Welcome To Hickville High (Hickville High Series Book 1), page 11
In the front of the diner, near the cash register, she noticed laminated posters of Austin and Travis in their football jerseys. Each was headed with their name and position. The smile Austin usually wore was replaced by a stoic expression. It looked uncomfortable on his face and she wondered if he’d been told not to smile.
“Handsome boys, aren’t they?”
Kelsey turned from the pictures and blushed. “I didn’t hear you come back.”
Mrs. McCoy stood next to a wiry, grey haired man wearing a white apron over a sleeveless T-shirt and jeans. He held a rag in his hands and an unlit cigarette draped out of the corner of his mouth. “This here is T-bone. He owns the place. T, this is Kelsey Quinn.”
He spoke around the cigarette. “When can you start?”
“Tomorrow?”
“Can you be here at ten?”
“Sure.” I think.
“I’ll try you two days a week, then we’ll talk.” He turned and walked back the kitchen.
“Okay.” Kelsey tried to give a casual chuckle but it got caught in the back of her throat and sounded more like she’d choked on a giant lugy or something.
Mrs. McCoy smiled at Kelsey. “Don’t let him scare you. He don’t talk much, but he won’t bite.”
“Is there anything I need to do before tomorrow?” Besides talk my parents into letting me work?
“Nah. Try to get here a little early so we can fill out paper work and go over a few things.” Mrs. McCoy looked at Austin. “I don’t work late tonight, so I’ll be fixin dinner.”
“Okay, I get off at six. I’ll see ya then.”
She nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kelsey
“I’ll be here.” She held her breath to keep from squealing and forced herself to take normal steps to the door. But as soon as she was on the sidewalk, she let a broad grin form and jumped from the sidewalk to the street two feet below.
Austin followed and opened the door for her. “That went well.”
Kelsey was still grinning when she got in the truck. “And I start tomorrow. Chicago here I come.”
“Cool. Buckle up, we got five minutes to get to the store.”
*
“Tomorrow? What happened to making sure it works with our schedule?” Mom and Dad stood shoulder to shoulder—a united force, set on ruining her life.
“You said I could get a job. I got a job. It’s only for a few hours a couple of days a week. What’s the big deal? This morning we finished the chores by nine-thirty. Besides, what I don’t get done before work, I’ll finish when I get home.”
Dad tossed his feed store cap on the rickety back room table. “And when will you be available to help in the store?”
“You’re being unfair. I’m the only one cleaning up after the animals. I’m the only one bringing in actual money and you want me to work here too?”
Mom looked at Dad. “She has a point, Tom.”
Kelsey took a deep breath and tried to release some of the anger she felt. “Dad, you’re always saying I need to be more responsible. That’s what I’m trying to do. Look, I’ll do my chores in the morning, work at the café, and when you need an extra hand at the store I’ll do that too. It’s not like I have a life here anyway.” She shouldn’t have thrown that last barb, but fortunately her parents had ignored it.
“How are you going to get to work?”
“Mom could take me, or Austin could drop me off on his way to the store.”
Dad looked at Mom. “Okay.”
“Really?” Kelsey wanted to jump up and down but instead smiled and nodded. “Thanks, I promise you won’t regret it.”
Austin wandered into the back room dragging the flat bed cart. “Mrs. Benson is picking up some cedar shavings.”
“I’ll help you load them.” Kelsey looked at her dad. “See, I can do both.”
He didn’t say anything but gave her a “we’ll see” look.
She practically skipped to Austin. He pulled a bag of shavings from shelf and smiled. “You look happy.”
“Dad’s okay with me starting tomorrow.”
“Cool. Just don’t let T-bone give you any crap.” He reached for the next bag and his shoulder bumped hers, knocking her slightly off balance. She righted herself and playfully crashed into his. A game of who-can-shoulder-bump-the hardest was born. He shoved her hard enough to make her lose her footing and she’d have fallen into the shavings if he hadn’t caught her and pulled her upright.
He’d held her hand for a couple of seconds at most. But little zingers pulsed through her anyway. It didn’t mean anything—it was just a reaction. She’d have been able to ignore it, pretend she’d imagined it—if she hadn’t looked him in the eyes. The second her gaze met his those zingers went full force. She couldn’t take her eyes away from his and wondered if he felt the same insane tingles.
And then, he looked away and grabbed the next sack. “How many bags have we loaded so far?”
“Eight.”
“I’ll get the rest. I think Ryan might need some help up front.”
Crap! He thinks I have a thing for him. “Okay. I want to text Drew anyway.” That’ll show him.
But before she texted Drew, she called Zoe.
“Guess what?”
“You’re moving back?”
“Only in my dreams. But I have almost as good news. I got a job.”
“And that’s good news how?”
“Because I’m earning money to come to the gala.”
“Kelsey, I can give you money for tickets. You don’t need to work.”
“My parents would never allow you, or anybody else, to pay my way.”
“We don’t have to tell them.”
“They’re broke, not stupid. Besides, I like that I’m earning my own way. It makes me feel, I don’t know, independent.”
Zoe laughed like that was the funniest thing she’d heard in a long time. “I feel independent when I slide that plastic across the scanner.”
Kelsey gave a fake chuckle back. “Yeah, I remember those days.”
“Oh, Kelsey. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m glad your coming. It doesn’t matter how you get here. So tell me about this job.”
“Do you remember me telling you about the little café’?”
“The one with the trailer trash waitress? Seriously? You’re working there?”
“Yeah.” She should have told her that the waitress was really nice, but she didn’t. Zoe had already made her feel bad about having to work. She didn’t want to give her any more ammo. “Call it a study in redneckness.”
“That’s epic. When do you start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I can’t wait to hear about it.”
*
Austin stopped at the light a block from the café. “You’re quiet. Are you nervous?”
“No.” She tried to sound casual but her voice had a little quiver in it anyway.
“You’re going to do great.”
“I’m not worried.” How hard can it be?
“I know, I’m just saying you’ve spun that phone around in your hand so much I’m surprised you haven’t pealed the cover off.”
She stopped mid-turn and dropped the phone in her purse. “I’m just thinking about home. I can’t wait to go back.”
Austin parked in front of the café. “Text when you get off.”
“Yes, Mom.” She opened the door and took a deep breath. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Sure. I’ll see ya later.” Kelsey could feel his gaze on her as she climbed the steps to the diner. She hesitated at the door, took a deep breath, and headed in.
Mrs. McCoy stood with a coffee pot hanging from her hand talking to some old men. “There’s our new girl now. This is Kelsey. Now y’all be nice to her.”
A tiny freckled faced man wearing a straw cowboy hat smiled at her. “I hope you do a better job than Sandy.”
A red faced man leaned back in his chair. “Just keep our cups full and the coffee hot and you’ll be okay.”
Mrs. McCoy swatted in the general direction of the red-faced man. “Shoot. You drink a pot of coffee before the rest of us get here.”
“Somebody’s got get the place going.” He smiled at Kelsey. “Half the town has a set of keys to this place. First one up, starts the coffee.”
“Oh, that’s convenient.”
Mrs. McCoy said, “Unless you forget to turn the burglar alarm off. Come on Kelsey, let’s get those papers filled out.”
She led Kelsey to a tiny office nestled in the back of the kitchen. She had her sign a W-something that had to do with taxes. Taxes? She had to pay taxes? After that, she handed her a white apron and took her back to an area adjacent to the kitchen. A long stainless steel counter was piled with dirty dishes. The counter emptied into a stainless sink with a faucet that arched high above the sink. Next to that was a box looking thing that Mrs. McCoy said was a dishwasher. “Come on, I’ll give you a tour of the kitchen.”
T-bone chopped onions at what she learned was called the prep table. Kelsey remembered Austin’s advice about not letting the man intimidate her and took half a breath. “Good morning, T-bone.”
He didn’t look up but sort of grunted and nodded. He looked at Mrs. McCoy and said, “Sandy, you got her washing those dishes yet?”
“Good grief, T, give her a chance to learn where things are first.”
“She don’t need to know nothing except where the dishwasher is.”
They retreated to the clean up area and she showed Kelsey how to rinse dishes and work the machine. “Okay, let me see you do a load before I turn you lose.”
Kelsey squeeze the handle on the spray head hanging over the sink and rinsed bits of egg and some white stuff that looked like watered down gritty paste off of a plate and placed it in the rack below the box. When the rack was full, she pulled the box over it and pushed the button.
“Good. I’m going to check on my table. Grab that tub and see if there are any dishes that need clearing.”
And that was the moment that Kelsey realized that she was not going to be a waitress in a redneck diner, she was the dishwasher in a redneck diner. Her job was to pick up after people she didn’t know, rinse their half-eaten food off of the dishes, and throw away napkins that have been coughed, nose-blowed, and spit in. Her stomach churned. Chicago, gala, Drew. I can do this. She grabbed the tub and followed Mrs. McCoy to the dining room.
Great. Britney Boyd and Courtney Randall were ordering from a menu. Maybe they wouldn’t remember her from the coffee shop. She ducked her head and cleared plates from an empty table across from where the girls sat.
“Hey, Courtney, isn’t that Illanoise busing tables?”
Kelsey wanted to correct the mispronunciation, but continued to stack dishes-of-grossness in the bucket.
Tables filled, customers ate, and then left disgusting dishes for her to clear and clean for the next two hours. She dodged a few more snarky comments from the girls but was too busy trying to keep her breakfast down to think about it—until the girls finished their lunch. They stood at the cash register receiving change from Mrs. McCoy and called to Kelsey. “Hey, we left you a special tip.”
Yeah. I bet you did. She nodded and gave a sarcastic “Thanks.”
That special tip was a plate with mashed potatoes, ranch dressing, and ketchup mixed together. So what, she could handle that. The glasses stopped her. They were upside down, full of soda. She couldn’t clear them without dumping coke all over the table.
Mrs. McCoy tsked from behind her. “I hate when kids do that. Sometimes you can hold your bucket under the table ledge and scoot it over until it dumps.”
“How do they do that?”
“They put cardboard over the top, turn it upside down and slide out the cardboard. We quit using coasters because they’re the perfect size for this stunt.”
Kelsey tried the scoot the glass to the edge trick, but the soda spilled anyway.
Mrs. McCoy shook her head. “Well, you’ve been initiated. Welcome to the Early Bird.”
Kelsey cleaned the mess and repeated her mantra. Chicago, gala, Drew.
The rest of the afternoon went by with the normal grossness of busing tables. T-bone never spoke to her directly. Instead, he would yell directions at Mrs. McCoy for “the girl.” That was fine with Kelsey. When the rush slowed and Kelsey finished loading the last round of dishes, Mrs. McCoy called her aside.
“You did real good, Kelsey. T wants to know if you can work Monday through Friday until school starts.”
“I think so.” Or until I earn enough money to go to Chicago, but I’m not telling you that.
“Well, ask your parents. You are working tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, ma’m.”
“Okay, we’re good here if you want to text Austin.”
“Thank you.” Kelsey texted I’m done as she spoke.
T-bone poked his head around the corner of the kitchen and yelled, “Sandy, tell the girl her lunch is at the counter.”
“She heard, T, along with half the town.” She looked at Kelsey. “That’s about as close of a pat on the back as you’ll ever get.”
Kelsey smiled. “I didn’t realize I was hungry, now I’m starving.”
“Hang up your apron and go eat.”
Kelsey found a hamburger and fries waiting for her. Mrs. McCoy brought her a Dr. Pepper, grabbed a salad, and sat next to her at the bar.
“Well, Miss Kelsey, what do you think of your first day at the diner?”
“It was good. I’ll never leave a gross mess for the busboy again.”
“Learned something, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“I guess things are a might bit different here than in Chicago.”
“Oh, yes.”
“Austin said you were catching on to the farm life. He said you were a real natural.”
“Really?” Cuz he told me that I gripe about it all the time.
“He said you smile when you feed the chickens.”
“I do?”
“Well, he’d probably kill me if he knew I shared that with you.”
Awkward silence filled the air between them. Kelsey searched for conversation. “Mrs. McCoy…”
“Call me Sandy, honey.”
“Okay, Sandy. Did you know my dad?”
“I was a few years younger than your dad. But I reckon everybody knew who he was—especially when he gave up football.”
“Why did he give it up?”
“There were lot’s of rumors, but you know how school can be.”
“My aunt said something about some girl, Cassidy Jones?”
Mrs. McCoy—Sandy—raised her brows and lowered the corners of her mouth in a huh kind of way. “Love can make the heart do crazy things. I guess your daddy is the best one to answer that question.”
“Yeah. He doesn’t talk about his school days. Before we moved here, I never really thought about what high school was like for my parents.”
“You were probably too busy having your own experience. Do you like school?”
“I liked Saint Monica’s. I can’t believe I’m missing my senior year there.”
“It’s hard moving and leaving your friends behind, but it can be an adventure too. Your friends won’t forget you.”
“Yeah. I know. Mom says sometimes you make sacrifices for the ones you love. Is it really a sacrifice if you don’t have a choice?”
“Maybe she wasn’t talking about you.”
That stopped Kelsey. She’d never considered that her mom was actually sacrificing anything. Sure her mom had a few friends, but wasn’t her life mostly the family? Other than wearing cute clothes to volunteer events, what’d her mom give up?
She didn’t have time to think about it for long because Austin came barreling through the door. “Hey everybody.”
Sandy turned toward the door. “Pull up a stool. We were just talking about school.”
Austin sat next to Kelsey and snitched a fry from her plate. “I can’t believe summer is almost over. Football practice starts next week.” He bumped elbows with Kelsey. “Are you ready to become a Hillside Hornet?”
“Let’s say I’m ready to get this year over with.”
“Get it over with?” Sandy looked at her like she’d just insulted the flag or something. “You might want to be careful what you wish for, the next thing you know, and you’ll be crossing that stage wondering where it went.”
Austin stood. “She’s got a boyfriend waiting for her, I don’t think she’s too worried about her senior year.”
Kelsey smacked him on the arm. “It’s not just about Drew.” And do you really care?
“Well you aren’t gonna hurry up the year, so you might as well enjoy the ride.” Sandy looked at Austin. “Are you two heading back to the feed store?”
“Yeah, why?”
“No reason. Jenny can’t come in until six, so I’m working late tonight.”
Kelsey finished her burger and stood to clear the plates, but Sandy stopped her. “I got it. You go on.”
Kelsey gathered her purse and left the diner behind Austin. Enjoy the ride? What ride? I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no friends. She watched Austin jump off of the sidewalk to the street. Okay, one friend. But this isn’t Chicago and he’s not Drew.
Kelsey didn’t realize how tired she was until she sat in Austin’s truck. She leaned her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes.
He started the engine and said, “How was your first day?”
“Exhausting. I didn’t know I was going to be a busboy. People are really gross.”
“I’ve done that job before, I’d rather scoop shit than pick up what people leave on their plates. The worst is ranch dressing floating in the tub.”
“With ketchup and soggy bread.” She peeped at him with one eye. “Okay, now I’m nauseous—thanks. I don’t know how I’m going to heave feed sacks. I’m so tired. Carrying all those dishes gets heavy.”
“That’s what you’ve got me for. This is like strength training for football.”
