170 Days of Being Popular

day zero

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, scowling at the table before me. Children should not be allowed to exist in public. All they ever do is cry and spill things, and I don't need either in my life. I wiped down table thirteen for the fourth time, hoping that the stickiness would magically disappear. I didn't even serve that family anything with a sticky texture, so how the hell did that child manage to ruin the table? I hit the table in anger, hoping it would clean itself before stomping back to the café counter.

"Linda, I'm going to burn that table!" I complained to my manager.

Linda just rolled her eyes, taking the towel from me and wiping down the table.

"Seriously, Nova, did you even try?" She laughed, shaking her head as she ran her hand smoothly across the table.

My eyes widened as I witnessed her clean the table in one swipe.

"That's it, I quit!" I exclaimed, pouting.

"This is the fourth time you've tried to quit in one day, Nova. Don't be so dramatic." Linda rolled her eyes, depositing the towel back into my hands and disappearing into the back kitchen.

I rolled my eyes at her back, and glanced at the clock. Just twenty minutes before closing time, Nova, you can do this. I just hoped that a bus full of children didn't suddenly enter. I would light myself on fire if that happened. The bell on the front door rang, and I flinched, imagining a hundred children bustling through the door. I blinked hard before realizing that Monica, my best friend, had walked in. A smile grew on my face as I jogged toward her.

"I am so glad you're not a hundred children!" I breathed, throwing my hands around her.

"Uh, I'm glad I'm not either?" She replied questionably, awkwardly patting my back.

"How's it going at Ew?" I asked, snickering at my name for her high school.

"Ewing, Nova, when will you stop with the dumb nickname? You don't even care about rivalries!" She groaned, flicking my shoulder.

"I care about rivalries when it comes to one-upping you!" I pointed out, giggling as she rolled her eyes.

Monica had been my best friend since elementary school. We were neighbors up until she moved across town (and ruined everything, I like to say) the summer before freshman year, which meant she went to Ewing High School, while I was stuck at the rivaling high school, Lawrence. Monica, always the extrovert, thrived at Ewing, and gained a top rung on the social ladder. I, on the other hand, didn't even attempt to make a name for myself. I wasn't even on the social ladder, I was the floor it sat upon, but I was content with that. I watched as Monica dropped her bag beside the once sticky table. I grimaced as I looked at it, reverting my attention back at Monica.

"Anyway, today was exhausting. You know how draining being social can be?" She asked. "Why am I even asking? You can't even talk to your teachers without getting fed up." She teased, and I gasped in offense.

"That is not true! I only get fed up when they're being total idiots." I shot back, sitting down and avoiding my thoughts about the gross table.

"Well, talking to people your own age at your school can be exhausting." She waved me off, and I rolled my eyes. "You're so lucky you start a week after us."

"Ah, here come your complaints about the struggles of being popular." I mocked, rolling my eyes.

"I've had to settle three fights today. Marnie and Jess were fighting, and then Ben took Jess's side, which started a fight between Ben and Marnie, and then somehow Eric got involved. It was a mess, let me tell you, but I worked it all out, and I think we're all good now." She triumphantly smiled, and I shook my head at her.