Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars.
Previously on Trophy:
"Hey, sorry it took such a long time." Aria interrupted, "We're busy today, and a bit understaffed. So, strawberry pancakes for Hanna, huckleberry for Caleb, scrambled eggs and sausage for Wesley, hash browns and waffles for Spencer, oatmeal with a side of dried fruit for Wren, and French toast for Ezra," she lowered her voice, talking only to him. "It's my favorite."
Ezra grinned. "You have a good memory,"
Aria shrugged. "I guess that I like to remember things…or people." She grinned. "Have a nice meal. I'll check on y'all in a little bit."
"Thanks, Aria," Hanna said before turning back to her new friends. "Spencer, do you think you can find out what kind of a dress Kate is wearing?"
"What can I getcha?" Aria asked the group of rowdy NYU boys.
"I only see one thing I'd like to have today," one flirted, eyes raking over her. "Can I have the waitress, please?" His friends giggled and shoved him.
"I don't think my boyfriend would like that much," she lied. "What can I get you off the menu?"
"Well…I think I'll have the honey pancakes with a side of strawberries. That's the closest I'll get to eating you today." He grinned, and Aria forced out a fake little laugh.
"I'd bet you're right. What about the rest of you?"
As Aria walked away from the table, she couldn't help but laugh. "Closest I'll get to eating you today. That's a good one." Guys hit on her constantly, and she flirted sometimes to get better tips, unless there was a girlfriend. She learned that one the hard way, and Mike had to go without dessert for a week so that she could buy a small container of concealer.
"Aria," Noel called, "We have to order for table seven ready!"
Aria ran up to grab the two trays.
"Why don't you just take two trips, Aria?" Noel asked.
"Two trips are for pussies," Aria replied. "And this is the only workout I have time for. Do you see this definition in my arms? This is a process." She left without waiting for a reply, quickly checking over the orders to make sure that Noel and Alex didn't fuck anything up.
"Hello," she said to the two little kids and their mother. "I have your food here, a grilled cheese and an Oreo milkshake, a burger and a vanilla milkshake, and a cobb salad and a water." She stood back and looked at the family, thinking that the woman looked a bit like Ella and the two kids looked about three years apart, just like her and Mike.
They chorused their thanks to her and she smiled. "Can I get you anything else?"
"Mom," the little boy whispered, "Can we get a cupcake?"
"I don't know, Nick," she replied, glancing back at Aria. "You already had a milkshake…"
"But it's my birthday," he said with a pout.
"It's your birthday!?" Aria asked with astonishment, "How old are you turning?"
"Four," he replied with pride, holding up four fingers.
"That's a very important birthday," she said, "And we give out free cupcakes on people's birthdays. What flavors would you all like? We have red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry."
The little girl asked for strawberry, the mom asked for red velvet, and Nick asked for chocolate.
"A man after my own heart," she said after he had asked for chocolate. He giggled and she went to place the order in.
Hanna shook her head as Aria walked away from the table with the two kids and their mother. "Aria is a saint."
"Why do you say that?" Ezra asked, taking a bite of his French toast.
"Did you not hear that?" Hanna asked. "They don't give free anything on your birthday. Holden is nice, but he's cheap."
"Wait, so does she have to pay for them herself?" Spencer asked. "That's so sweet of her!"
"Yeah," Hanna said.
"We give money to charity every year," Wren said, "What's the big deal?"
Hanna sighed irritably. "Because she doesn't have as much money as you!"
"What do you mean 'you', Hanna? You're a part of this now. She doesn't have as much money as us!"
"Hey," Ezra interfered, "Everyone shut up. Wren, it doesn't matter how much you give as long as you give. Hanna…Spencer, take it away."
Spencer shot Ezra an irritated look. "Hanna…you're in a new society now. You can still talk to Aria and go to the bar you used to work in, but you're apart of us, too. You can't have it both ways, Han. I'm sorry."
"Let's see…that's ninety, ninety-seven, a hundred and seven…" she trailed off as she pulled out a hundred dollar bill. "Oh, Hanna…"
"Whatcha got there, Aria?" Alex asked, taking off his apron and putting it on the hook in the closet that the owner called the employee lounge.
"Hundred dollar bill," Aria replied. "It was in my cash tips."
"Ah, I see," Alex nodded. "I expect you'll find at least three more. One from Caleb, one from Spencer, one from Wren, and one from Wes and Ezra. It's a rich kid thing. They like to match tips for pretty waitresses. One per family."
"Oh," Aria said, because she really needed that money, but it seemed wrong. She just brought them their food and gave them a couple refills. "Maybe I should give some to everyone…"
"No, Aria," Alex said, folding her fingers around her wad of cash. "Keep it. Get Mike a remote control car or whatever it is that sixteen year old boys like him play with."
Aria laughed, thinking about how happy that would make him, and tucked the money into her old purse. "I think I will, Alex. Thanks."
There was a honk from outside and Aria quickly hugged Alex. "That's my ride. See you tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Sure thing, Aria,"
She ran out and he pulled out his phone to call Spencer. She picked up, as she always did, on the second ring. "Hey, Alex. Did you take care of it?"
"Yup, she only found one. You guys should've split up the bills, though. I pulled the one card she can't resist and she shouldn't try to share it or anything. Though she might be feeling a little bit disconnected from Hanna."
"I'm sure Hanna will find a way to reconnect with her. She seems like such a nice girl."
"Who, Aria?" Alex grabbed his keys. "Yeah, Aria is the best. She's so sweet…a bit of a potty mouth, though."
"Really? It didn't show."
"That's because Aria is a good waitress."
"I know," Spencer talked to someone she was with for a moment. "You should've seen her playing Ezra. I'm pretty sure he tipped her, like, three hundred. Broken up. And the cupcakes she gave to that cute little family…how can someone who has so little be so selfless?"
"From what I've seen, poorer people are less selfish. I'm not quite sure why, but it's just a pattern. In relation to how much you have and how much you give, poor people are kinder."
"Yeah, I can see that. Look at you, Alex, with your NYC degree and your psychological ramblings."
"Anyhow, Spence, I have to go. My family is meeting the Randalls at the theater tonight, and I have to go shower off the smell of fries."
"That's strange, because Aria smelled really good. Like strawberries and honey."
"That's really weird, Spence."
"Okay, maybe. But I'm allowed to notice if a girl smells good."
Alex rolled his eyes and hung up.
Aria put the money into her safe without counting it, only taking the minimal amount she needed. She would write a check to Sweetwater tomorrow.
"What time do you have to go to the bar?" Toby asked.
"I have to walk down there at eight-thirty. My shift is from nine to five."
"Look at you, working a nine to five job," Toby joked. Aria laughed.
"Yeah, nine pm to five am," She stashed her safe under Toby's bed. "With sleazy old guys that mostly want to see my boobs and get drunk. Plus, they aren't even that good of tippers."
Toby gestured to the safe. "Looks like you made some cash at the diner today, though. Did the cast of Newsies come in or something?"
"Nope, just a bunch of rich kids that Hanna dragged in. One of them was kind of cute, I guess, but it's not like I can have a story just like Hanna's."
"Well, duh," Toby replied. "Tell the story again, though."
Aria shot him a look with a small smile, because she knew that Toby loved the story of Hanna and Caleb just as much as she did. Anyone who lived in the building needed a little hope that they might be able to escape poverty. "Well, Hanna and Caleb met at Hanna's job in the diner about a mile away, on nineteenth. He asked for her number and she told him-"
"To fuck off," Toby interrupted.
Aria chuckled. "Yeah, but Caleb came back every single day, which is weird because that diner sucks, food, coffee…all of it. But it took him nine days to find out her name, which I accidentally blew, by the way, and he sent flowers and jewelry to her every day, until she finally wrote her number on his bill, which he didn't notice. It happened again for the next four days, she wrote her number on the bill and he didn't notice, and finally, on the fifth day, Hanna came, threw the bill on the table and wrote her number on his forehead with a Sharpie."
Toby laughed. "Sounds like Hanna,"
Aria shrugged. "Yeah, so, Caleb called and they went out all the time, until Caleb found out where she lived and told her that she couldn't live here alone anymore. So," Aria's voice got a bit quieter, "Hanna left, and now she's living with Caleb in a penthouse overlooking Central Park on the Upper East Side." Aria shrugged. "Now she's happy, wearing designer boots and going to charity balls and Broadway shows."
"Are you okay, Aria?" Toby asked.
"No," she said, "It sucks. We're the charity, Toby, don't you see? Hanna used to be one of us, but now she's the girl helping out at the food bank so that we can get some expired cereal or a fucking bag of rice! She's over tipping her poor waitress and bringing in her rich friends to try to set me up."
"Hanna just wants you to be safe," Toby assured her, wrapping his arms around her. She was still for a moment before slipping out of his arms.
"I have to go to work. I'll…I'll see you later, Toby."
"If you're not back by seven, I'm calling the cops," Toby told her.
"Don't bother," Aria replied. "I'll probably go straight from Grudge to the diner. I'll see you tomorrow night."
Here's the third installment of Trophy! Thanks for all your support with this story and continue to review! Love you all!
-Cookie
