The tantalizing aroma of sizzling beef patties saturated the air thick around the tightly run kitchen. Morty stood behind the grill scooping up the frying patties with a spatula and flipped them, allowing for another burst of flavor to fill the air. Multitasking, he lifted a hefty takeout box full of fries and a triple cheeseburger to set on the counter, also ringing the 'Ready' bell. "Order up, Vera!"

I quickly grabbed the hot steamy meal and rolled from the pickup window on my roller skates to the large lot filled with cars parked next to numbered columns. I drifted over to number six where the 1969 corvette stingray sat."Here's your meal sir." I said with a plastered smile, leaning towards the window.The man smirked at me, carefully taking the box and handing it to his friend in the passenger seat. He ran a hand through his black and red hair. It looked like flames. "Thanks, baby." He looked me over with invading eyes and I suddenly felt self-conscious in my work uniform of a super short pink halter dress. The man fished through his wallet and took out two twenty dollar bills— plenty more than what the meal cost.

"Oh, sir, that's way too much money. The box cost thirteen ninety-five." I quickly intervened, feeling my cheeks warm up in a hot blush. That was an incredible tip, but if the boss saw me take it, I'd be screwed. But he persisted, taking my hand and crushing the money in my clasp. "Just take it, sweetheart. Know it's from your boy, Hisoka."

Oh my god this guy was such a creep. I plastered on another faulty smile and gave a simple nod before skating off with the money in hand. I'd rather try to hide the extra cash from my greedy boss than to spend any more time with that guy. Anyway, it was worth it. Another twenty dollars towards that sweet apartment on Belmont street. I couldn't stand the dinky apartment I lived in now. Just the sheer thought of the creaky, tiny, damp catastrophe sent a bitter chill down my spine. Wiping my sweaty forehead with my arm, I entered the steamy pick-up window once more to retrieve another order. Why the heck wasn't the first hour over with yet? Once the clock hit ten o clock, I shimmied out of my roller skates and ran to the car in the back lot that was waiting patiently for me.

"Hey, where's my meal?!" My best friend Melanie jokingly screamed from the driver's window.

With an exasperated laugh, I rounded the car and slid myself into the passenger seat. "Hey, Mel…" I breathed, dropping my head back against the seat. I was so exhausted. I couldn't even think of coming back tomorrow to do it all over again. The car's engine revved and Mel drove us far from that sweatshop of a place towards my home— one terrible place to another. I blindly reached my hand over and flopped it against her cheek. "Thanks for driving me. The car should be finished tomorrow."

Did I also mention that my car was a lemon? Okay, maybe it didn't look so much like one on the outside, but on the inside yes. Luckily it would be ready to pick up from the shop tomorrow, and it was just walking distance from my apartment so I didn't need to bother Mel again to cart me around.

"No prob, babe." She grinned, swatting my limp arm away from her face.

Sooner or later we managed to get past that wonky LA traffic and landed in front of my gross apartment. Mel put the car in park. "Wakey wakey." She said, looking down at my sleeping form.When I noticed we were home I gave her the biggest pouty face I could muster.

"Nope, time to go inside." Mel reached over and unbuckled me. "Do you mind if I go inside for a minute?"

I gave her a weird look but nodded and slinked out of the car, fishing for my keys in my pocketbook. I didn't see why just talking outside in the car was such a problem; I saw it as more time for me to stay out of the apartment, but if she wanted to come in, fine. We hitched up the small flight of stairs before I unlocked my door and we entered inside. I had at least twenty fans going and all the windows open. I threw down my skates on the floor and my pocketbook on my pullout bed. The stench was horrid, but at least most of it had been aired out.

"Oh god, what happened?" Melanie exclaimed, gripping her nose with her fingers.

"My toilet got backed up." I tried to sound nonchalant but honestly when the confession left my mouth my whole body lit up in flushed embarrassment. When Mel started to laugh, I spun around and snapped, "It's not cause I took a big shit or anything okay? The plumbing sucks here." I took a big sigh and collapsed down on my pullout. This sucked so much. I felt like crying.I guess tears did spring to my eyes because Mel suddenly stopped laughing and rushed over to sit next to me.

"Hey, I'm sorry." She replied softly, hanging an arm over my shoulders.

I just nodded. Soon. I'll be out of here soon. Just gotta save up a little bit more and then that apartment on Belmont is mine.

Suddenly, I could see Mel begin to grin out of the side of my eye.

"What? What is it?" I turned to her with squinted eyes.

She flipped her blonde hair dramatically. "I'm the bestest friend in the whole world."

I was slightly surprised at the statement and sat back so I could look at her fully. "Oh yeah?"

"Yes." She grinned wider and pulled out a pair of tickets from her back pocket. "I know you have an early shift tomorrow…. so I thought I could bring you to the FunSun Festival. There are gonna be a lot of cool bands there, and honestly, I think it would be nice for you to take a fun break."

My jaw must have been on the floor because Mel started giggling at me. That was when I propelled myself on top of her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Really? Oh my god, you really are the bestest friend ever! Yes, I'd love to go!"

We hugged for a good minute straight before I finally retracted. "Let me drive."

"No, cmon this is my treat to you!"

I shook my head. "Melanie, you've been driving me around forever. Let me drive. I'll have the car." I tried to put on my most persuading face.

After a moment, she gave a sigh and agreed. Tomorrow was going to be fantastic.

BeepBeepBeep! The alarm clock sent off an annoying shrill, shocking me right out of peaceful sleep. I let out a humongous groan at the thought of having to get out of bed and slammed my hand down on the snooze button. My tired body fought to gain a few more minutes of sleep, but my brain stayed wired towards starting the day. I lifted my crusty eyes towards the alarm clock to see 11:23 AM. Oh man, it was almost noon.

Wait— NOON?! I SLEPT IN! My body catapulted out of the bed and I rushed to my closet to strip out of PJs and into my work uniform. Shitshitshit. I must have forgotten to set my alarm for the morning shift. I was supposed to go in at 9:30! Oh man my boss was gonna kill me.

After quickly washing up and snagging a granola bar, I rushed outside to jump into my car—

That's right. No car.

"Dammit!" I screamed, stomping on the concrete. This was so not fair. I was also supposed to pick up my car before I left for work this morning.

Okay. Don't panic. Luckily the shop was walking distance. But I had a better idea. I slipped on my roller skates and started my way down the road when suddenly I hit the breaks. The whole street was covered in cracks and potholes and not to mention slightly slanted downward. I had never roller-skated over rough terrain. This was going to be great.

Deep breaths Vera, you can do this. You've been skating at work for a long time now, you're a pro. Just avoid the potholes and you'll be fine.

I propelled myself forward. You got this, you got this.

I slid down the road and zoomed past a corner seemingly like a breeze. I was doing it. Really doing it! Yes! The shop is just a few yards away now! It's right—

Instantly, my skate got caught in a deep crack in the sidewalk and I went tumbling down. I think I'll just walk the rest of the way.

When I finally got my car I made sure to floor it to work.

Luckily it was so busy today because of all the people going to the festival that my boss didn't even notice me slip in late. Each hour was overly grueling and I felt like all of us waitresses were scrambling around with our heads chopped off. The only thing that kept time interesting was the fact that I kept a mental tally of every customer that called me 'baby', 'sweetheart' or any other pet name. I hated it. I wasn't anyone's 'baby'. Besides, they were simply calling me those things because of this ridiculous slutty uniform. So annoying. Why couldn't they just take their food and go? But no, it must be a crime not to have small talk.

I heaved a deep sigh as I punched out my timecard. Cheer up, it was time to get ready for the festival now! I swung home real quick to shower and change into a pair of new clothes— taking a short moment to apply some makeup as well— before heading back out to grab Melanie. She was so excited when she saw me that she practically jumped into the car.

"I love your hair." I complimented with a smile as I pulled back onto the main road towards the highway.

"Thanks m'lady." Mel smirked, flipping the mirror down to check her double buns. "Are you excited?"

I opened the sunroof and dialed up the music. "Heck yeah."

We zoomed down the highway at a swift speed, but when we neared the festival grounds, the traffic grew incredibly thick. We had gone from a cool 87 mph to a slow 9 mph.

Melanie groaned, slamming her head against the chair. "I just wanna get there already!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "We'll get there either way. I'm happy to spend any time with you my bestie."

"Aww. Love you, Vera. But we might as well have fun in the meantime!" Mel giggled, reaching down to turn up the music even more before standing in her seat and sticking her head out of the sunroof.

"You're nuts!" I laughed.

We stayed like that for another ten minutes. Mel kept herself propped out of my car as I scooted myself through the painstaking traffic.

"Hey, look at this jerk." Mel announced, pointing to a black Dodge Challenger Hellcat that was snaking and beeping itself through traffic a distance away.

I glanced into the rearview mirror at the imposing threat and rolled my eyes. "Where does he think he's going in such a hurry? We're all in the same boat here."

Mel narrowed her eyes at the black Challenger as it let out another series of shrieking honks. The car drew closer and closer to mine until it finally fell right at my bumper. It inched right up towards my tail and it's engine revved every time I barely pushed on the gas.

"Don't be an asshole!" Mel shouted at it, but it was hard to see the driver because of the dark tinted windows.

Right then, the traffic began to clear up slowly and I quickly pulled Mel back in her seat before going off to accelerate up to 30— then 40— then 50. The car behind me was still on my tail because we still quite boxed in from all sides. I kept my eyes trained between the road in front of me and the jerk car behind me. Unfortunately, I failed to see the sudden brake lights in front of me, causing me to slam down on my break a little late—

THUUUDDD!

The black Challenger smashed its front into my back bumper. All traffic was at a complete stop now. My jaw was to the floor. I couldn't believe what just happened. I just had this car fixed. Oh. My. God. I could feel my blood pressure shoot up and my face turn red with fury despite the tears of devastation in my eyes.

Melanie couldn't believe it either. She stuck her body back out of the sunroof and screamed at the Challenger. "Hey, fuck you buddy! Watch where you're going! You're gonna pay for this! I got your license plate number!"

Right then, the Challenger was put into park and the driver climbed out. Was he crazy?! This was a highway!

The man was tall and lean, wearing dark clothes that matched his jet black slicked hair and pointed sunglasses. He walked with a cool, calm stride towards my car, going right up to my open window.

He looked straight at Mel through his obsidian-like glasses. "First off, fuck you." Then he leaned down to look at me, sticking his hands in his back pockets. "Listen here quick, dollface. I'm in quite the hurry, so next time the traffic lifts I expect ya to move yous little ass into anotha lane so I can pass or else I won't mind putting anotha dent on this shitty hunk of car. Got it?"

Mel and I simply stared back at him with agape mouths until he collectively strode back to his own car and got in. It was like he timed it all because the traffic started moving once he turned his car on with the blare of his engine. I was so shocked into chickenheartedness that I did exactly what he asked for, cramming my car into a small opening towards the right lane. The Dodge Challenger shot by in an instant, continuing to honk at other cars in its way.

We stayed silent the rest of the car ride until we pulled into the parking lot of the festival. It was Mel who spoke first.

"Damn…he was hot."

"Excuse me?!" I screamed, staring at her with wide eyes. "He hit my car!"

"You didn't think he was sexy?"

"He was rude!"

"But still sexy." She eyed me over close with a smile. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Mel just lifted her eyebrows expectantly. Okay, he wasn't the most hideous thing in the world, but he was still a total jerk. When I didn't contest, she let out one of her signature giggles.

"Shut up. I'm pissed about what he did to my car." I snapped, clearly showing her that I wasn't going to have it.

Mel instantly stopped. "Let's go see the damage."

We slid out of the car and rounded the back to come face to face with a little dent on the bumper that was half a foot wide.

"See that's not too bad now is it?" Mel noted with a sunny grin.

My eyes skimmed the slightly scrapped up bumper and dent. I didn't want to admit it but she was right. I was expecting a whole lot worse. With a deep breath, I grabbed her arm and dragged her in the direction of the festival entrance. "Cmon, I just wanna have some fun now."

"That's the spirit!"