Sophia had a small black notepad in her hands, along with a pencil that she was idly waving above the page to create strange little markings. The soft red lines were blending into each other, with the words smearing together like a streak of dark mud. She knew she was doing something important, but it wasn’t like she cared. There was the taste of rubber as she bit down on the end of the yellow eraser, and the air was filled with the smell of coffee that was just a little too weak.

“Are you listening to me?” a man in a crinkly business jacket above jeans asked, waving his hand in front of his ignorant waitress’s face. “Did you hear me?”

“Eggs, sunny side up and a glass of orange juice,” Sophia replied as she tried her best to use her customer-friendly tone. “Is that all?”

The man narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you got some place better to be?”

Apparently, the tone hadn’t worked. With a deep sigh, she debated on whether she wanted to deal with this guy the hard way, or the easy way. The hard way was to say, ‘I’m sorry, sir. I’ve got a lot on my mind right now. I’ll get your order right away!’ Then scurry off to the kitchen. The easy way would be to shout, ‘yeah, I do. It’s anyplace where I don’t have to look at rat bastards like you in the morning.’ She imagined ripping off her blue and pink signature apron and storming out the door.

“Your food will be ready when it’s done.” Seeing how she actually needed this job; a compromise would have to suffice.

It wasn’t a far walk to the kitchen. Sophia pushed through a large, metal door to the kitchen. She didn’t bother paying any attention to the crinkly smell of overcooked bacon, or the toast that was clearly burning in the rusty toaster. “Listen up!” she said, clapping her hands to get the attention of the two cooks. They quickly spun around to face her, a short straight-haired guy hiding whatever substance he was smoking behind his back. “Table two wants an omelet with ham and cheese with pancakes for the kid. Seven wants eggs, sunny side up.”

One of the cooks, a young man with a scraggly beard that had been the source of multiple complaints of contaminated food, rolled his eyes as he shoved a pan on the stove. “It’s that dude again, huh?”

“What dude?” the other cook asked, not-so-subtly depositing something smoking into a trash bin.

“You know! The guy that wears that jacket everywhere,” he replied, cracking an egg on the pan, and not bothering to pick out all the scattered bits of shell that slid in. “Wacko. Thinks he owns the place.”

Scraggle-beard snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, that guy. Prick. Want us to do the usual, chief?”

Sophia was busy grabbing a chocolate milk bottle from out of the nearly empty fridge. She only started paying attention to the conversation when she heard her title called. “I’m not your chief.” A glance in their direction was all she needed to relay her seriousness. “What’s the usual?”

“We told you, remember?” short-guy pouted.

The girl rubbed her temples as she grabbed a nearly empty carton of orange-juice. “I zone out whenever you guys start talking. Tell me again.”

This remark was harsh, but nothing the two hadn’t come to expect. “Watch,” Scraggle-beard said as he leaned over and spat in the sizzling egg.

“That’s disgusting,” Sophia replied, closing the door of the fridge with the back of her foot. “I’m not going to stop you, but it’s still nasty.”

The two cooks chuckled at their own depravity. There weren’t many ways you could entertain yourself in a place like this. Sometimes, you had to do things to spice it up. “What’s bit you today, chief?” the short guy questioned with a smirk. “It’s like you’re a zombie.”

Scraggle-beard backed up his friend’s claim by stretching out his arms and going, “bleah!”

“Nothing’s wrong. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” the girl snapped. “Get the food done, okay?”

The cooks rolled their eyes as Sophia put all the drinks on a tray and carefully balanced it in the bend of her arm. She’d done this about a thousand times before, so it came as naturally as riding a bike. Coming out from the kitchen, she caught the man in the jacket giving her an ugly look. She shot a smile at him, trying to ease the tension, but the rest of her face just stayed put- unable to force a single ounce of sincerity.

“Here are your drinks,” she said, walking over to a concerningly sticky, pink plastic table. There was a family of three gathered around it. One was a lady in a Sunday dress, although it was only a Wednesday, and her greying hair was extra flammable with all the setting spray keeping it upright. A man sitting across from her was also dressed formally, but it didn’t look like he put in as much effort into picking out anything nice. Then there was a kid that would have to be only around three at most. “Coffee for you two, and milk for the kid.”

As she slid over the drinks, the wife looked down at her child. “What do we say to the young lady in the apron?” The girl pouted and crossed her arms, refusing to speak. “Magnolia, where are your manners?”

“It’s fine,” Sophia waved her free hand. “Your food will be…”

“No,” the husband spoke firmly. “We are not having our food until you do as you were told. Say, ‘thank you.’”

The child stood her ground. In a way, Sophia could respect that, though this really wasn’t any of her business. Turning to leave, she was shocked to find her arm tugged back. The remaining drink nearly toppled off of the tray, but she managed to balance herself in time for only a little of the orange juice to spill out over the top. Out and right onto her face. “Fuck!” She could hear the couple gasp at her, though the only thing she cared about was why this creep was ripping her arm off. “Let go!”

Her words were strong enough to make the husband lose his grip. Practically blinded, she reached across the table for the napkin dispenser and pulled out a handful to clean her face with. “Young lady,” the wife spoke up. “What type of place is this? You can’t use words like that in front of my daughter.”

Sophia ignored the rambling. “What’s your problem?” she spat at the husband.

He looked indignant. “I was trying to teach my daughter a very valuable lesson, and you walked away.”

“I can’t believe this!” the wife decreed to the heavens. “Magnolia, you are never to use that word. Do you understand me?”

“It there somebody that we can speak to about this?”

“What for? You grabbed me! Touch me again and I’ll…” Suddenly, the phone inside Sophia’s pocket started to buzz. All the fire that was in her soul flickered out in an instant. She needed this situation to be over. Now. “Sir, Ma’am, I’m so sorry. It’s been a rough day. I wasn’t expecting the pull, that’s all. It’s like stubbing your toe. You don’t know what’s going to come out.”

“Certainly not something fowl like that,” the wife said with her feathers ruffled.

An image of smacking the old bag so hard that her dentures flew out flashed through her head, but the phone was more important. “Sorry again, I’ll be right back with your food.”

Not giving them time to protest, Sophia dipped out of the room, leaving the tray behind on an empty table. With anxious fingers, she dug the phone out of her pocket and brought it to her ear. It was an old thing she found in a discount pile. The tiny screen that flipped out came pre-cracked, and the button for ‘3’ was missing. Still, it was somehow managing to work.

Stepping into the women’s bathroom, she locked the door behind her and stared at herself in the smudged mirror. “Hello?” she watched her mouth move rapidly as she spoke.

The voice on the other line was barely recognizable over the static. It was like a robot was beatboxing the response. “Is this Sophia?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” She didn’t waste any time getting to the point. “How’s William?”

There was a long pause. “He’s here with us at the hospital. They’re doing everything that they can.”

Sophia took a deep breath, though it still felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Is he awake? How’s he feeling?”

“Yes, he’s awake,” the voice crackled. “But he isn’t talking very much. I think the process may be taking a lot out of him.”

“Can I speak with him? Please?” she asked to herself in the mirror.

There was another pause. “I…”

“I know, I know! You’re not supposed to be doing this,” her words came out desperately. “You guys took him, and not me. I get that. You’re supposed to live your lives and take care of him. That doesn’t involve me anymore. But I’m still his sister. So please, just let me say something.”

The phone signal flickered as the person on the other end sighed. “Fine. But the doctors are with him now. I’ll call you back if I get the chance.”

“Can’t you just…” She bit her lip. “Thanks. Call me soon.”

There was a click as the call ended. Sophia flipped her phone down and shoved it back into her pocket. The mirror betrayed her frazzled expression. This wasn’t the type of thing she was prepared for. Ever since her mom left, it was like she was living in a fog. With a grunt, she padded down her ugly apron. “Just get through today. You can do that. Unless you kill somebody first.”

Back in the diner, there was another customer sitting by himself in the corner booth. He was a skinny guy with a long Santa beard around his chin. But Sophia didn’t have much time to observe him before she caught another look from the man in the jacket. He had gone from agitated to notably upset. Grabbing the tray again, she readied herself for the shitstorm that was brewing like the coffee in the back.

“Your orange…”

She didn’t even have time to finish her sentence before it started. “Took you long enough,” he spoke in a snarky mess. “What are you even doing back there? Is this how you run a business? My drink’s already warm.”

It wasn’t. “Sorry, sir. Would you like me to get you another glass?”

“So, you can charge me double? Nah, I know how places like this operate.”

“You do?”

“Didn’t go to college for business for nothing.” He seemed proud of that statement.

Sophia raised a curious eyebrow. “They taught you to charge people double for orange juice in college?”

He crossed his arms. “No. But I learned how to make a buck!”

“I bet you make a lot of money then, sir.” Her face was as expressionless as the plain pink wall behind her.

The man’s proud smile faded a bit, and he shuffled in his seat. “Well. These things take time.”

“I’m sure they do,” she said, blinking slowly. “Do you want a new glass of orange juice or not?”

With a frown, the man brought the glass to his lips and stuck his tongue down the rim like a thirsty cat. “No. But hurry up with the food, will you? I’ve been sitting here for hours!”

It had been fifteen minutes at most. “Coming right up.”

Instead of going back to the kitchen, she thought it would be a good idea to get the new guy’s order first. As she passed the family at the table, the wife raised her hand. “I would like a word with you, young lady.”

“Food is on its way,” she replied, pretending not to see them.

Moving by quickly, Sophia crossed her fingers and hoped that this new customer would be normal. “Hi, sir. What can I get for you today?”

“Hello, good-looking,” a whisper of a voice escaped his hairy lips. “My name’s Peter, but you can call me Pete. All my friends do.”

Sophia felt all her hopes go flying out a window and flatten dead on the pavement. “Do you know what you want to order?” she asked, retrieving her notepad.

“No. Haven’t had time to look at the menu.”

“That’s alright. Anything to drink in the meantime?”

“Yeah. I’ll take a tall glass of water,” he paused for effect. “Oh, never mind. I’ve got one right here!”

“Ah… good one,” Sophia wondered how hard she would need to kick him in the jaw to see his teeth pop out of his skull. “So, you don’t want anything?”

The man attempted a sultry stare, failed, and ending up looking like he was sucking on a lemon. “Coffee. With crème.”

Sophia smiled and jotted something down on the notepad. It wasn’t his order, instead it was just the word ‘weirdo.’ “Coming right up.”

On this go around, she couldn’t avoid the family. Already, the husband was reaching his arm out like he was preparing to give a sprinter a bottle of water. “Young lady,” the wife spoke again. “A word.”

The young lady in question bit her tongue inside her mouth and stopped. She adopted a friendly pose with her hands on her hips. Well, it was friendly for her, at least. “Yes?”

Twisting her neck around like a turkey, the wife started to ramble. “Your behavior around my daughter is completely unacceptable. I would think that in an establishment like this, that there would be at least some kind of moral code. This fowl language you used so thoughtlessly could bring impurity to my child, and yo the children of other customers as well. I think it is best that you apologize to Magnolia. Set a good example.”

“A good example?” Like her husband grabbing a waitress by the arm? The blood in her veins boiled. Every day, it was the same. This whole song and dance routine, over and over again. Everybody seemed to need her to be whatever they wanted her to be. It felt like being smushed into a mold that she could never fit. She opened her mouth to give the lady a piece of her mind, but the thought of William stopped her. “Magnolia. I am very sorry for saying such a bad word. You shouldn’t say that. Ever.”

The pleased looks from the couple were anger inducing. “Thank you,” the husband said proudly. “Was that so hard?”

Sophia had to will herself not to give this man’s dentist a new source of income. She just had to get through today. Then the next one, and the day after that. For William. “No, sir. Let me go get your food.”

Even before she made it to the kitchen, she could smell something burning. Her first thought was that short-guy’s contraband had caught the trash on fire, but that would’ve produced a different smell. The metal door didn’t swing as she barreled through. On top of the oven, there was an omelet. Well, it looked more like a hockey puck as smoke billowed off of it into a cloud. She knew that there were smoke detectors in the building. If they went off, there goes the customers, and there goes her job. Sure, there was a good chance that none of the detectors had batteries in them, though she couldn’t take that risk.

Looking around, she saw that the cooks were nowhere to be seen. “Useless,” she muttered to herself as she tossed her tray aside and rushed over to the pan.

When she grabbed the handle, it nearly took the flesh right off of her hand. She jumped back, a wave of heat rippling through her arm. Keeping the swears to a maximum, she quickly grabbed her ugly apron and wrapped it around the handle for some cover. As she lifted the pan, she neglected to consider the weight of it. It was cheap, and thus extremely light. Her strength betrayed her, and a funnel of hot smoke came flooding into her face.

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For one brief moment, Sophia wasn’t holding a pan. It was different- more curved and sturdier. The haze felt it was practically tearing through her eyes. Not just that. It was burrowing inside her like a drill. Instantly, she started to cry. But it was painful, like the water was coming out boiling. Boiling blood red.

She let out a scream as little flecks of water popped off the smoldering metal to attack her exposed skin. Stumbling over to the mildew laden sink, she slammed the hazard inside and flicked the cold water on. The smoke began to dissipate as she reached her burned hand under the water. This was a bad idea, as the stinging was so bad it nearly knocked her out.

A door in the back opened and scraggle-beard leaned his head in. “Oh, shit.” She heard him say as he stumbled in. “What’s wrong?”

“Put two and two together, Sherlock!” Sophia shouted.

Short guy came in next, looking like he had just seen a ghost. “Was that you making that noise? Jesus, chief. It was like I stepped on a cat’s tail or something.”

“I’m not your fucking Chief!” If she wasn’t kneeling on the floor in pain, she likely would have lashed out at them. “You have one job around here. One! It’s making the damn food! Is an omelet too hard for you?”

“We were just taking a break!” scraggle beard protested.

Sophia’s eyes glared daggers. “It’s an hour into work! Don’t know if you know this, but at a restaurant, like this diner, people come to eat. When they don’t eat, they get mad! When they get mad, they don’t pay us! If we don’t get paid, we can’t afford the rent in our shitty apartment! It’s not a hard concept to understand!”

The two cooks exchanged nervous looks. “Damn. Something’s really bit you today. It’s not that serious,” Short one said with an obnoxious shoulder shrug.

Bringing herself to her feet, Sophia walked over to them and grabbed them slowly by the shoulders. Their bones felt flimsy in her hands, like little twigs. She took turns staring at them before letting out a deep sigh. “Just cook the food. Please. That’s all I need you to do.”

“Sure thing.” Scraggle beard figured that poking the bear wasn’t a good idea today. He pointed to a finished plate. “That guy’s spit egg is ready.”

Walking over to the dish, Sophia remembered the weirdo’s coffee. She poured it straight from the pot into a vibrant blue mug. A great way to start the morning- if you liked to begin a day with an eyesore and a cheap roast.

The man in the jacket rolled his eyes when he saw her. “I’ve never in my life had to wait so long for something so simple.” He snatched the plate away before she had a chance to put it down. “You crack an egg into a pan and wait a minute! Don’t you know time is money?”

“Sorry, sir,” Sophia was too exhausted to fight with this idiot. “I hope you enjoy your food.”

“It’s cold,” he scowled. “I expect that it has something to do with your poor work-ethic. Tell me, how did you manage to get hired?”

He was making it quite difficult for her not to put another round of spit into his food. “The last girl quit and moved in with her girlfriend or something.” She decided honesty was the only way to get out of this quicker. “They had an opening, and I needed a job. Any other questions, sir?”

The man in the jacket huffed. “You’re not getting a tip, you know?” Using his plastic fork, he cut open the runny part of his egg, letting the yellow juices flood the plate.

“Never thought I was, sir.” He’d never tipped her before. Even on the few days when she had been able to fain niceness.

Sophia looked over her shoulder and felt a welp of disgust when she saw the way the weirdo was looking at her. Despite her overwhelming need to get as far away from him as humanly possible, she realized that his coffee was still in her hand. Well, at least she had a weapon.

She had almost made it to his table when, yet again, she was pulled back. “Young lady, where is our food?” the husband demanded, his face still being the picture of smugness.

It took every ounce of willpower, each deep breath, and all of her built-up fortitude to not smash the blueberry-vomit colored mug of burning hot liquid over his head. “What!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, ripping her arm free. “What do you want from me?”

Her tone was sudden enough to surprise the entire row of customers. The wife needed a to recalibrate and realize she should be offended. “Young lady!” she gawked.

“I will be with you… in a moment.” Sophia only managed to turn her volume down halfway through her sentence.

The weirdo looked a little concerned when she slammed his coffee down in front of him. “So… you’ve got a temper, huh? Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

“What do you want to eat?” she said, raising her notepad. “Want a recommendation?”

He put his head in his hands and leaned closer. “Sure.”

“Waffles,” she put bluntly. They were toasted from the box, so it would probably be the only thing that the kitchen couldn’t screw up.

“That’s all?” he looked disappointed. “Got anything else?”

Sophia glanced at the still unopened menu in front of him. “Yeah. Breakfast stuff.”

She watched as the weirdo put the mug to his lips, making sure to keep eye-contact with her. “Well, I think that I might just have to take a long… ugh! This isn’t how I ordered my coffee.”

“Oh?” Shit. “Sorry about that. How did you want it again?”

“With crème,” he corrected, clearly frustrated. “Didn’t you hear me the first time?”

“My bad. I’ll fix that right away.” Sophia picked up the mug again and walked away before he could say anything else that might encourage violent thoughts.

As she passed the family, she kept a firm eye on the husband. If he tried to grab her again, he wouldn’t have an arm anymore. Pushing through the doors to the kitchen, she found, to her surprise, that the cooks had actually done their jobs.

“Omelet with ham and pancakes?” short guy asked for confirmation.

She walked over to the shoddily arranged plates of food. “You forgot the cheese.” Scraggle-beard reached over into a bag and tossed some loose mozzarella on top. “That’ll do.”

Sophia was about to gather the orders on the tray, but her phone started to ring. Suddenly, everything she was doing seemed so unimportant that it was almost laughable. She turned away and marched out the back door. “Hey, who’s taking a break now?” one of the cooks called out.

Outside, she was surrounded by over-filled dumpsters and a stray cat eating scraps that she had left out the day before. The back of the diner was facing the road, but it wasn’t like there were many cars on the road to see the sorry sight of things. Placing her back on the dirty brick wall, she raised the phone up to her ear.

“Hello?” There was nothing but static on the other end. “William, are you there?”

“Hi.”

Her eyes widened. “William? Is that you?”

“Yeah,” his little voice echoed through the disturbed crackle.

Sophia felt her pulse quicken. “Hey buddy… how are you doing over there?”

Silence.

“They tell me that you aren’t feeling so well. You’ve been sick for a while now, huh? That must suck.”

“Yeah,” she could barely make out the reply.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve got doctors around and stuff. They’re going to take good care of you.” Sophia hoped she sounded confident. “How are you, Will? Is everything okay?”

There was a pop as he made some sort of sound. “I guess.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Where are you?” he asked.

“You know where I am. I’m still in the same old place. A little closer to town, but not that far away from home.”

There was a little pause. “Why can’t you be here?”

“You know why, Will.” Sophia gritted her teeth, trying to spin this positively. “Mom went away, so we needed someone new to… take over. We’re so far apart because someone was nice enough to take you in.”

“That’s stupid,” William said, the sound a sizzle. “This is stupid!”

“Hey! Stop saying that!” she snapped. “We talked about being nicer.”

“You’re not nice.”

“Yeah, because I’m the mean one. You’ve got to be the nice one.”

“Why?”

“Because I came first.” Sophia smiled. It was almost as though they were together again, bickering like they always did.

“What if I am mean?” William’s voice was a whisper. “What if I call everybody stupid?”

“Then I’d be pretty mad at you,” she replied firmly.

“Would you come and stop me?” he asked. “Would you come back?”

Sophia reached up and covered her eyes. How could she say this? What would her mom do? “Will… I can’t come see you. You’ve got another life now. Your new family doesn’t…” Her thoughts trailed off. “If I could make it, I’d come and see you. I’d visit you every day. But I can’t. I don’t have any way to get there! Not enough money. Nowhere to go. I…”

“I can come back,” William suggested. “We can go back home. Mom can…”

“Moms gone!” she snapped. “She didn’t come back that day at the fair, and she’s not coming back now.”

There was a dreadful silence on the other end of the line.

“I’m sorry,” Sophia dipped down to the ground, bringing her knees up to her chest. “Will, if I could make everything better, I would. But I can’t do that for you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah,” He paused. “I don’t feel good.”

“I know. The doctors are going to take care of it for you.” She tried her best to believe that.

“I…” The signal dropped, cutting off what he was about to say.

“Will? Will? Hello?” Sophia stood up, holding up her phone as high as she could reach. “Don’t go out on me!”

There was another crackle of static, and she quickly placed the device back to her ear. “Sophia?” she heard her brother say.

“I’m here!” she cried. “There isn’t much reception.”

“I…” William stuttered.

“What’s wrong? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” he hesitated. “I’m scared.”

This hit her like a punch to the gut. “Don’t be. Will, you’re perfectly fine. I promise.”

“How can you know? You’re not even here!” he spat. “Sorry. I’m being mean again.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” A car whizzed by on the road. She couldn’t help but wonder what they thought of the puffy-eyed girl next to the dumpsters. “Never apologize to me. I already know.”

“Soph. I miss you.”

“I miss you too, buddy. I…” Sophia shook her head. What was she doing? “Look, Will. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me, but I’ll come up and see you, alright? I can make the money for a plane or a car somehow. If I can’t, fuck it. I’ll walk. So, don’t be afraid, okay? I’m going to come up there and make sure you’re good and safe.”

“Sop…” The signal started to drop. “I can’t…”

“Shit!” She raised the phone to the air.

“I’m… sorry,” The static blasted. “I… didn’t listen.”

“Listen to what?” she shook her head. That wasn’t important. “Just hold on, okay?”

“I didn’t stay at your side... Soph… I…”

Click.

The phone went silent. So did Sophia. She just stood there for a moment, letting the distant sound of moving traffic engulf her. Naturally, she tried to call back. Again and again, she dialed the number. No response. A deep urge within her soul wanted her to scream. Shout and yell at the top of her lungs. She wanted to throw her worthless phone in the dumpster beside her, and she would have if it wasn’t her only method of contact.

The thoughts of William drove out the sound. There he was, in some hospital bed, miles and miles away. Did he have a window he could look out of? Was his new family there taking care of him? Sophia didn’t know. What she did know was that she wasn’t there. Anything could be happening, and there was no way she could protect him. Useless. That was the only thing she could feel. Useless and scared.

The two cooks watched as the waitress stepped back inside. “They’ve been waiting a while, chief,” said short-one. “You were out there forever.”

“Sure. Sorry,” She replied, going over, and collecting the orders and piling them on the tray. “I’ll get on it.”

Scraggle-beard raised an eyebrow. “What’s this? Isn’t like you to be so nice.”

Sophia gave a brief glance back at him as she poured some crème into the weirdo’s coffee mug. “This all?”

“You had the orders, didn’t you?”

She nodded. “Yes, then.”

Walking back to where the customers were seated, she could tell they had all gotten antsy. If looks could kill, the man in the jacket would be arrested for first-degree murder. He raised his shoulders defensively as she approached. “If I wasn’t a good citizen, I would have left without paying.”

“Did you order the omelet or the pancakes?” Sophia couldn’t remember.

“Are you dumb or something? I already ordered. I’m waiting to pay now.” His eyes narrowed. “You do want to make money, don’t you? Or is this place some sort of charity shop?”

She just needed to keep it together for today. That’s all. “Sorry, I’ll be right back.”

The man’s eyes flared. “Why can’t you... Hey, come back!”

Moving over to the family, she took a guess and started putting the plates down. “I didn’t order the omelet, my husband did,” the wife looked offended. “I’m trying to watch my figure.”

“Oh.” She slid the plate over to him. “Here.”

“What took so long? Having a party back there?” The husband chided with a toothy grin. “You may as well order something, dear. By the time she gets back, it will be lunch.”

As Sophia placed the pancakes in front of the little girl, the wife leaned over. “Now, what do we say?”

The daughter looked straight into her mother’s eyes. “Fuck.”

You could have channeled the shock through a lightning rod. “Magnolia!” the woman cried.

Both parents looked up at their waitress, fire in their eyes. “Do you see what you’ve done?”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Sophia said briskly as she walked away.

The weirdo was giving her an odd stare. What was new? “Keeping me waiting, good-looking?”

She slid the coffee over to him. “Order?”

“Your number would be nice,” he uttered with a toothy grin. “Lost my appetite.”

“No.” Her words were as blunt as they could be.

“Why not? Don’t like what you see?”

“It’s full.”

He huffed. “What?”

“My phone has three numbers in it,” Sophia explained. “My work, my landlord, and my brothers. I can’t risk someone else calling and interrupting anything important.” The weirdo seemed confused and opened his mouth to ask another question. She beat him to it. “Order?”

“I don’t like your attitude,” he said, his shoulders sinking like he was humiliated. “Why are you such a bitch?”

She decided not to think about that final comment. “I’ll swing back around when you’re ready.”

As Sophia turned around, she saw that the rest of the customers had gotten out of their seats. They were all marching towards her, their faces an angry muddle. “I want to speak with whoever you report to!” the wife exclaimed, clinging onto her daughter’s hand like it was a chain.

“I do to,” the man in the jacket agreed. “I want to talk to him about his failing business practices.”

“They aren’t here right now,” she tried to explain. “Can you please sit down? I’ll fix what’s wrong.”

“It’s a little too late for that,” the husband said, crossing his arms over his wrinkly clothes. “Your behavior is entirely unacceptable! Look what you’ve done to my child!”

The crowd was getting way too close for her liking. She took several steps back, but found her path blocked by the weirdo. “Yeah, I’d like to lodge a complaint, too!” His eyes flared. “She’s been giving me gross looks all day! I think she wants something.”

“That makes sense! I could tell that she was that type of girl,” the wife gawked.

Sophia was surrounded. “If you all could return to your seats, I’m sure that I can—”

The man in the jacket raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sitting down in this place ever again! You’ve lost this business a good customer.”

“I’m going to go find who we need to talk to,” the husband shouted, despite not moving from his spot.

“Not like you’ll find one in this dump,” the weirdo spoke from behind.

Raising her tray up, Sophia didn’t know whether it was for defense or offense. “I need you guys to get away from me. Right now!”

“Or what?” the man in the jacket asked snidely. “What do you think you can do?”

The girl went silent.

“Nothing,” the husband chimed. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you manners, young lady?”

The wife raised her head, just so that she could have a chance to look down on her. “Clearly not. Look at her! Scrabbling about the place. Yelling! Who does she think she is?”

“I’m…” Sophia stuttered.

“-about to be fired? Yes.” The man in the jacket seemed pleased with his own joke. “Just take us to whoever you report to and get it over with.”

The weirdo slivered forward. “Don’t know how she got a job. She isn’t even nice to look at.”

“I want to go home,” the little girl said sheepishly from behind her mother’s legs.

The wife’s head jolted to the waitress. “Look what you’ve done! You’ve upset her!”

“Do I need to beat some manners into you?” the husband barked.

“Just. Leave. Me. Alone!” Sophia screamed at the top of her lungs. “Leave!”

The customers seemed a bit startled, though this did not override their annoyance. “Yelling again?” the wife tutted. “Don’t you know that won’t do anything?”

“Stop asking me questions!” the girl raised the tray above her head, ready to swing it at whoever dared to get close. “Get out!”

Her threats were falling on deaf ears. No one in the room appeared worried. Instead, this only angered them more. “She’s crazy!” the man in the jacket said, scrunching his face up into a ball. “Go on then, hit us! What then? I hope you like getting the cops called on you!”

Sophia took a step forward, trying to be intimidating. No one responded. Her chest heaved as she breathed in and out, as all her blood rushed to her head. They were right. There was nothing she could do. She was stuck here, in this stupid diner, alone. It was wrong. This wasn’t what she was supposed to be doing. “I’m warning you!” her words ran out.

“Go on then,” the weirdo said, giving her a clear shot. “Make my day.”

Everyone waited anxiously for her response. Her fingers turned red with the force of their grip. She wanted to do it so badly. Why did it have to be today? Of all the times this could have happened, did it have to be right now? But if not now, when? The next day, or maybe the day after that. Slowly, the tray lowered. “I’m sorry.”

The husband cocked his head to the side. “You better be.”

Sophia looked up. All the built-up rage had flickered out. These people were never important. They were nobodies who’d just come and go. It was never about them. “I wasn’t talking to any of you.” With a twist behind her back, the blue and pink mess that was her apron came loose, and she pulled it off her neck. She balled it up and tossed it over to them. “Here. Have my job if you want it so badly!”

“Wait, where are you going, young lady?” spoke the wife briskly as the waitress turned and headed towards the door.

“Someplace that matters,” she replied.

Hating the fact that someone was turning their back to him, the man in the jacket stepped forward. “Don’t think that this lets you off the hook!”

With a shrug, Sophia didn’t bother looking back. She was already out the door. “Yeah, sure. Knock yourselves out.” She started down the street before stopping and turning around. Peeking her head back through the door, she looked at the little girl. “Magnolia, right?”

The little girl nodded as her parents exchanged worried glances.

“Well Magnolia, here are some new words to say!” Sophia proceeded to rattle off a list of her favorite cusses as loudly as she could. It was only half-way through her list before the wife, visually shocked, clasped her hands around her daughter’s ears. The little girl smiled and giggled as the ex-waitress grinned and flipped the bird. “Don’t need ears to understand this one!”

With that, she bolted down the street. There was no way that she would ever go back there. It wasn’t worth it- especially on minimum wage. There were more important places to be. “William,” the words came mumbling through her lips. She should be there with him. Not here, trying her best to barely make it through the day. No matter how hard it was going to be, she knew what she needed to do.

…

A raggedy backpack was already packed full of hole-riddled clothes and helpful knickknacks. Sophia moved around the single room of her apartment, making sure that she had gathered everything she needed. It was going to be a long walk. Luckily for her, the boots she owned were made for walking, so that wasn’t a concern. Food was going to be a problem. She had already set aside most of her small savings for bus fare to get her as far across the country as possible. Though she figured that finding rations would have to happen on the way. Maybe she could do some jobs for people? Mow a lawn or fix a fence. Anything to make ends meet.

Another walk around the room revealed that she had collected just about everything, which wasn’t much. Taking a zip-lock bag of health products from the tiny bathroom, she shoved them in with the rest of her things. Again, she looked beneath the bed and only found dust. Assured that she hadn’t left anything behind, she zipped the backpack shut. There would be no telling her landlord that she was leaving. Maybe, if he had ever bothered to fix the water pressure in the shower, she would have given him the proper notice.

Sophia made her way to the door. It was nighttime and everyone in the building was asleep. The walls were thin, and she didn’t want anyone to bother her on the way out. Carefully, she cracked the door open.

The phone in her pocket started to ring.

Cursing, she tried to answer it as quickly as possible to silence the noise. It was probably work calling her to say that she had received a complaint. “Yeah, what?” she answered, annoyed.

The person on the other end started to speak, but the static was too loud to hear them.

“Speak louder. I can’t hear you.” Rolling her eyes, she got closer to the curtain covered window. “If you’re calling to tell me off, don’t bother. I’m not coming back.”

“Sophia?” the voice rang out.

“William?” Her heart sank. “Is that you?”

A pause, then another crackle. “No.”

“Who is this?”

“I’m sorry,” they said, barely audible. “But I thought you should know.”

The girl tilted her head. “Know what?”

“The operation—” The voice cut out, with the last note of sound trailing on.

The words hung inside her brain like rain in a gutter. “Hello? You’re breaking up!” She could feel herself starting to panic. “What happened? Can you hear me? Hello?”

Yet again, the signal was dropping, but right before the call ended, she heard the voice say, “—He didn’t make it.”