"It's ten." She said and I nodded,
"Sure is." I said and Fiona joined in,
"It's your shift. Not ours."
I sighed dramatically and pushed off the wall. Walking towards the bench that held our fate for the next eight hours, and Dan's twelve. Too bad it had to be so boring.
5:45p.m.
I walked into the kitchen with an almost permanent scowl on my face. Tilly had given me a lecture on manners towards the customers not five minutes ago and it had left me in an extremely bad mood. I reached around to the back of my apron and retied it as I walked towards a grinning Dan.
"What?" I demanded and he shook his head, trying desperately to hide his laughter and failing.
He maintained his smile for a moment before looking behind me and he coughed, losing all previous amusement in his voice. I looked over my shoulder and raised my eyebrows at Jason, who was staring at me… well, not my face exactly and not bothering to be discreet in doing so.
"He's an idiot." I scowled and tightened my hair-tie. Shaking my head,
"No argument here." Dan agreed and I grinned,
"Aren't you meant to be out there?" I asked, cocking my head to the side and he shrugged,
"Hannah and Olive have it covered." He said and I raised my eyebrows,
"What do you mean?" There was hardly ever any real traffic on Monday night but we were all forced into our shifts anyway.
"There's a group out there. Round..." He tried to remember, "Six or something." He nodded and I scowled, causing Dan to laugh, "Jeez, what's up your butt? It's not like we've gotta do anything." He leaned back against the wall and sighed happily,
"I officially hate my brother." I growled and he smirked,
"Why?"
"Six? Four boys and two girls?"
"Uh... yeah..." He put two and two together and snorted loudly and chuckling a little too loudly. Just as Tilly came into the kitchen with a stressed look on her face, more so than usual.
"What are you two doing back here? Table seven! Now!" She yelled and pointed towards the bench that held the orders, we jumped, hurrying over to the food before she fired either of us.
I picked up three of the plates and Dan took the other three and I knew our destination immediately. I scowled and backed through the doors, Dan following closely, a huge grin on his face,
"Wipe that stupid smirk off your face or I'll make you trip." I threatened and he resumed a tight lipped smile. The corner of his mouth twitching upwards in anticipation, "Oh shut up," I rolled my eyes and spun around, careful to avoid the larger tables as I manoeuvred through the sea of chairs towards table seven. I got to the table and looked down at the plates, registering what was on them for the first time since I picked them up. I didn't even need to ask who ordered what.
"Why so depressed Alex?" Pogue smirked and I bit back a snide remark,
"Fuck off." Okay maybe not, but it wasn't really snide. Dan grinned and elbowed me,
"Tilly's watching you idiot." He muttered and my eyes widened, just as I put the plate down in front of my brother,
"Alex." He whispered and my head snapped towards him,
"Yes?" I gritted my teeth,
"What's wrong with you?" he demanded and I shrugged,
"I'm working. Why are you here?" I avoided the question,
"To see my favourite sibling of course," He raised his eyebrows in mock innocence then looked at me like I was stupid,
"Why else?" I muttered and stepped away from the table,
"Can I get you anything else?" Dan was having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"Oh god, now you've done it," I sighed and turned, leaving the table, I glanced at the clock and grinned. Idiots, it was five to six. I was off in a few minutes, I looked over at Dan who had walked away from the table with two sheets full of my brother's stupid requests.
"Haha, you'll be alone soon." I poked my tongue out at him and he frowned,
"I hate you." He muttered and I smiled brightly.
"Just say you feel sick." I suggested, bringing back the earlier suggestion.
"Yeah, cause that'll work."
"Go bulimic for an hour or something. Say you have an appointment. I dunno. Don't you have a final tomorrow?"
"Yeah," His expression visibly brightened and I nodded,
"There you go. Tell Tilly you've got a final and she'll let you go. She has to; seeing as she let Brandon go five hours early because of a hair-cut." I pointed out and he nodded, heading over to our manager upon entrance of the kitchen.
I couldn't hear the conversation from where I was standing but I had one more thing to take out before I was free to go. I grabbed it from the table just as Jason came over,
"Su—up?" He grinned and I raised my eyebrows,
"Smoking something different?" I suggested and he rolled his eyes,
"When do you get off?"
"Five minutes, same as you genius. Can I take this out now?"
"Can I take you out?"
"Oh god, was that meant to be a joke?" I smirked, trying not to laugh,
"Yes, it was. I'm bored." He whined and I shrugged,
"Not my problem. I'll be back." I said and pushed through the doors, walking back over to table seven I glowered upon arrival. "I hate you all." I reminded them and scanned their faces, they were all grinning at me like idiots.
"Love you too Lex." Tyler choked and I put the extra plate down, stalking back into the kitchen. I ripped my apron off and stormed through the kitchen.
"Alexis!" Tilly yelled from behind me and I came to a halt,
"Yes, Tilly?"
"Can you do the ten o'clock shift for Dan?" She asked and I froze, turning on my heel.
"I worked seven days last week." I said and she nodded,
"And this is this week. Can you do it?" she demanded, putting her hands firmly on her hips, I could see Dan hitting his head against the wall behind her back and miming 'sorry' over and over.
"No." I snapped and stalked from the kitchen. She wasn't going to fire me, she knew what I had to go through every day and she claimed to know what I was going through. I sincerely doubted that Tilly had ever experienced amnesia but I was willing to take her word for it if it got me out of slave labour. I dropped down onto the bench-seat in the locker room just as my manager came in.
"Are you right Alex?" She asked, sitting down beside me.
I shook my head and put my head in my hands, "Is it the memories again?" She asked sympathetically and I nodded, too tired to come up with an excuse.
"They're coming back more often." I closed my eyes momentarily, trying to appear flustered enough that she'd go away. It didn't work.
"Just breathe." Like that'll help you crazy old bat, "I know what it feels like. Just don't think about them." Bullshit you do.
"It's just weird, them coming here I mean. I thought this was the only place they don't come to, guess I was wrong about that." I muttered sourly and dragged my nails across my jaw.
She hummed quietly, which was Tilly's way of telling everyone she was pretending to think, "I'm not sure there's all that much I can do about that. But I do know that you need to calm down. I can't have you cracking a tantrum in front of customers, alright? If you need a break, just come talk to me." She pat me on the back and stood up from where she was sitting next to me, I guess she thought she was being comforting when, in truth, every word she said made me want to punch her in the face more than usual. As soon as she was out of the locker-room, I tugged on my ponytail a little too hard and stood up. As I checked the time on the old clock across from me I realised my shift was over and I was free to go. I huffed in relief and pushed my fringe out of my eyes. Finally.
I walked out the back door and was immediately confronted with a huge cloud of smoke, I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face in an attempt to push the fumes away. I glared at the person responsible until I realised it wasn't Jason. It was Kyle,
"Oh, hi."
"Yeah." He muttered and flicked ash onto the ground, almost hitting my shoe. I bit back a snarl and ignored it.
"So…" I was waiting for him to move and he seemed to realise it. Stepping to the side he gestured in front of me mockingly and I scowled but didn't move. I was concentrating on the smoke in the air.
"You leaving?" He asked eventually, sounding bored, and I nodded, putting one foot awkwardly in front of the other as I tried to steer clear of the smoke that seemed to be killing all breathable air around me. He frowned and pushed my back with the hand that wasn't holding the cigarette, trying to get me to go away. "Seriously, move." He warned and I shot him a look,
"Back off." I snapped and leaned against the wall opposite him. I had nothing better to do, I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to remember why smoke always made me so calm. I glared at the ground and nothing came. Damn it. I closed my eyes and they flashed black behind my lids, materialising a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in my back pocket. I didn't think I'd smoked before the amnesia but I wasn't exactly sure, I figured if I got more memories out of it, it was definitely worth a shot. I pulled the packet from my pocket, shoved one of the orange and white cylinders in my mouth and avoided Kyle's accusing gaze as I lit it.
I wasn't being hypocritical, I was experimenting. I inhaled the deadly toxins and tried to contain my cough. Kyle wasn't being particularly conversational and that was expected. But when Jason came out and leaned next to me, I swear he growled. As in, growled like a dog. I held back a smirk and looked at Jason.
"I didn't know you smoked." he raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest
"Yeah?" I pretended like I didn't know what he was talking about as I took the cigarette out of my mouth and blew the smoke into the already over-polluted air.
"Yeah." He confirmed and searched my face, "Are you right?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked and stuck the cancer stick back into my mouth, crossing one wrist under the elbow that was holding the cigarette and holding the elbow, I slumped casually against the wall and crossed my ankles.
"No idea." He said sarcastically and reached into my pocket, taking the lighter and cigarettes. He opened the pack, took one out and lit it with my Zippo. I narrowed my eyes as he put it back in my pocket and he grinned, just as I realised I was almost done. The cigarette had burned down to about half a millimetre before the orange and my instincts told me to throw it at the ground, stamp it out and walk over to my car. I didn't say a word as I got in my Nissan and turned the engine on, I just pulled out of the car-park and drove around to the front of the restaurant where I'd told Hannah I'd pick her up, just as I was about to turn into the customer's lot a black Hummer I recognised as Tyler's beeped at me. I frowned and pulled into an empty space, getting out, I looked around for Hannah and pulled out another light when I didn't see her. She'd be incredibly pissed if she knew I'd started smoking. I wasn't even sure that one counted, but two should. I lit it and inhaled deeply, this was definitely familiar. I furrowed my eyebrows as I breathed out, trying to draw up a memory. Suddenly, the smoke was ripped from my mouth and thrown at the ground. A strong wave of deja-vu came over me and I smirked and looked back,
"Parry."
"You're smoking." Pogue stated, as if he wasn't surprised, I looked to Kate beside him and smiled,
"Well I was." I cocked my head to the side, "What's your problem?"
"What do you mean? Other than the fact that they'll kill you?" He snapped and I grinned,
"Lot's of things can kill me Pogue." His eyes hardened and he ripped the lighter from my pocket, throwing it at the ground and stomping on it. I glowered at him and bent down to pick up the crushed plastic surrounded with lighter fluid, as the same time I felt a shadow come over me and the cigarette dropped from my mouth onto the gas. My eyes widened and I shot up, stomping on the fire in a feeble attempt to put out the fire it had created. Just as I got the last spark out someone dumped water on my head. I snarled and turned around to face a grinning Hannah,
"What the fuck was that for?" I demanded and she couldn't stop smiling,
"There was a fire." She shrugged happily and I resisted the urge to light her on fire. That was when I realised smoking wasn't making me calm. I took a deep breath and a step back.
"Now it smells like shit." Hannah screwed her nose up in disgust,
I ignored her and flung the door open, jumping in just as Caleb came around the corner to get into his car, which, coincidentally was parked next to mine. I really had to start taking more notice of where I was. The dark wasn't helping. I waited until Hannah was in the car and drove off. Glad to finally be going home, well… I was. Until I realised "home" meant Reid. And Reid meant bitching.