Summer Sanders is going through it. The pressures of school are mounting, and her home life is completely falling apart. Feeling bored and lonely on a Saturday night, she decides to get buzzed and surprise her hookup buddy with her best lingerie. Th...
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I SLUMP AGAINST the counter of Baker's Dozen, groaning into the empty space.
My feet ache, my head pounds, and the only thing keeping my eyes open are the triple shot of espressos I chugged ten minutes ago.
When the bell above the door digs, I straighten myself up and stare at the register screen, methodically giving the same greeting I've repeated hundreds of times in this week alone. "Welcome to Baker's Dozen, what can I get for you today?"
"You sound so excited and happy to be here." Aleena laughs, sliding behind the counter to engulf me in an embrace.
"You know Josh doesn't like you coming behind the register, right?" I have to remind her almost every time she comes to visit me.
"Oh, Josh can bite me." She moves back to the front of the register and studies the display case of baked goods. "I want a cinnamon bun to celebrate today."
I grab a tong and bring a piece of cinnamon bun into the oven to reheat. "Did practice go well?"
"It was amazing. Darren is crazy talented and he's really been picking up on the songs and choreography. I swear, you should see us up there, we're magnetic. Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer would be clutching their pearls if they saw our performance," she says while swiping her card to pay for the food.
"Can't wait to see it." I put the freshly warmed cinnamon bun onto a plate and had it to Aleena.
Her entire journey with this play has been a rollercoaster, and I'm glad it's finally coming together. She's insanely talented, it's just too bad her parents are too stubborn to see and accept it. The case of stubborn parents seems to be an epidemic at this point. What kid doesn't suffer from it these days?
"You and Carter will be there opening night, right?"
"May 11th?" I mentally check the date in my head. "We'll be there. My pharmacology final is the next day, but I have it all figured out. I'll have time."
I've had to do a lot of re-planning in regards to my classes recently. My professors have mostly been understanding of my absence this week, but at the end of the day, I'm still responsible for making sure I learn the materials and complete the assignments one way or another. I also have to deal with the fact that I've used up all my excused absences for half of my classes. If I miss even one more for the rest of the semester, my grades will either be lowered a few percentages, or in regards to pharmacology, I'll outright fail the class.
Anything to help pay the bills, I guess.
I check the clock hanging by the side wall. Two more hours and my shift is over. Two more hours and I'll have made enough money to help my parents out, and I can see Carter again. I can't wait till I'm out of here.
I enjoy my job, don't get me wrong. The quaint Parisian vibe of the atmosphere is soothing, and the tiredly-anxious students that come in and out are pleasant for the most part, but when you've spent day after day here, from 5:30am when the store opens, to 7:00pm when the store closes, everything starts to become tiring. I'm tired of the smell, I'm tired of the same old pop songs in continuous rotation, and I'm tired of being tired. Thank god it's Friday.
