It All Started With A Tampon

(13)

I put down a plate of pancakes in front of a customer, and smile when she hands me a tip. I've been hiding out here all day. School's over, and I really don't want to go home. I haven't seen them since last night, and I'm really not looking forward to it. The bell rings, and I whip around to see Ben walk through the door. Shoot. I forgot he was working tonight. I've been here since nine, and it's already six. He sees me, and starts towards me. I quickly run into the kitchen, to find Frank wasn't there. Uh. Great. Ben's now the only chef. I sit down and start to fill ketchup bottles. Ben enters, and he dumps his stuff on the table. 

"Gemma." He says softly. I look up at him.

"What?" 

"Are you ok?" He asks, sitting down across from me.

"Yeah." I say briskly. "Of course I am? Why wouldn't I be?" He sighs, and stares.

"It's not what you think." He continues. "He's just looking out for you."

"He's right." I suddenly say. He looks at me questioningly. "He's right." I repeat. "I'm just a little girl, embarrassing myself. Thankyou, for everything you've done. I won't bug you guys anymore. I can handle myself." I get up, and grab my bag, leaving before he can say anything more.

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I whimper, as I look at the house in front of me. I don't want to go in. All the lights are on, he's home. Mark's car is in the driveway, so he's here too. They're going to be so angry. I look to the house next to mine, but all the lights are off, and it's silent. I slowly walk up to the door, and stop on the door mat. I look towards, the window, and the T.V is on. Maybe they're asleep. I put my key in the lock, and silently open the door. I step in, and shut the door behind me. The house is a mess, the remains of the party littering the floor.

"Where the hell have you been?" I turn around to see both of them in the doorway of the kitchen. 

"I-I- I was called into work." I stutter, praying to God this plan works.

"We woke up at ten in the morning, and you were gone!" Josh yells angrily.

"It was an emergency, one of the waitresses fell ill." I say quickly. "I started at nine." 

"We've had to sit in this mess all day!" Mark shouts.

"I got paid!" I add, trying to bribe my way out. "A lot." It's true, I asked for my pay tonight, because I knew this would be a problem. Their eyes light up, and Josh grins, their moods changing almost right away.

"Really?" Josh asks, sitting down on the sofa, along with Mark. "Hand it over." I hesitantly walk over to them, and pull out half of the money. I give it to Josh, and he counts it. He stares at me, annoyed. "This isn't that much." Mark chuckles.

"That's because she's lying." He says, and quickly grabs my arm, putting his hand in my pocket, pulling out the rest of the money. He gives it to Josh, who sighs. 

"You know Gemma, if you would just stop trying to get the better of me, things would go a lot smoother." He says, counting the money. He smiles. "This is what I'm talking about." He puts the money in his pocket, and stares at me.

"I'm going to overlook your little disappearance." He says. "As long as you clean this mess up before you go to bed." I nod, my heart souring that I got out of this alive.

"When's Mom and Dad coming back?" I ask quietly, wanting Mark to go home. 

"Oh yeah." Josh says, like he just remembered something. "They rang me this morning, they had to extend their trip for another month or so." He grins. "So, I'm going to have Mark and a couple more of my....friends, to stay over here for awhile." My blood runs cold. Could he be talking about...his gang?