Wake Me Up

Elizabeth: Hop To It Pt 2

Ugh, boys and their grow spurts. "Hey, do you think I was too harsh? I really can't see how I'm at fault for this one," I ask him, my voice cracking a bit at the end. I clear my throat. Ugh, I do not want to cry over something like this, and this early too.

He looks down at me with an apologetic look and doesn't respond. I take that as a yes and try to keep my tears at bay. So I was.

As we walk in, Andrea is sitting on the waiting bench, engrossed in her phone with her airpods in. Justin goes to the lady and ask her for a table for three. She smiles at him seductively and lead us toward the back. Ew, desperate much? She looks 25, hitting on a 17 year old. He turns 18 on May 18, which is funny now that I think about it, but he's still underaged. And he's wearing a school uniform, that should tell her more than enough he is still a kid. I look towards Andy who's also glaring her, but ignoring any looks from me. Well at least she feels the same. We're seated just in front of his car, nice, and she hands us our menus.

"I'm Annie, I'll be your server today. Can I start you guys off with drinks?" she ask, never taking her eyes off Justin. She's pretty, I'll give her that. She has a long, brown braid running down her back with blue eye and a pretty bow mouth. Otherwise, she needs to not come off as a desperate hound dog. She keeps biting her lip as she waits for home to answer. Andy, who's by the window beside him, leans over and smiles sweetly at her, but her eyes look scary. Pissed Andy is scary Andy. The waitress flinch at her but doesn't back down.

"I'll have a lemonade, he'll have some coffee please." The waitress looks between the two of them, thinking their dating, and visibly deflates as she takes the orders. Ha, get rekt. At least she has the decency to not go after someone's man. I almost feel sorry for her. Maybe if she was our age, we might be more accepting. But we all have an age limit, and any more than three years older than us or two years younger is a red flag. She turns to me and I realize Andy didn't give her my drink. I deflate myself and glance at Andy who's smiling and talking to Justin.

Clenching my fist, I say, "I'll have a hot tea, please." I look down at the menu and look at the meal options.

She writes that down and nod. "I'll be right back with your drinks," she says and leave. Hm, I think I want a crepe. But I also want an omelette. I look up again to see Justin smiling at something Andy whispered and my heart clench. Everytime we fight lately, he seems to take her side more and more. I know most of the time I'm wrong, but c'mon, she's in the wrong too! Why am I even here to have a good time if I have to stomach feeling guilty? It's making me lose my appetite. And I hate doing that.

I clear my throat and they both stop laughing, seeming surprised I'm still here. "Uh, do, you guys gonna tell me why you decided to wake up so early to take me to breakfast? I'm not complaining of course," I add in a rush, not trying to anger them further. "But I'm curious to know more about this surprise you seem to be keeping from me. What is it?"

Andy looks out the window and holds Justin's hand on the table. I frown, thinking it's maybe bad news, until he clears his throat and says, "We're dating," all nonchalant, like he didn't just throw the biggest bomb on me since the nuking of Hiroshima. So it was bad news after all. I can feel my face paling and my heartbeat quickening.

I manage to croak a small "Oh. C...congrats. Wheeen did this happen?"

Andy interrupts him and says, "Over Christmas break. We both asked each other out."

I feel at her icy tone. Why's she talking to me like I'm stupid or something? Well, I guess I am. I should've taken the hints earlier. So that's why she's really mad at me. I basically s**t talked her and Justin's relationship. But how the hell was I supposed to know that? And Christmas break??

"Oh, so a few months now. That's great! That's great. It explains why you guys were so busy most of the time," I say nervously, trying to lighten this tense as hell mood. She turns towards me and was about to say something until the Annie comes back with our drinks.

She takes out her notepad and, less enthusiastically, asks if we're ready to order. Andy orders hers and Justin's again, leaving me out of it. It stings because no matter how I'm upset with her, I'd still order all of our food like it's second nature. But I guess I deserve it. I look up at Annie, feeling the tears burn in the back of my eyes again, as I order. "I'd like a strawberry crepe, build your own omelette with bacon, swiss cheese, green onions, and hashbrowns on the side. Also, a bowl of fruit. Thanks." We all hand her our menus and she walks away with our orders.

I turn back to them, unsure of how to go about this. I guess I'll start off with that apology now. I take a deep breath. "So--"

"You know, I really don't want to hear it Elizabeth." I flinch, upset she didn't even let me start and that she's using my name. She rarely does. "I get that you wouldn't approve of our relationship. You're afraid of being alone. But you shouldn't insult us for our feelings. We can't help that. And we can't help we were the cliche best friends who fell in love. The least you could do is be supportive. I don't want to hear your fake happiness for us, I want it to be real!" Her voice cracks at the end and at this point, I can't stop the tears flowing down my cheeks.

"Andrea, how am I supposed to feel happy for you when I feel like I'm being abandoned? Betrayed? How was I supposed to know you two were dating, huh? I was speaking my opinions on a book! Don't take it so personally if I'm speaking on one thing and it relates to another. And the fact that you're victimizing yourself is absolutely hurtful. I'm so upset not even because you're dating, but because you hid it from for like, 3 months now! What happened to no keeping secrets, huh?! After that time you blew up when you found out Justin and I kissed in freshman year?!" I was trying to calm down, but failing miserably.

“This is not the same and you know it!” she snarls at me. I feel my nails digging in my palm, feeling that rope slowly unwind until only one thread remains.

“Not the same? Not the same?!” Before I could say more, Annie comes back with a cautious look.

“Hi, is everything okay here?”

“We’re fine,” Andrea and I say in unison. We both glare at each other then look away.

“Well,” Annie starts, clasping her hands together, “I’ll have to ask you guys to keep it down or leave the premises. You’re disturbing the other customers .”

Looking around for the first time, I see a few disgruntled faces and a mother trying to hush a baby. I grimace and say sorry to everyone before shriveling in my seat. I should’ve been more considerate of where I was.

Annie, seeing that we understood, left the table. It seems she was over Justin as she looked less flirty and more like how a waitress should. I saw Andrea clenching her fists repeatedly before saying, “I can’t stay here with you being like this. I'm leaving.” I look at her, annoyed all over again. Me?! She started it!

But once again, before I could say anything, Justin moved out of the booth and she slid out. He pulled out a hundred and said to me, “Can you just get the food and bring it to us at school? Also, give her a tip if you want but use some of the change to catch the bus. Sorry about this, but she needs to call down.”

I grab his arm before he could leave, the look in my eyes desperate. “You get what I’m coming from right? I’m not in the wrong about this, right?!” I ask him quietly, not wanting to cause trouble again. Or have any more eyes on me than the ones I could already feel.

He looks apologetic again but his eyes seem unreadable. Like he’s not going to take my side on this, no matter what just happened. My grip slackens as he says, “You both are. She shouldn’t have cut you off and you shouldn’t have yelled at her like that. But y’all just need some space, don’t worry. Don’t you always get along after awhile?” He doesn’t give me a chance to answer as he backs up and follow his girlfriend out the building. I look out the window as they both pull out and go on the street. All the while, I sit there feeling like an i***t. He said I shouldn’t have yelled. Did I yell first? I shouldn’t have done that. He’s right. He’s always right. I was the cause of this one. I should have kept my temper at bay. But she makes me so damn angry! How the hell was I supposed to know?! I’m not a mind reader!

As Annie comes back with our food, I ask for boxes, to go cups, and hand her the money. As I place our food away, I eat two of their bacon each as collateral and take a sip of their drinks. I should’ve drunk my tea before all this. Then it probably would’ve went better. I give Annie a 10 and pocket the rest, which was like 40. He’s definitely not getting his change. Maybe. As she thanks me, she says, “Hey, I know it’s hard fighting with your bestie and I don’t know everything, but they shouldn’t have left you like that. And made you pay to boot!” I smile softly at her, glad someone’s taking my side. She reminds me of—

My phone buzzing my 7:20 alarm makes me panic. s**t, I have to get to the bus stop, now. “Thank you, but my friend gave me the money to pay, so they’re not totally bad.” I smile, grabbing my backpack and putting the bag of food in it. I zip it up and carefully put it on, grabbing Andy’s lemonade and my hot tea. Even in my mind, I can’t bear to call her her real name for long. But I will very much enjoy her lemonade. She can easily get another one. As I head out, Annie waves after me and pick up the dirty dishes. I hope her day goes better than mine. I pull out my phone and search up the bus schedule. The next one’s at 7:50 and it takes 20-25 to get to school from here on bus. Then the five minute walk to the campus. s**t, s**t, I’m not going to make it in time for homeroom at 8:30. I speed walk out the parking lot and onto the dirt sidewalk. I look down the street, a car zooming past, and see nothing else. Well, hitchhiking isn’t an option. Heading down the road, I kinda feel like Dorothy as walks down the yellow brick road. I look down at my shoes, imagining them as silver. I always liked Oz and not the original. It’s way more fun and heart wrenching. And less annoying. The original was so cringey and….boring. Plain. I hum the song and do a little dance, accepting my late fate. I might as well try to cheer myself up. I hear a motorcycle down the road and briefly think how cool it would be to ride one. As I spin around to the music in my head, a sudden gust of wind picks up and I gasp, holding down my skirt. Shorts! Oh my fricking—- I forgot to put on my shorts! As I look up, hoping no one say.p, the motorcycle is slowing down and parked 3 feet behind me. My face turns a light shade of pink as the driver takes off his helmet. He has a smirk on his impossibly handsome face and I’m starstruck. Until I see that he’s wearing the boy’s uniform to my school. Ah, s**t.