It's That Biker Chick

[10] Birthday Boy

[Chapter 10]
Birthday Boy

     "Alright, everyone listen up!" A loud feminine voice filled up the diner.

     We all turned our heads towards direction in which the voice came from, only to see Diane standing up on one of the stools near the counter. No customer was going to complain about her informality because there are no customers — since the whole, entire restaurant was booked for some kid's birthday. A medium-sized sign was hung outside the glass doors to notify any other customers that the place was closed to the public for today. Although, it doesn't seem to be working that effectively since we still had to prevent a few people from strolling in.

     "Today's going to be a really busy day and I want everyone to be on their best behaviour. Now, I know we've already got the decorations set up but I want all of you to just tidy up a little bit. There are still some things lying around and I want this place spick and span before the kids arrive!" She ordered, pointing to a few party streamers that were scattered across the black and white tiled floor.

     "Come on, get to it!" She clapped her hands for an extra effect of urgency, making everyone scatter. I grabbed a broomstick from the janitor's closet and started sweeping the litter into a dustpan. I spotted some trash near the entrance and went over to clean it up.

     Given that I was the nearest to the doors, when the bell rang to announce the entrance of a customer, I was the first one to hear it and to turn to look who it was. A few guys that were around my age waltzed in and I locked eyes with the one standing in the middle. I stopped sweeping and stood up straight.

     "Hey, you're not supposed to be here. It's closed for some kid's birthday party." I told them instinctively, like I have with everyone else who had accidentally entered the diner.

     They all looked at one another, exchanging confused looks until the one in the middle stepped forward and chuckled. "Yeah, we know. It's my party." He said, his pale fingers contrasted against his raven black hair as he ran them through his locks. 

     I furrowed my eyebrows and gave him a puzzled look. "What—"

     "Joey!" A voice behind me exclaimed. I turned around to see Diane making her way towards us with a large smile stretched across her face. She stopped in front of the guy whose name appeared to be Joey and reached up to pinch his cheeks, stretching them out as if she was making taffy in the factory. "My god, look at you! You've gotten so tall!" She gushed, still pinching his cheeks.

     I snickered softly at the mixed expression of pain and discomfort on Joey's face, while he tried to appease Diane by letting her pull on his face. When she finally let go, he sighed in relief and softly massaged his cheeks to relieve the soreness. "Hey, Mrs Anderson. Thanks for helping me reserve this entire place for my party." He smiled crookedly.

     "Oh, anything for Angie's children! Now, why don't you all take a look around and see if there's anything you'd like to change." She smiled, pushing him and his friends deeper into the diner.

    "Okay, thanks." He grinned. As he walked past me, he gave me a nod of acknowledgement and attempted to flash me a smile. But before he could do so, I'd already ran off to help out with some other task, now that more people were arriving.

     Soon enough the entire diner was packed with high school students that all looked to be around my age. It's already been an hour or so since the party started and things were starting to get rowdy. I'm assuming that Joey and his friends had spiked the punch earlier, because I saw them lingering around the food table for a suspiciously long period of time. And given that Diane was too busy bustling around the diner, she didn't suspect a thing — not even the drinking games some of the underaged students were playing.