Chapter 1 #2
My feet froze as I stared ahead at the individuals seated in my section…Lavender, Ryder, Token, and Montey. My old friends and their reigning redheaded queen bitch, Sybil.
Why the fuck were they here? No, don’t let them get to you. Your shift is almost over. You can do this. Just do your job and fuck the rest.
I rolled my shoulders back and walked towards the table with a false sense of confidence.
I ignored the kids running up the Skee-ball game and throwing the balls in the 500 hole for a higher score, squeezing past a dad screaming at the servers about why the basketball game wasn’t giving his kid the tickets as it should, and stepped over a dropped piece of pizza.
I held my painted face high and walked my happy ass across the neon carpet to my former friends and forced the fakest smile I could.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Big Top Pizzeria, where everyone can run away from daily life and live out their wildest fantasies! Now, what can I get you to drink?” The forced smile on my face ached.
My four former friends must’ve known, but the fifth woman, not so much.
Sybil scoffed, tossing her fiery red hair over her shoulder. “I knew you were a freak, Crissa, but fantasizing about being a pizza-serving clown?” She leaned into Montey, watching for a reaction. “Pathetic.”
Lavender spoke up before anyone else could, trying to diffuse the situation. No surprise there. She was the only one in the group who even bothered to offer me even the smallest bit of kindness. “Wow! Big Top seems to be pretty busy tonight.”
I looked around the crowded pizzeria. “Yeah, well, it’s a Saturday night. Most people are out enjoying their lives.”
While the rest of us dress up as fucking clowns and serve fuckers like Sybil, barely making enough to get by.
I tapped my pen on the notepad, becoming impatient.
Despite Sybil’s constricted grip on his arm, Montey wouldn’t stop staring at me.
I had to force my eyes away, knowing whatever was once between us was dead now.
Sybil, now bored with my presence, tossed her long hair like she was a show pony.
“I mean not everyone,” she spat as my eyes met hers.
Even in the ill-lit corner, her blue eyes practically glowed with hatred. And they did so purely for me.
My head tilted as I tried to remain put together. “So, drinks?” My smile this time was tight, close-lipped.
“Just Cokes for the table,” Montey spoke, breaking the awkward tension.
Sybil scoffed, raising her hand as if the mere insinuation of drinking a soda was an insult.
“Oh no! A water for me.” Then she directed her attention to Montey.
“You know I don’t drink that shit. It rots your insides.
” She looked at me again, speaking in a sarcastic-sassy tone.
“Right?” I didn’t answer. “That’s what I thought.
Water for me. Oh, and bring him a water too, would ya? ”
My faux smile remained drawn along my face.
“Of course. I’ll be right back with your drinks.
” My clipped tone didn’t go unnoticed. As I spun and walked away, I heard Montey say something along the lines of wanting a Coke, especially with pizza.
He also muttered something about being nice to me because I was a ‘friend’.
I scoffed and hurried to grab their drinks.
“A friend…ha!” Calling me a friend was rich, especially coming from him.
Where was Montey when I had to move out of my house?
Nowhere. None of them were there for me.
None of them called or came by when I finally found a new place to live.
I was alone. They were too preoccupied with their new friend Sybil to even notice me anymore.
We weren’t friends and hadn’t been for awhile.
Especially Montey and me. He was too wrapped up in Sybil to notice me.
Now, the only time I saw any of them were nights like this.
And I was pretty sure Lavender only put up with pretending to be nice to me because we worked together, though I was lucky if we even had a shift together.
Hell, even when we did, we barely spoke.
I served and hosted parties while she worked in the back.
I envied her position ‘cause she didn’t have to dress up like a fucking clown.
I can’t wait to leave all this behind.
I finished filling up their cups and walked the three Cokes and two waters back out to the main floor of the pizzeria.
I carefully weaved through the noisy kids and annoyed adults and toward the table, finally setting the drinks down.
“Three Cokes and two waters, as requested.” Ryder and Token flashed me a small smile each while Montey looked as if he wanted to say something.
Sybil reached over and placed her perfectly manicured hand on his arm, silencing him.
Seeing her grip on him made me burn with rage and I felt my eyes narrow and the greasy clown makeup on my face creased from doing so.
“Oh come on,” she hissed. “She’s not worth your time.
” Sybil eyed me up and down, grimacing at my uniform.
It made me feel even less confident than I already was while wearing it wearing it.
Sure, the uniforms for the servers here at Big Top were a bit ridiculous and over the top, but they were what we were known for.
“At least you don’t have to dress like that when you come to work, Lavender.
” Her eyes widened slightly on the word ‘that’ as she took in my appearance.
“The only good thing about this damn place is the discount you get on this cheap pizza. Otherwise I’d never step foot in this fucking dump.
” I tilted my head to the side, feeling the small party hat on my head shift slightly.
Breathe. It’s not worth it. She’s not worth it.
Sybil grinned, her vibrant red lips nearly matching her hair color. “Well? Are you going to take our order, clown?” I bit the inside of my lip so hard I tasted blood.
Not worth it.
“Hellooo? Did you hear me? We’re ready to order.” She tossed her hair again. “God, the service in this joint really sucks!”
I nodded my head and smiled at Sybil, leaning down as I placed my hands on the table. My body hovered so close, I was nearly eye level with her. “What’s your damage?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.
Sybil leaned back aghast, hand on her chest. She then pulled her leather jacket close and looked around the table for help, but no one was coming to her rescue.
“Damage?” She gasped. “There’s no damage here.
” She smiled, exposing her teeth. “I just don’t like you.
” Sybil clasped her fingers together, and the lights above reflected off her long nails. “You little freak.”
“Okay, cool.” I nodded as my anger began to build.
“So, you know this is my uniform, right? That I don’t just dress like this for the hell of it.
Right?” She didn’t answer and just kept smiling.
“Maybe, if you guys want to keep coming here, you should show me and all these other servers in these clown costumes some fuc—”
“Crissa.” Montey cut me off before I could even finish my sentence.
“Can you just get us our usual?” He looked at me with those soft brown eyes that used to make me melt.
“Please?” His sarcastic begging made me sick.
And I just wanted to punch him. But I needed this job.
I needed to keep my cool and be the bigger person here.
Reel it in, Crissa.
I sighed and straightened my back with a heavy sigh. “The usual.” I wrote their order on my notepad before reading it back to them. “I’ve got an order of cheesy bread, one large three-meat pizza, and one large supreme pizza. Anything else?” I looked at Montey for confirmation and he nodded.
Good.
“No!” Sybil shouted as I turned to leave. My molars nearly cracked at how hard I was clenching my mouth.
You need this job…you need this job…you need this job.
I slowly turned and stared right at Sybil, waiting for her to continue, but she just turned to Montey and spoke. “You know I hate all that extra shit on my pizza. And you never know what kind of mystery meat you’re going to get.” She huffed. “I just want cheese.”
As Sybil continued to whine, my eyes drifted to the other side of the table.
I was genuinely curious how the other three were dealing with her nonsense.
I had only been around her for a total of five minutes, and she was annoying as hell.
I couldn’t imagine putting up with her shit day in and day out.
“Anything else?” I asked the others. Lavender rolled her lip between her teeth, slouching in the booth as she silently listened to Sybil go on and on about calories or some shit.
The twins, Ryder and Token, both just looked at one another with frustrated mirror reflections and annoyed frowns. It must’ve been exhausting to them all.
Montey spoke up as my eyes returned to him. “Add a small cheese as well.”
Of course he’d cave.
“Alrighty then.” I wrote the single addition on the notepad and turned on my heel.
Before I could even take a step, Lavender gently caught my wrist. “Thanks, Crissa,” she whispered softly. I looked down at her fingers wrapped carefully around my wrist, then raised my gaze to her ocean eyes.
I ripped my arm back and dropped the forced smile. “Just doing my job.” I then walked away from the table without another word.
I don’t care if we grew up together…Lavender isn’t my friend, and this isn’t grade school. If she wants to play nice to appease her guilty conscience, fine. But I don’t have to do shit.