Thanks to Curtis for the first review, though I didn't mean to break your heart; I haven't had very much luck, romantically, so I guess I'm a tad bit jaded when it comes to giving "my" characters romance. Something random I'd like to say about the USA network showing of Final Destination that is on right now is that is "sponsored" by Expedia.com, which is a service that helps people find low airfare. Now, is it just me, or would you not be so willing to buy a plane ticket after watching a movie in which a plane explodes? Anyways, thanks for the review and don't worry, Sparky's gonna be around for a long while.
I tried to forget you but you tied bells to your name
They jingled every time I thought of you, without shame
I tried to be unlovable, why couldn't you do the same?
Chapter Ten
Crossing the Line
Tod was silent all during French class, talking neither to Alex or to Clear, which made his girlfriend nervous. He knows something, something more then just worrying about what might happen, Clear thought to herself, even though she was almost certain that assumption was incorrect. She hated the way that she felt guilty about worrying whether Tod knew about her conversation with Alex earlier and it made her feel even worse, even though she hadn't really done anything.
Enough, she commanded herself silently, trying to pay attention to conjugating the verb "to wash" in the past participle but not getting anywhere. After class, just talk to Tod and get this whole thing sorted out. However, Clear knew that she was only trying to make herself feel less guilty then she did right now.
After class had finally dragged to an end, Clear leapt from her seat and followed Tod out of the classroom, the fact that he was walking much faster then he normally would have did not escape her mind. She ignored the look that Adrienne Grant shot her as she headed out the door, and grabbed Tod's shoulder before he could make a clean get away into the mass of students. "Tod, I need to talk to you." She said as she turned him around.
Tod glared at her, pulling his arm away. "What is there to talk about?" He snapped, in no mood to talk to her and letting her know. He began to walk down the hallway once more but she continued after him, undeterred.
"Tod, I don't know what your goddamn problem is all of the sudden but why don't you check the attitude and listen to me." Clear snapped, the anger in her voice causing him to stop and turn to face to face her. "You really need to get over yourself because I'm getting really sick and tired of reassuring your ego every time Alex and I say a word to each other." She wasn't quite ready to get into a full blown fight with him in front of everyone in the hallway, but now she found herself more angry then actually worried about what Tod might know.
For a moment, Tod looked as though he was going to retort, or even apologize but he remained silent; he stared at her for a second before turning abruptly and continuing down the hallway, disappearing into the throng of students. Clear watched, shaking her head in disgust, though her anger was slowly dissipating. In spite of everything, she found herself suddenly stricken with sadness over the way the whole conversation had played out. She had lost her only chance to explain, to make everything all right again. Clear suddenly realized that the old cliche was true: you didn't really appreciate something until you lost it.
* * *
The rest of the day seemed to pass slowly, and Clear was relived when the final bell rang and she could escape off to the Green Igloo for torture of a much more humane sort. Anything was better then the hang-dog, betrayed death stare that Tod was giving her every chance he saw her. She managed to evade Alex on her way out and headed toward the restaurant without her depression level increasing.
Clear entered the restaurant through the back door, which Bree had showed her yesterday and explained it to be the employee entrance. She found her two fellow waitresses lounging about in the kitchen, talking quietly as they watched the two chiefs work to fill orders.
"Hey Clear." Bree greeted her when she entered the kitchen, smiling but instantly noticing how upset her fellow employee seemed. "What's the matter?" Her face knitted with concern, which was the exact opposite reaction that the brunette got from Rachel, who simply rolled her eyes and looked as though she could have cared less or was actually interesting in human suffering.
The brunette pulled her apron across her wrinkled clothes and pulled up a set to sit across from Bree, looking as though she was doing her best to actually ignore Rachel. "The 'troubles' with my boyfriend just got a lot worse. I don't know what to do anymore." Clear answered, surprised to find herself confiding in someone that she had only known for a few days.
Bree was silent for a moment before saying, "Well, if he doesn't accept your explanation for what's really going on then I guess it's just not worth it." She looked as though she knew that it wasn't the information Clear had been hoping for but that didn't stop her from speaking.
Clear nodded her head, knowing that what she said was true and that she was almost out of the energy that it took to deal with Tod and Alex and wished that she had never come to Mt. Abraham in the first place. "I think you're right, I just can't get him to stop and talk to me long enough for me to actually break up with him." She told Bree, not exactly liking the way those words sounded coming from her mouth.
Before any of the waitresses could say anything more, Mr. Stricken, the heartless yet sometimes benevolent manager of the Green Igloo, emerged from his office and frowned when he noticed his three employees seated in a crooked circle. "Excuse me, ladies, am I mistaken or are the customers outside, waiting to be served?" He said, approaching them, his question not the sort that needed to be answered. "I suggest you get up and do what you're being paid to do, before it's not a problem anymore."
Stricken disappeared in the actual restaurant, leaving Clear, Bree and Rachel to gaze after him, wordlessly for a brief moment. Rachel got to her feet and clapped her hands, urging the other two girls to stand as well. "You heard him, girls, arses and elbows, let's move it." She commanded, retying her apron around her waste and heading out of the kitchen that same way her boss had.
Wordlessly, Clear and Bree followed and entered the restaurant, which was beginning to brim with customers. As Clear surveyed the tables and their occupants, she stopped dead in her tracks, causing her blonde coworker to bump into her. "What's wrong?" Bree questioned as she stepped aside to study the brunette.
With a sigh, Clear turned to face the blonde. "Over at table three is that guy that I told you about, my boyfriend's best friend." She explained, and both girls shifted to look at the table that she had indicated. Indeed, Alex was sitting in the booth by the window, across from Adrienne, who didn't look too happy to be there at all.
Bree pursed her lips. "Do you he came here just to bother you, or something?" She questioned, seeming honestly concerned or perhaps upset on Clear's behalf about the whole ordeal.
After thinking for a quick second, Clear shook her head. "I don't think so, that's his girlfriend with him. He told me a few days ago that this was his favorite restaurant." She answered, believing that she was speaking the truth. But it seemed, however, to be too much of a coincidence after their conversation that morning.
As they continued to study Alex and Adrienne, Rachel headed over to them, not looking very pleased. "Hello, do either of you remember that we should be working so that we can get paid at the end of the week? Don't just said there like idiots." Clear couldn't help but notice that this last comment seemed directed directly to her. "Clear, go waitress table three, Bree, you got five." Rachel commanded, shooing them in their respective directions.
Clear realized none too late that she was being directed toward Alex's table and with a sigh also realized that there was nothing she could about that fact. Once again adoring her fake waitress smile, she approached their table and pulled out her tiny notepad. "Welcome to the Green Igloo, can I get you guys something to drink?" She felt foolish for speaking that way to two people that she knew, or at least one person that she knew, but she was attempting to convey to Alex that this certainly shouldn't be a social call.
Alex, however, obviously didn't get the message as he smiled at her. "I had to come see for myself the new working Clear. Waitressing suits you." He complimented quite shameless, causing Adrienne to clear her throat.
"I would like an ice water, with the lemon on the side." She ordered, looking pointedly at the brunette and looking none too pleased as she spoke. It was obvious that she was beginning to pick up on the same signals that Tod had noticed long before and it wasn't making her very happy. Adrienne Grant, after all, wasn't the sort of girl that got cheated on.
Clear nodded as politely as she could muster and then turned to face Alex. "I'll have a Coke." He told her, seeming almost apologetic as he answered. Without another word or giving anyone else a chance to say anything more, the waitress turned and headed back toward the kitchen, where Bree was waiting with a sympathetic look upon her face.
"I saw who you're waiting on, Clear, want to switch tables?" She offered, heading over to the drink dispenser to fill her order. Clear followed after her, shaking her head, though touched by her offer.
"No, I can handle them for thirty minutes." She mumbled, filling a glass full of Coke and setting it aside. "After all, Alex can't do anything with his girlfriend sitting right there, though I'm not quite sure he really cares who's around anymore. I just wish he was so interested in me when I actually didn't have a boyfriend." She filled a second cup with water and deliberately dropped a lemon inside of the glass.
When she returned with the drinks, Clear pointedly ignored Adrienne when she began to raise a fuss about the lemon. When she realized that she didn't have an audience, the blonde dropped her compliant and gave Clear her order. "I want a salad, with no tomatoes and extra ranch dressing, spread evenly across the vegetables." She instructed, sounding as though she was trying to give the most difficult order possible. And, as an added blow, Adrienne fished the lemon out of her drink and tossed it onto the floor right at Clear's feet, looking as though she hadn't even moved.
Clear forced herself to not even give the cheerleader a cross look as she focused on Alex, who hadn't noticed his girlfriend's action. Alex's order was much simpler and soon she had retreated back to the kitchen once more, looking for Bree to vent to but finding only Rachel in the kitchen, eating fries out of a plastic basket seated on a tray. The brunette studied the blonde and frowned, heading over toward her. "Did you assign me to table three on purpose?" She questioned, her anger at Adrienne suddenly shifting targets. "You know that was the boy giving me all the trouble I've been telling you and Bree about."
Rachel popped a fry in her mouth and rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, it's not that big of a deal. You act like you're victim, even though the whole situation is your fault too." She continued before Clear could raise her voice in her defense. "Besides, I couldn't help it if the guy asked for you by name."
Clear sighed as she got Rachel's answer, which was the one she had sort of been expecting all along. Alex had made sure that she would his waitress, which was either flattering or slightly stalkerish, depending on how she decided to look at it; she figured, however, that he was going to try to talk to her about the whole triangle as soon as he had the chance. Maybe he wanted to tell her that he didn't want to hurt Tod anymore, after seeing how upset he was during French.
As she waited for Alex and Adrienne's orders to be filled, Clear refrained from venturing back to their table, feeling like a coward for hiding out in the kitchen. The whole matter was going to have to be addressed at some point, though every time she tried, it always seemed to backfire in her face. To avoid further problem, Clear picked the tomatoes out of Adrienne's salad herself (feeling a slight victory in that) and slathered the whole thing with ranch dressing, so that it was almost impossible to see any vegetables. She didn't think that was what Adrienne meant about everything being evenly covered, but it was the best she was going to get.
Clear picked up both plates and headed back out of the kitchen, toward table three. As she approached the table, she stepped on something slippery and lost her balance, struggling to remain upright and keep a grip on both of the plates. As she stumbled, she lost hold of Adrienne's salad and the plate landed right in the blonde's lap. At any other time, Clear realized that the situation might have seemed somewhat comical; now, however, was not one of those times.
Letting out a ear piercing shriek, Adrienne bolted up and began shouting insults at Clear, who stood, somewhat stunned at the way things had begun to play out. Alex instantly started attempting to calm his girlfriend, who would have none of it. "Do you have any idea how much this shirt cost?!" She continued to shriek, spinning off on another tangent. "There is no way all this dressing will come out. I am going to sue this goddamn restaurant."
To make matters worse, Adrienne shouted her last threat just as Stricken happened to reenter the restaurant, just in time to hear her words. "What is going on here?" He asked, trying not to look as worried as he felt. The Green Igloo certainly didn't have the money to stand up to be being sued. "I'm sure we can figure something out."
Adrienne seemed more then happy to tell the manager just what had transpired, no longer concerned about her tee-shirt now that she had realized that she had the opportunity to get Clear into trouble. She knew there was something going on between that girl and her boyfriend and she wasn't the type of girl to stoop low enough to public cat fighting or trashing someone's lawn. She was the sort of girl that kidnapped someone's dog or had somebody else total their car. "I'll tell you just what happened." Adrienne began, pointing at Clear, who looked as though she couldn't have defended herself if her life depended on it at that moment. "She dropped this salad right in my lap and ruined my favorite top. I have half a mind to sue this shitty restaurant and it's clumsy staff and I could because my father is a lawyer. Perhaps you've heard of him, Jason Grant."
At her words, Stricken let his nervousness show; he had, indeed, heard of this boisterous girl's lawyer father and knew that he was one of the top attorneys in the state. "Now, that's not necessary, Miss Grant." He assured her, glaring at Clear as well, who suddenly felt her eyes fill with tears. "I'll be more then happy to pay the cost of the dry-cleaning bill, or perhaps purchase another shirt." He looked very relieved when Adrienne nodded slowly. "As for you, Clear," he turned to face the brunette, who knew just what was coming. "You are fired, effective immediately. Return your apron and please leave." He didn't speak with the kindness that his words entailed.
Clear bit the inside of her bottom lip to keep from crying in front of Adrienne and pulled her apron over her head. When she looked back at Adrienne, the girl was giving her a smug smile that made her want to scream; instead, however, she tossed her apron on the table and bolted from the restaurant.
Alex watched her go and stood as well, turning to look at Adrienne. "I can't believe you." He muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
"What? I'm the one with salad in my lap." Adrienne snapped back, her theories confirmed by Alex's actions.
"You know why she slipped, because you put that goddamn lemon on the floor." Alex accused, not really caring that the entire restaurant was still watching the events unfolding. "You are such a selfish bitch, Adrienne and I'm sorry I didn't realize it before." With that, he left the restaurant, heading after Clear.
Adrienne frowned, narrowing her eyes at him. "Go," she shouted, though he was already gone, trying to save her image in front of people she didn't even know. "As for us, we are so over!" She huffed, snatching the napkin away from Stricken when he offered it to her.
Alex found Clear sitting on the curb a few feet away from the restaurant, her face buried in her hands, shoulders shaking with sobs. "Clear, are you all right?" It was a stupid question, yet Alex couldn't think of anything else to say. Clear didn't answer but continued to cry, not even looking up.
He sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder, startling her and causing Clear to look up at him. "I'm sorry you got fired because of Adrienne, she's just a bitch." Alex said, giving her a half-hearted smile.
Clear pulled away from him. "Alex, please don't do this. I appreciate your sympathy but..." She trailed off, knowing full well that he knew just what she was trying to say. But I feel bad enough about Tod already.
Alex sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Ignoring her protests, he turned to face her suddenly and kissed her lightly, much to her surprise. She tried to object but found herself unable to do so, realizing that she had wanted him to kiss her since the second she had met him. Clear returned the kiss somewhat cautiously before finally pulling away.
Alex sighed, shoulders slumping as he thought about what he had done; he had betrayed his best friend and that hurt more then he would have expected. Clear sighed as well and gazed past Alex, seeing something that made her heart skip a beat.
There was Tod, standing by the entrance of the Green Igloo with a pitifully tiny bouquet in his hand and a shocked look upon his face.
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The song is "Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone" by Jewel