Wingless And Beautiful
?EPISODE 18 ?
When I finished, I heard Dominic and Mr. Simpson,
clapping and cheering along with some customers who
came in for last-minute purchases.
I felt almost embarrassed because I thought it was just
the three of us left in the store now. I put the electric guitar back on the rack and went to the counter to take care of the customers’ purchases.
“You certainly play very well. I knew your stepfather. I
guess he taught you well,” one of the customers said to me.
He was a man probably in his fifties. He was accompanied
by a guy with dark hair, who looked like he was just my age.
I smiled shyly at the man as I bagged his purchase.
The man turned to leave and the younger guy followed
him. As he reached the door, the younger guy turned back
to look at me. I noticed his eyes went to the nametag on my
chest.
Then he looked at me in the eye and gave me a wink
before he exited the store.
“I have a band. Maybe you can jam with us sometimes.
We could use a female band member,” Dominic said to me.
I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why? Dom’s right. Your stepfather was really good at
the guitar. He played for a local band here,” Mr. Simpson
said to me.
I smiled at him gently. He must have known my stepdad
too. He bought my first guitar from this shop. Before I could
cry at the memory, I excused myself and went to the back
to gather my stuff. My shift has ended and it was time for
me to go home.
After temping at Strung, I got a job serving tables at
Burger Inn. It wasn’t ideal for my condition, but the owner
gave me a chance, so I took it.
Many of the kids from my
school hang out there after classes, especially during Friday nights. I was lucky enough to survive their pranks on a daily basis.
After a week though, my luck ran out.
“Hey BG! Wanna serve our order, today?” a boy, named
Don Winston, called me loud enough for everybody at
Burger Inn to turn to my direction.
I drew deep breaths. One. Two. Three.
For the past week, they had been calling me BG. It stood
for Burger Girl. I couldn’t complain. I was a burger girl. And being a Burger Girl meant I was able to save some money
for college.
“Hey BG!” Don Winston called again. “Couldn’t you get
here any faster?”
“Just a minute,” I said cheerfully. I do have to keep up the appearances.
A minute later, I served their orders.
“Hey, burgers are not complete without dressing, right
guys?” Don asked the rest of the people on their table.
The girls beside him giggled and fluttered their
eyelashes. I recognized them from school. One of them was
Chelsea Braxton. Don smiled at them mischievously.
Without warning, he stood up, raised his hand over my
head and poured ketchup all over me. I was too shocked to
react at first.
“What the fk!”
The girls laughed. Then they smiled at me innocently.
“Oh, that’s better!” He went close to me and whispered
in my ear. “Now, you’re more tempting than the burger.
What do you say, we meet up after your shift? I could eat
you all night.”
Now, that was below the belt! I was so appalled that I
slapped him on the face. The girls stopped laughing.
“Alice!” my manager called me. “What are you doing?”
“He… harassed me!” I replied, trying to defend myself.
“No, miss! She said a nasty remark to us and was rude
in serving our table.” Chelsea told my manager.
What the he..ll?
“I did not!” I said angrily. “I was nice to you and you
poured ketchup all over me.” Then I pointed at Don. “And he
harassed me!”
But my manager was already staring at me with a raised
brow, shaking her head.
“You’re fired, Alice,” she said.
“But he provoked me, Andrea,” I protested.
“You know the rules. You should not harass customers
even if they harassed you first.”
I sighed. “Fine!”
I turned my back on Don Winston and his friends. I
heard a series of snorts and giggles, which made me want
to turn back to them and punch them one by one. I’m
already fired anyway.
I walked back to my locker, took off my uniform and
wiped off the ketchup from my hair and my face. I went out
of Burger Inn, glaring one last time at Don and his gang.
They just laughed and someone actually stuck a tongue out
at me.
I couldn’t believe that there were kids like Don Winston,
Chelsea Braxton and their army of groupies who could
afford to make somebody lose their means of living and
then laugh about it afterwards.
When I came out in a rush, the first person I saw was
another guy from school.
He was new but somehow, he
looked familiar, like I’d seen him before his first day at
Leighton High.
What was his name? Chaise something?
I couldn’t care less.
“Hey, what do you know?” he called to me. I turned
back to face him. “Is it Alice Harley Bad Hair Day? Or did
you just run out of a sweeter-smelling hair gel?” he asked,
his eyes were laughing.
I glared at him. “Fk off!” Then I strode away.
“Hey, hey!” he called again. “Bad mood? Is the red flag
up this time of the month?”
I sent another glare his way.
“Not everybody was born lucky like you, Chaise…” I
trailed off, realizing that I didn’t know his surname.
He waited for me to continue.
Then he took a step
towards me. I took a step back, afraid that he was going to
physically assault me. He grinned. From where he stood, I
realized how tall he was. He was probably as tall as Hunter.
He had the same built too.
“Anderson,” he whispered. His expression turned soft.
“My name is Chaise Anderson.” He smiled at me and then
he walked away.
I didn’t care what his name was. He was from school.
And he was like the rest of them. He was new… hot and
rich. He instantly fits right in. From the moment he stepped
out of his black Porsche, wearing a hooded jacket and sleek sports sunglasses, he was Mr. Popularity.
I was popular in school too. But I was the exact opposite of Chaise Anderson.
I was popular in a bad way when all I wanted was to be just
a fly on the wall.
A single tear escaped from my right eye, rolling down to
the side of my face, close to where my scar was.
I wished for nothing more but for Hunter to come back, so I could lean on someone who would understand. I didn’t want to
just imagine him standing beside me anymore. I want him to be real!
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