Waitress

By: UGAdawg

Summary: Kagome has spent her whole life trying to be perfect, to please others. She never stayed out late so her mother would never worry and she was dating Hojo (a boy who was approved of at school and was dull enough to be completely safe). Her life was perfect from an outside perspective and Kagome never thought she was missing anything, until she met the crew of Your Choice Bar and Grill, a group of people so different from everything Kagome has strived to be that she can't help being drawn into their world. Maybe they'll teach her that life isn't just about making it out alive, it's about the risks you take and the people you meet along the way that show you what's really important.

Chapter One

Kagome was sprawled out at the end of Hojo's bed, idly toying with the hem of her shirt. She had thought that maybe today, just maybe, he would try to go a little farther with her. She was painfully aware that the two of them had been dating for two years now and had yet to go farther then short make-out sessions every once in awhile. It wasn't that she was disappointed; Hojo was just being responsible and respecting her. But sometimes, on rare occasions like today, she wanted a little more. A little more passion from him would go a long way.

She sighed and rolled over onto her stomach. Thinking like that would get her nowhere in life. Hojo was right, really he was always right. Having too intimate a relationship at their age was irresponsible and would damage her morality. They were only seventeen. She was a good girl, and if she wanted to be perfect she should abstain from intimacy. So why then did she regret not leaning in a little more, not letting her smooth hand slide under his shirt to touch something more substantial than fabric. A blush rose subtly to her cheeks.

"Kagome, are you feeling alright?" Hojo walked back into the room. His phone had gone off during one of their rare make-out sessions and of course he had to answer it. Hojo was responsible like that. His mother had called and it would have been unforgivable for him to disrespect her and not pick up the phone. "Your face is a little flushed. Do you think you're coming down with a fever? I could go get you some medicine." His face was slightly twisted with worry, the edges of his lips curved slightly downward in a frown.

That was another thing about Hojo. He always worried about everybody and was always prepared. Not too many people knew that he actually carried around a small first aid kit in his backpack and had a spare one (specially designed for automotive emergencies) stashed in his glove box. Hojo was always prepared.

Kagome just smiled a little and shook her head. "You don't have to worry, Hojo. I'm alright, I promise." She sat up and looked at him, waiting for him to make the next move.

Kagome had been lost before Hojo. Her father had died a few years ago and she'd been in free fall. It was as if everything she thought was certain, permanent in the world was suddenly shaky and indeterminate. She needed someone to ground her. And that's where Hojo had come in. As soon as she met him and was introduced to his neat and organized world, that's all she ever wanted. He helped her toward that gain. And in return for that absolute security, Kagome gave Hojo her life. Her world revolved around him. Friends that she had had before Hojo dwindled away, hobbies that he didn't also participate in seemed to vanish, and she loved him. That's why she sat at the end of the bed, starring at him, and letting him make all the decisions while she happily obeyed.

Hojo's face smoothed out as the lines of slight worry faded away and a small, sincere smile broke out across his face. "Well I'm glad you're feeling fine, but my mom is on her way home and wants me to run out and do some quick errands before she arrives. So I think you should head home Kagome."

Kagome frowned and bit her lip a little. It was a nervous habit of hers, had always been a habit of hers. It was the one thing in her life that Hojo didn't verbally approve of. "I can come with you. I can help you out with the errands." Her voice sounded pathetically expectant and she was aware of it. But she didn't care, her life revolved around him and without him there she was nothing.

Hojo slowly approached her and lightly patted her on the head, as if she were a child. "Kagome, you don't have to come with me. I have to go do those errands now though; I can't just put them off when my mother asked me to do them promptly. You should go home." Hojo grabbed her hand and lightly pulled her off the bed. When he noticed the slight frown on her face he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Don't be upset Kagome. I'll see you tomorrow. I've already scheduled our lunch date into my planner. It's all set up."

Kagome gave him a small smile. She had a love-hate relationship with Hojo's renowned planner. He lived by that book, his whole days planned out in neat, block letters. On one hand, it was part of Hojo's organized world that she felt secure in and on the other hand, she felt like all it would take to ease her out of his life was a little whiteout. She would never complain though, she never complained.

They exited Hojo's room after quickly making the bed to restore the precision to his personal world. Hojo's house was as immaculate as his habits. Kagome always felt strange walking down the hallways that were as orderly as an empty home. Yet she wanted it too, she tried to mimic this ultimate clean in her room as well. She never could pull it off as well as Hojo could. They approached the front door and Kagome stopped obediently and waited. Hojo leaned forward and allowed a close, impersonal kiss to be exchanged before he opened up the door for her.

Before stepping outside, Kagome glanced back into the foyer, completely pollutant free, then at the world outside. It seemed like such a dirty place, such an uncertain world. She was loath to leave Hojo's house. But she had to, he had told her to go and she always obeyed. He was her rock… she would be frightened and alone without him.

Kagome had become a creature of habit. It helped her feel stable. When driving home from Hojo's house (which she did every single day), Kagome always took Willow Street all the way down to her neighborhood (Lakeside), then turned onto the first street on the left and went down to the third house. Every single day she took this simple route. It was neat and concise, just the way she and Hojo liked her life.

So that's why it was strange when she had the sudden urge to turn onto Old Highway instead of Willow and take the long way home. She was the only one at the little intersection, sitting and pondering her urge. Taking Old Highway home would mean a big loop around the town before turning off Old Highway and onto another street approaching her neighborhood from the opposite direction. It was a long, pointless route and yet she was dying to go.

Maybe she needed a change of scenery. No. She never needed a change of scenery. She did the same exact thing almost everyday and she was perfectly happy. She used to take the Old Highway route all the time because the road was full of twists and blind corners, a thrill to drive. But blind corners could hide things, deer waiting to jump out in front of you or dangerous drivers swerving over the line on a tight curve. Hojo had told her two years ago to start taking Willow and she had never strayed, not once.

Not until now. She took a right instead of going straight and was on the old, familiar highway again. At this time of day it was usually pretty crowded with people driving home from work. Today was no different. She continued on for about twenty minutes without anything peculiar. It was the same shopping strips and restaurants she'd always known were there. Everything was exactly as she remembered it. A small art store flew by on the right; a quaint little coffee shop went by on the left. The familiarity of it all was also soothing. Kagome didn't like change. It never meant anything good.

Everything was familiar until she reached the end of the winding street. Right before the turn she would take to head towards her neighborhood was a little building. It was a nondescript, square building with cream-colored stucco siding. The parking lot in front only had a couple cars parked in it even though it was getting close to the typical dinner hour. On the outside of the building was a modest sign labeling the place as Your Choice Bar and Grill. Kagome had never been there before; she couldn't even remember when the little place had popped up.

Without really making a conscious decision, Kagome turned her little red sedan into the parking lot. She had deviated from her normal path once today. What would be so wrong with changing her plans a little again today?

She had been planning on ordering take-out when she got home. Her mother wouldn't be there, she had turned into a workaholic after her father's death. Kagome wasn't bitter about that. Her mother had to support her and her little brother. And Sota would be at a friend's house that night. So she was all alone tonight…

After parking, Kagome started up the concrete sidewalk to the red front doors. They swung open easily under her touch and revealed a charming place. The hard wood floor was swept clean (mostly…) and booths with cream-colored chairs lined the walls (even though all the tables had different condiments on them and weren't exactly uniform). Against the wall near the door was a long counter with a window showing into a small white kitchen and music was playing out of an old radio perched precariously on top of the coffee machine. The place was completely empty.

The screaming though quickly overshadowed all other observations.

"Miroku! I swear if you touch me one more time I promise that you will never regain use of that hand again!" Kagome glanced around a small corner to where the screaming was coming from. In the small pocket she noticed a beautiful young woman with long brown hair pulled into a high ponytail. She wore simple makeup, just a little eye shadow. Her hands were tugging furiously at her apron, straightening out the edges. The man she was talking to was smiling lightly. His black hair was pulled back into a tiny ponytail at the nape of his neck and his large blue eyes were dancing with obvious enjoyment as he rubbed his slightly red cheek. Neither of them noticed her.

"But Sango, my love for you is so overwhelming that I can't keep it locked up inside. I have to express it through touch or it will simply destroy me." He, Miroku Kagome assumed, placed both hands over his heart and closed his eyes with a sigh.

Sango just rolled her eyes. "Then write poetry you pervert, you don't have to feel me up every time I turn my back on you." She frowned. "Or better yet, just let your feelings destroy you! I couldn't care less what happened to you." She huffed and turned her back on him, which was a mistake. Without wasting a moment Miroku's hand shot out and swept across her ass. Sango wasn't exactly slow on her feet either. She whipped around and lifting up her waitress tray let it strike him across the head. He stumbled back a bit, even as he laughed.

Kagome was suddenly terrified. This was strange to her, this little place where inhibitions seemed to not exist. People shouldn't act like that… especially not in a public setting. She wanted to run. And she started to too, until she was finally noticed.

"Sango, if you'd stop trying to prove to everyone here that you're not secretly in love with Miroku you'd probably have noticed that a customer has been standing here waiting for awhile now." Kagome jumped a little and whipped around to see that the front counter was no longer empty. The person that had spoken up was a young man, slightly tanned with shockingly light hair (platinum or silver would describe it best) pulled back into a low ponytail and lazy amber eyes watching her from under a flurry of bangs. He was leaning against the counter with his head resting in his large hand. Next to him, leaning her back against the wall was another young woman. She was striking in her beauty. Long perfectly straight black hair (that Kagome could only dream of having) cascaded down her back making her pale skin stand out in the contrast. She was all angles, and suddenly Kagome felt inferior. Her gray eyes weren't even looking in Kagome's direction.

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you. Welcome to Your Choice Bar and Grill, would you like take-out or are you planning on eating here?" Sango, who had been all fury a moment ago, was now smiling calmly and walking over to where Kagome was standing. She had the urge to run out of there as fast as she could again.

Biting her bottom lip, Kagome just shook her head. "Umm, sorry. I don't really need anything. I'm sorry." And Kagome turned around and started for the door as fast as she could without looking like she was running away.

"Why'd you come in then?" Kagome jumped at the question and looked back over to the light haired man. He looked confused as his eyes followed her progress towards the door. "You sure you don't need anything?"

"I'm sure. Bye." And she was out in the sunlight again, walking briskly towards her car. She shouldn't have deviated from her normal path. This is what happens when you do something new; you run into fanatical people who have no sense of public decency. She was aware of how superior Hojo was to those people. How perfect Hojo was in comparison to the slightly disheveled appearance of the workers there.

She knew all this… yet she was never quite sure why from that day forward she always took Old Highway home, passing Your Choice with a furtive glance.

A/N: Well that was chapter one. Please review so I know what you think. Reviews will also keep me motivated to keep writing as fast as I can. Thanks for reading.