•Chapter 3•
I stab my fork into my spaghetti continuously as the rest of the my family devours theirs. I look around at everyone at the dinner table and watch as my dad slowly looks up at me and furrows his eyebrows. "Riley? Is something wrong? You're not eating your food."
I still hadn't told my parents that I hired Ryder just a few hours ago. I didn't know how they were going to react. They were most likely gonna be incensed that I hired a person without their consent. But it happened, and I have no choice but to tell them.
I sigh and put my fork down, as everyone gave me their full attention. "I hired Ryder Martinez to work at the shop," I blurt quickly, not even taking time stopping in between each word.
"Riley," my mom replies. "Repeat that... But slower." She says in a calm matter.
I look from across the dinner table for a while before letting out another sigh. "I hired... Ryder Martinez... to work... at the ice cream shop," I repeat slower, bracing myself for the reactions.
"You gave Ryder a job at the shop?!" Ryan yells in shock, putting his fork down to take in the information I just brought to the table.
"Ryder Martinez? The boy who shoved dirt in your mouth when you were in the first grade?" My mother adds in an even more shocking tone. "Riley, when did you do this? And why?"
"I did it this afternoon. And I did it because his little sister is in the hospital, and his family doesn't have that much money. It was only the right thing to do..." I explain, shrugging my shoulders.
My dad sighs and shakes his head disapprovingly. "Why would you give him a job without consulting us?"
"I don't know," I truthfully mumble.
"Cherry On Top is the family ice cream shop, Riley. You cannot go around hiring people, especially Ryder." My mom points out.
"Well fine," I begin, looking each of my family members in the eye, one by one. "I'll go to school tomorrow, and I'll fire him. And I'll let him go the rest of the day knowing that he isn't gonna have any money to pay for his sister's medical expenses." I raise my eyebrows as I speak and watch as my family's faces slowly drop. "Ryder might be a dick, an asshole, a scumbag, or whatever you want to call him... But you two raised us to help people when they're in need, no matter what they've done to you in the past." I finish off my cheesy speech by crossing my arms over my chest and eyeing my parents.
Ryan raises his eyebrows and watches to see what the final reaction was going to be.
My mom sighs and looks at my dad. "Fine, Ryder can work at the shop. But make sure he wears the uniform."
I put a small smile on my face before picking up my fork and eating my my spaghetti. That actually didn't go as bad as I thought it would.
•••
"You need to be at the shop at 4:30 pm right after school. And you better be on time. So, you have to—"
"Why don't I just ride with you to the shop? That's much easier." Ryder points out.
I raise my eyebrows at his words. "You wanna ride with me? I thought the less you see me, the happier you are,"
Ryder literally told me "the less I see you, the happier I am" about a couple of weeks ago. It didn't offend me, because the feeling was a hundred percent mutual.
Ryder shrugs his shoulders. "If I don't ride with you, I'm most likely gonna be late everyday, and you'll fire me. So let's just make it easier for both of us."
Ryan and I usually rode the school bus everyday after school, so it would change up my after school routine... And the thought of riding to the shop everyday with Ryder disgusted me. But I was the one who gave him the job, so I had to pay for it.
I roll my eyes before nodding my head in agreement. "Fine, we'll ride to the shop, together, after school, every...day." I say through clenched teeth.
This whole situation meant I was gonna be spending a lot more time with Ryder than usual. And I was not happy about it.
Ryder and I were currently at lunch, discussing the job. Alec wasn't here, so it was unfortunately just Ryder and I at one table. We were both embarrassed to be seen near each other, but lunch was the only place we could talk about it, so Ryder settled on "sacrificing his reputation" by sitting near me.
"So you sure you got all the information?" I asked Ryder once more after we finished going through everything he needed to start the job.
"Yeah yeah, gotta go," Ryder quickly says before getting up and running to his regular lunch table with the rest of the people from the FFF Squad.
•••
I look around the front of the school where everyone is standing to make sure no one was looking as I run to Ryder's car and quickly hoped in his front seat. I was taking extra precautions to make sure no one was looking when Ryder and I drove to the shop together.
Ryder didn't want anyone to know he was working at the shop because it was "physical and social embarrassment", and I didn't want anyone to think anything was going on between us. If anyone saw me getting in the car with him, some dumb rumor would spread quick, and I didn't want to deal with any of the bullshit.
"It took you long enough," Ryder says in an irritated manner before starting up the car and beginning to drive.
"I couldn't find your car,"
Ryder glares at me like I'm a complete imbecile before putting his eyes on the road. "I told you it was a white 2008 Ford Challenger,"
"Like I know anything about sports cars,"
"You don't know what a Challenger looks like?"
"Just drive!" I yell in frustration.
"Whatever," Ryder mumbles before driving a little faster to the ice cream shop. Ryder was driving in a normal speed for about five seconds until he puts more pressure on the gas and starts driving over the speed limit.
My eyes widen at Ryder's immensely fast speed and I look out the window as we speed past other cars various palm trees. "Can you slow down?!" I yell in alarm. Ryder looks at me before smirking and driving even faster. "Ryder!"
"Okay, fine!" He yells in annoyance before taking his foot off the gas and slowing down to the given speed limit. My heart rate slows down and I take a deep breath. I swear this kid is a maniac.
The rest of the ride was awkwardly silent, and I had a burning passion to just jump out the car door the entire time.
It only took about ten minutes to get to the shop. And when we got there, I immediately demand Ryder to change into his uniform.
That's one bright side to him being here. I get to boss him around, and there's nothing he can say about it. He might get to treat me like crap at school, but at the ice cream shop, I was the boss of him!
"Okay, I'm in this stupid ass uniform, what do I have to do now?" Ryder asks, walking out of the back kitchen.
I open my mouth to say something before I hear the door open behind me. I turned around to see a lady walking in. I turn back around to face Ryder and smile. "Here comes a customer. Get behind the counter. I'll be watching you," I say before Ryder walks behind the counter.
I follow behind him and cross my arms over my chest, leaning my back on the counter behind Ryder.
"Uh...welcome to Cherry On Top," Ryder says in an unamused tone. "What can I get you?"
"Uh, can I have the midnight double berry chocolate?" The customer asks
Ryder then put a dumbfounded expression on his face and turns his body to face me. "What's in the midnight double berry chocolate?" Ryder whispers.
I glare at him and shake my head. "I told you to study the menu?!" I whisper-yell.
"There are like a hundred fucking flavors and I only had like, a couple hours to do it." Ryder snaps.
I roll my eyes and walk over to Ryder, pushing him out of the way so I could make the ice cream. Ryder watches as I make the ice cream, which contained dark chocolate, blueberries, and raspberries. When I was done, I put the ice cream in a cup and hand it to the costumer.
After she gave me her money and left, I turn towards Ryder. "You obviously can't handle being the ice cream server/cashier yet, so I have a better job for you." I state, grabbing Ryder by the wrist and dragging him to the bathroom.
When we reach the girls and boys bathroom doors, Ryder stares at them with a blank expression for a couple moments, then looks down at me. "I am not cleaning the bathroom."
"Oh, you don't have to clean the bathroom." I state. "You could also sweep the floors, clean the ice cream scoopers, scrub the counters, wipe down the tables–"
"So you basically want me to be the janitor?!" Ryder yells in incredulity.
"You didn't do what I told you, so yeah. I do want you to be the janitor."
Ryder lets out a huge, frustrated groan, letting me know that he wasn't happy about the jobs I just gave him...which made me happier. "What does Ryan do around here?" Ryder asks curiously.
"He helps out with making the ice cream and being the cashier, but he mostly helps my mom and dad with the business stuff."
"Oh... So I guess I'm stuck cleaning the toilets and scrubbing the floors?" Ryder asks.
I pause for a moment before nodding my head. "Yes, yes you are." I say before turning around and grabbing the mop that was leaning against the wall behind me. I shove the mop into Ryder's hands and smile. "Have fun,"
_