Maya and Harley are both buried in their work. Maya was baking a pie and Harley was frosting the pastry. The pie looks great. I mean the pastry.

Maya looked up and smiled warmly at me. “Hello, Zoe. How was your first week on campus?”

“Exhausting. And full of drama.”

She laughed, “The last school year has been crazy.”

I approached her and kissed her on the cheek. Then I approached Harley and kissed him. He had his headphones on so he didn't even notice me.

Harley was a really nice guy and a good friend of mine. If only he wasn't gay. He kissed me back and went back to frosting without taking off his headphones. He wasn't a talkative person and I learned a lot early on in our time together.

I returned to the store and assumed waitressing duties.

After waiting a couple of hours, I served the treats on the shelves, and that's when I realized it was 6:00 pm. Only an hour left until I finish work. I let out a sigh of relief.

The bakery was still half full and didn't close until 10:00 pm. That's when Stephanie started her shift. She was responsible for keeping the bakery open during extreme hours, morning and evening. Stephanie was a bitch, and I think that's why Maya scheduled our hours so we didn't have to talk to each other.

The doorbell rang and customers arrived. I looked up to see a couple of boys walk in. Each boy looked kind of familiar and I guessed they were all from our campus. I gave them a quick look and sat them down at their tables.

I walked over to the table the guys had chosen and pulled out my notebook and pen, then looked up at them.

At the table sat Orion and a few other boys from the swim team whose names I didn't recognize. I gulped nervously.

The good thing about working with Monique is that people from the campus don't come here because they don't know about it. This program has been in place for three years and it works well.

I smile at them, remembering my role as a waitress. “Hi, I'm Zoe. I will be your waitress today. Can I help you?”

They looked up from their menus and then stared at each other for a few seconds as the scene became awkward.

One of the red-haired boys smiled. “I'll order whatever you like.”

I recognized him, Mark, one of the playboys on the swim team. He never missed an opportunity to flirt with a girl.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Orion roll his eyes. What the hell was wrong with him?!

I smiled at him and then looked at everyone at the table. Except for Orion. “Okay, I'll make you guys a deal. If you can name my favorite dish on the menu, I'll give it to you for free.”

“Ooooohhhh, challenge accepted.” The other boy said excitedly. I couldn't help but laugh.

“So I'll be back in five minutes to give you time to think about it. May I get you some drinks?”

Each man ordered their respective drinks and then returned to the menu with full attention. I had no idea they were so competitive. I smiled secretly.

I put all the drinks on a tray and walked over to them, placing all the drinks in front of the person who ordered them. I pulled out my notebook again. “Have you guys decided which dish on the menu is my favorite?”

“Apple pie.” A man said aloud.

“Macaroons.” Another said with such concentration that I had to stifle a smile.

“Napoleon lasagna .” The overly enthusiastic guy said, accepting the bet right off the bat.

“Tiramisu.” The last guy said.

I looked at the four boys whose names I didn't recognize and shook my head, telling them they were all wrong.

“Mark? What about you?”

“Caramel pudding ?” He browsed the menu like a cute puppy, hoping to find my favorite dish.

I smiled slightly, but shook my head. “It's my second favorite.” I giggled at the look of frustration on his face, biting the tip of my pen to hold back my laughter.

“Blueberry Tart .”

I jerked my head around to look at Orion. I opened my mouth, wanting to say something, because I never thought that out of all the people, he would be able to name my favorite thing.

“Correct.” I looked at him, and the same look of longing and regret passed through his eyes as when I left his house that morning.

“So, I guess you got this blueberry tart for free. Damn, what a guess!” The guy who was so excited earlier said.

It was just a lucky guess, wasn't it? It was. Indeed it was.

“Well, I'll be bringing back all your orders with a free blueberry tart.” I smiled at them and hurried away from the table. Especially Orion and his intense, unstoppable gaze. They gave me chills of excitement, and I wasn't sure I liked it.

I walked behind the counter to take over as cashier and Olivia changed into casual clothes since her shift ended before mine. Stephanie usually came in around seven to take over the job.

After a while the boys got up from the tables and came toward me to pay the bill.

Mark came up and settled the bill for everyone. “If I had known you worked here, I would have been here a long time ago.” He winked at me before following the boys out of the bakery.

Then my eyes fall on the boy standing alone in front of me on the other side of the counter. I raise my eyebrows and silently ask him why he's still here.

Orion hands over a ticket, “I have a VIP ticket for the swim meet, I was wondering if you'd like to...”

“Hey Zoe!” Demi's voice suddenly rang out from the store. I'd completely forgotten that we'd planned to meet at the end of the day.

When she sat down to look over, she almost panicked as she finally noticed that it was no other than Orion standing across from me at the register.

“Oh, Orion!” She exclaimed, jumping up to fix her hair. “What are you doing here?” “Just visiting.” Orion replied. Demi looked at me, then at my hand, then at Orion, then at the ticket in his hand.

“Actually,” Orion reached into his pocket, ”I have another vip ticket. HERE. Now you can all come watch the game and get the best seats.” He handed the ticket to Demi, whose eyes lit up. She took the ticket gratefully, a smile on her face.

I've had enough of this. I tossed the ticket onto the counter and hugged my arms. “No, thanks,” I said. “I won't be at your game.” Demi and Orion both looked disappointed. “Fine.” Orion said with a sigh.

“Blueberry tart.” He spat out the words as if checking their effect off his tongue. “Contrary to what you might think, it wasn't just a lucky guess.”

He winked suggestively, and I was dumbfounded.