1.

Mitchie's POV

"It's hotter than the devil's asshole in here... What the fuck?"

I turned on the AC and sat outside my apartment, waiting for the hot summer air to get out of my car. If school hadn't brought me to California, I would still have been on the cool Oregon coast, able to get in my car and not practically catch fire immediately.

After the car cooled down and I put the address to Sal's in my GPS, I got on the road, ready to go look for a job.

"Turn left in point five miles onto Canby Road and continue until you see Sal's Diner on the left side."

I followed the directions that "Jennifer" gave me and pulled into a lot across the street. In my best effort to be professional, I wore the most uncomfortable slacks on the planet and felt like an idiot. Today though, this idiot would get hired.

"Alex, could you bring table five a number four with no lettuce?"

The sound of Mabel's voice was enough to make me want to die right then and there. Her hoarse drawl bored me half to death as I watched a girl maybe five or six years older than me, arrange a hideous display of what was supposed to be table five's meal.

"Get on it, Miss Russo! We ain't got all day."

"I'm on it May, no need to yell."

"I wouldn't have to yell if you'd- Hold on, we have a customer. This ain't over, kid."

The sloppy, overweight woman walked towards me saying, "What can I do for you, young lady?" and with the biggest smile I could muster, I introduced myself.

"My name is Mitchie Torres and I was just wondering if you were hiring right now."

"I'm sorry honey, we don't have any positions available at the moment, but if you have a resume, we'll call you for an interview if anything opens up."

At that, she turned and looked at the girl making the plate on the back bar.

"Alright, thank you so much. Mabel, was it?"

"You have a nice day, sugar."

As Mabel turned around, I saw the girl in the back rushing to get a meal on a plate. Her brown hair was in her face and her big lips were pursed as she dashed quickly around the counter with the plate. I was so busy staring at her as she dropped the order off at the table and refilled an old couple's coffee that I didn't notice her walking straight towards me. With her eyes to the ground, watching her feet, she ran right into me and knocked me over. Being as oblivious as I have been known to be, I laid there dazed, wondering what was going on.

"What happened?" I asked as I slowly sat up, clutching my pounding skull.

"I sort of ran into you. I guess neither of us were paying much attention to where we were going. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. I hit my head pretty hard though, but I should be fine."

"Are you sure you don't need any ice or anything? You took a pretty bad spill."

"I'm good. I just need to walk it off or something."

"Alright..."

"I'm sorry for being in the way. Have a good day, okay?" I said while getting up and walking to the door.

She just smiled and went back to work and the second I heard the bell on the door I knew I could finally breathe. The most beautiful girl in the world just knocked me off my feet and all I wanted to do was walk it off? I can be quite the idiot sometimes.

Alex's POV

Never in my life had I felt so stupid.

At the end of my shift I made my way to the break room to grab my coat and clock out.

The heat of this summer was beyond bearable and I was glad I could finally go home and get some sleep in my amazing air-conditioned apartment.

I locked up the door to the diner after counting my tips and made my way to my car. The drive home was always my favorite part of the night. I could put my music up as loud as I wanted and roll my windows down and feel everything I wasn't able to feel during the day. I usually went straight home so I could feed Lucy, but tonight was different. I had fed her right before work and since she's overweight, the vet told me to feed her only once a day. I forgot to get gas before work and had to stop at the gas station to fill my tank.

As I approached the gas station closest to the diner, I saw a blue Mercedes with the hood up and the hazard lights on and slowly pulled up to see if the owner of the vehicle needed help.

To my astonishment, that young lady that I nearly murdered at work today was sitting in the driver's seat with the door open, shivering and staring at her cell phone.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

She peaked out of the car door and squinted, trying to figure out who I was.

"Oh, hey!" she said once I pulled further into the light over the gas pumps, revealing more of my face.

"Hey! You remember me, right?"

"Yeah. It's not that hard to remember someone who attempts to assassinate you!"

"Sorry about that again. So, do you need help?"

"My car overheated... I called the dorms but nobody answered. I think my roommate is at a party again."

"First week of school and they're already partying? Geez, college has changed since I went!"

She giggled at that, her raspy voice cracking a bit.

"Yeah, I guess I could use a ride... Are you sure?"

"Definitely. Lock up and hop in. I promise, I won't try to kill you this time."

We shared a laugh as I stepped out of the car to help her with her things and she locked her doors. We put her things in the trunk and I walked to her side of the car to open her door and she curtsied at the gesture.

Once we were on the road, she gave me directions to the college dorms. We listened to music and talked about nothing in particular as we made our way there, and as we pulled up to a tall, dark building, I almost felt sad that I had to leave her. Thankfully, as we parked and grabbed her things and she offered to make me dinner in exchange for the ride home.

"So, what'll it be?"

"Oh, you really don't have to. I'm really tired actually. I was going to go home soon."

A look of disdain washed over her face and I felt regret for saying I wanted to go home but I knew that I needed to sleep soon if I wanted to enjoy my day off tomorrow.

"Are you sure? You can always stay here after I make you food. You look like you haven't eaten all day, beanpole."

"You sure you wouldn't mind? I have the day off tomorrow and I like to get up early on my days off and do productive things."

"Absolutely! It would be nice to have someone here for a change. We got luck to have a little kitchen in our dorm and my roomy is always gone. It would be nice to cook for two for once!"

"Okay, I'll stay. One condition: It's Saturday tomorrow, so if you don't have class, you have to go do something with me."

"Sounds fair enough to me... I like you, Mitchie. You're sweet."

She smiled a genuine smile, and from that moment on, I was hooked.

All through dinner, I cracked jokes and we got to know eachother a but more through those silly, "get-to-know-me" questions.

"Oh my God, you're so not eighteen!" I said, and at that, she scoffed.

"Do I look like an old lady to you? I mean, I know my hair is getting lighter, but I didn't see any grays this morning!"

"No, I mean, you look... mature."

"And how old are you, Miss Alex?"

"I'm twenty-one."

"You're not that much older than me, so you can't talk shit."

She laughed that cute little laugh again and my stomach turned in a good way.

"Well, at least you're not jail bait."

AN: Sorry it's so short. I'm new to this whole "writing stories" thing and I'm testing my waters a bit here with this one. I'll post more if I get a good response to this one, so let me know what you like, what you don't like, etc. I'm completely open to critique (that means negative critique too) and I want to become better at this. It's rated T+ because there will be points where it gets hot later on. Anyways, here's the first chapter, so let me know what you think. (: