A/N As always, you blew me away with all your wonderful reviews. I'm so grateful that I have you all as my readers! I hope you like this chapter, a new, quite important, character will be introduced. Thank you lovewords for the idea, I seriously owe you one ;)
(This is on the short side too, I'm warning ya, a lot of them will be. I hope quality wins over quantity for you guys!)

A Table For... One?

I stare at the calendar long and hard before heaving a sigh and collapsing on my bed, flinging an arm over my face dramatically. The reason for my despair is as simple and typical as it comes, but it doesn't make it any easier to accept that soon, I will not be able to spend almost my whole day either painting or watching every single Marvel/DC television show out there.

Finally facing the fact that no, my calendar does not have a mistake, and yes, I only have two days of precious holidays left before that dreaded day otherwise known as Cameron Morgan's First Day at Roseville High, I slowly sit up and try to locate my work uniform for my shift at the diner. After a solid five minutes, I spot the black-and-white chequered skirt and the blue blouse stuffed behind my desk. They aren't too wrinkly so I quickly pull them on and run a brush through my dishwater blonde hair, checking my reflection in the mirror one last time before rushing out the door. I've got exactly six minutes to get to the diner, ready for my shift at seven. I was three minutes late last Wednesday and Arnold yelled at me for pretty much ten minutes straight; he's a stickler for punctuality – and by punctuality, I mean punctuality. Thank the lord, Zach wasn't there.

My last three shifts have been luckily void of kitchen work, but I'm doubtful how long that's going to last. Business has seen a bit of a lull this past week, but the moment school starts, I'm quite certain the place will be full to bursting again.

I hurry to the entrance just as the minute hand on my watch strikes fifty-nine minutes past, wrenching open the door and jumping inside. The usual fifties music blasts out the radio – how they manage to find a radio station which plays fifties music non-stop is beyond me – and again, hardly any customers await me. Is this some sort of miracle? I mean, it's not great news for business… but I can't pretend it isn't great news for me.

I see Arnold waiting for me by the front counter, staring at his wristwatch intently. He sees me rushing towards him and greets me with a nod and a stern hello, before moving out the way to go back into the kitchens, leaving me with taking orders and cleaning up duty – and I am not complaining.

Listening to Elvis Presley crooning the lyrics to Hound Dog, I get to work cleaning some of the recently vacated tables. Spritz, swipe, dry. Stack, carry, stack some more. Granted, it's boring work, but I'd much rather be doing this than cooking.

I carry a stack of dirty plates to the kitchen, realising a bit too late that this load is far more than I can carry. Don't drop them, Cammie, I tell myself forcefully. Do not drop them.

"Need some help?" a gruff voice asks from behind me. I start, almost dropping the plates there and then, but a hand shoots out to steady me; the plates, thankfully, do not go smashing to the ground. I carefully manoeuver myself so I'm facing the person who helped me and I grin happily – in other words, like a total fool – when I see who it is.

"Adam!" I beam.

"Hey, Cammie." He smiles warmly at me, eyes crinkling at the corners. "You look like a girl in need of a hand."

He looks a lot more polished today, and sort of cleaner than he did the last time, however that may sound. He's wearing a pair of jeans that actually fit him and a dark red polo shirt with the top button undone, slightly more fitted than that flannel tent. His hair is slightly ruffled and he's got a few cute freckles on his nose, probably from spending time outside in the sun. His adorable glasses are there too, and needless to say, I'm mentally fanning myself.

"No, no. I'm okay, but thank you," I say, obviously lying as I grimace at the weight. "How did you know I work here?" I ask, trying to stop checking him out.

He looks at me doubtfully. "My friend told me a new girl was working at the diner last Friday. We don't usually get new faces around here, so I sort of suspected." He glances at the plates trembling in my arms and frowns. "Are you sure you don't want me to –?"

"I'll be right back," I interrupt, all but ready to throw the plates on the ground. I dash into the kitchens and pile them next to the sink where I do most of the washing up and then run back out, pulling out my notepad and pen form the pocket in my apron when Arnold gives me a suspicious look.

"Just taking an order, Arnold!" I call.

"Back," I say a little breathlessly, halting to a stop in front of Adam. He looks at me a little bemusedly and I blush slightly.

"So, Adam. What will it be? A table for… one?" I ask, a little awkwardly.

"Oh, no. I'll get our usual booth, please. That one in the corner." He points towards a two-seated booth near the kitchen doors, the one I hid in on my first shift at the diner, and my smile falters.

"Oh, okay," I say, a little disappointed. Of course he'd have a girlfriend. I know he didn't explicitly say that, but who else could it be? It's not like he'd be having a bromantic dinner with one of his buds in a secluded booth.

"Where's your girlfriend?" I ask, hoping I don't sound like a prat and knowing that I totally do. He looks at me, slightly confused; only half-hearing what I said as he's too busy looking towards the doors behind me.

"What?" he asks, eyebrows furrowed. I open my mouth to reply, planning on saying something else as he didn't exactly hear me the first time and I can save myself some embarrassment, but he interrupts, calling over my shoulder and cutting me short.

"Finally," he says, rolling his eyes. "What took you so long? I could've eaten and left and you'd still be outside."

"Never said you had to wait for me, honey bunch," a voice retorts immediately.

He rolls his eyes again, this time affectionately. "That, Cammie, is my foolish best friend Michaela."

Oh.

I spin around just in time to see a girl walking in, stuffing a phone into her bag as she makes her way towards us. She's quite short, but with her chunky, heeled black boots you can't really tell, and she's so pretty I feel like a toad just standing here. As I take in her appearance, I find myself feeling instantly, if not unwillingly, jealous. Her hair is positively envy-inducing: it's blonde, but instead of the dirty dishwater colour mine insists on being, it's that gorgeous sun-kissed gold I could never hope to achieve. Add to it the fact that it falls right past her shoulders to the small of her back in perfect waves; I might as well just shave mine off.

I also really like her shirt, you know. I would so buy that.

She hurries towards us and smiles at me as she approaches, and I find myself smiling back straight away.

"Hey, Cammie, nice to meet you," she says warmly. "I see you've already met Adam – shame you had to meet him before me."

"Very funny," Adam says drily. "Why don't you go sit down so we can order already, huh, Princess?"

I laugh at his nickname for her, just noticing a faint pink colour coating Michaela's cheeks before she responds and it disappears.

"Somebody's hungry," she says, pushing him towards the booth. "C'mon Cammie, we'll order." She rolls her eyes at me behind his back and I chuckle at their antics.

"What would you like?" I ask once they've settled down, my pen poised over the page.

"Strawberry milkshake to share, two hot dogs with ketchup and mustard and a deluxe basket of fries," Adam rattles off. I nod, mentally noting how Michaela got proper diner food instead of a stupid salad that isn't even on the menu, like some of the teenage girls who have come here. I think I like her.

"Coming right up," I smile, dotting the last 'i'. "Shouldn't be too long, we aren't that busy today."

"Thanks, Cam," Michaela smiles. "I can call you Cam, right?" she adds hastily.

"'Course," I laugh. "Adam can't though," I say, straight-faced.

He sits up indignantly and Michaela snorts. "She's joking, you idiot."

"Right," he replies, pushing up his glasses. "I knew that."

I laugh at him before turning to go to the kitchens. "Won't be ten minutes!" I call over my shoulder.

A/N Thank you for taking the time out to read this! Please leave your thoughts in a review: I'd love to see what you thought of Michaela. Personally, I really like her character. You can probably guess that no, I have not re-checked this chapter... so excuse the mistakes :)

I'm going to London for four days, so I will not be updating until at least Friday, and I won't have any wifi either. Don't think that I've forgotten about the story if I don't update on Friday though: just know that I will update as soon as I can. This short holiday was actually a surprise, and I'm aware I've just had a week long absence from updating, but I'm sure you can all wait four (or five, possibly six) days!

Have a great day/night, my friends!

TiggerMorgan: Haha thanks! Yes, there is a little tension ;)

Indigoandvioletskies: I had a very nice holiday thank you! Spain is absolutely gorgeous. I would never forget, don't worry! Thank you so much, I'm so glad. McDonalds better be jellll ;) And... is this soon enough? Sorry for the wait you'll have for the next chapter! xxx

BooksLover2000: Hahaa

miaadventure: OMG I love that idea haha and nah I'm aiming to be super cliché because I totally don't care, and I like the fluffiness. Zach will be teaching her later on and you know, I shall definitely be considering your idea. XD

TeenageGallagherGirlSpy: Haha I thought that was cute too. And yeah, I know what you mean! Are you in one of those moods today? Hehe

CammieBishop: Yay, haha thanks!

Guest 1: Thank you! I hope the rest doesn't disappoint! :)

OhNobody: Thanksss! That's so sweet XD

Guest 2: Thank you :) Haha yeah, that bit was quite fun to write!

lovewords: T.H.A.N.K.Y.O.U. aw such a nice review! Haha I thought that was cute too XD And phew, that's good to hear, I mean I do want it to be cliché but not too much, ya know? Hope you liked this Adam chapter! And another certain someone, I really do hope I did her justice ;)

NuhaXGoode: Thanking you :)

fanficlover4602: Thanks youuu! It sure does feel great to be loved ;) And I will most definitely continue, honey bunch :P