Sophie grabbed her phone as she headed out the door. There was a message waiting for her.
Jack: I’m curious about the history between you and Ashton. Tell me why you hate each other.
Sophie: Ugh…where do I start? Actually I should ask before I say anything. How do you and Ashton know each other?
Jack: We met through a mutual friend. Don’t worry, we aren’t close. My lips are sealed as far as you’re concerned. Was it that bad between you?
Sophie: I’m trusting you! It was worse than bad. Ashton and his girlfriend hated me from the moment I arrived at that school. First week they filled my locker with condoms and started the “Sophie the slut, don’t get too close or you will catch something” rumor. A direct quote from queen evil herself BTW. Not a good way to be introduced to a new school.
Jack: Horrible.
Sophie: I regret not being able to dish it back better. Instead my main plan of action was to ignore it but I must say it was never very effective.
Jack: I bet you took it gracefully. Not letting it get to you.
Sophie: I wish. Gotta run to work. Can’t be late.
When Sophie arrived at the restaurant, she welcomed the rush of customers. The restaurant had always been a popular place, and Sunday nights were no exception.
“Hey, Lori. How’s Megan? I didn’t see her when I came in,” Sophie asked in passing.
“Still nursing her hangover. She didn’t come in today. That girl does not know her limit, especially when there’s a cute boy she’s trying to sink her teeth into.” Lori rolled her eyes. “I had fun though. How about you? I saw you dirty dancing with the unbelievably hot Ashton.” Lori smiled wickedly.
“Oh.” Sophie’s eyes widened guiltily. She hadn’t realized anyone noticed. “I didn’t even realize it was him. I was just kind of…”
“Sophie.” Lori placed her hands on Sophie’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “As much as Megan is my friend, she is a complete mess. I won’t breathe a word of it to her. Megan and Ashton are never going to happen. She’s been crushing on him for years now. He barely looks at her but you…holy god, I wish some mega hot guy looked at me like that.”
“What are you talking about? We’re enemies.”
“Whatever.” Lori dismissed. “I wish I had an enemy like that. Megan is already ridiculously jealous of you and I think finding out that the guy she’s obsessed with wants to get in your pants will not go over well. You may want to keep it on the down low.”
“Why would she be jealous of me? And she’s the one who insisted that I go out last night.” Sophie was confused about the whole situation.
“Just remember that Megan can get very dramatic.” Lori sighed with an apologetic smile before she disappeared through the doors of the kitchen.
Sophie ran the conversation through her mind. She didn’t want Megan to feel threatened by her, and she definitely was not going to pursue Ashton.
Sophie was relieved to find out that Sam was not working tonight either. She wasn’t sure how she should act around him now that she knew what his intentions were. He seemed to be making his feelings more obvious, or at least they seemed so now that she knew the truth.
The rest of the evening passed quickly and before long they were closing up. Sophie was thrilled with her tips. She had a couple of generous spenders, improving her mood. It was nights like these that made up for the more frugal customers that didn’t understand that waiters survived on tips.
On her walk home, she pulled out her phone to see she had a missed call from her mother and a text from Jack. Sophie called her mother to let her know about her new job. Her mother congratulated her and then insisted on getting all the details on Margaret because she wanted Peter to do a background check. Sophie relinquished the information because she knew her persistent mother would attain it one way or another.
Jack: Was that unfortunate condom incident the worst of it?
Sophie: Hardly. The first of many. I got locked in the girls’ bathroom until a janitor found me. Had my clothes stolen from me while I was in the shower. NIGHTMARE. I still have bad dreams about that one. Got my homework stolen many times, had food dumped on me…all the rumors they spread around about me made everyone always stare.
Jack: Are you sure people didn’t stare at you because you are beautiful?
Sophie: Haha. No definitely not.
Jack: What did you do when they did all that stuff?
Sophie: Tried to talk to Lucinda many times. That got me nowhere. I tried the whole revenge is sweet path for a while. Not really my thing ’cause I felt too bad about it. Then after that I just hoped they would eventually get bored. Never happened. Didn’t even get to my prom.
Jack: Did you want to go to prom?
Sophie: What girl doesn’t? I was actually excited about going because someone had asked me, but when he picked me up he tried to take me “parking” instead. I ended up walking home when he kicked me out of the car. Took me 2 hours. Never told my mom I never made it. You are actually the first person I told that pathetic info to. Don’t tell anyone!
Jack: Who asked you?
Sophie: One of Ashton’s friends. Don’t even ask me why I didn’t see it coming. He had been nice to me for a couple weeks before. He made me feel special and I fell for it. It turned out to be their best prank of all.
Jack: I might know him. Who was it?