Lost and Found

Chapter Four

Don't judge my story by the chapter you walked in on -author unknown

***

Paul and Ethan shook hands. I couldn't help but stare at Ethan. His blue-green eyes were lit up and his dusty, brown hair was longer than before. And he was now taller than me. I'm five-nine he looked about six-foot.

"So you're the one who's been taking care of my girl?" Ethan asked as a casual smirk fell on his face.

"Yeah I guess," Paul responded, not anywhere near as confident. Paul wrapped his arm around me again.

I understood why Paul was intimated. Paul was handsome, but nowhere near as good looking as Ethan. Also, it wasn't hard to tell that I once had a pretty bad crush on Ethan. Let's just say, I found out why they called it a crush.

Ethan looked at me up and down before smiling. That smile always made my insides feel like mush. It had the same effect today. He then looked at Paul. His eyes lingered on the arm wrapped around me. His smile disappeared.

"Cool," Ethan commented. I could tell that he was becoming annoyed by the way he was moving his jaw back and forth. "You're a lucky guy. Juliette, we need to hang out sometime. Do you still have my number?"

I thought about the box in my closet. "Um no. I got a new phone and the numbers didn't transfer," I lied.

"Here," Ethan said. He grabbed a piece of paper and wrote his name on it. I took it even though I wanted to crumple it into a ball and throw it at him.

"Thanks."

Paul nudged me. "We should go," he said.

I gave him a weird look. "We drove separate," I responded.

"Still. Don't you have to work tonight," Paul said, there was an edge in his voice. That's when it clicked. He was jealous.

"Oh yeah," I smiled and gazed at him as if I loved him. "Will you walk me to the car."

Paul chuckled. I was glad he was happy again. Him being happy made me happy. I looked over at Ethan. He was giving Paul the death stare. Why? I thought.

***

I was leaning on a kitchen counter staring at the number I entered into my phone. I knew that if I texted Ethan then I would reopen my past. I wiped my sweaty hands on my waitress apron.

"Juliette!" my boss yelled. "People are waiting for you to actually do your job!"

I rolled my eyes. Miss. Fairfeild, my boss, inherited the place from her father. The first few years the employees walked all over her and the restaurant started to go downhill. So, she put her pin straight, blond hair into a dancer's bun. Then she fired most of the employees who asked for unfair raises, took advantage of her, and proved to be worthless.

After firing nearly her entire staff she desperately needed new people to manage, server, clean, and so on. Luckily, I was looking for a job and knew what I was doing. Even though I got the job and respected her, she wasn't planning to ease up on her rules. After learning from her mistakes she wasn't going to make them twice.

I turned my phone off and for the next five hours I brought food, drink, checks, and menus to tables filled with people. I had to say that I had a good night - I only spilled twice. When I was able to leave the clock read ten.

I jumped in my car and pulled out my phone. From there, I opened my gallery before opening the file titled past. I pressed on a picture from my ninth birthday. In it Hailey, Ethan, his little sister, and I were soaking wet from the pool where I held my party: we still smiled liked dorks.