The Choice (a Painful Past)

49

I shook my head and shivered in disgust.

"Gross, entitled fuckers." I muttered.

"Like, Sir, you owed me every bit of that $100 tip you accidently left me." She replied, grinning.

"You're right." I said, with a smile. "You deserved it. You know, Jeremy, you're lucky that you don't have to deal with these creeps. You just get to stay behind the grill all night and do your thing."

"Right." He grinned. "Because they would love to pinch these boobies, huh?" He pinched the nipples on his skinny chest, through his shirt and stuck out his tongue.

"Oh my God." Becky exclaimed, with a laugh. "Milk almost shot out of my nose! Warn me next time, J!"

I laughed, then pulled my phone out of my pocket. I had it on silent, so that I wasn't tempted to check it when we were busy. Now that the restaurant had cleared out, and I could wait an hour before clean up, I had nothing else to do.

I saw that Will had left me a couple of "I love you" texts, Colby had sent me something, and my cousin, Sherri, had finally got back to me.

I checked her text first.

"Hey girl, sorry that I didn't text back sooner. My phone was off for a couple of days, before I could pay the bill. I'm so sorry about what Will did! Are you okay? I know you're at work now, and I'll be going to bed soon, but call me tomorrow. I love you, Cal."

I sighed, dreading the fact that I was going to have to explain to her that Will and I were now fine. Sherri wasn't too judgemental about those types of things though. She and Shawn had been through some tough times too.

Although, he had never cheated on her, or at least, only with PornHub. I texted her back that I loved her too, and would call after I woke up tomorrow.

Then, I sent Will an "I love you" text back, even though I would be seeing him in a couple of hours.

And finally, I read Colby's text. There was a churning in my stomach, almost like I was going to be sick, when I opened it. I was actually scared to read it.

I felt like he was just going to tell me that he was done with my shit, and that we weren't friends anymore. I couldn't blame him, I guess. I was an absolute mess, but I prayed that he wasn't telling me goodbye.

Thankfully, he wasn't.

I heaved a sigh of relief and continued to read.

"Hey Callie, I'm sorry about how rude I was to you earlier. I just don't like to see you get hurt, and I know that HE is going to hurt you again. I know it. You can't see past this fascination that you have of him, but one day you will. I won't say anything else about it, for now, but my shoulder will be here for you when you need it again. And you will need it. I love you Cal. You're my best friend. I don't want to fight, so let's just not. If you're still down for the lake, let me know when you're free. Remember that I'm still in school though LOL."

I smiled, and sent him a simple "Thank you. I love you," text back, then tucked my phone back into my apron.

"Time to clean?" Becky asked.

I groaned and put my head down on the counter top.

"How about we say we did, but we don't?" I asked, with my voice muffled by my arms.

"If only." She laughed. "Come on, get your sexy ass up and let's get this over with." She slapped my arm, as she stood up.

"Sexy, my ass." I mumbled, but I slid out of my chair and followed behind her.

It took us almost the entire shift to finish clean up, and restock for the next shift. I was utterly exhausted by the time first shift came in, but I wanted to count my tips before I went home. Surprisingly enough, I had about $150 in my apron.

"Wow, I might have to switch to third shift permanently." I told Becky, before we left.

"Hey, I'd love to have you. You actually work, unlike those lazy bitches that I usually get stuck with."

I was tired but in a good mood, as I drove home with the cash in my pocket. When I finally pulled up into my yard, I wanted nothing more than to go to bed and sleep forever. I dragged myself inside the house and saw Will, asleep in the recliner.

The TV was still on, and his head was sort of flopped over onto his chest. I turned the television off, then kneeled down next to him.

"Will, baby, come to bed." I whispered, as I patted his arm.

"Hmmuh." He mumbled.

I shook him and spoke a little louder.

"Will, come on. It's time to go to bed." I said.

His pretty hazel eyes fluttered open, and met my own.

"Hey Gorgeous." He replied, with a sleepy smile.

"Hey, yourself." I replied. "I'm tired. Are you coming to bed?"

"Ye-yeeaaah." He yawned, then slowly climbed to his feet, and took my hand. "Wait, weren't we gonna talk? I was trying to wait for you to come home." He said, quietly.

"We can talk later," I replied. "I just want to sleep."

"Sounds good to me." He said, then let out another giant yawn.

He must not have slept much. it was sweet that he tried to wait on me to get home, though. He climbed into the bed on his side, while I changed into one of my oversized shirts.

I needed a shower, but tonight, I didn't care if I smelled like food and old grease. I didn't care that my pores were probably so clogged, I would never be able to clean my face properly again. I didn't care about anything at all, except sleep.

I climbed into bed, beside Will, then set the alarm on my phone, so that I would have enough time to do all that needed to be done tomorrow, before I had to go back into work. God, I would be glad when we weren't solely dependant on my small wages, and he could find a good job. I guess this is what our parents were talking about when they told us to stay in school.

As much as I hated all the drama that high school brought, I had to admit that life was so much easier when I was still considered a kid. Will's arm came around me, and he pulled me up against his body, before snuggling his face down into the crook of my neck. I really wasn't comfortable, and I wanted to turn over, but I didn't want to disturb him.

Thankfully, I was so exhausted that it didn't matter much. I fell asleep almost immediately.