I already feel like I have more responsibilities than I signed up for. And I'm only seventeen.
My specialty drink in hand, I walk over to Avi just as the door to Perk Me Up! opens. It's Jessica.
"I heard about what happened at the dog park today. Amy, are you okay?" Her hair is brown and stick-straight and her eyes look darker than usual because she's wearing a black top. It takes her a second to focus on the guy in the chair, but when she does, a little shriek escapes from her mouth. "Avi?" she asks, totally pointing like a little kid.
Avi stands and I clear my throat. "Jessica, this is Avi. Avi, this is my best friend Jessica."
"Call me Jess," she says, smiling so wide I think her cheeks are going to crack and her lips stretch out so much she reminds me of that elastic woman from the cartoon movie.
"Why didn't you tell me he was coming?" she says through gritted teeth although Avi can hear every word that's coming out of her mouth. Duh! He's standing right here.
"I didn't know," I say back. "It was a surprise."
"Oh."
Jess knows I hate surprises, thus the understanding "Oh" comment.
"What happened at the dog park today?" Avi asks.
I didn't really want to share the disaster so I just say, "Urn..."
"Mutt humped another dog and impregnated her right in front of everyone," Jess blurts out. "The owner of the other dog almost called the cops."
"It was no big deal," I say, trying to blow it off. Well, at least I'm trying to make it look like I'm blowing it off. It actually is a major deal and my dad is going to kill me when he finds out Princess's womb is ruined because of my dog. And the fact that he might be a grandpa to a basketful of puppies in a few months.
"Amy, are you kidding? Everyone knows," Jess says.
Avi leans forward with a confused look on his face. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I... I don't know." It's the truth.
I'd like to give Avi the hot chocolate concoction I made him, but the whipped cream is melting and running down the side of the cup onto my hand and it doesn't look as decadent and appetizing as it did before Jess came in the café. And now my hand is all grody and sticky from the melting, now lopsided whipped cream.
"I'm going for a walk," Avi says, obviously upset I've shut him out. I can't even blame him for being pissed as I watch him open the door and step out into the cold. I wish I could tell him what's going on, but how can I express it to him when I don't even have it all figured out.
So now it's just Jessica and me standing together. "Ooh, can I have that?" she says, eyeing the drink in my hand.
I shove my "Avi peace offering" at her and go back to working behind the counter.
Why can't things go my way? Is this God's way of entertaining me so I don't have a boring life? I swear, for once I'd like to have a calm, uneventful day.
Maria is in the middle of blending the new Tango Mango Crème Blend for a customer. The entire café now smells like mangoes.
"Can I have the rest of the week off?" I ask her. "I'll work double the hours next week."
"It's okay with me."
Jessica has parked herself at a computer terminal when I start wiping down the tables. "Can you please not tell Avi about my life?" I ask her.
"Why not?"
"Because if I want him to know something, I'll tell him. He doesn't need to hear it secondhand from my friends."
Jess cocks her head to the side and says, "What are you trying to hide from him, Amy?"
"Nothing."
Okay, that's not the honest truth. I'd like to hide the bad parts of me, and only share the awesome parts. You can't blame me. He's only here for a week. If he knows I screw up all the time there's no way he'll want to be my...non-boyfriend.
I'm seriously sick of referring to him as the "non."
Something in my life seriously needs to change.
19
***
Even though the Israeli army is strong I worry about Israel, I pray for the safety of my family living in Israel and my boyfriend who is in the military there. Is there anything I can do to make this a more peaceful world?
***
I'm almost done with my shift at Perk Me Up! when, you guessed it, Nathan comes sauntering in. He walks up to the counter and says, "Medium green tea with ice, no sweetener."
He doesn't even look at me. He's focused on the sugar packets next to the register. And he's obviously not interested in sugar packets because he doesn't like his drinks sweetened.
Maria is standing next to me, humming a little tune as she's purposely trying not to pay attention to the interaction between me and Nathan.
When I hand Nathan his drink, he says, "Where's Abi?"
"His name is Avi, and you know it."
Nathan takes a sip of his cold tea while looking at me above the rim of the cup. When he stops drinking he says, "Whatever..." mimicking our previous conversation. "Did he ditch you already?"
It wouldn't hurt so bad if it wasn't so close to the truth. "No. Can't you see I'm working?"
"I'm a customer. I think you're supposed to be nice to customers."
I turn to Maria, who is not pretending to ignore our conversation anymore. "Go on," she says. "Don't mind me. This is extremely entertaining. I think I might even start charging admission...or start a Perk Me Up! open mic night."