On Fire by bibleboymary4ever aka Joan

Part One.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliations or claims with the OC. Julie and Jimmy Cooper aren't mine.

Author's Note: Reviews are appreciated.

Julie had been working at Pizza Palace for almost two years now, and she had seen plenty of students from UC Riverside. She knew what they were like. They'd order two or three large pies with an array of toppings and pitchers of soda, beer, or both.

They'd make a mess of their table, speak loudly and skimp on the tips. In short, they were not the ideal customer.

However, they were much more fun to watch then the crying baby and her teen mom at table eleven. Julie rolled her eyes as she watched the frazzled girl try to make the kid stop crying. The mother, who looked barely a day over fifteen, looked as if she were on the verge of tears herself. Julie sighed as she shifted her fingers in her pocket; it was that girl's fault she got herself pregnant, she was the one who had to deal with the consequences.

Sitting down at an empty booth, Julie signaled to the manager that she was taking her break. She lifted the dollar bills out of the apron and placed them on the countertop. Slowly counting them, she hummed an Aerosmith song to herself. They were playing in Anaheim in a month, and Julie was determined to be there. It was currently her only motivation for waking up in the morning and working thirteen hour shifts with greasy food.

"Excuse me, miss." A voice inteurrupted her fantasy of becoming Mrs. Steven Tyler.

"Yeah?" Julie looked up to see who was speaking.

"Oh, I just wanted to..." The man flopped some change and a paper bill on the table.

She smiled at him. He had curly blonde hair with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. Julie wondered if it was okay to call a guy beautiful, because this one definitely was. "Thanks," she replied.

"You're welcome."

Julie hoped the tip was large, because his lacoste polo shirt indicated he could afford to tip her well. But she knew better than to count his tip while he was standing there. Why was he still standing there, anyway?

"Cool band." He pointed to the concert schedule sitting on the table, and quickly stuffed his hands back into the pockets of his khakis.

"Yeah, I'm—"

"Jimmy!" Another guy—his frat brother, maybe?-- shouted across the restaurant and motioned towards the exit, where a few others waited for him.

"Bye." He smiled and left as quickly as he'd come.

Julie glanced at his retreating form, than quickly counted his tip.

$7.35 for a $28 meal? Nice.

Jimmy stepped into Pizza Palace and scanned the small restaurant for a sign of the waitress he'd had last night.

"Can I help you?" A big black woman asked.

"Uh, yes. Is the girl with the red hair working today?"

The woman—Rhonda, according to her name tag—nodded. "Julie? She's out back taking a break. By the dumpsters?"

Jimmy nodded and turned to walk away. Rhonda called behind him, "Tell her to come back in. That girl takes too many breaks."

He smirked to himself as he walked out the door and into the dark alley.

Julie was sitting down, her back against the big blue dumpster. A burning cigarette in one hand, she was intently studying a crumbled brochure. As he came closer, he recognized it as the tour schedule he'd seen her with last night.

"Hey." Jimmy stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Hi," she replied, puffing on her cigarette. "I'm Julie."

"My name's Jimmy." He sat down next to her.

"Why are you here?" Julie's honesty took him back.

"I-uh, well, I don't have any classes today." He paused, "And I wanted to see you again."

"Oh." She smiled, and Jimmy found himself wanting to make her smile again.

"You like Aerosmith?"

"Love them. Do you?"

"Yeah."

"What's your favorite song?"

"I really like She's on Fire. You know, from Done with Mirrors?"

"Oh my god!" She replied, "That's my favorite, too."

He lightly fingered a strand of her hair. "Your hair looks like it's on fire."

Julie giggled.

"Are you going to see them in concert or something?" Jimmy asked.

Julie sighed loudly. "I want to. But the tickets fifty bucks and I can only spare ten right now."

"Oh, too bad."

"Yeah." Julie leaned over to look at his watch. "Oh god, I've been on break for forty-five minutes."

"Oh, yeah, that black girl—Rhonda? She said to tell you to come back in."

Julie rolled her eyes. "She's such a bitch."

Julie reached into her apron and took out the black pen. She grabbed her pen and quickly scribbled a number on his hand. "Call me!" She demanded, before running back into the restaurant.

Jimmy smiled at her retreating form and made a mental note to buy two tickets to the Aerosmith concert.