Pancake House

Chapter One

MY BEST FRIEND, Jeremiah and I were walking down the school hallways after school. Talking about our favorite show, PonyWorld.

"What the hell Jere?! How can you believe that Orange Blossom is more adorable than Jewel?" I scolded. He chuckled deeply and ruffled my hair, "You're such a child, El." I scoffed and hit the back of his head, "Hey, remember that I'm older than you by one day. Don't think you're all hot now just because you're taller than me." 

"You'll fall for me sooner or later, babe," he winked. "In your dreams 'babe'."

Yea, that's my best friend, Jeremiah Gray. And I'm Ariela Flores. I'm 17, a senior in highschool, and I work at in our town's local pancake house. 

Jeremiah has been my best friend since birth and we remained that way through the rest of our 17 years of life. He is often popular with girls and always has a smirk plastered onto his face.  It gets fairly annoying. He has a girlfriend named, Teri, from another school who I met to be really kind and beautiful. And, he is the boy I am in love with.

A shoulder bumped mine and I looked up at my tall, black haired best friend, snapping out of my trance. I bumped his back, letting him know I am listening. "Stop daydreaming and answer the question," he whined. I looked back up at him in confusion, "What question?" He sighed in exasperation and rubbed the back of his neck, which really means he's annoyed. "Do you have work today?" he paused in between each word. I laughed hopping into his car as we reached it. I answered, "At 8pm to 12am."

Jeremiah parked the car in the driveway of my house and walked in the house with me by his side. "Where are your parents?" I avoided his eyes, "Business trip." He didn't pry any longer, knowing I wasn't going to say any more. I plopped down on the couch and turned on the food channels and urged Jeremiah to sit with me. Once he did, I jumped him and tackled him to the floor.

He easily recovered and cornered me against the wall, securing my waist. "You'll regret ever doing that to me," he winked.  With that, he picked me up from the waist and threw me over his shoulder. "Jere! Put me the fuck down right now!" He showed no sign of putting me down, as my brown hair started to collect itself in my eyes. I pounded his back until he finally pinned me down to the floor, holding my wrists and locking my legs with his. 

Both of us out of breath, he pressed his forehead against mine and we stayed like that for a few minutes. "Jere-Bear?" I whispered. "Yea?" he breathed. "Y-you're really heavy," I laughed and pushed him off me. He chuckled under his breath and lifted my legs and put them over his lap to sit down. 

After binge watching random television shows for 3 hours, I said, "I should get ready for work now, Jere. Gimme a ride?" He turned the TV off and dusted his lap, "Anytime, El." 

I walked into my room to change, followed by Jeremiah. Just as I was about to take off my shirt, I realize Jeremiah is still watching me. "Hey, pretty boy. Mind turning around?" He covered his eyes and turned away. I pulled off my shirt and reached for my work shirt, making sure he wasn't looking. "Kay, you can look," I assured him. He uncovered his eyes and smirked at me. "What? Why are you smiling?" I asked. "It's nothing I've never seen before, hun," he winked. I gasped and threw a pillow at him. 

As he drove me to work, I started to doze off. I smacked myself multiple times since I was going to be working for 4 hours, nonstop. Once he pulled up to a small pancake house with a big sign that read 'Flapcakes,' he stopped the car and said, "Don't overwork yourself." I nodded and jumped out of the car, watching him drive away. I sighed sadly and walked into the pancake house.

I accidentally bumped into someone's chest as I opened the door. I whimpered when my face hit their chest. I looked up to see a pair of beautiful hazel eyes staring back down at me. I backed away, examining the young man in front of me. He was tall, black haired, and had fairly nice eyebrows, and was wearing our restaurant's apron. "Oh, I'm very sorry. I was distracted and should've looked where I was going," I explained. He had a blank face on and said, "Yea, you should've." 

With that, he walked away. 

I took in a sharp breath of annoyance and walked to the back counter to fetch my apron. My manager, Dorian, a 31 year old man who inherited the pancake house from his father, called me over, along with the asshole of the man I met earlier. "Ariela, I want you to meet your new coworker, Justin Zalenski. He is also 17 years old just like you, and I thought you could show him the strings so I put him in the same hours as you," Dorian beamed. I gasped and turned to face my apparent coworker. He looked back at me shocked, then quickly turned into a glare.

Once the manager patted our backs and left, I got straight to work. Justin looked confused in what to do that I almost laughed. "Hey asshole, wipe the counters spotless," I uttered, throwing him a towel. He let out a low growl and left, towel in hand.

He came back looking exhausted already, and I giggled softly. "Tiring, huh?" I commented, and all he did was nod slowly. "You'll get used to it, sooner or later." Justin sighed, agitated. 

After that, I gave him more simple jobs that I started with and he quickly got the hang of it. Watching him do the chores, I thought that since we'll be working the same hours every week might as well try to get along.

With little to no customers around, I made chocolate milkshakes for the two of us and hoped he would accept my peace treaty. Once he finished the last chore of the night, and I cleaned the last of the tables, I slowly pushed the milkshake over to him. He looked at it skeptically and just let it sit there for a few minutes. I broke the silence, "It's not poison or anything. It's my peace offering to the asshole." He chuckled and I saw him smile for the first time tonight, which already made me feel weird. 

He finally took a sip out of it and his eyes lit up. I hid my smirk and held out my hand. "Coworkers?" I suggested. He looked into my eyes, then to my hand, then to my eyes again. "Coworkers," he declared as he took my hand in his.

This was going to be a crazy year, I just know it.

- Short Chapter.

- Next Chapter: Last Day of the Month.