Summer of Fifteen

      Abby stood at the first register waiting for an indecisive man to finish deciding what he wanted to eat. She tapped her foot, waiting impatiently, but at politely as a young McDonald's worker could. This charity event had taken way to much energy out of the young fifteen-year-old girl. It was much busier than usual because of this and it was taking way too long. Finally, the man comes to the register.      "I'd like a number one meal with a Sprite."     "Is that all for you?" Abby said in a polite demeanor.     "Yes, miss," he said politely.     "Perfect, that'll be $7.41."     Abby mindlessly finished the transaction before standing there alone once more. Most of the customers came through the drive-thru, so it was kinda nice to get away from the chaos for a bit.     Suddenly, a young man with brown hair and striking blue eyes came in through the front. Abby's nerves immediately lit on fire. She knew this guy, for he had worked with her for a while at McDonald's. He had recently quit to find a better job, but he came in quite frequently to visit his older brother who still worked here. Abby smiled at him, hoping he'd notice her.     And he did. "Hey Abby," he said smiling. "Is Zach here?"     Abby had to pull herself out of a dream so she could answer his question. "Um, yeah. He's in back booth I think."     He frowned momentarily, before smiling again. "Alright, I'll just wait over here for a bit." He goes and sits at a table next to the front registers.     Abby sighs relieved. She had hoped he wouldn't leave, and he didn't. He was staying right there. Which was good, cause she was supposed to leave before Zach did, so she prayed she'd get a chance to sit with him for a little while.     More customers came and went, and Justin stayed put. He didn't speak much, but Abby was also pretty busy with her customers. But a couple of times, Abby managed to talk to Justin a little bit. Not anything important, but enough to hear his voice and look into his bright, blue eyes.     Pretty soon, a guy Abby's age came up to her. "Hey, Toni said you can go home. Labor is too high."     Abby smiled and immediately had thoughts racing towards what will happen after she clocks off. "Thanks, Chase!" Abby rushes off to the back to clock off, her thoughts tripping over the next. As she pressed her finger to the scanner, her eye caught Zach in back booth. She quickly remembered why Justin was here. "Hey, Zach."     He looked over and smiled. "Hey, Abby, what's up."     She smiled back, "Justin is up front. I think he wanted to talk to you or something."     "Oh, okay. Let him know I'll try to pop up front for a second."     "Okay, I will. I'm about to go sit with him now," Abby said, blushing a little.     Zach gave her the briefest of smirks, knowing exactly what she intended to eventually accomplish. "Alright, you kids have fun."     She stuck her tongue out at the kid remark before heading up front.     She tries to keep herself from skipping as Justin enters her sight. As she nears him, she tries to play it cool as she approaches his table. She leans against his table, and mock politely asks if she can sit with him. He mock politely says of course. She sits across from him, timidly looking into his eyes.     He laughs for a second and stands up. He doesn't leave but sits right next to her in the same seat. He looks right at her and smiles. "You don't have to be a stranger with me, Abby."     Abby, nearly dying inside, plays it cool. "Sounds lit to me."     Justin laughs and moves closer to her. He begins talking about how great his new job is and how much happier he is there. Abby congratulates him on his new job and smiles at every word he says. He clearly likes it at Flatbread better than McDonald's.     "What about you, Abby?"     "What about me?" Abby says with a hint of flirt in her voice.     "Do you like it here?" He was talking about her job at McDonald's.     Abby thinks for a second before smiling. "Yeah, I do like it here. Besides, this is the only job that'll take me at my age."     "Yeah, but what about when you turn sixteen? Would you wanna leave?"     Abby frowns a bit. She could tell where he was going with this, but she already had a plan with McDonald's. She truly liked her job here. Her boss was nice to her. She had lots of friends. "Yeah, I plan to stay for the time being. Plus, Toni has practically promised me a promotion as soon as I turn sixteen."     Justin looks shocked for a second but then looks genuinely happy for her. "That's awesome, Abby. It took forever before Toni even considered me for the Crew Trainer position."     "Damn... that's bullcrap." Abby looked at him with sad eyes, trying really hard to show how sad she felt for him.     He smiled for him before he looked away for a second. But before he could look back, Chase had come over to our table, Athena following him. Chase and Athena had become close lately, which they seemed perfect for each other. They both liked weed, they both slept around too much, and they just seemed to get along. Athena and Abby were also good friends. Athena and Abby had even been gossiping about Chase when he first got there. They sat in the seat across from Abby and Justin. Justin smiled and high fived Chase.     "What's up mothafucka?!" Justin said rather loudly.     Chase laughed as he put his arm around Athena. "Not much." He looked at Abby briefly before looking back at Justin. "We're not interrupting, are we?"     Before Justin could say the same thing, she beat him to it. "No, not at all." But she gave the briefest look to Athena. And in that one look, Athena got the real idea of what had been happening. But there was nothing to be done now.     Meaningless conversation went on between the two boys, forgetting that the girls were there. But the girls conversed with eye rolls and goo-goo eyes to the boy they were with. Eventually, Athena had to use the restroom, and Abby was left alone with the two, horny boys.     Justin quickly became less polite. "You two gonna smash?"     Abby's eyes widened the idea of s*x still rather foreign to her.      Chase sat back and thought for a second, not that he did much deep thinking. "Nah, probably not. I don't think I'm her type for a casual fuck."     "Who said anything about casual?" Justin pointed out. It seemed like Justin thought they would eventually become more than friends who kiss.     "I just don't think she wants me like that."     Justin also slumped, joining the mood. "Aw damn, that hella sucks."     "Yeah.."     The boys stayed in a slump for about a minute before Justin finally realized Abby was still there. "What do you think, Abby. Does Athena like Chase like that?"     Abby had to think for a second. "Um, I think she definitely likes him. But I don't think she's the type to wanna settle down."     Chase nodded. "You're probably right."     Just at that moment, Athena emerged from the bathroom. She sat back down and quickly looked at Abby, waiting for the girl communication for what just happened. As the boys continued meaningless talk, she looked at him and then motioned at her. She quickly realized they had been talking about her.     She pulled out her phone and got Chase's attention. "My dad is almost here to pick me up."     He looked all sad for a second. "Yeah, I should probably head home too." They both stand up and face each other. "Wanna walk out together?"     She looked at Abby with that slightly victorious look on her face. She got exactly what she wanted. "Yeah, we can go." She looked at Abby and waved.     Abby waved back before they both slipped out the door.     It was quiet for a bit before Justin spoke again. "I wonder how long Zach is gonna be."     Abby snapped out of her thoughts before jumping back into the moment. "He said he'd try to come out for a second. But drive-thru looked pretty busy. And you know how back booth can be."     "Ha, yeah." He looked at Abby before placing his hand on her thigh. "At least I have someone to wait with."     Abby blushed intensely and smiled. "Yeah, me too."     Her mind began racing as his thumb rubbed over her knee. The only other time she'd been touched like this was a guy from school. But it turned out he had been playing with her. She could only hope this was different. She tried to make herself look interested as they stared at each other for quite a while.     But before the energy could increase, they were interrupted by a voice behind the counter. Abby and Justin looked and saw Zach at the counter.     "Yo, Justin. What's up?"     Justin removed his hand from Abby's thigh and moved to face Zach. "Oh, mom literally just wanted to know what time you'll be off."     Zach laughed. "That's it? I'm supposed to be off at 7:00. But it could be sooner if Toni keeps sending people home."     It was 5:30 now. And Justin clearly didn't wanna wait that long. "Ah, okay. I'll probably go out for a bit. Just text me when you're off."     Zach nodded. "Alright, see you then." He walks back out of sight.      Justin turned back around. He must have seen Abby's slightly disappointed face, cause he quickly took out his phone. "Here," he showed her his f*******:. "That's my name. Look me up and we can text later."     Abby's face lit up as she quickly went to f*******: and added him back. "Thanks, I'll text you later."     Justin smiled then stood up.     Abby stood up with him.     Justin quickly gave Abby a hug and she hugged him back. It was a longer hug and she took every second to soak it in. But it ended too quickly. He looked into her dark brown eyes and smiled.     "See ya later, Abby." He began walking out the door.     "See ya later, Justin." She waved quickly, before staring at a vacant door. Her nerves still felt on fire as the event soaked into her memory. She grabbed a drink before also walking out the door to walk home. As she walked home, she had a small skip in her step. She was soon going to be able to talk to him more often. But many words from the co-workers rang in her head. They often told her he was bad news and to stay away. But in the many months she knew him, he seemed harmless. Experienced, but harmless. She just wanted to get home so she could find a safe place to text him.