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Friday, August 31, 1983

Amelia Clementine was prepared for anything. That morning, she'd dawned a long-sleeved striped shirt under her usual uniform of a blue, 50s-esque, collared and full-skirted ensemble. In addition, she'd stolen a pair of sturdy plastic gloves from the kitchen, and had slipped on the tights she hadn't worn since her last chorus concert, back when an arts course was required in middle school and all the drawing classes had been full. Amelia cursed to herself as she pulled her boots on, lacing them up all the way. She would not be growing a tail on the job.

The brunette trampled downstairs, calling out a rushed 'goodbye' to her father and running out the door. She'd never been late before, and she wasn't going to start now. Amelia jogged to Pete's, suddenly remembering why she'd never worn so many layers to work before. It was hot. Incredibly hot. she cursed the California weather, thankful that at least it was 7:00 am with okay-ish weather, especially in comparison to the afternoon.

She pushed open the door to the diner with a huff, greeting Pete Jr. tiredly. The old guy grunted, but waved anyway. He'd grown used to Amelia, and truly was thankful to have the help, despite the incessant frown on his wrinkly face.

Amelia grabbed her apron off one of the hooks behind the counter, tying it around her waist and readying herself for the day.

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Matt climbed up into his chair, sitting down and glancing around at all the beach patrons. Late August was still summertime to Boro natives, and the beach was insanely crowded for such a morning. Matt pushed his sunglasses higher up onto his face, relaxing into the chair. Just a few feet away, the blond caught a glimpse of some girls walking by in the sand.

"Ginny, Annabel!"Matthew beamed and called out to his friends, leaning forward in his chair again.

Annabel looked up first, waving excitedly to the boy. She grabbed Ginny's hand and the two jogged over to his chair. "What's up Matt?"

"Not a lot," he shrugged, hand in front of his face to block the sun from his view. "Working and stuff." This  position as lifeguard was Matt's first job, but he couldn't help but find it boring. Originally the idea of being paid to sit on the beach and just watch for people drowning had sounded good to Matt, and then he'd actually showed up. Within the month that he was guarding the lives on this beach, he'd been sunburned twice, fallen out of the chair three times, and come home with sand in his shoes thirty-two times and counting.

"Fair enough." Annabel shrugged looking off toward the ocean. "We'll see you around, okay?"

Matt nodded and waved at the pair as they walked off. He leaned back into his chair again. They hadn't made it far when Ginny spotted another of their friend's, this time it was the guy they were actually their to see.

"Heya!" Tony Zelek shouted, jogging toward them, Danny close behind.

"Why is Danny here?" Ginny whispered to Annabel while waving at Tony. Annabel waved, joining her in greeting the boys. Earlier that morning they'd run into Tony on the street, and he'd asked if they would mind posing for a photography project of his. It had probably stemmed from the fact that Ginny always joked about being Tony's model. They'd already agreed when he mentioned that it needed to be at the beach. Annabel had almost told him they changed their minds, but Ginny had already dragged her off. She was not about to let their new ailment with the sea ruin a good time with a friend.

Tony had not mentioned that Danny would be coming though, not that Ginny really minded, it just surprised he's here, thats all.

"Great, I'm glad you girls agreed." Tony beamed, pulling his camera out of his case. "The whole point of this thing is about relationships, but I wanted to focus on the negatives and discomfort than can stem from them. I had this whole thing in mind about crashing waves and whatever, but the sea seems to be absurdly calm today. So I'm wondering.." Tony continued to ramble, wandering toward the shore. Annabel followed hesitantly.

"Did Tony ask you to model for his project too?" Danny looked to see Ginny, with her hands in her pockets. He nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eeyup, called me this morning. Didn't tell me you guys were coming though." He chuckled a bit, gesturing to Ginny and Annabel, who was a few feet in front of them now.

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Amayah, Rory and Jessie sat at their usual booth, which felt absurdly empty due to half their usual group being missing. Amelia was at work of course, but the others didn't seem to be anywhere near the diner. Nonetheless, the girls carried on as usual, ordering drinks and leaning into their seats.

"Does it seem weird in here today?" Amayah asked looking around the room. Despite their mostly empty table, the rest of the diner seemed to be bustling with customers, significantly more than usual. Rory looked as well, nodding.

Jessie sat forward to sip her mango smoothie, wrinkling her nose as more people walked through the door.

Meanwhile, Amelia was carefully carrying a tray of iced teas toward a table in the back, weaving through clusters of patrons, and nearly slipping on a discarded receipt. She made it to the booth without dropping anything, wiping the sweat from her forehead. Amelia looked to her left, meeting eyes with her friends, all of whom gave her sympathetic looks. She smiled weakly at them, and turned back around to take a newly seated table's order.

"She's going to pass out from all the running," Rory commented, frowning at her overworked friend. Amayah and Jessie nodded, before the former got an idea. "Maybe she could use some extra hands?"

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"Wait, Annabel don't move. The wind is coming and your hair is good right there." Tony called out commands from a number of yards away. Annabel tried her best not to look award, frowning toward the east. Just a few feet away from her, Ginny and Danny were standing hand in hand, attempting to cover up the teenage insecurities seeping out of them like sweat.

'It's too cliche', Ginny was trying her hardest not to say anything dumb, only thinking it instead. 'Tony really hasn't asked us to do too much', she attempted to assure herself. 'I can hold hands with my friends.'

Next to her, Danny stood completely stiff. He couldn't help but feel that Tony was doing this on purpose. Okay, so he may or may not have let it slip that he was interested in finding a partner now that he'd settled into Boro when he was at lunch with Tony yesterday, but he hadn't expected the guy to try and set him up! Anthony Zelek was too damn nosy for his own good. Nonetheless, Danny endured.

Annabel watched the couple as morosely as she could manage, heart hammering in her chest as the waves began to pick up.  Despite Tony's earlier comments about the ocean being oddly calm, the tides had quite literally shifted. Annabel took a cautious step forward when Tony focused his attention on the other two. She chuckled a bit at his words.

"Damnit, you guys are supposed to be in love, look happy!"

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"You're not getting paid for this, you know that right?" Amelia grabbed a water cup at placed it on the almost full tray. "Not everything is about money 'Melia, we just wanna help." Jessie assured, pulling another tray out from under the counter. "and-"

Before she could make a stupid joke about how tired Amelia looked, Pete Jr. stacked a plate of fries onto her newly acquired tray. "Good enough for me." He grunted, continuing to fill the thing with food. Amelia took one look at the assortment and spoke again. "That's all for table six." She walked off, going to hand out drinks again. Jessie turned to Rory with an awkward smile. "Which one do you think is table six?" The smaller girl shrugged, and Amayah took a look at a poorly drawn chart thumbtacked to the wall. "The one by the front window." she decided, pointing to the table, and pulling out a tray for herself. Pete Jr. wasted no time in filling up hers as well, calling out a "ten" when he finished.

Amayah shrugged at Rory, glancing at the chart before heading off toward table ten. Rory grabbed a tray but by that time Amelia had returned, and laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't say anything for a moment, digging through her apron for a pad of paper. "ahah!" she exclaimed in quiet celebration when her finger brushed the pages. "This is my extra, can you go take table eight's order?"

Rory took the pad and nodded with a quick "sure."

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Matt looked down at the group from his place in the tower. He felt like Rapunzel, minus all the hair of course. His friends were hanging out, and he was stuck up in this dumb chair making $3.35 an hour. Matt sighed and laid his chin on his hand, staring off away from his friends, too lonely to watch them anymore.

"Don't look so depressed!" Matt jumped at the sound, and looked down to see Vinny smirking up at him. "Don't tell me what to do." Matt countered, mirroring his little grin.

"Seriously though, you look like someone ate your dog." Vinny joked, looking over to where Matt's gaze had previously been. "Work gotcha down?"

Matt nodded, staring over at his friends again before turning back to Vinny.

"Could always just leave." Vinny suggested, shrugging. Matt chuckled but shook his head. "I'm not that kinda guy Weslon."

Vinny rolled his eyes. "Guess not Mackintire."

A few feet away, Jackson Soel approached his post, tilting his head when he saw Matt talking with Vinny. he sped up a bit, jogging toward the two and calling out their names when he deemed himself close enough. Vinny turned first, and Matt had to lean half-way out of the chair to see the kid. Both smiled widely at his arrival. "Thank you thank you thank you!" Matt cheered, climbing down from the chair and jumping to the ground. He'd never been so joyous to get off the job before. Jackson smiled awkwardly. "Something happen?" he questioned Matt's excitement.

"Nope, I'm just really ready to be done." Matt sighed, plopping down and laying back into the sand.

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"I can't go over there." Jessie whined, hiding behind the kitchen wall, tray stacked high with foods most would consider absurd for lunch time. Amayah raised her eyebrows at the blonde, piling more sodas onto her already mostly full tray. "Don't be dramatic, he wouldn't antagonize you on the job." She left to deliver her order and Jessie mocked her words with a high pitched voice that sounded more like a gremlin than like Amayah. She chanced another look at table fourteen, shivering when her eyes landed on Don and his goons.

"For Amelia. She delivers to these dimwits all the time." she muttered to herself, sucking in a breath and walking toward the table.

Jessie set down a coffee with a word, but Donald didn't extend the same curtesy. "Didn't know you worked here Monroe." He giggled as some ginger next to his took the coffee. Jessie humphed, but despite her wanting to, didn't make any rebuttal. setting a glass of water on the table, Don looked at the thing and smirked. "I asked for lemon, idiot." He slid the water back toward Jessie, laughing when the cup tipped over and spilt all over the table. Jessie gasped and jumped back, cursing when she felt the coldness on her arm. She stood still for a second, before darting away to the back, rushing to the only bathroom. Donald laughed, scrunching his eyebrows at her over-the-top reaction to having water splashed on her.

Rory glanced over from her table just as Jessie pushed open the kitchen door. She hurriedly finished taking their order, and speed walked to the kitchen, knocking on the bathroom door. "Jess?"

Inside Jessie was fuming. The stupid cerulean fish tail was back, and the girl it was attached to was ready to strangle that stupid brat at table fourteen. "Don't worry about me Rory, I'll be out in a bit." She called out, anger seeping like venom from her voice. Rory looked back at the kitchen to see Pete gesturing toward a new table, and reluctantly left to go serve them.

Amelia watched her friend return, and breathed deeply, retrieving some towels from the kitchen. She silently hoped that her millions of layers would protect her from the spill, and made her way to table fourteen, squatting down to sop up the mess. Donald laughed again and watched her. Amelia had to hold herself back from standing up and smacking the kid with her wet towel. In any other circumstance she'd have ben happy to attack the guy, but at work? She couldn't risk losing her job. Revenge would have to come later.

Amayah, who'd watched everything from a distance, looked back in front of her, setting food down on the table. She shook her head and tried to focus on the job ahead of her.

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"They don't look very 'in-love.'"

Annabel looked over at the new voice, seeing Natalia Amerie, no Atery, or wait, A- never mind. She couldn't remember. "They're trying their best." She shrugged, hands buried in the sand. Annabel looked over to the ocean which was now a safe six yards away from her. When Matt had paused the photo shoot to school Ginny and Danny about what love looked like, Annabel had taken the opportunity to sit away from the danger.

Natalia wrinkled her nose. "A pair of donkeys could do a better job."

Annabel raised an eyebrow and looked back at Natalia. "Thats really rude you know."

Natalia turned back to Annabel, giving her a look as well. "We both know it's true." The shorter girl looked away, wandering off in some other direction. Amayah watched her go, huffing at her retreat.

"Good enough." Tony sighed, mixed look on his face. Ginny rocked back and forth on her feet, frowning a bit. She hated disappointing Tony, but modeling had proven to be harder than she expected. Annabel shrugged and smiled small-ly. "Good luck?" she offered, sounding like a question. Danny held the same expression. "Sorry dude, maybe you should get professionals next time?"

Tony looked up, about to say something when he caught sight of Aaron Amerson walking by, guitar in hand.

Jackson was climbing down from his post at that point, talking with Vinny and Matt who'd been kind enough to stay with him during his shift. The three caught sight of Aaron talking to Danny, Annabel, Ginny, and Tony. Matt shrugged and jogged over, the other two close behind.

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Hours had passed, and Jessie's legs had returned long ago. The rest of the day had gone without incident for the gals. It was nearing 8:00, and with a chime from the door Aaron Amerson entered the diner. Amelia let out an audible sigh at the bell, but gave up on the act when she saw who'd walked in. She'd completely forgotten that he was performing tonight. "Amerson!" she called out excitedly.

The rest of the girls looked up soon after, surprised. Amayah in particular made her way over to Amelia, tray at her side and pen behind her ear. "What's he doing here, and why does he have a guitar?" Honestly Amayah had been too tired out by the day that all she could think to do was question the situation.

"He's performing." Rory appeared by her side, sticking the pad into the apron she'd been given earlier. Jessie showed up a moment later, eyebrow raised. "Does that mean we're done?" Amelia glanced over at her, smiling. "Yeah."

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"When nothing comes easy, old nightmares are real."

Rory smiled and leaned back into the booth enjoying Aaron's voice. It'd been a long day, but it seemed to have been worth it. Next to her Amelia closed her eyes. She hadn't originally planned on falling asleep, but a little nap couldn't hurt right? She'd woken up too early to still be awake anyway.

Jackson chuckled at Amelia, looking back toward Aaron again. The kid was playing his heart out, and Pete's seemed to be just crowded enough to create an air of comfort. Next to him, Amayah relaxed her back, sipping on some sort of hot drink she'd gotten for herself earlier, but that was much more lukewarm now. She glanced at the rest of her friends, who all seemed to be calmly enjoying the show.

"Oh blame it on midnight, blame it on the moon."

Matt tore his gaze away from Amayah Wynn for a second, instead looking at the kid on stage. for such a tedious day, he couldn't help but feel happy. Despite all the boredom, it had turned out alright. Danny elbowed his in the ribs, and Matt pushed him back. Said brunet smirked for a bit before focusing his attention on the rest of his table mates. Tony and Annabel seemed to be looking at the pictures again, and to their left Ginny looked away, cheeks slightly pink. Danny stood up, switching seats to be next to her.

"Sorry for being so weird today." he started, speaking quietly so as to not interrupt Aaron. Ginny looked over at him and shrugged, smiling a bit. "I was weird too."

"Cause until you've been inside a man, you don't know who he knows."

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Sorry for the delay y'all, I got caught up in school work last week. Also schools starting this week, so I'm trying to keep the schedule going but I make no promisessssss

Anyway, there's been a severe lack of mermaiding lately, so expect some of that next chapter.