chapter two: milkshake fries and hot guys

☾ ☼ Mallory Wheeler

Sunday, September 13th, 2017

DESPITE THE LATE HOUR OF NIGHT, SHAKE AND BAKE WAS OVERLY CROWDED.

I supposed it had something to do with the dance at Felton High, instead of attending the high school dance, I was stuck refilling ketchup bottles, and nearly falling on my ass every chance I got, from the abominations, by the name of skates on my feet.

I slowly and carefully skate my way over to Mrs. Dabney, who sits in the corner, by her lonesome, near the window, her usual spot, with her usual order.

"More coffee, Mrs. Dabney?" I ask in my cheery voice and bright smile, that usually got me good tips.

She smiles up at me, staring into her empty mug. "Why, yes," She begins. "And Maggie, dear, would you tell me what day it is?"

I laugh to myself, stooping lower, in my ridiculously high skates, to refill the women's cup. I had told her time and time again that my name was Mallory and not Maggie, but Mrs. Dabney continued to called me, Maggie so while I was waiting her table, my name was Maggie.

"It's Saturday, September 13th." I answer for the fourth time, to Mrs. Dabney, sure the women had a spotty memory, but she was sweet.

"I'm waiting for George, it's our anniversary,"She says excitedly, pouring two packets of sugar in her coffee.

I offer the women a pity smile, placing my hands in the pockets of my too short, and too tight yellow dress. Mrs. Dabney would be waiting forever for George to come, seeing as though he's been dead for the past five years.

"I'm sure he'll be here any minute, can I get you anything else?" I spit out, trying to change the subject, I wasn't going to be the one to tell that sweet old lady about the death of her husband.

She shakes her head, her white curls bouncing, slightly. "I don't want to spoil my appetite,"She says patting her stomach, before taking another long sip of coffee.

"You're the boss, Mrs. D," I say before slowly skating away, nearly dropping the pot of coffee all over me, as Fiona comes skating past, like a pro. I just couldn't grasps how she was so good at skating, I could barely stand up right and she was gliding, majestically through the diner, like a Goddess.

"Weird guy in the corner, tips great,"She whispers to me as she passes by, I laugh as I place the coffee pot on the counter, skating behind it, hanging onto the counter, trying not to topple over.

I sigh, slightly tired, wiping down the counter. "What are you smiling at?" I playfully hiss at Simon, who sat at a stool, working his way through his third order of waffle fries.

He just shrugs, running his hands through his blonde hair, pieces sticking up on the sides. "It's just comical, seeing you awkwardly bump into everything in sight,"He says plopping a fry in his mouth.

"You know,"I begin, as I pick up the two plates of pancakes, Jeff placed out for table 8. I place them in my hands, steadying my legs, so that I wouldn't fall, again. "If I weren't working, I'd seriously kick your ass,"I say, heading back into the dinning area.

"And you better tip me!" I shout to Simon, before skating over to table 8, ever so slowly.

"Two orders of the short stack,"I say cheerily, placing it down in front of the two of them, they mumble a thanks, barely acknowledging my existence, as I skate away.

As I skate back over to the counter, the bell rings to the front entrance, signaling more customers, with a groan, I turn to face the door. I let out a gasp when I see a familiar brown haired boy dressed in a suit, his tie hanging around him, he clumsily walks over to a booth, latching on to his friend, so that he didn't fall, no doubt drunk as a skunk.

"I can take table 12 for you, Mal,"Gina offers, gesturing to the table, with the two boys, I don't take my eyes off of the the drunk one, I watch as he plants a goofy grin on his face, laughing at something his friend just said.

"No..I got it," I say playing with the end of my braid, as I lean on the counter, Simon shakes his eyebrows at me, and I roll my eyes, hitting him with a hand towel.

Gina glances from Simon to me. "You like that guy?" She says looking at the sloppy drunk boy, raising a brow.

Owen laughs, nudging his friends shoulder, his face lighting up bright, his brown hair sweeping in his face, ever so lightly, I wanted to run my hands through it. I bite my lip, forcing the thought away.

"He's kinda cute, like in a stoner, loser kinda way,"She says shrugging, before skating away, her cherry blonde hair swaying as she gracefully skated, see now why couldn't I look like that? Instead, I just stumbled around like a new born giraffe.

"Simon, I can't go over there,"I say, grabbing two menus from the counter, still looking over at table 12.

Simon groans, giving me a look of annoyance. "Stop being such a pussy," He begins. "Go over there, and ask to suck his dick or something, guys like that."

"Simon, sweetie." I begin. "That may be how the gays do it, but us, boring heterosexuals do it a tad differently."

"The way of the gay is better."

I couldn't help, but think that he was probably right. Sure, I had been with a few guys, I mean, I was no angel, I'd slept around, I kissed, I fucked, just like any other teenage girl, but that didn't make me any less awkward around guys, in fact it some how made it worse.

I was well aware of myself, my body. I was curvy, tall, I had the body of a women, but I just wasn't sure how to use it to my advantage, yet. It's not like I could say to Owen, "hey I have boobs, and I like you, wanna kiss?"

My tired legs skate over to table 12, wearing the best smile I could offer. "Hiya, welcome to Shake and Bake, can I start you off with a beverage?" My eyes scan Owen's and then Nelson's.

The two were certainly an odd pairing, one was the star athlete of Felton High, loved by all and the other not so popular, wallflower, nonetheless they were still best friends. That's part of the reason I  liked Owen so much, he gave a big old fuck you to the high school cliche norms, he just lived, not caring what anyway else thought or said. Imagine that.

"Water for this one,"Nelson says gesturing to Owen, who was leaned back in the booth, smiling up at me like a puppy, his cheeks rosy, from the alcohol.

Owen scowls over at his friend. "Fuck you, I want a milkshake."

"You're not throwing up all over my car,"He jokes throwing a sugar packet at his friend, Owen pouts, tossing it right back. I awkwardly smile, pulling out my notepad.

"Should I come back?" i choke out, not sure what else to say.

"No,"They both say in unison.

"I'll have a strawberry banana milkshake."

"I'll take a Pepsi."

I quickly scribble it down. "I'll give you time to look over the menu,"I say before, skating away, bumping into a nearby table, that was sure to leave a bruise.

I go to the fountain, filling a cup of Pepsi, then I begin to mix up a milkshake in the blender, Shake and Bake was famous for their milkshakes, they had over 300 flavors. I pour the shake in a glass, placing a cherry on the top, skating back over to table 12, except I'm skating too fast, so fast, my legs fall from under me and the Pepsi and Shake come flying, some on me, most on Owen and Nelson.

"Oh shit," Nelson says, looking down at his ruined suit, the rest of the diner look at me, some of them laughing, some of them with looks of pity.

"Are you okay, Maggie?" Mrs. Dabney calls, looking at me with great concern, my cheeks heat with overwhelming embarrassment, why is it always me? what did i do to deserve this?

No, I'm not okay, I thought to myself, this night couldn't get any worse, and to top things off, the fall actually hurt, my ass ached, as I sat in the puddle of wet, I thought I might die, tonight might be the night, I hoped that it was.

"I'm fine," I publicly announce to the diner, since they were all busy gawking at me. "Go back to your regularly scheduled program," I say trying to break the ice, except somehow I felt like I was making it worse, shocker.

I watch as Nelson rises from the booth, offering me a hand, I take it, thankful, when I'm finally on my feet again, I stagger, the skates slipping in the mess, Nelson grabs my waist, steadying me. I let out a sigh of relief, I hope he doesn't notice.

"You good?" He asks me, smiling and thank god for his smile, he was the only one not looking at me with pity, even Owen who sat wiping the stains out of his shirt, looked at me with sorrow.

I smile at Nelson. "I think I broke my ass, but I'll live."

He laughs, opening his mouth to say something, but is cut short when Fiona and Gina come skating over, with a mop and bucket.

"Oh sweetie, are you okay?" Gina asks, as she places the mop in the bucket, beginning to mop up the mess.

I nod my head standing still, afraid of falling again. Nelson sits back in the booth, leaving me with no one to lean on. "Hey your shifts almost over, I can handle this table, and you can get out of here,"Fiona whispers to me.

I let out a sigh of relief. "I owe you big time," I say before, very slowly, skating back behind the counter.

"Oh Mal, sweetie," Simon says, a look of pity in his blue eyes, shrugging his jean jacket on, pulling his keys from his pocket.

"Oh, shut it," I mumble, before pulling the demonic skates off, heading to the back, throwing them in my locker. I peel the sticky dress off, replacing it with a pair of jeans, a hoodie and sneakers. I reached into my apron, pulling out my tips. One hundred and seventy three big ones, I looked down at the money giddy with excitement, it was almost enough to make me forget about the terrible fall, almost. I stuff the money in my pocket, grabbing my bag, throwing the sticky dress in it, heading back into the dining area. It felt damn good to have my feet planted on the ground.

"Don't forget Sunny's milkshake," Simon begins, "I'll be in the car."

"Shit," I say to myself, remembering Sunny's shake, a pained smile spreads across my face, as I remember Sunny's sad words, she had said she wanted to try every flavor of milkshake, Shake and Bake had, before she died, which became even sadder, when her days were shortly numbered.

I pulled out a to go cup, from the cabinet under the counter, pouring the mint chocolate double fudge milkshake in the cup, placing a top on it and poking a straw through the hole, I steal a sip from it as I exit the diner, I offer a glance at Owen and Nelson, what I'd do to be sitting beside Owen, laughing at his silly drunken self, oh get a grip, Mallory, I think to myself as I walk over to Simon's old beat up Jeep.

You've probably ruined that chance, anyways after drenching him in soda and milkshake.

When I close the door behind me, Simon laughs turning to me. "Don't. Even. Say. A. Word." I hiss, snapping my seat belt on, placing Sunny's milkshake in the cup holder.

Simon laughs, pulling out of the parking lot, heading to Sunny's house. "Owen probably thinks I'm a clumsy idiot," I say groaning, thumping my head on the dashboard.

"Well...you are,"Simon laughs again, rolling down his window, letting the night breeze in, bits of my hair escaped my braid, tickling my face, but the cool night breeze was enough to ease my worried thoughts.

"Okay, but everyone doesn't have to know that," I joke, stealing another sip of Sunny's milkshake. Simon just laughs again, moonlight illuminating his happy face.

*

I plop down on Sunny's bed, where she lays looking from Simon to me.

"Mal...you look like shit," She says, taking a sip from her half drank milkshake.

"That's because she busted her ass, in front of the whole diner!" Simon says, in a laughing fit, flopping on Sunny's pink bean bag chairs.

Sunny gives me a look of pity. "Oh poor baby, come here," She says, patting her lap, I let out a laugh, but place my head in her lap regardless, she begins stroking my hair and it takes everything in me not to fall asleep right then and there. Something tingles in my stomach as I steal glances at her. She was beautiful, her curly brown hair hung on her shoulders, and her honey brown eyes were bright and vibrant, she wore a permanent half smile on her lips, and she smelled like dandelions and sunshine.

"Tell me what happened," She says in her usual calming voice. Even Simon stops his mocking laughter, as he slouches deeper in the chair, his eyes planted on Sunny.

That was the Sunny effect, she brought out the good in all, you could almost say she was quite literally the sun, bringing joy and warmth and laughter, she was the sun, she was the sun and she was dying. I look up at her honey brown eyes, stealing a glance, she doesn't notice my wandering eyes, she just stares ahead, her slender fingers stroking my hair. She was still the same Sunny, if you looked at her you wouldn't even tell she had a disease killing her insides, she wore a facade, for us, for everyone.

She was dying, and I was here crying over a spilt milkshake, suddenly my problems seemed so minuscule.

"I busted my ass, in front of Owen Grey," I say plainly.

A small smile spreads on her face. "You know, Owen's my neighbor?" She states, matter of factly.

My cheeks heat for some reason, even though Sunny was my best friend, she didn't know about my feelings for Owen, I couldn't tell her, it felt too weird, Owen was hers, she didn't like him or anything, they just had history and chemistry, all in which I envied.

"Oh yeah?" I say trying to sound like I didn't care, when in actuality, I wanted to run to her window, and peek my head out of it, in hopes that Owen's room was parallel to Sunny's.

"Yup, just across the street."

"Mallory has the hots for him," Simon says, flipping through a magazine.

"I do not!" I protest, sitting up swiftly, my hair whipping into my face.

"Enough about that stoner," Simon begins. "Call me crazy, but I think Nelson was checking you out."

"Nelson Andrews?" Sunny asks, pulling her light brown hair into a messy bun. "He's a hottie."

"He was not!" I say throwing a pillow over my face, letting out a frustrated scream.

"He totally was!" Simone reassures. "After you fell, he was all like, 'oh Mallory, darling, are you okay?'"

"You're delusional."

"You probably didn't notice, because you were too busy drooling over, Owen," Sunny laughs, throwing her head back, the first real smile I've seen on her face since she was diagnosed, I smile too, not because I was being verbally harassed by my best friends, but because Sunny was here, here in her body, her usual giggly self, it felt nice.

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