"This is boring."

"Can I leave yet?"

"Shut up already!"

"God, it's cold in here."

Salena clamped her hand tighter over her mouth as she choked back a hysterical giggle. She didn't know what she was hearing, who she was hearing, but it still wasn't what she needed. Trying to give the strange words some substance, she imagined them, down to each letter, and sorted through them. Like the filing folder she hauled around every day at school, Salena flicked over them, her fingers twitching gently by her side.

"This is so fattening."

"Did I order pickles?"

"Why is he still talking?"

Her hands moved to her temples, massaging her scalp desperately.

"Will it look bad if I get another burger?"

"I would kill for a coffee right now."

"Public restroom against public humiliation..."

"If I shot him in the other leg he might shut up."

Salena's eyes flashed open - bingo.

A pimple covered boy with his jaw hanging open stood before her, his hands hanging limply by his sides and threatening to drop a plastic tray. Thankfully, it was empty. Trying for a polite smile, she snatched it from his grasp.

"Here, let me take that for you." Then she swivelled, sucked in a huge breath through her teeth that made her lungs itch, and took the several steps that carried her out from behind a bench and into the view of the resturant.

She had been right, it was practically deserted, but she honestly couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing: fewer people to negotiate, fewer people to hide behind. She refused to think about it, instead sidestepping an angry manager who was making a beeline for the boy behind Salena. As the woman started to yell, Salena let her head hang forward, straightening her glasses on the bridge of her nose and trying to be inconspicuous. But not too inconspicuous. Just inconspicuous enough.

Trying to step steadily and not over analyze the action of walking - Did her footsteps usually sound this loud? Were her knees usually this loose? Were her strides too short? - Salena walked across to the bin, slipping the tray into the designated compartment. She shifted the rough plastic around for a few seconds, stalling as she strained her peripheral vision to try and find the others. They had to be here. She'd....heard them.

A sharp movement to her right, made Salena flinch, and she turned slightly to see more quickly. Tucked away in a corner booth, she caught sight of the glare reflecting off a quazi-bald scalp. Her heart beat slowed for a second, taking a moment to recuperate, before she readjusted her cap and shuffled over to their table.

Licking her lips, she coughed lightly when she drew near, trying not to flinch as all four sets of eyes whipped up in her direction. There was an awkward pause as she tried to find words. Were the suits listening? Did she need to speak in code? Did she know how to speak in code?

"Can I take those for you?" They looked at her strangely, probably confused by the unusually deep voice she had put on, until she pointed at their empty cups.

Ms Smith nodded at her, pasting on a grateful smile. "Thank you. That's very kind."

Salena wasn't used to leaning over people and as she gathered up their cups she noted that things looked far different from above. For instance, Finnegan looks far smaller than he did when she had to look up at him, less lanky and just plain thin. She could also see the small smile pursed on Mr Irving's lips as his eyes flicked back to his colleague, dismissing Salena easily. She wasn't offended: it didn't feel like she had been found wanting, but rather that he was so enraptured with somebody else that he couldn't be bothered to be distracted by her.

She wondered if Ms Smith could see that.

Hazmat also looked different from this angle. As she straightened up, Salena watched his eyes careen up her form, making her feel extremely uncomfortable, before fixing on her shadowed face.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" he said with what was intended to be a charming smile. Salena just managed to bite back a shiver.

Here goes nothing, she thought, tilting back her head so that the flourescent lights weren't blocked by the cap.

"Actually," she murmured, "It's Sally."

Ebony was honestly considering leaving. She feared that if she stayed, this guy might bore her to death. When the manager had approached them before, she'd acted quickly, hoping beyond hope that Salena could pull her shit together and warn the other somehow. She hadn't realised that she would be sacrificing brain cells.

"...and, like I said, if you don't show up in the roster then I don't know when you're on shift. When did you say your last shift was again? January? I think I have those..."

He was still talking.

She sighed, running a hand across her face. If she answered his question, this would be the fourth time she'd told him that yes, her last shift had been in January, and no, she didn't put in a formal resignation and yes, she understood that it wasn't possible for them to have missed rostering her on for 5 months.

She couldn't do it. Tactical retreat was her only option. That or murdering the fat, boring, bastard. Shaking her head slightly, hopefully so gently that the man didn't notice, she admonished herself quietly. Before today, her thoughts had been reasonably nice. They had definitely never consisted of a detailed plan to murder a MacDonald's employee before. At worst, she'd wanted to kick Carissa in the shins or maybe spit in her health shake.

But if this guy kept talking, she was going to kill him.

Stress did strange things to a person.

Like make them turn invisible.

That thought triggered a massive shiver that made the man give her a strange look.

"Choo," she said, raising a hand to her mouth. "Sorry, allergies."

His eyes widened and he glanced around anxiously as if he could already see the lawsuit for having a sick person working in the kitchens.

Ebony just rolled her eyes at him, impressed that he had bought her lie. She was fairly happy with this whole thing actually, apart from his constant nattering. She'd always been an awful liar - though not if you asked her mother who, Ebony was sure, thought everything her eldest child had said over the past ten years was a fabrication.

And who knew - maybe it was.

Raising a hand to massage her temple, Ebony sighed loudly, raising her eyes back to the managers.

"Look," she said over the top of his monotone, pinning him with a glare until he grumbled to a halt. "I don't care about how I got lost in the system - frankly, it isn't my biggest surprise of the day - and I don't want to hear the spiel about how you can't rehire me. It's fine." She tried a smile, but knew it came across as a grimace. "All I want to do is gather up my things, sort through my pigeon hole, and leave. If that's alright with you of course."

The big man opened his mouth, frowned and closed it, and then opened it again. "Be out in five minutes." So-saying, he spun on one foot and wobbled away.

Unable to resist, she stuck her tongue out at his retreating form.

Ebony blinked, turning slightly to study her warped reflection in an oven. She didn't look any different than she did this morning, maybe a bit more stressed, but the Eboy who walked into school was not the same one that ran out. She wasn't sure that was a good thing.

Regardless of her personal problems with the oaf though, he was right: they needed to clear out in five minutes, with or without the other group. Staying here was just going to draw even more attention.

Trying to be subtle, Ebony wandered towards the freezer. Placing her palm against the cool metal, she wrapped her fingers around the handle.

"You're wrong, Carissa."

Austen's soft comment froze Ebony where she stood, and she leaned forward to hear more.

"About me, about Ebony..." he continued, "And about yourself."

Carrie's grating laugh carried through the thick door and made Ebony flinch. "I'm not, but it's cute that you're so optimistic."

For some reason, that was the final straw, and Ebony saw red. She tightened her grip, shoulder muscles straining to shift the door, but again a voice made her pause.

"Oh for God's sake, Carrie - you're so desperate it makes me sick!" Phitz moaned, "When will you get that Austen isn't into you? It's been, like, 3 years! You need to move on."

"If you don't get your head out of your arse sometime soon, Phitz, you're going to choke on your own shit," she returned quickly, her voice slightly muffled. "But I guess you're used to that."

The was a slight pause - Ebony considered entering the fridge - but then the bitch continued. "To tell you the truth, Austen, I'm quite disappointed in you; I mean, of all the idiots at our school you could be friends with, and all the ugly girls you could screw, you happened to target the most desperate people in the world and embrace their crap.

"We," there was a pause again - a rustle of movement, "could be having so much fun right now. And don't bother denying it, because I can see how excited you are."

The camel's back definitely broke that time, and Ebony flung open the door. with shock-widened eyes, her gaze licked over the couple. Carissa was straddling Austen, her pelvis pressed inappropriately close to his and her arms draped across his shoulders. With a sly smile at the other girl, Carrie twisted her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck, rocking her hips in a deliberately accidental way. Ebony winced and Phitz gagged.

An extremely uncomfortable Austen clamped his hands on his friend's hips and tried to pry her off his lap. Reluctantly, she allowed him to push her off, staggering to her feet and smiling coyly.

"Ever heard of knocking?" she sneered, raking a few blond curls away from her face.

Austen's head whipped to glare at her faster than Phitz had thought humanly possible. "Shut up, Carissa," he snapped. Dragging his eyes back to the other girl, his face softened. "Look, Ebbie..."

"Don't call me that," she interrupted, tearing her eyes away from his and focusing on the concrete.

"Fine - Ebony - None of that was what it looked like, it was just..." For the life of him, Austen couldn't find the words: of all the time to have a mind blank!

Eyes flashing with fire, Ebony raised her gaze. "Unhygienic?"

"Nothing happened!" he exclaimed, biting down on a shout at the last minute. He took a few steps towards Ebony, who still stood only half in the cold room, but she flinched away. "Nothing then, and nothing ever!"

Carissa's tinkling laugh tightened something in all their bellies, and she grinned mercilessly. "Now, now Austen: ever runs in both directions..."

"Carissa..." he warned, glaring at her again, but it was too late.

"...And you can't deny that I was the best sex you ever had. After all, nothing beats your first time."

Totally un-proofread, totally praying it makes sense. Please comment any mistakes. Have a good one,

SwimmingUpstream XX