The Lonely Wolf

12

Veronica

Three-day weekends have always been my time at the schools I go to. Most students go home to spend it with their families and there are very few people who are actually on the campus.

After getting off the bus, I grabbed some food at the cafeteria and allowed Sasha out to sunbathe and run around the woods under the full moon. We stayed away from the pack border but found some interesting places within the woods. She wanted to explore, but we couldn’t stay out too late because we didn’t want to be tired at our interview.

I set my phone alarm to sound at 7am. I looked up the café I was interviewing at before bed to have some conversation points and I go over them in my head. Looks like it’s a family-owned establishment and has had some bad reviews of the service. I can tell of my previous experiences working at fast food restaurants and at a diner at my previous schools. I never had a complaint about my service. Employers like to know that you come with some skills and am good with people, but are willing to learn how they do things.

When the alarm went off the next morning, I took a shower and put on a nice pair of slacks and a blouse. I didn’t want to show up too dressy but not too casual either, so instead of the tight bun my mom likes, I pulled my hair neatly up into a ponytail and braided it down. I don’t wear much makeup, just eyeliner, mascara and some lip gloss. I looked up the best routes on GPS to the café. Then I headed out to ride that 3 miles on a rented scooter from in front of the school.

I arrive at 8:33 for my 9am interview. I didn't eat breakfast at school before I left, so I ordered a vanilla latte and a blueberry muffin and the flustered barista said she would let the manager know I was there for the interview.

She goes to the back for a moment. When she comes back out, she grabs a strawberry muffin, places it on a plate and hands it to me. She seemed overly frazzled with the three customers, including myself, who were there.

“This dumb machine,” she says as she presses way too many buttons, and it spits all the drinks out at once. “I’m sorry it’s just not working right.” She grabs a towel to clean the mess.

The customers shake their heads in disbelief. They ended up just settling for a regular cup of coffee with cream and sugar and left. They really need help here.

I took a bite of the muffin she handed me, although it was not what I ordered. I did not want to add to her problems, but I bit right into an eggshell. I set the muffin on the plate and used a napkin to wipe my mouth, spitting out the eggshell from my mouth.

“I can help you with that machine. I ordered a medium vanilla latte, but you can't press all the buttons at once. You press that button and that one to add the espresso and vanilla, then put the cup there to add the frothed milk. Yes, press that button there, and you see where it is asking for the size. You got it.” I instructed her step by step.

“Thanks. How’s your muffin?” she asks.

“I hate to complain, but it's strawberries, not blueberries. That’s okay, I like both. The only problem is just there are eggshells inside of it.” I showed her the eggshells.

“Are you serious? He’s going to fire me. I usually just take orders and run orders for the tables. The person that works here making the drinks and the guy that does the baking just left for college. Please tell me one of those or both of those is what you are applying for,” she said, looking hopeful.

“Well, I am applying for whatever opening there is. I just need a job. The coffee machine is very similar to the one I used at my last job and I learned how to make a few things at my other jobs,” I say.

“Are you willing to start right now? “ I hear the man say as he walks out from the back of the store.

“Sure,” I replied.

“Great, I’m Jason, the owner of Jason's Café. I need a hand making all the pastries and some sandwiches in preparation for the lunch rush. As you see, my sister Nicole isn’t best at cooking. I’ll get you a chef’s jacket to go over your clothes so you won’t get them dirty,” he says.

“Okay,” I said, following him to the back.

It didn’t start off as a busy day, but it was completely crowded by lunchtime. I was moved from the kitchen to the front counter making drinks as Nicole took the orders. There was a small break before dinner when I was given a bowl of the soup of the day as well as a specially prepared pot roast sandwich. That sandwich was heaven. And I wasn’t the only one to think so. It was completely sold out before the dinner-time crowd left.

“You’re very efficient. We haven’t had things run this smoothly in a long time. Thank you for being willing to jump in like you did. Tomorrow you may want to wear more comfortable clothes. I'm staying late tonight to get the breakfast pastries prepped for tomorrow. We should be okay with breakfast, so you can sleep in a little and just come in at 11,” Jason says as we finish the paperwork.

“Thanks,” I say, handing him back the apron that was given to me.

“Are you walking home? Do you live around here?” Nicole asks as we leave out the door for the night.

“I’m going to use one of the bike or scooter rentals that was left in the front. I go to Clover Leaf boarding school,” I say, pointing towards the point of the building in the distance.

“Oh nice. Are you there on scholarship? We have had a few people come work for us that were. My car is over there. I can give you a ride back,” she said, unlocking the doors so the car lights flashed.

“Thank you. I'm not on scholarship. My mom will pay for my tuition for most of the year,” I said, following her to her car.

“Most of the year? Not the full year? Is that all she can afford? Sorry I don’t mean to pry. I was just thinking maybe I could call the last girl that worked with me and ask her about some of the funding she got. I’m doing too much, aren’t I?” she asked.

“It’s okay. Thank you but I should be okay. I think I have enough for tuition when the time comes,” I said, getting in the car.

“Sometimes I talk too much. I’m really not trying to be offensive. Please, take down my number. If you need a ride or want to trade shifts or whatever, let me know,” she says as we pull around to the front of the school.

“You do know that this school belongs to a huge commune that’s basically a whole other city.” She whispers before I open the door to get out the car.

“Commune?” I ask

“Well, it’s a gated community. But it’s huge and very exclusive. Mindy said the people in the school that live there hardly speak to anyone who is not part of there. It’s not like that for you?” she asked.

“Oh. Well, I’m the new girl. No one really talks to me,” I reply figuring out she was talking about the wolf pack.

“Oh wow, girl! I can only imagine how hard it is. I graduated two years ago, but I went to public school, and it was always rough for the new kids. You’re starting senior year with all these snooty kids," she said, making me laugh.

“Yes. They can be very snooty, but that's all I know. This will be my last year with them. I’ll be doing half days starting the second semester. I’ve just been accepted to do an early enrollment and will be starting classes across the river at Timberlake University,” I tell her, excited to be able to tell someone. The email notifying me came to my phone while I was working

“That’s great news! That’s where I have been taking classes, so you already have a friend there. I think you will like it there,” she says.

“I hope so. Thank you for the ride back. I will see you tomorrow,” I said, exiting the car.