The Long Journey Ahead

Needless to say, it felt so amazingly good to go back to work the next day at the shop. Damien and Darren smiled warmly at me and all was cheery and bright.

Darren stopped with his pedophiles glances at me like he said he would. I can't believe in one day he decided that he's over me. I'm not complaining; I'm jumping with joy that he's done with me! It just felt awkward in a way. I shouldn't mind though, for the first time in months, I feel happy, genuinely happy.

Another thing, I couldn't wait for Frank to come to work after school was over. I wanted him to know I'm back to the old me, the one that isn't depressed and scared of everything.

I looked at the clock again. Frank should be here any second! Once I heard the door open, I leaned over the counter, with a huge grin on my face. There was Frank walking in through the door. Frank and Casey.

The grin flickered on my face. What was she doing here? I thought they broke up. Wait, what am I doing? I shouldn't feel so jittery seeing Frank. I shouldn't have these feelings.

I sighed, trying to lose myself in one of the tattoo books. I wish it distracted me but it didn't and I heard part of Frank and Casey's conversation.

"Casey later!"

"Why do I have to wait? It's not fair!"

"Because other people are here, gosh!"

That was when my I felt my heart drop. It was clear they were back to being in a relationship. Why did I even think that Frank liked me in the least bit? For all I know, I'm probably a sister in his eyes.

Well, there goes my mood. I went from annoyingly hyper to down in the dumps in a minute's time.

After Frank and Casey disappeared to the storage room, I stalked over to Darren's station. He sat in his chair, reading a magazine. I didn't want to bother him because of our weird conversation in the car but I needed to talk to someone. Damien is out of the question since I don't talk to him at all, unless it has to deal with food or jobs around this place.

How would Darren react towards me? Just because he stopped looking at me doesn't mean we're friends. Still, I'll test the waters. "Darren?" I asked timidly.

He looked away from his magazine, seeing me. "Hey Jes," he smiled.

"Do you mind if I stay here for a little while?" I begged quietly.

"Not at all." He pulled out a chair for me. "What's eating you?"

"Is it that easy to tell?" I grumbled.

He chuckled. "You can talk to me, you know. Picture me as your older brother...minus how I felt about you before."

Hey, that works for me fine. I was hoping he'd consider me his friend, but an older brother is perfectly a-okay as well. "Darren, did you notice Casey and Frank walk in here?"

He nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah I saw them. Why?"

Does he really want to torture me? I don't want to have to admit it. It stings seeing him with her; isn't that punishment enough for me? I sighed, swallowing saliva. In one breath, I told Darren the flirting Frank has done to me from when he was in a relationship up until this moment.

"Wow. I'm starting to think Franklin here is a player." He smiled at first before seeing the look of desperation on my face. "I mean, that asshole! How dare he play with your emotions."

"I feel sick," I mumbled.

"It's only a few more hours and then you can go home and stay in your room all night. If you want, I'll prank call him as a gay guy."

I laughed. That actually sounded like fun. I couldn't say yes though. He doesn't need to worry about a secret admirer in his life.

Listening to Darren, I survived the few more hours he talked about before walking out of work without saying goodbye to anyone. It's rude, I'll admit that but I wasn't in the mood to talk. I just wanted to go home and sleep.

I walked and kept to myself for a few minutes before I heard someone call my name.

"Jes. Hi. Listen, Frank's been trying to keep me away from you all day. He said something about how you needed space and people talking to you would only provoke you but I can't keep this in any more!

"I'm going to try to get Frank to ask you out. I know, I know, you're probably thinking this is an evil scheme of mine, and I'm only doing this to get to my evil deed. I swear I'm not! I understand that Frank and I didn't work out. I also understand that he has been giving you looks for a while. I saw it the very first time I saw you the night you came to his house in tears. I'm not going to press matters and ask you what happened but I do know that you and him could work out. So what do you say? Can I please help you score Frank?"

Tell me why I just stood there and let Casey talk for five minutes straight? What is she doing talking to me anyways? I thought she hates me.

And what was my great comeback? "Huh?"

She sighed, tugging at her hair. "You're making this difficult. I want him to be happy and I'm positive that he's happy when he's with you or even talks about you. So, I want to help you. I'll go shopping with you and show the type of clothes that he really likes on a girl."

I pouted. "What? The clothes I have aren't good enough?"

"No no! It isn't that. It's just...we can find clothes to lure him in even more. Please come with me? I have no bad intentions, I swear."

"I guess...?"

"Great! We'll go to New York Sunday!"

I don't have a good feeling about this, not at all...