We All Go A Little Mad

Pop's

I sighed as I got out of the truck and looked at the chaos that was going on inside of Pop's. I bit my lip and felt my hand start to shake at the very thought of having to go in there and serve food to the insane teens. I felt the tell tale signs of a panic attack and squeezed my eyes shut. I focused on the sound of cars on the road in front of Pop's and nearly jumped when I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see FP standing next to me with his hand on my shoulder. He looked concerned.

"You good?" He asked. I took a shaky breath.

"Getting there." I said quietly. FP didn't look too convinced. "Just a slight panic attack. I'll be fine in a sec." I waved my hand and took another breath.

"I can go in first and then you can come in whenever you are ready." FP offered. I shook my head.

"I'm good FP. I just need a sec to calm down." FP raised an eyebrow. "Seriously FP. I just need a sec to get my breath and calm down." FP went to move his hand but I quickly pulled it back.

"You absolutely sure you're ok? Because what you just did makes it seem like you're not." FP squeezed my shoulder and put his other hand on top of mine.

"Yeah. Sorry. It's just...kinda stupid actually." I let out a shaky laugh and continued to take deep breaths to get my heart to slow down.

"No tell me." FP's thumb moved back and forth over the back of my hand, slowly soothing me.

"You're kind of grounding me right now. Helping keep me from heading back over the edge." I admitted. FP nodded and stood there next to me with his hand on my shoulder, not saying anything.

"Let me know when you're ready to go in." He whispered. I nodded and squeezed his hand to acknowledge his statement. It was a couple of minutes before I nodded again.

"I'm ready now." I said as I moved my hand off FP's. "Well as ready as I will ever be." FP nodded and moved his hand off my shoulder.

"You sure? Because we can wait a little while if you need it." I shook my head and took a deep breath.

"It's now or never. Let's get in there and get this over with." I started to walk into the diner with FP trailing behind me. I felt his hand on the small of my back, gently giving me reassurance that he was there if I needed him. We walked into the diner and into the back. Pop looked up from the flattop and gave the two of us a look.

"Took the two of you long enough." He commented. He nodded towards the small line of lockers to the side and looked back at us. "Hurry up and get changed. Those teens aren't gonna take care of themselves." FP and I looked at each other before going to the lockers. I pulled a uniform from the locker and sighed.

"You want the bathroom to change first?" I looked over at FP who was taking off his jacket.

"No. Go ahead and get changed. I'll meet you out front when you are done." FP smiled at me and nodded towards the bathroom. I smiled back at him and gathered the clothes to my chest. Once I was in the bathroom, I leaned against the door and let out a shaky breath. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I had worked in retail before and it was rough. Now I was working as a food server, a job I always hoped I would never have to work. I quickly changed and went back out to put my clothes into my locker. I froze for a second when I saw FP with his back turned to me. He was pulling his shirt on and I quietly took care of what I had to take care of. I closed the locker and almost ran out where the counter was, heart beating fast for an entirely different reason than it had been before.

"Ready to get started?" I jumped when I heard FP's voice. He smiled when I turned to face him, my cheeks burning from embarrassment. I nodded and he walked me through what I had to do. FP had me follow him around for a couple orders before taking over with him trailing behind me. Once he was sure that I was ok taking orders, he went into the kitchen to take the food Pop had cooked out to the tables. It was crazy for a couple of hours before everything let up. I slumped on the counter once the last teen had left.