Summer Alone (Summer #1) Read Online Free Page B

those small BMX bikes. Plus I’m sure it’s expensive. And with my zero job options at the moment, there’s no way I can afford it.
    I kick at a tiny weed growing up in between the cracks of the sidewalk. I guess I could start walking back toward where I parked by Truly’s and make a mental list of all the places that are hiring. Maybe fast food wouldn’t be so bad, I think. But it’s no use to try and lie to myself like that. Fast food would suck.
    I roll my eyes and tell myself that I’m being super lame and super dorky right now. I’m not doing my hair any favors by standing here alone, like a weirdo, staring up longingly at a place that I totally don’t belong. Speaking of my hair, I glance at my reflection in the glass of C&C, hoping to get a pick-me-up from seeing my awesome follicle reflection for the millionth time.
    Only I don’t see my hair, not at first.
    I see a black dry erase board that’s decorated from top to bottom in neon colored markers. Squiggles and swirls and dots and zig zags, all focused around the words written in the middle of the board: Now Hiring Part Time
    Nervous excitement jolts through me. Before I can chicken out, I think about Bayleigh being gone all summer and Mom’s silly comment, and remind myself of the very true fact that without a job this summer, I’ll be spending all my time at home like a loser. So I swallow the lump in my throat, ignore the butterflies in my stomach, and step through the sliding glass doors.
    Three super gorgeous guys hang around the front desk, talking with the older man who works there. And I mean ridiculously gorgeous. Like, hotter than Ryan Gosling and Channing Tatum combined. They’re probably way too old for me and they’d probably never even consider dating a senior in high school, but hey, a girl can look, can’t she? I gnaw on my bottom lip and stand with my hands in my back pockets, waiting for the guy behind the counter to notice me.
    I get lost in a mixture of anxious, semi-motivational thoughts as I try to pump myself up until I realize someone is talking to me. “Ma’am?” The guy behind the count er is watching me. He wears thick black framed glasses and has a buzzed haircut that shows a mixture of black and grey hair. He’s like a middle-aged hipster.
    “Oh,” I say, focusing on him. Geez, how long had I been standing here like a total moron? “Hi.” I smile.
    Luckily, he doesn’t seem fazed by my weirdness. “What’s up? Would you like the summer schedule?”
    “Actually,” I say, pointing behind me to the general direction of the dry erase board. “I saw the sign that you were hiring, and I’d like to apply.”
    He lifts a curious eyebrow. “Do you ride?”
    “No.” My toes turn in as I stand awkwardly in front of the counter. “Not exactly.”
    He smiles and reaches behind the counter, grabbing some papers. “Awesome. We could use someone who doesn’t ride. Too many kids want jobs here and think that means they can ride all day and never do any work.” He hands me an application. “What hours are you available to work?”
    I shrug, feeling a ton of nervous weight fall off my shoulders because of his warm smile. “Pretty much all day, every day. For the summer, at least.” I take the application and a hot pink pen with the track’s logo printed on it. The man nods approvingly. “If you can pass a drug test, you’re hired.”
    “Really?” I say, stopping myself before uttering the words you’re not going to interview me? If he doesn’t want to put me through thirty minutes of nerve-wracking questions and answers, then I’m happy to keep my mouth shut. No need to bring up the idea if he’s not thinking it. I sit in a chair against the wall and fill out the simple one-page application, my hands shaking with excitement over the possibilities that lie ahead.
    In just one day I have managed to get new hair, a new job, and just maybe some new friends if I’m lucky. Not that Bayleigh isn’t the greatest