It was a busy Friday night as I watched Gwen and Katie run around the dining area. Even though most of the guys I went to school with had already left for their first semester of college, we still had the new group of high school kids who would soon be claiming this place as their own.

We were short staffed in the back of the house. Frank, a middle aged guy with a bunch of tats, usually had my back on nights like this. He was a permanent fixture as long as I’d been here. But his daughter had a school play or something and he was nowhere to be seen.

You know who was? Mike.

For owning the place, he certainly didn’t have any business making food. It was like he had never worked a day of his life in the kitchen. Thinking back to my first days at the diner, when I was just an eager sophomore looking for a way to make some extra money, I couldn’t remember ever seeing him back here.

There had been a string of guys who had come and gone and decided the hot atmosphere was too much. Although, for some, I suspected they were unwilling to stop getting high long enough to be able to handle the multitasking required to make sure meals went out at the same time and were all still piping hot.

Mike, in his button down shirt and slacks, was keeping up as well as the latter. He walked with an air of confidence that only came from the fact his name was on the front door followed by the words Owner/Operator. But beneath that, I saw a guy in his fifties who had no clue how to tell the difference between a burger that was cooked medium or well. Someone who didn’t know you couldn’t drop fries too soon unless you wanted a soggy mess going to the table.

“Table six has three burgers and a melt.” He told me as if I didn’t just see that order come in.

“Yeah, I got it,” I said with a distracted tone, as I plated some tenders and fries for a different table.

“Right. Just making sure you knew that needed to be done. I’ll just get these onion rings ready to drop.”

I took a deep breath and set back to my task. It would almost be better to be back here on my own than trying to work around him and fix everything he did.

“Hey, Jules.” I heard a familiar voice from the window.

“Jules?” I asked back in wonder. “That’s a girl’s name. You do know that, right?”

Gwen laughed, as she hung a new ticket. “Yeah, it just came out and I didn’t realize just how wrong it sounded until I said it.” She shrugged her shoulder unrepentantly.

“Whatever you say, Gwendinno.”

“Julianna.”

“Gwen-tlman” I said, knowing it was weak.

Gwen’s shook her head and gave me a pity laugh. “Juliet.”

“Gwen…” I struggled with a comeback. “Fine, you win.”

There was no good way to turn Gwen into a masculine name. I couldn’t help it. My name, on the other hand, gave Gwen plenty of fuel. I didn’t care though; it was fun to joke around after being the town pariah for so long.

Oh, I was still the outcast but the shifts I worked with Gwen made it a little better. There still wasn’t a romantic pull on my end, and thankfully I think Gwen was caught up on someone else. There was an ease between the two of us that came from neither one of us crushing on the other.

We’d been working a lot together lately. The other high school students that had been here were off at college. Gwen and I had fallen into an easy rhythm that made things run so much more smoothly than when other people were around.

Gwen lifted up on her toes to look past me and see if Mike was within hearing range before quietly asking how it was going. I shook my head in response.

“This isn’t like you to take so long getting orders up, even on a busy night like this.”

“Yeah, I have to keep starting fresh fries. And trying to get my station in a smooth assembly line with him straightening up behind me has really messed up my flow. I’m trying here, Gwen.”

“Oh, I know.” She replied with the same easy smile she always wore. “I’m just trying to feel your pain.”

“Get your butt back here, if you really want to know what I’m dealing with.”

She stuck her tongue out at me and grabbed the ready order in front of her before walking back into the fray.

I spent the next hour pushing my limits in the kitchen just praying for the rush to be a short one. When things did slow down and Mike had finally, finally left the kitchen, I was able to get things back to how I liked them. Just two hours until my shift was over and things were looking good in the dining room. It would be pretty dead from this point on. Gwen had cashed out giving me a generous wad of cash. It must have been a good night.

I had told her the last time she gave me too much she had better not pull that stunt again. She had the decency to look almost as embarrassed as I had felt. So I knew when I got my cash at the end of the night, it was what I deserved and no more.

Katie flitted through the dining area like a hummingbird on steroids. Empty tables were wiped down at least three extra times, salt and pepper shakers were full to the rim, and I was convinced the couple at table twelve were going to burst if she filled their water glasses one more time.

She looked happy out there, the happiest I’d seen her since she started working at the diner.

It wasn’t as if I was watching her. Not at all. I had made it clear to her dad I wasn’t the guy to be looking out for his daughter. I still felt that way. It wasn’t my fault my eyes had a mind of their own and would seek her out.

She would occasionally look my way as if she was remembering something. Or her mouth would open and close like she wanted to say something. I don’t think she was even aware she was making those strange little faces.

I would catch glimpses of the girl I used to know and think about how easy it would be to fall back into a friendship with her. Of course, that would require me to open up to another person besides Gwen, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. I found comfort in my solitude.

Or at least I thought I did. I wasn’t so sure these days. The way I reacted to Katie made me wonder if I was ready to let someone else in.

As I sat in the kitchen contemplating this, I watched Tyler sit down at a booth with some more of my old friends. Most of the guys were in different states by now, but Tyler and a couple of other stragglers were either attending BSU or the local community college while staying in town.

Before this fiasco with Marco, Tyler and I had been tight. Captain and co-captain of the wrestling team, we ran the school. Girls wanted to date us and guys wanted to be us. I knew it sounded cocky, but it was the truth. We had so much fun together before he decided he couldn’t do drama. It was easier for him to believe the lie than deal with some minor inconveniences. Better to find out now our friendship was built on nothing more than mutual popularity.

It still hurt.

Katie walked up to the table and I couldn’t help but notice she looked bashful as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. What was that? I sure as hell didn’t want to watch her flirt with him. I couldn’t hear what they were saying and I tried to look busy while watching from the corner of my eye.

Katie burst out in giggles at something Tyler said. It didn’t suit her. I knew it was because he had given her some over the top compliment. I knew his tricks. Abandoning all attempts to pretend to be busy, I flat out stared at Tyler standing right in front of the kitchen window.

Katie was off limits.

Tyler looked up at Katie with a suave smile and pointed at the menu before looking directly at me. He continued talking to Katie and I didn’t have to be able to hear him to know what was being said. He didn’t pull this with Gwen anymore. I’m not sure what exactly went down between the two of them but I knew anytime Tyler and the guys came in, their orders were as plain as could be. Not one modification.

I held my breath and waited to see how Katie would react, not sure why it mattered. Her body, that had just moments ago been filled with an unnatural amount of energy, suddenly stilled. She looked over her shoulder at me, smile gone with no hint of the laughter that had just filled the dining room. She faced the table again and I could tell the two were going back and forth. I wish I could have heard what was being said. It wasn’t long before she stormed off toward Mike’s office.

The table erupted in roars of delight. Tyler shushed them and looked at me, eyes narrowed. Somehow, I was the one who pissed him off? He stalked over to the window, pointing his finger at me.

“You sleeping with her?”

“What?” Was that what this was all about?

“Are you sleeping with Katie?” He asked again slowly emphasizing every word. “Why else would a girl like her defend a guy like you?”

“Must be my charming personally.”

“Oh, that’s good. Your personality.” He started to turn before adding, “Stay away from Katie.”

And that was it. He gathered up the guys at the table and left without placing an order.

I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on between the two of them. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Because Tyler had shown me just how shallow some people could be. I didn’t want to believe Katie was like that.

Knowing Tyler had his sights on her, I debated whether or not to get involved. I knew Katie wouldn’t benefit from it. So I decided I would keep my distance for now.

A few minutes later, Katie came out of Mike’s office. Her eyes were puffy like she had been crying. She went back to her tables but lacked the enthusiasm she had before. She didn’t look at me again for the rest of the night.

Even when she cashed out at the end of her shift, I didn’t see her. I just found a small pile of cash with a paper on top of it. On it was written my name in her familiar scrawl.