F I V E

"You don't have time to be laying in bed all day, you know."

"I don't?"

Mum was standing in the doorway of my room with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked angry. Her hair was curled today and styled to the side. It looked pretty, but I wouldn't tell her that.

The sun shone in through the gaps in my curtains, creating interesting patterns on my white bed sheets as I laid on the bed with my hands intertwined, staring up at the ceiling. Thank God it was a Saturday. I didn't want to get out of bed and do anything productive today.

"I signed you up for a job."

I blinked.

"You what?"

"Relax. We're not in need of money or anything. And it's not like you're picking dirt off the streets. You just could do with some distractions and something to do rather than sleeping," Mum said as if it was nothing.

I sat up. "You didn't even talk to me about it," I said, turning to look at her with a glare. I crossed my arms.

Mum crossed her arms. "Did you take your pills yet, Stella?" she asked, eyeing me. She sighed loudly. "No, you didn't. Don't speak another word to me unless you've swallowed your medicine." She spun on her heel and took off down the landing.

I let out a frustrated growl. I didn't want to work. We had enough money. More than enough! Wasn't finding a job about earning money? I was useless at doing anything. What job did she even sign me up for anyway?

God, I needed to take those pills before I freaked out.

The pills I was required to take every morning were prescribed to me when I was eleven. They helped to ease my nerves and counterbalance my hormones out so I wouldn't get so worked up or provoked all the time. I used to get panic attacks when I was younger and my mum and dad took me to see a doctor who recommended the doses.

My feet felt brumal when they came in contact with my wooden floor. Shivering, I rubbed my eyes and found my slippers, leaving my room and making my way down the long flight of curved stairs.

I took the pills, cringing at the dryness of the medicine coming in contact with my tongue.

"Want tea?"

Lilly was sitting at the table doing nothing. I smiled at her kindly. "No thank you."

I exited the kitchen and found Mum leaning against the living room door frame. She smiled when she saw me. I rolled my eyes when she turned around and felt like running upstairs and locking my door and never coming back out.

"Your work starts in an hour. Want me to drive you?" she asked.

There really was no point in arguing with my mum. She always won everything. I sighed and obeyed her when she told me to shower and clean up. Then I found myself waiting in the Mercedes bitterly, watching as my mum slipped on her heels half an hour later.

She got in the car and the ride was zipped and silent until I spoke up.

"Where am I going to work?"

"At a restaurant called The Benevolent."

I blinked. "Seriously?"

Mum laughed. "I ate there with a friend last week. It's very commendable. The service is good, if you are going to be good, and everything's clean and tidy. They are very friendly, too."

I couldn't help but feel concerned. I had never worked before in my life. I didn't understand how to serve, or cook, or take orders.

"Is it that?"

Our car pulled up at a diner on the corner of the street. It looked like a milkshake restaurant or something like that diner in Riverdale where they all meet up. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad. I would still rather be at home, in bed, watching Stranger Things all day. It was productive enough. It filled my brain with information that could be handy one day.

When we walked inside, it felt cool with all the lights and the music playing and the numbers on the tables. A man wearing a red shirt immediately rushed to my mum, holding her hand and greeting her. I guess they figured out she was rich.

"Hello, Mrs I am so glad you are back," the man said happily. He had a moustache and he was plump. Mum smiled at him and he looked at me. "You must be Stella. Come! Come on in, we will give you your uniform. You can meet everyone else at the back. Some of them are not here yet. The restaurant opens again at four pm. Which is in twenty minutes."

Mum looked at me with a smile but I stared at her. A uniform, seriously?

"Go on Stella."

The man smiled at me warmly and guided me behind the counter and to the back. He pushed me through a door and disappeared back out to the front again. I sighed.

The back was messy. There were cardboard boxes everywhere but definitely not what I was expecting. I examined the area and stepped inside, wondering where I would get my uniform. My eyes trailed upon something I never thought I would see.

Reeve Whyte was sitting on a box wearing a large red t-shirt with the word BENEVOLENT, looking down at his phone looking all perfect.

The first thing that came to mind was-- wasn't he like, super rich? Like me? And God, he was hot.

"What are you doing here?" I spoke up.

He jumped. Literally. He stood up quickly and almost dropped his phone. He shoved it into his pocket and glared at me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. He frowned at me and I swore his eyes looked me from head to toe, then to my head again. My toes curled up into my vans.

"My mum said I'm a lazy slob," I muttered.

"Same."

I started to laugh because I didn't expect that response. He cracked a smile on his face too. I never really realised that his eyelashes were so long and curled up. My eyelashes were never capable of doing that. His eyes were so brown too and his jaw was so chiselled and attractive. His whole face was attractive.

"Hey Reeve, do you know where Mike keeps the backup ketchup--"

A girl entered from the back and stopped in her tracks when she saw me standing there. She was blonde and very pretty, even with the uniform on.

She raised her brow and turned to Reeve. "Is she the replacement for John?"

Reeve snorted. "Yeah."

I sank back into my skin, feeling slightly envious of her. God, maybe this wasn't a good idea.

→←

After wiping the last table after the noisy family had left, I went back to the sink to rinse the cloth and saw Reeve leaning against the counter by the ovens that were now empty and turned off.

We hadn't talked all night-- which wasn't surprising at all because we didn't talk anyway and the diner was extra busy tonight, according to Mike, the plump guy with the moustache and also the owner of the diner. But I expected some word from Reeve-- like pass the notepad.

When I was washing my hands he spoke up eventually and it just had to be about them.

"Why are you still with them?"

I turned the tap off and crossed my arms, turning to look at him. I ignored the sounds of Becky, the blonde girl from earlier. She was sitting at a table with Kyle and some other workers after officially turning the open sign to closed. She wasn't too much of a snob. She claimed she just needed money for her college funds.

"Lola and them?"

Reeve blinked. "Yeah."

"Why can I not? Nobody has given me a solid reason to why I shouldn't be hanging out with them," I said stubbornly. I dried my hands on my uniform that was surprisingly comfortable but covered in a gravy sauce stain. "They're my only friends."

Reeve glanced around as if someone was going to hear us speak.

"You'll end up like Kelly."

I rolled my eyes. "Who's that?"

"She was the new girl, a long time ago. She was friends with them, like you," he mumbled. "You know what happened to her?"

I didn't know why but I found it hard to focus on what he was saying since every time I looked at him talking, his mouth was moving and I felt like kissing him. But what? What happened to Kelly?

"Enlighten me," I said.

Reeve stared at me. "She killed herself."

I spluttered. "Wait, you're going a bit too fast."

I felt anxious. I felt scared. I felt like running back home and hugging my mum. I didn't like things like that. It felt like the diner had dropped a million degrees after he said that.

"I don't know what they did to her, or what she saw, but she was so scared, Stella. The police and parents believe she was just under stress since she always had panic attacks-- but I know. I know it was because of them. I know they do some disgusting shit, but Kelly never wanted to tell me," Reeve muttered. "She had a pretty bad panic attack a day before she decided to jump off a bridge."

I thought back to everything Jessica had said to me in my bedroom the other night. She said they did illegal things.

What did they do that was enough to drive Kelly to kill herself?

"Was Kelly your girlfriend?"

Reeve blinked and his eyes were glossy. "She was. I broke up with her a few days before she died."

A beep came from outside, scaring the life out of me and I looked over out in the dark to see the familiar headlights of my mum's black Mercedes. Thankfully I didn't scream. Thanks to those pills. I swallowed. I didn't know if I wanted to go home and binge watch movies, or drag Reeve along and make him explain everything to me.

"Is that your car?"

I nodded.

"You should go."

I nodded again and bit my lip. "Can we continue this? Tomorrow are you on shift? Same time?"

Reeve shook his head. "I'll see you in school on Monday."

My shoulders dropped and I nodded, making my way out. God, I felt unsafe. I felt scared. I dreaded going to school after hearing what Reeve said.