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Chapter 4

Eliza’s POV

Well today is moving day. I packed up all my belongings and wait for dad to get here with his truck. Stephanie and I agreed to just leave my furniture here to entice another tenant to take over my half of the lease.

“I’m gonna miss you, babe,” Stephanie says as she envelops me in a rib-crushing hug.

“I’m going to miss you, too. I’m so sorry about the trouble.” I tell her.

“It’s not your fault, men can be jerks. Just be good, and for the love of god quit stripping! You’re too beautiful and put together to continue with that career.” She tells me.

“Moving back with dad, I have to quit for sure.” I tell her.

I get a text from dad saying he’s pulling up. I text back quickly and grab the first box to load up in the truck. He and I go back and forth out of the apartment until we finally get everything loaded up.

“Thank you, Daddy.” I tell him.

“No problem, pumpkin. Do you want to talk about it? Is it a guy?” He asked. Embarrassed I looked away, “no, there’s no guys.”

“That’s good. Don’t worry, we’ll find you a new job in town. I heard that they need help at the library. You can probably work there, at least part time. I’ll talk to Mrs. Bishop for you.” He said.

I nodded, thankful for my father. I wasn’t looking forward to moving back into my childhood town.

A long and quiet car trip later, we arrived. The small town of Pleasanton. I watch the sign as we roll into city limits and sigh. I don’t want to see the people I went to school with. He pulls up into my childhood home and helps me unpack.

“You know, I miss mom.” I tell him. He rubs my back, “I miss her, too kiddo. All we can do is keep living for her.” I nod and make my way upstairs to my room to go to bed for the night.

The next morning I wake up, feeling a lot more optimistic. I shower and get dressed in semi-decent attire to meet Mrs. Bishop over at the library. Dad called her during our car ride yesterday and she agreed to see me today. I hop downstairs and grab an apple before heading for the day.

“Do you need a ride?” Dad calls from the living room.

“Nah, I’ll just walk. Thank you, daddy.” I call back to him.

I exit the front door and begin the short trek. As I walked the street I didn’t really see anyone that I knew, thankfully.

When I arrived at the library Mrs. Bishop was already standing at the front counter.

“Oh my goodness Eliza! You’ve grown so big!” She exclaimed. I grimaced and shrugged. She waved off my reaction and set to work explaining what my job duties would be and the pay. The pay was even less than what I made babysitting but there isn’t much I can do about that at the moment. There’s no way I’m stripping in this town. Living with dad, I should be able to save up enough money to move out about a year down the road.

“So Eliza, will that work for you?” She asked.

“Yes ma’am.” I replied.

“Great! You can start tomorrow then!” She exclaimed. I looked at her slightly in shock, I didn’t expect to get hired this quickly.

“That’s great!” I tell her. We exchange pleasantries and I exit the library. Right when I walk out I accidentally run into a tall man with black hair, a lip piercing, green eyes and a really sexy body.

“Romeo?” I asked, shocked.

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry!” I tell him as I try to help him pick up the books he dropped.

“It’s quite alright Cherry.” He answered politely. I stand back up and sidle around him to make my way down the road, embarrassed at my clumsy behavior, I start running. Before I get far, I look back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the beautiful man and found him looking at me. I blushed and scurried on as fast as I could.

On my way home I decide to change directions and grab a late breakfast. I walk up to Moe’s Diner and make me way in. I sit myself in a booth and wait for a waitress to appear. So far I don’t see anyone that I recognize.

“Hey! Welcome to Moe’s what can I get you started with to drink?” The waitress, a short older lady with a name tag that said Jenny asked me.

“I’ll have a coffee and water, thank you, Jenny.” I answered her. She scurried away to get my drinks and I continued people watching. I looked out the large picture windows at the few people out on the road. If I don’t run into anyone I know, I would be happy.

ding, ding

The bell above the door dinged. I looked up to see a few old classmates. Mary Beth, she was the most popular girl in school with short black hair and a lean body, followed by Mary Jane, her protégée with long blonde hair and also super slim. Behind them were two jocks that I recognize also. Harry, he was the most popular guy in school with a classic boy next door look. Blonde hair, blue eyes, straight teeth, a large body and a deep voice. He was Mary Beth’s on again, off again boyfriend all through high school. Next to him was Maurice, a fellow football player with dark skin, brown eyes, built similarly to Harry. He seemed like he was there with Mary Jane.

“Oh my god!” I hear Mary Beth’s shrill voice. “Is that you, Elizabeth?”

I close my eyes, willing her to walk away.

Unfortunately, luck was not on my side today.

“Yes it is! Did life in the great big world not work out for you? How sad! You must be devastated!” She went on and on with her fake concern. I wanted to gag just being in the vicinity of her overly flowered perfume.

“Yes, it was horrible. Now if you’ll excuse me, I was getting ready to leave.” I started to stand up right when my waitress returned with my drinks. “Are you ready to order sweet pea?” She asked. Thanks a lot Jenny. I begrudgingly sit my ass back down on the booth and to my horror, the four of them make themselves comfortable. Harry sat next to me, the Marys sat across from me and Maurice pulled a seat from a table to sit at the end of the booth.

“The usual please, Jenny.” Harry drawled at the waitress. She nodded and glanced at me, waiting for my order.

“Um scrambled eggs with cheese, toast and bacon. Thanks.” She wrote down my order and disappeared.

Harry puts his arm on the back of the booth behind me. I could feel the heat emanating from him and I was feeling trapped.

“So what have you been doing Eliza? We’ve missed your absence.” He whispered in my ear. What the fuck? I didn’t even know that he knew my name, let alone that I was missing.

“I was just out living my life, don’t worry, I’ll be out of this god forsaken town as quickly as possible.” I said. He frowned deeply before looking at Maurice. They seemed to communicate mentally before he turned back to me. “Well don’t be in a hurry to leave. We should hang out some time.” He smiled at me with his perfect dimples.

When I was in high school, I had a huge crush on Harry. It was my girlhood dream to go out with him. Now that I’m a little bit older, all I am is suspicious. I looked over at Mary Beth and saw her looking pissed off which only brightened my mood. I decided to ruin her day even further. I turned to Harry and murmured in his ear, “I’d love to.” Before I turned my attention to my phone, essentially ignoring him. He snatched my phone out of my hands and typed something out on it. When he handed it back I noticed that he put his number in it and sent himself a text.

“So you can’t blow me off,” he winked at me. I blushed even further and sank down into the booth a little bit. I could feel him subtly playing with my hair from behind me. The Marys seemed to be in their own world, alternating between whispered and glaring at me. Hey, it’s not my fault you chose to sit here!

The food finally arrived and I dug in, super hungry. The guys chuckled while the Marys just looked at me. They were probably shocked I wasn’t eating like a bird.

“I’m a growing woman, if you know what I mean,” I winked at the girls. I swear Maurice choked on his drink while I could feel Harry's body vibrate with laughter. My comment only earned me more glares from the girls.

I remained silent the rest of breakfast while they all chatted amongst themselves. Finally everyone finished and as I got ready to pay the waitress told me no need, that it was taken care of. I looked around and saw Harry smiling at me. “I got it this time.” He then stood up and the rest followed his lead, walking off.

This late breakfast was one of the strangest meals I’ve ever had.

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