Chapter 3: Chapter 3

I didn’t have a uniform, and when they gave me one that was left over from the previous period, I couldn’t feel worse because it was supposed to be for a girl three sizes smaller than me, which was already too much. I left the dressing room feeling like all eyes were on me, and how ridiculous I looked with shorts that only covered me just below my panties. What started as a few heads turning to look at me soon turned into murmurs, and a few seconds later, some jeers. I wanted to die!

As expected, the twins were looking at me, and Liam didn’t take long to get up from the bleachers and approach me. I pretended not to see him, but the truth was that, from the corner of my eye, I saw every step he took towards me. His brother soon followed him.

“Don’t fall, sweetheart, or you might rip those shorts,” Liam said, almost pushing me against the wall that led to the dressing rooms.

I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t even feel capable of looking him in the eyes with that appearance, and now that I saw his brother approaching, my tongue became even more numb. Why had they decided to bother me like this? Why me? Just because I made the mistake of tripping over one of them in the morning? Would they stop the next day, or would this continue until the end of high school?

“Let’s get started, boys and girls, no more distractions!” shouted the gym teacher, which saved me from looking like a fool who had lost her voice to mice.

“At least there will be something fun to watch during class, right, brother?” Liam said when his attempt to annoy me failed.

Ethan responded by punching him in the shoulder while smiling and watching me, although I felt like he was looking at me in a different way, not mocking, but rather as if he actually liked what he was seeing.

I was lucky that, since it was the first day of the period, the teacher separated us between men and women. He made the boys play basketball and the girls play volleyball. I also felt grateful that Chloe wasn’t there because she would surely have been the one to remind all the other girls of how short my shorts were. But that didn’t stop my eyes from occasionally meeting the gaze of one of the twins, if not both, who kept looking at me and making jokes between themselves.

After the gym session was over, I managed to get rid of those little shorts and threw them into the trash basket so that no other girl would have to go through, because of him, another uncomfortable situation like mine.

In the following classes, I didn’t run into the twins again, but that didn’t mean I managed to get them out of my head. Although I didn’t want to encounter them in a classroom, I did want to see them again, hopefully at a safe distance or being invisible, so I could observe them without them seeing me and thus avoid them from bothering me.

“What are you going to do this afternoon?” Aly asked me during lunch at the cafeteria, just when I resigned myself to eating alone.

“I’m going to stroll along Evans Street. I was told I could find a part-time job there,” I replied after swallowing the cold pasta in my mouth.

“That would be great if you could work at the same restaurant where I work.”

I raised my eyebrows, surprised by how our paths seemed to be merging.

“Yes, I’m a waitress at an Italian restaurant on that street. If you come with me, Mr. Angelo might give you a position because we’ve been short-staffed lately.”

“Sounds good, but I’ve never been a waitress. I’ve always had jobs in clothing stores.”

Aly shrugged and ate one of the fish fingers from my plate.

“Well, if you were going to Evans Street, the only thing you’ll find there are restaurants, and unless you want to work in the kitchen, you’ll only find work as a waitress.”

I hadn’t realized that detail, and although the idea of serving tables terrified me because I didn’t think I had the strength or balance to hold a tray of food, I nodded. Working at the same restaurant with Aly sounded good and could even be fun.

I met up with Aly after the last class of the day, and we walked together to the restaurant where she worked. When I introduced myself to Mr. Angelo, just mentioning my last name was enough for him to decide to give me the job. Two minutes after entering the place, I was already in uniform, wearing a red and white checkered apron, and had a notepad to take orders.

“You’ll do great, Sussan,” Aly said after Mr. Angelo, a middle-aged man who always seemed cheerful, assigned me to the right wing of the dining area. “But let me know if you need any help.”

I nodded, feeling somewhat nervous but excited as I approached my first customers, a group of elderly people who only ordered some hot beverages. Grateful for how easy it had been to get the job and how straightforward it seemed, I soon regretted my premature celebration. Just as I was serving the elderly customers their drinks, I saw the twins enter, accompanied by Chloe, who was clinging to Ethan’s arm, and another girl with very dark hair who held on to Liam’s arm.

“Don’t sit in the right wing. Don’t sit in the right wing. Don’t sit in the right wing,” I repeated like a mantra as I watched them survey the dining area and decide where to sit.

“Damn it!” I muttered to myself when I saw them sit on the right side, right next to some pictures of Rome hanging on the wall.

“They’re in your wing, Sforza,” Angelo said when he saw me hesitating to approach the twins’ table. “Remember I assigned you to the right.”

I nodded while my gaze met Aly’s, who pursed her lips.

“Do you want me to cover for you this time?” she asked.

I felt tempted to say yes, but quickly convinced myself that I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t cower or let the image of the twins and their girlfriends shrink my heart. In this small town, I would encounter them regularly, and I wasn’t willing to spend several months running away every time I saw them.

“No, thank you, but no,” I replied to Aly. “They’re in my section, it’s my responsibility to do it.”

With my notepad in hand, I approached the table and saw, with a certain satisfaction, the surprised expressions on the twins’ faces. They seemed happy to see me, although not Chloe, who immediately pursed her lips.

“May I take your order?” I asked, excitedly.

“But you haven’t even brought us the menu yet, clumsy,” Chloe said, making me realize how foolish I had been. All my goodwill and confidence rushed towards the kitchen and went out the back door, never to return.

“You don’t have to speak to her like that, love,” Ethan said. “She’s probably on her first day, and you saw how she stumbled into me this morning.”

I don’t know if Ethan’s words were meant to continue teasing me or defend me, but if it was the former, he succeeded, and if it was the latter, at least he managed to divert attention from my mistake of not bringing them the menu, which I quickly brought over.

They ordered some panzerottis and a calzone to go, along with the drinks that I had to carry on a tray, fulfilling one of the biggest fears of my life. I’m sure it was Ethan who stuck out his foot, with the sole purpose of having Liam grab me by the waist and prevent me from spilling the sodas on their girlfriends’ hair, which would have been the biggest disaster I’ve ever committed in my existence.

“I’m sorry,” I said when I finally managed, thanks to Liam’s strong hands on my h**s, to balance the four drinks. “There you go. It was nothing.”

I looked Ethan in the eyes, certain that he was the one who tripped me, but he acted indifferent.

“Aren’t you going to let go of her?” Chloe sarcastically asked, referring to Liam’s hands that were still holding me.

“I think if I let go, she’ll fall on top of my brother,” Liam teased.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I said.

Liam smiled and released me.

“Anything else we can get you?”

“The check, please,” Ethan said, still playing dumb.

I returned to the cash register and quickly came back with the receipt, which I placed on the table, paying close attention to where each of the twins had their feet. They didn’t take long to stand up, and I saw that they had left the money along with the bill. I approached to pick it up, and when I checked, after counting twice, that it was all there, I was surprised to see that they had not only left a hundred-dollar tip but also a note on one of the napkins.

“See you soon, sweetheart.”

Without knowing why, my heart raced, and I wondered which of the twins had written those words.