I sat in the diner waiting for my mom to warm up something for me. I’d offered to help, it was still early though we weren’t the only early risers in town, it seemed. Mom refused the offer, though. I had about half an hour to get to the school and, even then, I would be early, so I could do what I usually did and wait for my kids to arrive.

I stood by the counter talking to one of the workers. She was usually behind the cash register whenever I came by, and I knew it was because my mom trusted her in the position. She went to the same high school I had, but she must have joined after I left, and I’d been so relieved when I first heard that.

It might be ridiculous, but I was pretty much avoiding anyone I’d known well. Mary was different, because she and I had been friends before I decided to isolate myself, and, in any case, with work, it wasn’t like I could run from her.

“You know, I still can't believe he’s doing that shit to himself.”

“Yeah. If he had to stick around, fine, but Ross would be making more cash if he was at least smart about it.”

There was a laugh, then; “You say that as if you’ve ever left this town.”

“I did!”

“No way! Living in between this town and the next doesn’t mean you left town, you’re just a little further out than before.”

I hadn't meant to eavesdrop. There was a lull in my conversation with the girl at the cash register, and they weren’t that far behind me, so I heard them. I would have done the polite thing and tuned them out, but they mentioned Ross and I couldn’t help myself. Especially considering what the subject was about.

“How long has he been working on that car, anyway,” one of them said.

That made my ears perk up, as I immediately thought about my car, the one he’d been sitting on and supposedly working on for a whole month. I knew, even as I tried to kid myself that it couldn’t possibly be my car they were talking about.

“You mean that old piece of shit that he’s been working on for a month? The thing was a trash heap. I don’t know if he’s fixing it up for himself, or what, it would be a miracle if he got to restore that thing, but if he doesn’t get a mini-fortune for it, he’s a fucking idiot.”

My back stiffened in irritation. It was true that my car was a piece of shit, though. Every time it broke down and I managed to get it to a mechanic, they always told me the same thing: that I was lucky the thing was still running, and I needed to turn it in to some junkyard before it fell apart on me while I was driving and I got hurt.

I hadn't entirely trusted that Ross could fix it, either, with how messed up it was, even though he’d invited me plenty of times to check on its progress and I refused every time. Now, I kinda regretted not going at least once.

“If he wanted to make money being a mechanic, he should have considered moving shop, though,” one of the guys went on. “I brought it up to him before, but he said he didn’t want to move too far away from home.”

“It’s because of his daughter, isn’t it? His ex ran out on him and he needs his mom’s help raising the kid.”

The other guy snorted. “If he isn’t ready to raise a kid, he might as well leave her with his mom permanently. Besides, he has a car. There’s a garage for sale about an hour away. If he moved there, made more hours, got the right customers…”

“Yeah. He could make enough to live comfortably on in a year, and maybe think of expanding.” He paused and laughed. “Still needs to get rid of the trash heap, though. He’s already used up way too much time and resources on it. Even then, it’d be a miracle if it worked—”

“Here you go, honey.”

I jumped at the interruption. I was staring off into space as I listened to the conversation going on behind me. I’d glanced at them discreetly, and I was pretty sure I didn’t recognize them from high school, but they were probably Ross’s friends. My mom’s voice suddenly cutting in startled me, and when I looked up to meet her eyes, she was giving me a confused look.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, sounding a little worried.

But I shook my head quickly and tried to smile.

“I’m just fine, Mom,” I said, feeling guilty about lying to her.

I reached across the counter for the bag, but she held it away from me, frowning. I lost the smile and frowned stubbornly back. After a moment of us staring at each other, she sighed and held the bag out to me. I didn’t leave immediately, though, giving her a more natural-looking smile. It wasn’t her fault that I was mad at that idiot, again.

“Thank you for the breakfast, Mom. I appreciate it.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Yeah. Let’s hope he does as well, hmm?”

I rolled my eyes at my mother, even though she must have realized something. Ross wasn’t going to taste my mom’s pastries; I might as well just hand them over to Mary when I made it to the school. And that was exactly what I was going to do.

I turned away from my mother and caught the gaze of one of the guys I’d been eavesdropping on. But seeing him and his friend, who also turned to look at me, just reminded me of their conversation and the information I got from it. I stomped out of the diner in anger, hearing my mom call me out on it, but I ignored her.

“Fucking cheap, my ass,” I growled under my breath as I started a rapid walk down the street.

Every time he mentioned my car, I asked about the price, and I imagine the longer he had it, the more I should pay for it. Hell, some of the mechanics I’d taken the old car to had cost me double what he did for an afternoon’s work.

So why the fuck was Ross charging me next to nothing?

I froze in the middle of the sidewalk as my mind pushed through the scenarios and possibilities. Maybe he was trying for sex? Using it as an apology? I huffed and rolled my eyes, just remembering. I started walking again, but slower, with a scowl on my face. I wanted to fold my arms over my chest, but I couldn’t with the hot brown bag in my hand.

Was the bastard making a fool of me? I thought to myself with a gasp.

There couldn’t be any other possibility. I had thought we’d both matured, but, if he was still the shitty kid from back then, I was going to call him out on it. Then I was going to wait until we could get some privacy away from his daughter and the kids at my school, and I was going to tell him what I thought about him back then after what he did to me.