Chapter 7 Swallowing my Pride

Freya's P.O.V

Since Cameron and his team of bullies were already here and from the looks of it…the day was only going to progressively keep getting worse.

"What do you recommend?" It was Alexander's voice that cut through their laughing; the brunette boy with glasses and green eyes looked completely uninterested in Derek's mocking as he flipped through the menu card. "What's today's special?"

"That would be the quarter pound cheese burger, and bacon and cheese fries." I held out the writing pad to take down their orders, gripping my pen tighter so I could get through with this already.

"Eww! Too much cheese!" Cindy and Laura spoke at the same time. In their 'typical cheerleader' persona. It wouldn't be the first time I've experienced such a customer.

And that was exactly how I planned to treat them, like any other regular customer. No more, no less.

"Would you like salads instead?" I asked them, trying my best not to stutter or sound impolite. "We have Cesar, pasta salad with thousand island dressing and a fruit salad."

"Two pasta, one Cesar and two fruit salads, please. Dressings on the side." I looked up from my notepad to find that the softer, kinder tone of voice actually belonged to Sarah, the head cheerleader. "And the boys will be two cheeseburgers and two fries."

But then she turned to place a hand on Cameron's arm, who was sitting right next to her. "You said you were craving the steak? Should we order that?" I found myself gritting my teeth unintentionally as I watched the two of them interact with each other.

Fuck, Trisha and Cindy had been right! They looked perfect together; the golden couple. Cameron with his sandy blonde hair and blue eyes and Sarah with light blonde hair and pink highlights, with sea green eyes. They just…fit next to each other perfectly.

"Sure, whatever you say." Cameron gave her a warm smile that I had never seen him give anyone else and it made my chest feel tight in a weird way.

What was wrong with me? Was I actually jealous of Sarah Parker?

Out of all the cheerleaders, she was the kindest to everyone in school. That was one of the reasons why she was so popular. And it wasn't like I was vying for Cameron's affection in the first place. What on earth was I even jealous about? It felt as ridiculous as a moth being jealous of the sun.

"Then please add one of your finest pieces of steak, medium rare," Sarah smiled up at me, surprising me with her knowledge of just how well she knew Cameron. "That would be all."

"Any drinks?"

I noted down their orders and headed back to the kitchen immediately to hand them over to the chef's. There weren't any new customers and two other waiters were already serving the current tables that were occupied, so I held back to help Julian with his homework while I waited for the food to be prepared. In all honesty, I wanted to hand over my duty to another one of my colleagues, but I knew they wouldn't take it, especially since this wasn't a matter of urgency, but for personal reasons alone.

The burgers were the first to get done, so I took those out for Alex and Derek. The later kept on giving me funny looks and whispering to Trisha who kept on laughing with her mouth covered. I sneaked at peek at Sarah and Cameron to find them deep in conversation, and from the looks of it, it was about something serious.

Averting my eyes as soon as Cameron looked up at me, as if sensing my eyes on him, I walked back to the kitchen briskly, to get the rest of the orders.

I thought they would been done soon, but the group held back, taking their sweet time eating and drinking. To top it off, they ordered even more food and their conversation became hushed and secretive as time went by. I went on to serve nearby tables as time went by and the usual evening crowd started coming in. So far, I had made only ten dollars in tips as I waited three more tables.

God, I felt completely exhausted and so hungry that I just wanted to go home and pass out. But it didn't seem like I would be getting any breaks until the end of my shift. I felt perspiration drip down my spine and felt my arms ache from carrying the heavy trays, but it was a full house. So I pushed through despite the difficulties.

Finally, about two hours later, Cameron's group was finally done.

I went and cleaned out their table and handed them their bill, keeping my head down as I averted their eyes. Not so surprisingly, it was over a hundred dollars and none of them said anything about splitting the bill as Cameron paid the full in cash.

"And since you've been so generous…" Derek smirked, holding out a twenty dollar bill, "Here you go."

Hope bloomed in my chest. Twenty dollars was enough to last me two whole days! I could get apple juice for Julian as well! He had been craving some for days but I didn't have enough money to get him some.

But just as I reached out to get the twenty, Derek let go of the money and it floated to the floor at his feet. Thinking it was a slip, I bent down to retrieve it, but as soon as I touched the money, a booted foot landed on my hand, making me gasp in pain.

"Come on…what's the hurry? Don't be such a desperate hoe!" Derek's maniacal laughter made me feel like the entire restaurant's attention was now on us…specifically me.

"Derek." Cameron's voice sounded then, harsh and rough, and that single word had Derek removing his foot from my hand immediately.

I stayed down, swallowing whatever was left of my pride and begging to whoever was listening to give me strength. Please! I begged over and over again. Please don't make me cry! Please! It's almost over!

I bit down on my trembling lip; reminding myself over and over that it wasn't the time to cry or show weakness. It'll be over soon. Clutching the bill tightly in my hand, I rose from the floor, my eyes lowered so that I didn't have to face their satisfactory grins.

But before I could leave, Cameron's voice stopped me once again.

"How could you pick that up? After what just happened?" His voice was harsh, so I kept my eyes lowered, not wanting to face his anger.

"Don't you have any self-respect?" I could feel the anger growing in his words, but I just sneered.

Self-respect? Was he kidding me? I looked down at the twenty dollar bill in my hands, unclenching my fingers slowly so as not to damage the money.

The devil must have been sitting on my shoulders because, for the first time in my life, I decided to speak up.

"Shouldn't you be asking that to your friend instead?" I spoke softly, satisfied with the fact that I didn't stutter.

"Shouldn't you be asking your friend how it felt to crush his parent's hard work, their blood, sweat and tears…under his boots?"

With that, I left the dining area quietly and as quickly as possible as an eerie silence descended upon their table…and I had this vague idea that a pair of eyes were following my every move.