that I wouldn’t have to hit one of these filthy dogs.

    “Yes, ma’am, is there anything I can help you with?” I said smiling. This time the blondie spoke.

    “Did you make this food at all?” she said glaring at me.

    “No, I didn’t miss, it was Eric and Katie”

    “Who is Katie?” asked sandy blonde.

    “I am Katie, is there something I can help you ladies with” I jumped and turned to see Katie standing behind me. I looked at the kitchen door and saw Eric watching. I looked back to Katie and saw in her eyes the hatred she had for these three. Just because of what they said to me.
    “No, we are fine. Thank you waitress” said the blondie.

    “Excuse me, but what is your name” Katie asked.

    “It’s Rachel. Why?”

    “Well Rachel, we have names here too, and her name is Jessica.” Katie was beginning to lose her temper; it was time to get her back in the kitchen. I grabbed her arm but she pulled out of it. “Now, why haven’t you eaten the food we prepared?” She was near shouting, they didn’t answer. I looked back at Eric with a pleading look on my face. He got the message and came out the door. “Well?”

    “Hey, Katie, jess, I need you two to do something for me. Come back to the kitchen.” Eric said. He stood by the kitchen door, waiting to see if he needed to stop Katie from hitting them. I tried again.

    “Come on Katie, you heard Eric, he needs us for something.”

    “Okay, I’m coming” she turned from the table.

    “Please, if u need anything else, don’t be afraid to call.” I told them. But by the looks on their faces they were afraid. They turned from me. Ignoring what I had just said and basically shoveled the food in. so much for acting like a lady… I walked away and entered the kitchen to see Eric having a serious talk with Katie. Looks like she’s in trouble.
    I went and waited in the locker room. There wasn’t much to do in the kitchen but it looked like the locker room could use some cleaning. I searched around for the cleaning supplies and found them in the closet in the way back. I started cleaning the lockers. At first glance they didn’t look dirty but after a little scrubbing the red lockers began to shine. I only got a few lockers cleaned when Eric came in.

    “Hey Jess, they just about finished up, you want to go and fetch their dishes.”

    “Of course” I put the cleaning supplies down and washed my hands before going out. When I finally went out there it looked like they licked the plates clean. Katie really did scare them badly.

    “Good morning ladies are you all finished or is there something else I can get you?”

    “No, but thank you Jessica, we’ll be taking our bill and then we’ll be leaving” said Rachel.

    “Of course. I’ll be right back with your bill.” I walked back towards the cash register where Eric left the notepad. I turned towards the table and saw all three of the girls looking towards the kitchen. I turned to see Katie glaring at them through the windows. For now I decided to ignore it and walked over to the table. “Here you go ladies” They looked at it, then at each other. I began to wonder if it was too high.

    “Do you want to pay for it Rachel? Or should I?” asked the sandy blonde. They just needed to know who was going to pay for it. I sighed in relief. They all looked at me like I was annoyed. They became worried and the red head pulled out her credit card.

    “Here you go” she handed me her credit card. Eric didn’t show me how to take cash off a credit card yet.

    “I’m sorry ladies, ill be right back. I need to fetch Eric”

    “Of course, take your time” said Rachel. They all went back to talking amongst themselves. I walked towards the kitchen with the credit card Katie looked at me then at the girls. I just shook my head and held up the credit card. She seemed to relax a bit.

    “Where’s Eric?” I asked as I walked through the kitchen door.

    “He hasn’t come out of the locker room since he went to fetch you”

    “Okay, thank you” I walked towards the back room but the closer I got I began to smell something really strange. I walked in and saw Eric cleaning. He was over using the cleaning supplies, leaving a really bad smell behind. He seemed to be using a cloth to cover his mouth and nose. I put my sleeve up to cover my nose “Umm… Eric” I said. He looked over, I showed him the card and he put the stuff down. When we walked out the back he finally seemed able to breathe.

    “You know you over did it a while ago right?” I said coughing; we walked over to the sink. He began to wash his hands. He used so much the smell was on his hands and arms.

    “I know. I just wanted to get the lockers cleaned up” He scrubbed his arms and hands until they were red, then he dried them off and grabbed the card, “now lets show you how to do this.” The girls didn’t even look over as I walked back in with Eric. We walked over to the cash register and he showed me what to do. He did it this time so something didn’t go wrong and we could get those three out of here before our other costumers showed up. He finished up and handed me back the card. I walked back to the table.

    “Thank you for waiting, I'm sorry for taking so long, here is your card back. Everything has been taken care of. Please feel free to come again” I could tell that the only way they were ever going to come back to this place was if Katie got fired. I had to wait about an hour before some of our normal customers started showing up; some of them that knew me weren’t surprised to see me working and thought it was incredibly funny that I smashed the door down. Many agreed with me that I shouldn’t have to pay for the door. I went through the rest of my hours having fun. Eric seemed to enjoy having me there and I never saw Katie laugh so much.
    It was the end of the day for me. I would have loved to keep working but with my age I have worked for enough hours. I looked out the window and saw that it was twilight time. Am I going to be followed again? I wondered if I could get Eric to walk me home just so I wouldn’t have to worry about it, I looked around the café and it looked really busy, everyone was running around; trying to take care of everyone. I decided I would handle it on my own and went into the locker room to fetch my things.
    After I finished changing I looked in the mirror to fix my hair, while I was doing so Katie walked in, she looked very tired.

    “Oh, so you’re getting ready to go?” She asked.

    “Yep, I’ve reached my work time for today, if it wasn’t for the stupid age thing I would stay here all night”

    “I bet you would, and nobody would complain about it.” We both laughed at that. I looked in the mirror.

    “Hey, Katie, do I look menacing enough?”

    “Yea, you look pretty scary but why do you want to?”

    “I’m not really sure, but I had this feeling that someone was following me last night and I don’t think they would have give up”

    “WHAT?!?!?”

    “It’s nothing I should be fine, besides if I get the feeling again I’ll just run home”

    “Are you sure you don’t want me or Eric to walk you home? Just to be safe”

    “Well I did think about it, but the café is so busy, I didn’t want to pull you two away for something just as this.” I walked out of the bathroom to let Eric know I had to go, I found him by the table in the way back.

    “Hey Eric, it’s time for me to go, anything I need to do before I split?”

    “No, I don’t think so; just put your work clothes in your locker for right now.”

    “Okay” I headed back to the locker room, and slipped my stuff in there. I walked back out and saw Katie talking to Eric, I decided to head out the back door. I was going to go through the front but now, that wasn’t such a good idea. Just then Eric looked my way and signaled me to come over. I didn’t want to disobey him, so I reluctantly walked over.

    “Yes?” I asked, putting on a fake smile.

    “Katie tells me someone was following you home yesterday and that they may do that today, why didn’t you say anything?”

    “Because both of you are busy”
    “We have other workers here you know”

    “Yes, I know but they are also busy, I just don’t want to get in any ones way”

    “You won’t be getting in any ones way, besides your part of our family now; and we always watch out for each other. Now wait here while I get ready.”

    “Why?”

    “Because I’m going to walk you home.”

    “No, I’m fine honestly, you don’t need to go out of your way” I started to walk away at that point.

    “Katie” that was it. All he had to say and she stopped me. She gently grabbed the back of my jacket, careful enough to not choke me but hard enough so I couldn’t escape. “Your waiting” and he walked off. I sighed and crossed my arms; there wasn’t much else I could do. I looked behind me at Katie, she was watching me very closely, and there is no way for her to let me go.

    “Oh, waitress, I need some help” said a customer. Or…maybe there is. She would have to let me go so she can help the customer. It looked like she was pondering it over and for a minute there I thought I had won but Carly walked over to the customer.

    “You owe me Kate,”

    “Yea I know, how many does this make it”

    “I’m not sure, but it’s a lot.” She said laughing. Then went to helping the customer. Then another customer called to Katie, but this one I knew. I looked around and noticed everyone else was tied up; Katie was going to have to let me go. Or not… she started walking towards the customer dragging me with her. I had no choice but to walk. It was either cooperate or fall flat on my a** and I wasn’t going to let that happen.
    The customer was a good friend of mine. His name was Jason. We used to be very close until his parents started hating me and forbid him to see me. It doesn’t work when we have Vampiric around.

    “Yes sir, is there something I can help you with?” Katie said still holding onto me.

    “Ah, yes, there seems to be something wrong with my drink--”

    “Of course, I’ll take care of it.” She grabbed the drink with the open hand and began to walk away; I’m still getting pulled along with.

    “Um, miss. This food is also not what I order, is there any way that can be fixed.”

    “I am terribly sorry, sir. I will fix your order immediately.” She had no choice but to let go of my jacket and grab his plate.

    “Thanks a lot Jason, I owe you big time for this” I yelled as I ran towards the front door.

    “Yea, I know. Ill get back to you on it when I think of something” he yelled back laughing.

    “No jess, please stop” I heard Katie yell. I was on my way out the door. Nothing in the world could stop me. The last thing I heard was Katie yelling for Eric. I decided to really push myself and get to my favorite street. No one in the world knew I walked this way. It would be terribly bad if Eric arrived at my house before me. I was already in enough trouble as it was. Although a little more wouldn’t hurt.
    I began to slow down when I was a good distance from the Café. I figured Eric would be mad with me but I could live with that. I couldn’t live with it if he had to walk me all the way home and walk back to the Café. It was pointless. I decided to see if I was being followed and couldn’t feel anything. Am I just being paranoid? Was there ever someone following me? I turned a corner three blocks from my house when I felt it. The same presence I felt the other night, it was very close too. I should have just waited. I quickened my pace and still I felt the presence closer and closer. I saw a movement in a tree; it was only our neighbor’s cat. They need to lock that thing in the house.
    I no longer felt the presence. I had to laugh at myself. Being creepped out by a cat.

    “Hello Jessica” said a voice behind me. It wasn’t something I recognized yet I felt like I’ve heard it before. Then I remembered it was the voice that was in my head last night, when I was at the Café. It’s that old man. I turned to see expecting a very old man but instead I saw a man no older than maybe twenty.