Josh arrived at the Rack at the head of the after school rush. He quickly put on his apron and started taking orders. As he gave her the strawberry smoothie she had ordered, Katie said, "This is pretty hectic."
"Tell me about it," Josh agreed. "We are still down one person with Amanda gone and everyone comes in at the same time. I only get paid for a couple of hours and I do about four hours worth of work."
"You should demand hazard pay," Katie said.
"Hey, can I get some service down here," a customer called from the other end of the counter.
"Got to go," Josh told her.
Katie nodded and sipped her smoothie while Josh dealt with the hectic flow of orders. When she saw that he wasn't going to be able to talk to her for a while, she opened her literature book and started reading her assignment. After about an hour, the rush thinned out and Josh was able to have a moment to spare. He came over to where she was and she shut her book, marking the place.
"That was a lot of smoothies," Josh said. "Did you get any homework done?"
"Almost all of my literature assignment," Katie said. She frowned, "That looked hard, are you sure you want to work after school."
"Not really," Josh said. "Mostly I'm going to work weekends during the school year, but the boss insists on me taking an afternoon shift because it's so busy." He sighed, "This is usually when I would call Andy." He noticed Katie's smile fade slightly.
"We haven't been able to play G-Force together as much now that school has started," Katie commented.
"It's hard enough scheduling things around school. But scheduling things around school in two different time zones three hours apart is almost impossible," Josh grumbled.
A straggling customer came to the counter. Josh said, "Excuse me" and turned to him. It was Nate Harrison.
"What can I get for you," Josh asked guardedly.
"I've come in a couple of times looking for Amanda. She never seems to be here," Nate said.
"She isn't working here anymore," Josh told him. "She's in New York."
Nate looked surprised, "I didn't hear anything about this. What's she doing in New York?"
"She's spending a semester studying piano at a conservatory. She won't be back until Christmas," Josh said. "I don't think I'll survive until then unless we get some help."
"You do look understaffed," Nate agreed. "Would it be too much trouble to make me a Latte?"
"One latte coming up," Josh fixed the Latte and gave it to Nate who thanked him and carried it over to a table at the side of the room. Josh looked around to see if anyone else was waiting. When he saw that no one was, he went back over to where Katie was waiting.
"I'm sorry to make you sit and wait," Josh apologized. "It's just so busy."
"That's all right," Katie said. "I'm just doing my homework anyway. It's more fun here than at home – and quieter."
"This place?" Josh asked waving his arms around the room still filled with students talking to one another.
"You haven't met my two little brothers – yet," Katie smiled. "They make more noise than your customers do."
Josh paused for a moment of indecision, "There's a dance after the football game on Friday."
"There's always a dance after home games," Katie confirmed.
"Would you like to go to this one with me?" Josh asked.
Katie's expression brightened, she said, "I'd love to." Then her smile faded slightly, "I'm not a very good dancer, though."
"That's all right," Josh assured her with a smile. "I've got that covered. We'll make it up as we go."