"I'll pay for the entire meal if you can get her number." Zig said, shoving salty fries in his mouth.
Grace rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wondered why she spent time with these losers. Zig and Tiny were her best friends. They had been her best friends for over a year now. They'd met in detention, and since then, they'd all become partners in crime. Petty crime, at most, but Grace liked to act more badass than she was.
"That'll be a first. You paying for anything, I mean." Grace spoke up, nabbing a fry from Zig's plate.
"Oh, really? You wanna talk about a first? I don't see you paying for anything." Zig responded, smacking Grace's hand away from his plate of fries.
"You don't see me ordering anything either." Grace reached over and grabbed another fry, strategically avoiding Zig's swatting hand. She never ordered any food, it was true. The most she did was sneak a few fries or onion rings from her friends' plates. It wasn't like she was that annoying girl who liked to pretend she didn't eat or anything. She just couldn't quite afford to throw money around. Things were tight at home. She wasn't exactly getting an allowance or anything, and because of her CF, she couldn't work any strenuous or stuffy jobs which ruled out pretty much anything a seventeen year old girl with nothing on her resume could do.
Tiny laughed absentmindedly at the exchange. It was clear he was half-listening. His focus was mostly on the hot waitress.
Zig and Tiny had dragged Grace to this little diner every single day to stalk the new waitress. Grace understood why they were obsessed, even if their methods were a little too creepy-guy-in-a-rom-com for her tastes.
The waitress, Zoe, was a cute girl. Shoulder length brown hair and big brown doe eyes. She wore this tight dress and apron - that yes, was the uniform of the diner, but she wore it better than the rest of the course Zig and Tiny only noticed the way the uniform hugged her hips. Typical teenage guys.
Grace wasn't into her or anything, but she could still recognize beauty when she saw it. And Zoe was beautiful.
Female beauty always seemed way more intense to Grace. She couldn't explain it. It seemed like guys' personalities had to shine to reel people in, while girls were just...easier to pay attention to. For example, Grace had a crush on Zig. It took months of knowing him before the crush appeared. Meanwhile, Zig hadn't spoken to Zoe outside of her asking him for his order and him forcing her into some form of awkward attempt at flirtation, but he was enamored with Zoe.
She glanced over to Zig, but only found an immature teenage boy with fry grease all over his cheeks. She was into this guy, right? She furrowed her brows, wondering what she saw in the messy boy. She knew it was in there...somewhere.
"You two have been making that bet every day for two weeks, but when the check comes and you still haven't popped the question, you flip out and decide to split it instead. It's weak. Give it up. You're never gonna ask for her digits. You're gonna keep stalking her until she tells the manager and you start getting seated with Mimi again." Grace gestured over to Mimi, another waitress at the diner. About twenty years and two thousand packs of cigarettes separated the two waitresses.
Zig scoffed. "You act like it's so easy to just ask someone out. I've never seen you on a date."
That stung. "Screw you, Novak." Grace replied, getting up from the table and heading to the bathroom. She seriously wondered what she saw in Zig sometimes. He was a jerk. And he constantly hit on other girls in front of her. Not that he'd know better, it's not like Grace was making any grand gestures to let Zig know she was sniffing around. Not like he'd want her. He liked cheerleader types and hot blondes, not tech geek girls with a death sentence.
Grace headed to the bathroom in a huff, barely paying attention to what was in front of her. The only thing that stood between her and sulking in the bathroom was the person she crashed into. A waitress. Before Grace could pump the brakes, she'd ran straight into someone and knocked the food she was delivering onto the floor.
"Fuck." Grace said, looking at the scrambled eggs that were now spread across the floor. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. I can pay for the ruined food." She found herself offering, even though she knew she probably couldn't. Then she looked up and found herself lost in doe eyes. Zoe.
"That's okay. It happens." Zoe extended a hand to Grace.
Grace was speechless. Why the hell was she speechless?
"I'm sorry about that." Zoe spoke, gesturing to something. Grace looked down and her black tee shirt was covered in ketchup. Who eats eggs with ketchup? "I can help you clean that up if you want. I've perfected the art of getting food stains out of clothes. After all, I spilled food like it was my job for the first few days that I waitressed. You don't come out of that without learning a few stain hacks.
Grace nodded speechlessly. She looked around the diner. All of the patrons had already moved on from the commotion of the spill. Everyone but Zig and Tiny, who were watching in awe, gesturing for Grace to get Zoe's number for them. Of course. Pigs.
"I'd like that." Grace allowed herself to give Zoe a smile. Zoe deserved way better than Zig or Tiny.