In the car it was completely silent. Sol put her earbuds right back in, knowing that no conversation was going to take place on the ride home. She stared out the window as her father stared at the road, both in their own worlds and not acknowledging the other.

She looked back at the school where the boys were. While one was annoying and never seemed to catch the hint, the other knew to leave her alone. She didn't know if she liked it or not yet. She had noticed his stares since the first time they sat next to each other. He had come in late and the only empty chair was next to her at the time. Maybe he was just weirded out by her.

Shaking her head and trying to get away from those thoughts, Sol looked down at her notebook when she realized it wasn't hers. In sharpie she saw the name Donovan Fenty and closed her eyes, cursing the boy out mentally.

Having been so caught up in her thoughts Sol then realized they were parked in front of their house. Her dad wasted no time opening his door and slammed it shut, walking into the house after, not caring to look back and see if she was behind him.

Sol stared at the front door for a moment. Wondering what she ever did to make him be so cold towards her, however she didn't have time to wallow as she looked at the time on her phone. She had an interview to get ready for.

Quickly, she ran into the house towards her room and got ready for her interview.

She always knew she'd have to get a job at some point, she just thought it wouldn't be until her senior year. However, she quickly realised that college was coming sooner than later and she needed to save money for it knowing her father wasn't going to do it.

It wasn't a bad first job either, if you could handle the customers being your classmates. Wasn't bad at all, she thought, rolling her eyes.

Looking at the clock she realized she only had twelve minutes to get there, and it was a ten minute walk. She hurried and got her stuff together and walked out the house after yelling, "I'll be back later!" to her dad, not waiting for a reply knowing there wasn't going to be one.

Arriving at Chester's Café she noticed how packed it was, knowing it was due to summer vacation starting. Although, being the highschool hang out spot the cafe was always packed so it wasn't a surprise to her.

The little bell above the door made a ding when she walked in, signaling that another person entered. Someone working yelled out, "Get to you in a minute!" Sol could barely hear the person over the rowdy teenagers all over the place.

Walking up to the counter Sol looked to see if there was anyone else left, it seemed that most of them were trying to make the crowd decrease. It shocked her since she's never seen so many people at Chester's.

Someone tapping her shoulder broke Sol from her daydreaming, scaring her in the process. "Geez, I wanna live to see if I get the job." She joked, holding her hand up to her heart.

The boy just shrugged, smirking at how spooked she had gotten. "Chill, didn't mean to freak you out." He laughed breathlessly. Looking at him she thought he looked familiar, probably from school, she thought since he seemed around her age.

Sol joined in, finding it amusing as well. "It's okay. It was my fault anyways, always seems to be in my own world." She noticed how she might've come off a little weird with her statement and her cheeks heated up. "I'm Sol by the way." Holding her hand above the counter she couldn't help but notice how quiet it's gotten since her arrival.

The boy grabbed her hand in his and he smiled at her, "My name's Joshua, but since you might be joining the crew you can call me Josh." Noticing someone coming up behind her Joshua smirked at whoever it was.

Sol turned around and noticed it was the boy always staring at her. She smiled at him but didn't get one in return since he was too busy glaring at Josh. "Okay." She awkwardly laughed and turned around. "I'm here for an interview with the manager, so..." She trailed off, hoping he got what she was asking.

"I'll go get the manager for you, they usually take this time to do 'paperwork'." Rolling his eyes while laughing, he looked at Charlie one last time and headed towards the office.

"Sooo, you just gonna continue glaring or are you going to say hi?" Sol questioned. This brought Charlie out of whatever was going through his mind, looking shocked she actually said something to him.

Slightly blushing he scratched the back of his head and introduced himself. "Sorry about that, I'm Charlie." He stuck out his hand, waiting for her to shake it. "Sol. Nice to finally exchange words with my admirer." She smirked.

Caught off guard with how blunt she was outside of school, only knowing her as the quiet girl, Charlie tried to think of a response quick enough. As he went to open his mouth Joshua came back, "Alright, manager gave the go ahead for you to come back here and talk to them. Says it's too loud out here for an interview."

"Thanks Josh. Bye Charlie." She smiled at him, shocking him again, and waved them both goodbye.

Walking towards the office Sol stopped just right outside the door taking in a deep breath, this was an important step for her. This would help get her out of the house this summer, be her distraction. She really needed this job.

She knocked on the door and heard, "Come in!".

Walking into the office Sol couldn't help but notice how tight and cluttered it was, she hadn't realized she was claustrophobic until that moment. She didn't know how the manager chose this over the front area.

A cough brought her attention to the man sitting in the chair, she guessed he was the manager. He stood up and smiled at her, "You must be Sol right? I'm Ezekiel, I'm the hiring manager." He stuck his hand out as he introduced himself, she seemed to be shaking a lot of hands today, she thought to herself.

She smiled back at him and shook his hand, sitting down in the seat across from him. She took out her resume, having had a lot of trouble creating it since this would be her first job and she had no one to even explain to her what the document even was.

She became nervous after handing it to him, he seemed so confused, she used google for guidance so she probably used the wrong example photo. "Is... is there a problem with it? I didn't know what a resume was so I looked online, I can make a new one don't worry." She was rambling, she knew that, it seemed that all her nerves were finally catching up to her.

He still had yet to answer, just stared at the piece of paper, this just made everything she was feeling worse. "I know I don't have much experience, but I did help out at my school a lot so the references are valid I swear! I just need to get a real job, with real experience." Something she said made the man smile, she couldn't tell if that made her relieved or aggravated. He needed to say something.

He put the paper down and looked at her for a moment. "Tell me Sol, why do you want this job?" It was such an innocent question. One she had thought about for a while since she could have just applied anywhere else, it was just this place that caught her eye for some reason.

Sol took a breath, rubbed her sweaty palms against her pants and started explaining. "I'm going to be entering my junior year in two months. It's getting closer to college and I need to save up." He nodded to show that he was listening to her. "I was looking everywhere to apply but I realized that this place could really help me grow. Everyone from school also comes here a lot and I thought it would help me stay engaged with the customers as well." She was trying to find the words to answer his question without getting too detailed, but she kept coming up short.

Maybe he saw this, maybe he wanted to put her out her misery because the smile he once had faded however he quickly brightened up.

"That's good, being responsible and taking action, those are good qualities to have Sol. Now I have a few more questions okay?" She nodded, wishing this interview would hurry up and be done with.

An hour went by with him questioning her and her answering him. Then came the decision.

"I'm gonna be honest with you Sol, I believe someone with no experience is like a blank canvas. A canvas ready to be painted is better than canvas that is already painted and isn't the best fit for you." She smiled lightly, she hoped this was heading towards where she thought it was. "I think you'd be a great addition to our family here at Chester's Cafe." He smiled.

After discussing what she needed for orientation Sol walked out of the office with a bright smile, all her nerves leaving when Ezekiel told her she was hired. This was just what she needed.

Heading towards the counter to leave someone bumped their shoulders on hers making her look to the side and smile.

"I'm guessing someone got the job. Looking all cheesed up over here." Joshua smiled at her.

He was currently wiping down the counter, some of the teenagers from earlier spilled their drinks and left without telling anybody. Now it was all sticky and was starting to make the whole cafe smell sweet.

"Yeah! I'm so excited to start working here to be honest. I won't have much to do during the summer so this'll be a good distraction." She smiled at him. "Plus you seem to be really good company, I guess we'll be great coworkers."

His smile seemed to wipe right off his face. Putting down the rag he turned to her fully, "There's an opening because I'm the one leaving, next week is actually my last." Oh wow, Sol thought, finally someone I can actually feel somewhat comfortable around and their leaving.

Joshua seemed to notice the change in mood and quickly responded, "I'm visiting my grandparents for the summer, my mom guilt tripped me. Something about them not being here forever. I'll be back by the time school starts."

"Oh that's cool, means you don't have to spend the entire summer in this boring town. I wish I could travel. All my roots seem to be here sadly." She laughed to keep the mood up, something about Joshua brought a piece of happiness to her which was not common with her. She seemed to repel anyone near her or they repelled her, either way she did not get along with most.

Noticing the time she saw that she had to be home soon, "Well, I hope we get at least one shift together before you leave. But I gotta get going, it was really nice meeting you Joshua!" She doesn't know where she got the confidence from but she leaned over and side hugged him.

"Bye!" She quickly walked out the front door, bumping into someone.

"Hey Sol, I was hoping I'd catch you again." They said, to keep her from falling they held onto her waist.

Looking up she saw that it was Charlie, perking up instantly. "Oh hey Charlie! Did you need something?" Quickly checking her phone she saw she had a few minutes to spare.

He smiled at her and took a step back, seemingly to give her some space.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to come to a party tonight, some friends of mine invited me but it's usually not my scene, sooo I was wondering if you could come?" He looked away as he talked, seeming shy. But he was literally the captain of the baseball team, Sol couldn't believe this dude did not have the confidence or cockiness like everyone else.

She stared at him, trying to judge if he was being genuine or not. She didn't know him. Today was the first day they spoke and he's already inviting her to things.

He caught onto what she was doing, instantly panicking on the inside thinking he came off as a creep. "You can say no, I'd just really like to hang out with you. And you'd make this night a little more bearable. Think about it." He took out his phone and pulled up a text message. "Here's the address, it's at one of the seniors' houses to celebrate them graduating and all. If you decide to go just look for me."

She was still staring, quickly making up her mind but he didn't need to know that. "I'll think about it." After she copied down the address she turned to head home.

She missed the part where Charlie stared at her, saying goodbye.