Bad days seemed to be occurring more often for Brynn.
Not only had she been late to Psychology, failed a quiz, and stepped in the biggest wad of bubble gum known to man; now she was standing face-to-face with Brendan, the pirate-boy she had met at the party.
While in the process of scraping the gum off her shoe with a stick, Brendan must have seen her and walked over. Brynn, totally caught off guard when he ushered the word hello, had managed to fall on her butt due to her lack of balance while cleaning her shoe.
"Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to scare you," Brendan exclaimed, blushing bright red. He offered his hand out to Brynn but was shooed away.
"It's fine," Brynn muttered. Getting back up on her feet, she inspected him. He wore dark jeans and a form fitting t-shirt with a green jacket. Unlike Brynn (who wore her typical ratty sweats and t-shirt), he looked very presentable.
No doubt second thoughts were going through his head right now.
"Look, about the other night…"
"I'm really sorry about that," Brynn interrupted. She looked down at her feet. "You probably think I'm some crazy alcoholic now…"
"No, not at all," Brendan said quickly even though Brynn could tell he was lying through his teeth. "You were…fun."
Brynn snorted. Fun, huh? Her hands reached up to her ponytail and tightened it as she thought of something to say.
"But I'd like to see you again," he said suddenly.
"It's fine, I understand—wait, what?"
A timid smile formed on his face. "I'd like to see you again. You know, go out some time?"
Well, that hadn't been expected. Talk about a major plot twist…
"As in a date?" Brynn stumbled on her words. He nodded.
The two stood in awkward silence as the hamster on the wheel ran furiously inside her brain. The other night had been a one night stand, right? No, no, one night stands involved doing the deed and that most definitely had not happened (or had it? She couldn't remember anything!). Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. Maybe he was blind? Never in a million years would a guy ask her on a date while looking like this! She hadn't even bothered with makeup today!
Brendan cleared his throat as he waited for a reply. Not once, but twice, Brynn opened her mouth then shut it. Finally, she blurted out, "Maybe."
Pivoting on her heel, Brynn quickly walked away. The entire walk back to her dorm, she was assaulted by mental slaps and name-calling. You dumbass! Her conscience shrieked. He was cute! You haven't been on a date since junior year and you just turned him down?! Die, bitch, die!
The cold wind blew in her face, blurring her vision. Later, Brynn would blame that for the next thing to happen on this "glorious" day.
"Humph!" Brynn exclaimed as she bulldozed into someone. The two stumbled back in surprise, dazed from the head-on collision.
Brynn's hand flew up to her forehead which had begun to throb. "Watch where you're going!"
She looked up to see the culprit adjusting the fancy black pea coat they wore. Blond strands of hair fell out of a neat pony-tail and into her face. Brynn suddenly recognized who it was.
Awww, shit.
"Ohmygod, Ms. Worley!" Brynn squeaked. "I am soooo sorry, I hadn't seen you there and the wind—"
"Brynn," Ms. Worley raised her hand, instantly making the girl shut up. "It's alright. But please refrain from calling me 'Ms. Worley.' It makes me feel old. You have my permission to use my first name."
"Alright," Brynn said slowly. "Adele."
Adele smiled and looked down at the younger girl. Despite having been roughed up by Brynn's clumsiness, she still looked stunning.
Brynn immediately felt one hundred times uglier in her sweats. Of all days, she just had to choose today to wear them.
"I'm really sorry about that."
"Oh, please, don't worry about it," Adele said breezily. "It's good to see you. I was hoping I might run into you. Well, not as literally."
Brynn's face flushed tomato red. "Mind me asking what you're doing here?"
"I was invited to be a guest-speaker for one of the economics classes," she explained.
"Oh," Brynn nodded. "That's fun."
Adele flashed her bright smile. "Not at all. It was quite boring, actually. Blank stares put me to sleep. By any chance are you free this afternoon? I was just heading out to grab a bite. Care to join me?"
"Really? Yeah, sure," Brynn agreed, surprised by the older woman's offer. "I'm not really dressed for lunch, though."
"I had someplace casual in mind," she assured her. "We can take my car. When do you need to be back?"
Brynn followed close behind. "My classes are done for the day, so whenever."
"Perfect," Adele grinned over her shoulder.
. . .
Adele had a very different idea of what casual was than Brynn.
After being seated, Brynn's eyes scanned over the appetizers, all of them ranging between thirty to seventy dollars. She didn't even want to know how high the digits soared on the list of entrées. So far the cheapest and most affordable thing she had found on the menu was the side of ketchup for a dollar fifty.
As she searched for something in her price range, Adele set her menu down, folded her hands and smiled. "How have you been?"
"Pretty good," Brynn lied, deciding it was best to leave out the information from the previous weekend, how she had screwed up a possible romance, and was broke. "How about you?"
Adele took a sip of her water. "So-so. Much has been happening at the office. More paperwork than you can even imagine."
"Does it have to do with the companies merging?"
"Somewhat. That, as well as everyday jobs at the office. Things just seemed to be piling up these days."
"Amen to that," Brynn muttered as she flipped through the pages of the menu.
The waiter returned to take their orders. Brynn selected the cheapest salad the menu had to offer while Adele picked something that sounded like a mouthful and French. It was safe to guess that it soared well into the hundreds.
Brynn's eyes wandered over the restaurant, taking in the gilded mirrors and floral wallpaper. Wealthy-looking older couples sipped coffee and nibbled on crème brûleé. The swinging doors that led to the kitchen swung back and forth slowly.
Her eyes trailed back to Adele. The older woman's attention was elsewhere. She rested her chin on her palm, her fingers slightly bent around her face. Sunlight reflected off the diamond ring on her wedding finger.
"I hadn't realized you were married," Brynn pointed out.
Adele snapped back to attention and inspected the wedding ring as though she had forgotten its presence. A small smile molded on her face. Slowly, she twisted the ring around so only the gold band was visible.
"Widowed, actually," Adele said, her smile sad.
"Oh. I'm so sorry, I hadn't realized," Brynn stuttered. Awkwardly, she pulled her blue jacket tighter around her body.
Adele shook her head, her honey blond bangs shaking. "It happened a long time ago. I'm okay now."
Brynn shifted in her seat. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Of course not. What's on your mind?" Adele leaned forward.
"I noticed this at the party we had a while back…and it might just be me…but is everything okay between my mother and you? The two of you seem sort of…tense."
A pregnant pause followed the question. Brynn mentally kicked herself for letting the words come out of her mouth. What if Adele hadn't noticed?
Finally, Adele sighed and looked up at Brynn. "To be entirely honest, yes, there is a bit of tension between the two of us. We go back."
"I'm sorry to have brought it up. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Brynn said. She was doing a whole lot of apologizing today.
The food arrived and Adele waited until the waiters were gone before speaking again. "No, it's entirely fine. I have nothing to hide from you."
Brynn pushed her salad bowl away as she waited for the older woman to speak. Across the table, Adele was rearranging her silverware as she organized her thoughts.
"Your mother and I met after I graduated from college and went into the business world. We worked together and immediately became best friends. However, we had a fall out a few years later."
"You were friends?" Brynn asked.
Adele nodded. "I was friends with your father, too. I would eventually meet my future husband through him."
Brynn nodded as the information sank in. She wondered what might have caused the fallout.
"As I said, we would later have a fallout. Key factors would later lead up to this event. But before the party, I had not spoken to your mother in years."
"Key factors?" Brynn's brows furrowed.
Adele smirked as she recalled the memories. "The two of us were very competitive with each other and would often be jealous of something the other had. I think those were the main factors."
"Well, my mother can be competitive," Brynn agreed.
"Now we just don't speak that often," Adele said sadly. "I do wish we could rekindle our relationship, though I doubt your mother would ever agree."
Brynn shook her head. "She's too prideful. She's never the one to back down in an argument. Until you agree that it was your fault, she stands her ground. Trust me, I know."
"Is your relationship strained?"
"Not ours. We actually have a very good relationship. My mother and my sister on the other hand," Brynn took a sip of water and raised her brows, "that's another story entirely. If you ever want to see an explosive argument, come to my house during the holidays. The two of them practically throw things at each other."
Brynn wiped a drop of water from her lip. Had all of that just come out of her mouth? Despite the fact that it was wrong to share family secrets, they just kept pouring out. Adele listened to her and seemed intrigued unlike most of the adults she met. Brynn couldn't explain it, but she felt as though they had some sort of bond.
Adele's warm smile flickered onto her face. "Well, I'm glad to have gotten that off my chest." She looked at her watch and frowned. "I have a meeting in a half hour. I'm afraid I'll have to cut our lunch short."
Brynn nodded in understanding. "No worries. I had a great time. Thanks for the invite."
She grabbed her purse and began to rummage through it in search of her wallet.
"Oh, please, Brynn—it's on me," Adele said as she pulled out her credit card.
"Oh no, I've got it—"
"I insist."
Brynn smiled. "Thank you, Adele."
She stood and walked out of the restaurant with her new friend. "Anytime. Perhaps we could do this again?" Adele asked.
Brynn nodded excitedly. "Absolutely, I'd love that."
"Fantastic." Adele slipped on her black sunglasses and smiled at the younger girl. "Until next time."
Brynn raised her hand in farewell as she watched Adele drive off in her car.
. . .
"Red! That table ain't gonna clean itself," Earl shouted.
Biting back an insult, Brynn furiously wiped down the table. She grimaced as something similar in appearance to cheese stuck to her finger.
"Ew," she squealed as she flicked it off her finger and onto the floor.
After a few more scrubs, she finished the table and was off to the next one. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail and into her face. Annoyed, she blew it away.
A group of older looking college students had just been seated. Brynn muttered something unintelligent before waiting on the newcomers.
"Hi, welcome to All-Stars," she said lamely. "What can I get for all you team players?"
The guys looked at her with disappointment, one even muttering, "Great, we got an ugly one." Brynn pursed her lips and tapped her foot with impatience. All of them ordered various types of beers.
Brynn scurried to the drink machine and began filling the cups with alcohol, despite the fact that she was underage. All-Stars broke so many rules Brynn was shocked it was still in business. She had a feeling Earl got the more attractive girls to give food inspectors lap dances in order to pass the test…
While she filled the glasses, Jonathan came up from behind and started to refill a cup. The two ignored each other, tension radiating between them. Neither of them had forgotten about the other night (well Brynn had no idea what happened, but she had a feeling it was awkward).
Once the last glass was filled, Brynn tried her best to balance them between both hands (due to the lack of trays). Her eyes darted back and forth between the drinks and where she was walking.
After a successful trip, Brynn set the drinks in front of the guys, took their orders, and hurried back to the kitchen. She spent the next fifteen minutes refilling drinks, wiping down tables, and being yelled at by Earl.
Brynn walked back to the kitchen in a daze. Two more hours of this. Two more hours. There was no way she would last that long.
Her thoughts were interrupted when one of the fry cooks yelled at her. She looked at him with a bored expression as he motioned to a tray of food. Carefully, Brynn balanced it onto her shoulder and back to the main part of the restaurant.
"Here you go," she said unenthusiastically when she arrived at the table. Not a single 'thank-you' was ushered as she passed out the trays of food. Assholes, she thought nastily.
Without checking for oncoming traffic, Brynn spun on her heel and walked right into a tray of drinks being carried by one of the taller waiters. Not only did her head bang against the plastic tray, but an avalanche of Hawaiian Punch and grape soda drenched her face and shirt.
The eruption of laughter followed immediately.
Very rude and degrading words flew out of the waiter's mouth a second later. Brynn pushed past him blindly. Grape soda stung her eyes and dripped down her face. Seconds later, she was pushing through the doors of the kitchen.
Using the remaining dry material of her shirt to scrub her eyes and face, Brynn walked past the cooks who gave her questioning looks. By the backdoor was a large sink and cracked mirror. Halfway to it, the backdoor opened and in came Jonathan.
He paused when he saw her appearance. Brynn could practically hear the wheels in his brain spinning as he thought of an insult.
"Don't you dare," she hissed. Brynn stopped in front of the mirror and practically gasped. It was worse than she had expected. The entire front of her shirt was stained red and purple; droplets of the liquids slowly dripped down her face; and her mascara and eye liner had smudged all around her eyes. She was a hot mess, minus the hot.
Now seemed like the most appropriate time for a mental breakdown.
"I am so sick of this," Brynn cried a moment later. She tore the paper towels out of the dispenser and ran warm water over them. "I wasn't made for this life style. Serving fast food to greasy, perverted men is not my calling!"
She began to furiously scrub her face with the brown paper towels. It was sticky and required much scrubbing. Jonathan leaned against the wall as he listened to Brynn break down.
"You know, I've never worked a day in my life before this. Unless if you count chores and I hardly ever do those. There's always someone there to pick the mess up for you," she choked out. Her hands reached up to her ponytail and began to undo it. Sticky, red-blonde hair fell around her face, making her look like a lion. Brynn began to scrub around her hairline.
"And everything was going fine until I started failing out of school," she whimpered. "I don't even know how I am because I always managed to get decent grades in high school. But noooo, I'm a stupid retard who can't comprehend Psychology for the life of me and now I'm cut off and I don't know what to do anymore and today's been a mess and I'm covered in soda and I'm cold and I'm an ugly crier—"
"Brynn," Jonathan interrupted. His voice was steady, his blue eyes cautious. "Get a grip. It's just soda."
"But it's not just soda!" Brynn sobbed. "It's everything! I'm going to fail out of college and end up on the streets and work in places like this for the rest of my life!"
"Shhh!" Jonathan shushed her. "Calm yourself. Deep breaths."
She shut up. Her lip was trembling uncontrollably and she felt horribly sticky. Soaking more paper towels, Brynn scrubbed at her hair.
"It's not coming out," she whimpered.
"It will," he said calmly.
"Screw it," Brynn sniffed before sticking her head under the faucet and rinsing the soda out that way. Over the sound of the running water, she heard Jonathan mutter, "Oh, jeez."
Finally, she turned the water off and stared at her reflection. Water dripped down the back of her shirt and she shivered uncontrollably. Her makeup was now smudged all over her face. She really was an ugly crier…
"Are you under control now?" Jonathan inquired.
"Yes," Brynn mumbled.
"Well, that was the most pathetic sob story I've ever heard," Jonathan said, surprising her with his words.
"Wha—"
"Don't interrupt," he said harshly. "It's rude. You cannot go around blaming others for your own mistakes. It's time to grow up and take responsibility. Now is the time to stop depending on mommy and daddy. You want good grades in college? Then go study and stop partying so much. Walking around campus like a drunken idiot is not the solution."
"Is that a reference to the other night?"
"Yes, and I was not thrilled at all by it. I do not enjoy spending my nights babysitting drunken girls two years my senior."
"Sorry about that," she muttered.
"If you were sorry, you wouldn't keep doing it. This weekend, I'll probably find you passed out in the bushes."
Brynn sniffled. She leaned against the basin of the sink as Jonathan's words crashed into her. God, she was being lectured by a twelve year old…
But now, she realized, she was the twelve year old and Jonathan was the grown up.
"So now, Brynn, I suggest you grow up and figure out what you're going to do with your life. Crying is going to get you nowhere," Jonathan told her sternly.
The doors to the kitchen opened abruptly and in came Earl, huffing and puffing like a fat dragon. His bright red face shone with sweat and grease. Narrowing his beady, bird-like eyes, he found Brynn and pointed at her.
"You!" he bellowed. "I've got a sticky floor and wasted money. The hell are you doing back here? You should be mopping up your damn mess!"
Brynn gripped the basin tighter as he roared at her.
"Stupid, useless girl!" he howled, spittle flying out of his mouth. "What was I thinking when I hired you? You ain't blonde, you ain't thin. Can't do shit either. You're nothing but a flat-chested whale!"
"I think that's quite enough," Jonathan said suddenly. Behind his glasses, his blue eyes flashed dangerously.
"Shut it, Jackson," Earl growled. He turned back to Brynn. "You useless hoe. Unattractive pig. Dumb bitch."
Like a volcano, Brynn's anger peaked, then erupted.
She pivoted on her heel and screeched. "Oh! You want to talk about worthless, piece of shits? Well, let me tell you pal, you're no better!"
All conversation abruptly stopped. Curious eyes wandered towards the back of the room where the scene was unfolding. Earl stood dumbstruck as Brynn inched closer, her black eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You're a low-life pervert who smells like dogshit and stale beer. I'm worth more money than you'll ever make in your lifetime so don't even think about calling me 'useless' or 'dumb.' This 'restaurant' of yours is the most unsanitary, insect-infested, shit-producing, run-down shack I've ever seen!"
Earl opened his mouth but was interrupted by Brynn. She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Uh-uh, you shut the fuck up, I'm not done."
"Brynn," Jonathan said urgently from behind. "You're making a mistake…"
"Shhhh!" Brynn wheeled around to face him. The look on her face instantly made him hush. She turned back to Earl. "You pedophile, you're nothing but a blood-sucking, fat leech. And you know what? I quit. I quit! I fucking quit," she practically sang. Throwing her apron on the ground, Brynn spun around and strutted to the back door. Before she was out, she turned and gave Earl not one, but two, middle fingers.
She hurried down the dark alley, feeling victorious for only a moment. By the time she was out of the alley, the 'oh, shits' were coming out like word vomit.
In less than ten minutes, she had been drenched in soda, had an emotional breakdown in front of Jonathan Crane, told her boss off, and made a huge, extravagant show of quitting. Not only that, but she was broke, jobless, and sticky. A great way to end a shitty day.
She stood on the sidewalk, dumbstruck when she heard footsteps behind her. Slowly, she turned to find Jonathan.
"What are you doing out here?" Brynn sighed.
Jonathan's glasses gleamed in the streetlight. A frown was etched onto his young face. "Earl fired me," he said simply.
"What? Why?"
"For interrupting him during his tirade. According to him, anyone who's a friend of yours is not welcome in his establishment."
"But we're not—" Brynn paused and changed her sentence. "You didn't do anything. I'll go back in there and get your job back, I swear. God, I'm an idiot…"
Jonathan leaned against a brick building and closed his eyes. "No need to. I would have eventually quit. Like you said, fast food is not my calling. And it's okay—I just found myself a second job."
A second job? Brynn stepped back in surprise. "Already? What is it?"
Jonathan opened his eyes. They were cloudy and seemed to be staring far off. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but my new job is tutoring you."
"Huh?" Brynn asked dumbly.
The boy sighed dramatically. "Clean the soda out of your ears. I'm tutoring you."
"I don't remember agreeing to this."
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "You need good grades in order to have daddy filling your bank account again. I need money—which I'm sure you have plenty of. In this way, we both get what we need. I thought this would be a deal you couldn't resist?"
A strong gust of wind assaulted Brynn. She shivered violently, wishing she had her coat. "Last time you tried tutoring me, we got nowhere."
"I wasn't even trying to teach you last time," Jonathan confessed. "This time will be different. I can guarantee you'll be passing the course with flying colors by the end of the semester."
"Which is in a month and a half," Brynn reminded him.
Jonathan smirked and pushed himself off the wall. He leisurely walked past Brynn with his hands in his pockets. "Then I guess we have a lot of work to do."
Brynn watched Jonathan walk down the street and turn onto another. Had Jonathan Crane just offered to… help her? It seemed so out of character for him. Another gust of wind sent chills down Brynn's back, reminding her that it was November and she was soaked.
She rushed down the street and back to the campus. Maybe things were beginning to look up?
. . .
A/N: Look everyone, an update! I'm sorry this is up later than expected. I rewrote it three times because I didn't like where it was going. Hopefully you all like this chapter… *fingers crossed*
Thank you so much to Musicaddict1, maliumpkinss, MusicHarryPotterVeeVodkaBatm an, AlainHotCoco1, and My Little Lolita for reviewing as well as those who added the story to their alerts! Your reviews are much appreciated! Feel free to leave suggestions, your critiques, and advice. Honestly, your opinions mean the world to me and are very helpful.
Ch. 14 probably won't be up for another week. I lied about last week being hard—it was a piece of cake. This week, however, is going to bite me in the ass. A Chemistry quiz, a Math and Spanish test, Theology quiz, 5 sketches for Art class, as well as the fact that our English teacher was just fired and now I'm going to have to get used to a new teacher's teaching methods in the middle of the damn year. Help me… (crawls away and dies in a corner). Also, can I just say the freshmen at my school are wild animals? If you'd like to know why, PM me. I'm in need of ranting about those crazy trolls…
So I have a question for the audience! Do you think I should have Brynn and Brendan date? It wouldn't be some life-changing relationship, just them going on a few dates. Idk. I considered having it happen during this chapter and then I was like no but then I was like yes and now I'm all, 'I dunno.' Suggestions? Maybe I'll make a poll… But if you'd like to see it, leave ideas for how it should happen.
Review, review, review! Reviewers will be awarded with puppies/kittens and chocolate cake!
Kay, cool, bye.