"Yea, but still. Hey do you think you can put in a good word for me?" Avery asked as they served customers.
"Sure, I'll talk to my boss George. You know we work hard out there… A lot of turnover."
"Yea?" Avery was surprised to hear that.
"Man we work four hour shifts but it feels like eight. That's why I work that late shift seven to eleven."
"Yea this is our senior year… Man we're going to have to hit it big…"
"You can say that again." Jayden responded thinking about he almost had saved up enough money to buy a car.
"Hey, what about your car? When are you going to get that?" Avery asked remembering the conversation from last year.
"Man, I'm almost there. That's another reason why I'm still here."
"M'rning boys…" Mr. Ellis greeted at his usual time catching the two teens off guard.
"Morning Mr. Ellis…" They greeted. Avery gave Jayden a questioning look and Jayden knew what the unspoken question was.
"Your usual?" Jayden asked, avoiding eye contact with the man. Jacob chuckled at his question.
"Is it like that now? My usual?" He asked and then said, "Well I guess after four or five years a good businessman knows his customers. Yea let me get my usual." He said as Jayden passed him an orange juice, a bottle of water and two honey buns. Out the corner of his eye, Jayden could see his friend nodding his head silently urging him to fess up to Mr. Ellis about who he was.
"Oops…" Jayden said as he dropped the juice bottle.
"Thank goodness for plastic." Mr. Ellis commented as the bottle bounced against the cement ground without breaking.
"Sorry 'bout that." He responded bending down to pick it up. Jayden was nervous. Just the thought of confronting him and revealing his identity made him wary. His hands slightly shook as he passed Jacob his change.
"What's the matter, you've got tremors?" Jacob teased noticing the shakiness of the teen's hands. Jayden offered a nervous smile.
"Of… no…" He stumbled as he felt his heart beginning to pound as he worked up the courage to tell Mr. Ellis the truth. Jayden could still see his friend waving his hand forward indicating for him to go ahead and get it out. Jayden could feel his feet growing cold and numb from the contemplation of revealing himself.