Free Droplets (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 1) by Meaghan Rauscher Page B

in the kitchen.
         Laura, Chelsea, Jessie, Hannah, and I worked the restaurant with ease. We had faced many a packed house and had no worries or problems with it. Each of us was able to fly around the tables with incredible speed. We dodged and ducked, carried and served. We had worked together like this for a good three years and could almost read one another’s thoughts.
         My head jerked up as the bell above the door jingled, announcing the entrance of another customer. I glanced over my shoulder to see who it was.
         Four teenage boys from my high school trudged through the front door and were speaking to Laura, who was playing hostess tonight. Laura had never met a stranger, and we often had to remind her to seat people at tables when she got too carried away in her greeting duties. It looked as though I was going to have to remind her again. When it came to teenage boys, Laura never knew when to stop talking.
         I made my way over to the hostess stand. As I walked up, one of the boys named Trey smiled at me. He was tall and stood with his hands in the pockets of his Northface jacket and wore a baseball cap on his head. I inwardly groaned, because I’d seen that look on his face before. Why was it that some boys couldn’t take a hint?  Trey was a nice guy, but I wasn’t interested.
         “Hey, what’s up Lissie?” This came from a guy named Jonathan who was standing next to Trey. 
         Jonathan had short red hair, and freckles splattered all over his face and arms. Out of the group I knew him best, but I still didn’t know him all that well. He had simply been in multiple classes of mine and we had gotten to know each other through school over the years.   
         I recognized the other two boys, but I had no idea what their names were.
         “I’m doing great thanks,” I lied. “Umm… we’re pretty busy right now but I’m sure Laura can find you a table.”
         I smiled, and gave Laura a solid nudge when I said this to remind her of her job. Laura quickly turned to grab some menus and silverware. With a polite voice that had suddenly become business-like, she said, “Follow me please.”
         She whipped around on her heel to lead the gangly boys to their table. Jonathan spoke up before he followed her.
         “Just know I’m only going to pay if you are the one serving us,” he said with a friendly grin. “We haven’t talked in a while.”
         “Oh, and because we aren’t busy at all, I’ll be able to sit down and chat,” I responded sarcastically.
         This got a soft chuckle out of him and he turned to follow his friends. I watched to see what table Laura put them at, and then headed back to the kitchen to fetch some previous orders. When I finally got the chance I weaved my way through the chairs over to the circle table the boys sat at. I put on a smile and pretended to be formal because I knew it would make Jonathan laugh, “Hello, my name is Lissie and I will be your server tonight.”
         A wide grin split across Jonathan’s face, and I was quick to notice that one had crept across Trey’s as well. “Is there anything I can get you for starters? What would you like to drink?”
         I whipped out my notepad and pen, then turned to Jonathan who sat just to my right. He was grinning from ear to ear.
         “First of all, my dear lady,” he spoke in a mock British accent, exaggerating his words to sounds proper. “I must introduce myself and these fine gentlemen who accompany me this evening. My name is Jonathan, Sir Jonathan Bates. I am here tonight on a sort of outing with my dear friends. This here is Trey Watts,” he nodded toward Trey. I glanced at him and he smiled. “Over here on my left is Ethan Daniels,” I quickly looked at the dark haired boy; he had a crooked smile and looked like a good time. “And this fellow right here is Adam Robinson.” I looked over at the tow head that