- P A S T - 

I woke to the sound of my mum’s voice instead of my alarm. It turns out I forgot to set it this morning but she was passing my room and decided to wake me.

My room wasn’t cold today, only a slight chill that would evaporate as the rainwater had from the street. Outside my window the clouds loomed over the sky like a blanket over the town. But there was a hole in the cloud blanket and through that, sunshine was seeping in.

Happy that I wouldn’t freeze today, I quickly got out of bed and went to my old chest of drawers. I rummaged around for my black skinny jeans and loose, light-red-and-white striped t-shirt. I dressed before popping to the bathroom to brush through my tangled hair and put on perfume.

Just as I was leaving, Leilani bounced into the room without an ounce of sleep on her. Her hair looked like a birds nest as she pushed me out of the bathroom, claiming that she needed to get ready. Sometimes it felt like I had an older sister with the amount of time she spent getting ready.

I retrieved my phone and bag from my room before heading downstairs. Mum was sitting at the counter with a mug of coffee in front of her, the lack of sleep evident in the purple shadows under her eyes. I had no doubt in my mind that she hadn’t slept; she was probably up all night doing reports for the bakery.

I was about to make a cup of tea when Mum cut in, her voice tired. “I’ll make that for you.”

Surprised by the gesture, I sat down on the other side of the bench. As Mum made me a chai latte, she cleared her throat.

“Lena, sweetie,” she started in a voice that told me what was coming.

“You want me to work at the bakery tomorrow?” I asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

Our family owned a little gourmet bakery in the middle of the main street. It was famous for its berry muffins and pesto, pumpkin and béchamel croissants. Recently it had been awarded the number one bakery of the year which led to the increase of customers; which was a good thing until Mum started asking me to work.

I didn’t mind if I could stay in the kitchen or on coffees but it was bad when he made me take orders and even worse; wait. 

She cleared her throat. “Well, yeah. Would you mind? Pete’s gone on a holiday and we are really understaffed. You can just do coffees. I’m pretty sure Patrick is working as well.”

Patrick was one of the best guys that worked at the bakery. Don’t get me wrong, all of the staff were great but Patrick respected my silence and we worked really well together, especially on coffees. Although I think Mum thought there was something going on between us. She always used him to get me to work but the truth was we were just good friends.

“Sure,” I agreed. She handed me my chai and I thanked her before drinking it. I then said goodbye to him and my sister – who came screaming down the stairs like every other morning – and was on my way.

When I got to school I was greeted by an ecstatic Anna who had just been asked out by her all time crush; Jason Teller. He seemed like a nice enough guy but was part of the popular group, so I was always a bit iffy around him. I had to be happy for Anna though, who chattered my ear off about him all the way to lunch.

Needless to say the day went by excruciatingly slowly. I really couldn’t have been happier when I arrived in the Arts building for sixth period Photography.

“We’re starting a new assignment today!” My teacher exclaimed, making up for the enthusiasm my class lacked. “It’s a portraiture assignment,” he continued. “You are to pair up and take four to ten photographs of your partner. Please stay inside the school grounds or else there will be trouble.” He pointed his finger sternly at a few of the rebels in the class. “Be creative, be different, and make sure it’s done by Thursday week.” He finished, taking a seat in the chair behind his desk.

The class erupted into noise, everyone trying to find a partner and get a camera from the front of the room where they were stored in pigeon holes. Everyone was excited; everyone but me. I wanted to bang my head on the desk, maybe give myself a serious enough head injury to be absent from school for two weeks. That would at least get me out of doing this assignment.

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to face Isaiah who had his trademark grin stretched across his face. “Partner?”

I didn’t really have a choice. I nodded.

“Great. I’ll get us a camera,” he told me, getting up from his seat and going to the front of the classroom. Most of the people had cleared out of the room so it wasn’t hard for Isaiah to get a camera.

When he returned, he put in an SD card and took the lens cap off.

“Come on, let’s go!” He exclaimed with excitement, bouncing on his heels where he stood beside my desk.

I sighed, standing up with a reluctance that made my thoughts obvious.

“You don’t want to do this, do you?” Isaiah guessed as I closed the door behind us. The clouds had parted and the sun was shining, making me happy that I wore a t-shirt. Isaiah also wore a t-shirt, with denim jeans and black Converse to go with it.

I shook my head, no, while following him out of the building and to the oval where trees lined the stretch of grass. An idea flashed into my mind like a light bulb being switched on. I held out my hand.

“Can I please have the camera?” I asked, my voice muted.

“Sure thing,” he nodded, handing it to me. I put the strap around my neck and let it hang while walking with purpose now. Isaiah followed me to the trees lined at the back of the oval, where the grass turned to bark and dirt. There were leaves that had fallen off the tall maple trees.

“Watcha doing?” Isaiah drawled, leaning over my crouched figure. I was looking among the leaves and found a perfect one. It was like a classic autumn leaf but instead of orange, it was a bottle-green.

I answered his question by handing him the leaf.

“Hold this up so that it covers half of your face,” I instructed. He smiled and shook his head at something I couldn’t figure out before doing what I asked. The leaf – tilted on its side – covered half of his face, stopping just past his nose. As I thought, the colour of the leaf made his green eyes pop against his tanned skin, while also bringing out the flecks of hazel in them.

I brought the camera to my eye and zoomed in. Inside the frame was Isaiah’s face, from his forehead – where his caramel-brown hair was falling over his forehead – to just below his lips. You couldn’t see his hand where he held the leaf on the left side of the frame, nor could you see anything on the right side of his face beyond the top of his cheekbone.

Click.

I pressed the shutter release button before looking at the screen. Satisfied with the result, I held the camera out to Isaiah so that he could see the result.

“Looks good,” he appraised the image, leaning over my shoulder to see it. “You’re really good at this, y’know. Why didn’t you want to do the assignment?” He asked, taking the camera off me and hanging it around his neck.

“I still don’t want to do the assignment,” I clarified as we walked out of the shelter of the trees. The sun on my arms felt nice and we walked back across the oval.

“Why not?” He raised an eyebrow, curious.

“I don’t like having my picture taken,” I said simply, honestly.

“Well, that’s just too bad,” he grinned, lifting the camera to his face and pressing the button.

Click.

“Isaiah!” I scowled, backing away from him.

“Say cheese!” He ignored me, pressing the button again.

Click.

That’s when I started to run. I went left across the oval before doubling back and going right, all while Isaiah was chasing after me, chuckling and snapping pictures.

Click. Click. Click.

“Okay, okay. I’m done!” Isaiah called. I had managed to get to the end of the oval whereas he was still in the middle of the green pitch, now walking.

I crossed my bare arms over my chest with a scowl etched into my face. The sun was beating onto my back as he came closer, still wearing the grin while looking down at the camera.

“They’re not half bad,” he said when he was only a few paces in front of me. “I mean in some you look like you want to kill me but other than that, they’re good.”

I doubted that. Me, annoyed, running away surely wasn’t a good photograph. “Can I see?”

“What’s the magic word?” He said in a sing-song voice. We were walking back to class – as it was nearly time to go – and I looked up at him, raising my eyebrow.

“Please?” I added.

“Hmm,” he made out like he was thinking about it. “Nope! You’ll just have to wait and see in two weeks!”

Noooooooo, I internally groaned. He can’t submit pictures of me that I haven’t seen. Actually…

“Technically you have to have my consent to be able to use them. Which you don’t.”

My words didn’t bother him in the slightest. He laughed. “That’s true. But you don’t have my consent to use the one picture you took of me, so if you’re not going to give me your consent then it just might turn out that I won’t give you mine.”

Touché.

I sighed in defeat before turning into the arts building. We walked side by side up the stairs and into the classroom where everyone was packing away the equipment. I followed suit, taking the camera from Isaiah and removing the SD card.

“Nope, I’m taking that.” Isaiah pinched the SD out of my hand and slipped it in his laptop. “I don’t want you to go off and delete all my brilliant photos.”

I shrugged; I had plenty of SD card’s.

The bell sounded for the end of the day and I was out the door before my teacher could even say goodbye. The painfully slow day had come to an end and I was busting to get out of that place.

At my locker I endured another ten minute rant from Anna about Jason before excusing myself to go home. But apparently I couldn’t escape from it there either. I got multiple texts analysing the brief conversations they shared and my opinions on the matter which I didn’t actually possess.

Leilani and Mum got home at their usual time of the afternoon, four thirty, but left soon after. Mum was taking Lani to a sleepover at a friend’s house. From what Lani told me yesterday,  her friend Jacob was supposed to come over here but plans must have changed.

“Do you want to invite Anna over?” Mum asked when she returned, hanging her coat on the hooks in the entry.

I contemplated this. On one hand it could be an exciting Friday night because Anna always had something fun to do, but on the other hand she would undoubtedly be talking more about her crush, Jason Teller. I didn’t think I could handle that.

“Nah, I’ll just hang around I think.” Maybe watch a movie or some t.v, play some Angry Birds, have an early night for work in the morning.

Mum’s smile turned into a frown. “Alright. But I’ll make dinner tonight. You can just go and relax, maybe play some piano? It feels like you haven’t played in ages!”

I raised my eyebrow dubiously. “I played yesterday.” A smirk worked its way onto my face as we sat at the kitchen counter.

“Yeah but still. I love it when you play and you’re so good.”

I rolled my eyes. Mum’s have to say that about their children. “Sure, Mum. Whatever you say.”

The rest of the evening went as planned; I watched an episode of Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, got to the next level in Angry Birds, and went to bed early in preparation for the early morning start.

***

“Hi, what can I get for you?”

I’d heard that sentence at least a hundred times since I started work four hours ago. The little digital clock next to the coffee machine had just flicked over to eleven. Only two more hours to go.

The little café-bakery was packed with tourists coming down for the surprisingly good weather. There were people everywhere, trying to get their coffees and their muffins before going to the beach to enjoy the sunshine. The waiters were running around like headless chooks, trying to please the customers and bring them their meals on time.

Out of the whole café there was only one table left; a long ten-seater in the back area. Only locals knew about it which is why it was empty and I knew that when I finished, I’d sit out there with a cup of tea and a croissant.

Only two more hours.

The bell rang as I was making a skinny latte, signalling new customers. I heard Lacey – the woman working the counter – welcome them before a high pitched voice said they wanted the outside table.

Oh well, they would be gone by the time I was done here.

“Watch out,” Patrick said from my left. He was about twenty, with jet black hair and a hot mug of coffee in his hand. I moved forward a bit so that he could squeeze through behind me to give the coffee to one of the waiters.

I just finished making the latte when my mother came up to me, flour on her folded down apron and in her hair.

“Hey, sweetie. Do you mind just taking the orders of the table out back? We’re packed and the waiters are busy enough in here.” Her face scrunched up in preparation for my refusal, which was fair enough. Usually I would but it was clear he needed the help and Patrick was even more useless at waiting than I was.

“Sure,” I nodded, wiping my hands on my folded down apron.

“Thanks so much, sweetie.” Her smile showed the gratitude she felt as she turned back to the kitchen, disappearing behind the beads that hung across the doorway.

I went to the counter – dodging waiters, cooks and other staff – to get a notepad and a pen. I tucked it into the pocket of my half apron before pulling my ponytail tighter.

“Good luck,” Patrick told me as I passed him on my way out. I uttered, “Thanks,” in response before turning down the hallway. Like the rest of the bakery, the hallway was painted a beautiful turquoise with white tiles on the ground.

I was coming to the already-open sliding door when I heard a voice which I vaguely recognized. “Oh my God, can the waiters take any longer? Geez, you’d think there’s no one working here today!”

I winced at the screechy voice before peering out the door.

Oh great, I thought with sarcasm. Andrea Martin and her gang.

I already regretted the decision to waitress, even if it was just for half an hour or so until they left.

Suck it up, I told myself.

Taking a deep breath, I smoothed out my apron and went to the head of their table. It was filled with twelve or so of my classmates who were all chattering loudly. I didn’t look at any of their faces specifically, just at the wooden table.

“Hi,” – a forced smile – “What can I get for you?”

“About bloody time,” Andrea huffed, not making any effort to conceal her frustration. Could she really not see how busy we were? Or maybe all her make-up was blinding her, like it was everyone else.

“Hey Magdalena,” one of the guys drawled. He was the big, burly one with the hair that looked like a hedgehog. I tried not to roll my eyes.

“Lena?” I heard a voice call from the end of the table.

Oh shit.

I turned my attention to the other end where Isaiah was sitting. On his right was Leo with his light hair astray and opposite him were Isabelle and Dave, both looking at me with a smile.

As soon as my eyes made contact with Isaiah he grinned, the same one that always covered his face. “How are you? Considering you didn’t answer any of my texts last night I assumed you were dead,” he frowned momentarily, before his happy exterior was obvious again.

“I’m-”

“Uh, Lina?” Andrea called from my left, her blue eyes glinting with evil. “You’re meant to be working, not socialising. Are you ever going to take our orders or just stand there and drool over Grayson?”

Bitch.

From the other end Isabelle piped up, her dark hair shining in the sun. “He wishes Magdalena was drooling over him.” All the boys burst into laughter but Isabelle just looked to me, winked, and then turned to Isaiah with a sly grin.

“Yeah and everyone knows it,” Isaiah responded smoothly. I rolled my eyes.

“What can I get for you?” I repeated. As entertaining as this was I had a job to do. Then I could go back to making coffees with Patrick and everything would be normal again.

“Hmm,” a girl from my left said dramatically, as if the fact that she was thinking was such valuable information to the rest of the table. Well, I mean, it was pretty impressive that something went through that tiny brain of hers. “I want a blueberry muffin and a water,” she decided, shoving her menu at me.

“I’ll have the fruit salad,” Andrea said, doing the same with her menu as the first girl did. I tucked them under my arm and moved down the table, scribbling down their orders.

Out of everyone I had ever served in this café, I had never seen a group so unwilling to be polite and say ‘please’ or ‘thank-you’. That was until I got to other end.

“Can I please have the pumpkin and pesto croissant?” Isabelle asked me. It nearly shocked me how polite she was, considering the rest of them.

I nodded when I had taken her order before taking up her menu.

“Ooh that sounds good!” Dave said from beside her. “I’ll have one of those too, please.”

“Make it three,” Leo smiled. “Thanks.”

Isaiah was the last person to place his order. He looked down at the plastic menus, scratching the back of his neck.

“I don’t know, it all looks so good,” he half groaned before looking up at me. “I’ll have your favourite,” he gleamed, handing me a menu back.

I smiled while shaking my head like a parent would when their child was acting out but trying to look innocent. I scribbled down ‘Lena’s favourite’, knowing that Mum would understand exactly what that was and what to put in it.

“Alright. Do you mind if it comes out separately or would you like it all at once?” I asked, not to anyone in particular.

“Where are we, a barn? All at o-” Andrea started to call from the other end of the table.

“It can come out separately, whatever’s easiest,” Isabelle interrupted, turning to look at Andrea before looking my direction again and rolling her eyes. I don’t blame her, Andrea was one heck of an annoying person.

I nodded, turning on my heel and walking back towards the door. Just as I stepped inside I heard Andrea’s annoying voice behind me. “God, she’s like, such a bitch. I can’t believe how rude she is. I’m never coming here again.”

What a cow.

I tore out the pieces of paper and handed in the orders before returning to the coffee machine.

“How’d ya go?” Patrick asked, looking down at me to show me his amused expression. He was probably happy he didn’t have to go take orders.

“Eh,” I shrugged, reading the next coffee order. “They’re from school. Pretty annoying,” I muttered the last bit, not wanting to be caught talking bad about customers.

“Want me to help you take the orders out when they’re ready?” He offered, turning his attention back to the coffee.

I shook my head. “Thanks but no thanks. I’ve got it.”

“Lena,” Lacey called from the counter. “Some of your orders are up. Do you want some help?” She asked, eyeing the four plates on the bench with a doubtful expression.

“I’ve got it,” I repeated, picking up the plates just like my mother had taught me. Patrick was the only one I had to pass on the way out and he got clear out of my way, knowing full well how hard it was to balance plates.

I made it down the colourful hallway and outside, all the plates still in my hand. The first plate went to Andrea who just stuck her nose up when I put it in front of her. The next went to one of the guys in the middle who made a perverted comment when I leaned over to put it in front of him. The other two dishes went to the people near Andrea.

The ones I came out with next were the rest of the people up that end, only leaving Isabelle, Dave, Leo, Isaiah and one other to go. But because I wasn’t coordinated enough to carry five at once, Patrick carried two for me.

“Thank you,” Isabelle smiled when I put her croissant in front of her. I got the same response from Leo and Dave before I had to go fetch the drinks. There were only two coffees and a water so I took them myself.

“Damn, they all go to your school?” Patrick asked me when we got back to the coffee station.

I nodded, glancing at the clock. 12:01pm.

Fifty nine minutes left.

“That chick up the end sure is a piece of work. And her voice. How do you stand that?” I only just heard his chuckle over the roar of the customers in the lunch rush.

“I don’t,” I told him honestly. “I avoid her at all costs.”

“Good idea,” he said.

We made coffees in silence for the next ten minutes before I decided to go back out and collect the plates. A few people were already finished when I took the drinks out.

The sun was behind the only cloud in the sky when I went through the door, making the day seem duller than it had before. The dry leaves were crunching underfoot as I made my way back to the table.

“Oh my God, Lina,” Andrea screeched, flipping her hair over her shoulder in a typical bitchy move. “I know you want to be popular and all but you can’t just keep coming out here every few minutes.”

Was she dumb? Really? She thought I wanted to be popular?

“Are you kidding Andrea?” Dave said from the other end of the table, leaning over Isabelle to look at the girl in which he was talking to. “It’s her job to come out every few minutes. That’s what waiters do.”

“Whatever. I’m leaving,” she sighed, standing up which made me realise how short her shorts was. Well, you couldn’t really call them shorts; more like underwear in the denim form.

I took a step back before I could get trampled by the stampede of heels and skate shoes that were going inside. Only Leo, Dave, Isabelle and Isaiah remained. I let out the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding in, shook my head and began stacking the plates up.

“I am so sorry about them,” Isabelle’s voice came from the other end of the long table. “They can be so obnoxious sometimes.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize,” I reassured her, starting a new stack of plates and cutlery.

“Yes, I do. They were absolutely awful to you,” Isabelle frowned, shaking her head in disgust.

“Yeah, especially Chris,” Dave added, shuddering. “He’s such a pervert.”

“What do you mean Chris? Did you even see Andrea?” Leo contributed, rolling his eyes. “Damn, that chick is a bitch.”

I felt the sun on my back as it popped out from behind the cloud. It was nice to feel the warmth on my arms as I collected the plates. But unfortunately I had to take them so that they could be washed. When I went back out they were all finished eating, so I cleared their plates as well.

“Thanks,” Isaiah said when I reached for his. “By the way, what was your favourite so that I can get it next time? It was really good.”

“Uh.” I bit my lip. “It’s not on the menu.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, clearly confused. The others seemed confused as well so I explained, as uncomfortable as it made me.

“Well my family owns this bakery and my mum used to make them at home when I was younger because they were and are my favourite.  Now, whenever I work, I get one when I finish.”

“Wait, you own the bakery?” Dave asked in surprise.

“That’s so cool!” Isabelle added.

“Damn,” Leo sighed. “I wish my parents could cook.”

“Oh no,” I corrected. “I don’t own the bakery, my family does. But it’s alright, I guess.”

They all laughed excluding Isaiah, who was just looking at me with intense green eyes and a curious expression. I didn’t know what that was about and I wasn’t going to find out.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you to it.” I took the plates and hurried inside before anyone could say anything else.

I dropped the plates in the kitchen by the sink before going to the coffee machine once again. The clock flashed as it clicked over another minute.

Only thirty two minutes left.