Once outside, Linel glanced at the position of the sun and hummed.
"There's still some time until sunset. Want to hit up the local shop? I reckon at around this time business must be booming. We might even get extra payment from the owner if we work hard enough!"
Winking at the two of us, who didn't know what he was saying at all, he dragged the two of us off the crossroads between the Bottom and Middle street to the crossway between High and Middle street.
This specific crossway, since it was so close to the High street, but was still technically within Middle street, was prime property for a shop to make tons of money. And the 'local shop' that Linel referred to was a small and cozy looking cafe right in the middle of the area.
With a gradient of greens outside the walls that gave off a sense of nature and comfort, the doors and windows were all made of dark wood that caught the eye and contrasted against the gray sidewalk and the fading black of the roads.
Walking past the wooden front door, the three of us instead slipped into the alleyway next to the shop and made our way to the backdoor. There, Linel knocked three times on a less visually appealing metal door.
In no time, before the two of us could even question Linel on why we were here, the metal door silently swung open. On the other side of the door, a tall lady in a plain summer dress looked blankly at the three of us.
"Good afternoon Jade! We've come here to help out!"
With a shameless smile, Linel approached the door and the two of us heard Jade give an exasperated sigh.
'You three, come in."
Turning her back on the three of us, Jade pushed the door a little wider and headed inside. Linel followed her and strutted in.
Glancing at each other, Frank and I tentatively entered the shop through the back door. Following Linel, who seemed all too familiar with this entire process, we entered what seemed to be the back area of the cafe.
Navigating through the towers of boxes that lined the back door, the space suddenly opened up into a busy kitchen where people wearing aprons or summer dresses, sometimes both, bustled about. The woman who led us, Jade, turned her head slightly towards us before pointing towards an area further back. Then, she abandoned us and merged into the busy scene.
Waving goodbye to Jade, the two of us then followed Linel towards the area where Jade pointed to. It seemed to be a storeroom?
Looking around at the smaller towers of boxes lining the walls, the three of us finally stopped in front of several clothing racks. Each rack had colorful clothes of different sizes, but there was an obviously larger amount of dresses.
Without any words, Linel took the first move and dug through one of the racks to pull out a short sleeved olive shirt. Reaching his hands in again, this time he managed to pull out a maroon skirt.
"This will do!"
Smiling at his choice of outfit, Linel abandoned the two of us to hide behind several boxes to change.
Exchanging slightly confused gazes, Frank and I gave the racks a lost look before we resigned to our fate and dug around for something remotely wearable. Luckily, it did not take long for me to pull out a blue short mini jacket, a plain beige shirt, and a pair of dark blue shorts. Frank, however, was not so lucky, and after an awkwardly long time of searching finally gave in to the slightly loud set he had dug out. A neon pink shirt and white shorts.
"At least it'll suit the summer theme."
Consoling him, the two of us then parted ways to change into our new 'uniforms'.
By the time I walked out from my cover, Linel and Frank were talking to each other. Their own clothes folded up nicely and stacked on top of a box. Folding my clothes as I walked towards them, once Linel saw that I was ready, he made a 'let's work hard' motion with his fist and led the two of us back to the busy kitchen scene.
Without waiting for any instructions, Linel made a beeline to a white counter that had steaming hot food on it. Then, checking the piece of paper placed underneath it, he looked at a map on his right before taking that bowl out to serve.
Glancing at his leaving back, I followed his actions and peeked at the piece of paper under the next dish. Table 5. Then, referencing the map on the right, which was actually a rough layout of the cafe with all its tables, I searched for table 5.
Found it! The seat by the third window on the left!
Confirming the area and surrounding landmarks, I carefully took the bowl and waddled out of the kitchen.
Third window, third window, third window. There!
Spotting my target table, I slowly walked to it with growing nervousness.
A little tongue-tied on what to say to the customers, I was only a couple seconds away from the table.
Glancing wildly around for any examples, I suddenly spotted Jade a couple of tables away serving out food. With her long summer dress, it was a mystery how she managed to walk to and from the kitchen so fast.
"Order for table 8! Here's your food, please enjoy!"
With a brilliantly shining smile, Jade did not look or feel like that same person who 'welcomed' us into the cafe. However, that way of phrasing and that smile was a timely example I could use!
"Order for table 5! Here's your food, please enjoy!"
Copying her word to word, I tried my best to give my most radiant smile as I set the bowl down.
Checking the reactions of the customers, I could see that they were a pair who didn't seem hurried at all to eat. Giving me a polite 'thank you', I nodded my head at them and slowly backed away from their table.
I gave a sigh of relief as I headed back to the kitchen. Arriving at the white counter again, I noticed that Frank was gone. But as I turned my head to search for his figure in the crowded cafe, I heard his familiar voice coming from the kitchen.
"Yes Owner!"
Swerving my head, Frank, instead of going out like us, was helping out the kitchen staff by scurrying here and there lending an extra hand to them.
Seeing his flushed face and wide eyes lock with me for a second, the two of us shared a 'good luck' gaze before we each continued on with our own respective work. Until finally the cafe calmed down enough for the three of us to afford to catch our breaths on a couple of boxes right outside the kitchen area.
Looking at each other's sweaty appearances, we all shared a wet high five before fanning ourselves with anything we could find.
Too tired to speak, we 'spoke' with our gazes until we suddenly heard a sweet and friendly voice approaching us.
"Thanks for your timely help!"
Turning our heads, we watched as a large woman in an apron with her sleeves rolled up to her elbow head towards us.
Linel, although out of breath, opened his mouth to give the most pathetic sounds I had ever heard.
"No problem Owner!"
The Owner smiled at his squeaky words and took out some notes from her pocket.
Seeing those notes, the three of us visibly brightened up and reached out our hands to taken them before she changed her mind.
"Thank you Owner!"
Panting as we thanked her, the Owner gave another smile before telling us to rest as much as we wanted. She then passed a cup of water to us before leaving us alone.
Holding the notes in one hand and gulping down water and air with our cup in the other hand, the three of us took a couple minutes to catch our breath before we changed back to our clothe quietly and unassumingly left the cafe through the back door.
"The Owner must have felt generous today! We received so much money!"
Exclaiming in a whisper, Linel stared at his note with sparkling eyes before stuffing it deep into his clothes. He even patted the layer of cloth over them with a smile on his face.
With the same grin on our faces, we each kept the note in as safe a place as possible before making our way out of the alleyway.
"Next time you should give us a heads up of the cafe before you drag us there!"
Far enough away from the cafe that I felt I wouldn't be heard, I complained happily to Linel. Frank, walking beside me, nodded his head vigorously as he agreed to me and we both looked to Linel for an answer.
Linel had the gall to look slightly surprised before understanding dawned on him and he apologized.
"Sorry, sorry. I thought you would have known what the local cafe was. Or that you would have worked there before. Since I was introduced to this cafe by someone else in our class, I thought they would have told you too."
But after that apology, the happy smirk returned to his face.
"But anyway, I think the amount of money we earned is enough to make it up to the two of you."
Glaring playfully at him, I stroked the cloth above where I hid my note.
10 dollars! For only a couple hours of work, we earned 10 dollars!
Feeling elated in my heart, I smiled as I thought of all the supplies or food I could buy with this money.
Waving his hand in an insincere apology, Frank and I shot him a fake glare as the three of us made our way back to our area in middle street. Soon, we reached a crossway.
"My house is down this way. See you two tomorrow!"
Linel shouted and abandoned the two of us.
"That guy sure has managed to really fit in after his transfer just a couple weeks ago."
Shaking my head, I grinned at Linel's shrinking back and Frank gave a short chuckle.
"He sure has! You would even think that he has always been in the class, considering how well he gets along with everyone."
Smiling, the two of us continued walking towards the middle of Middle street until we reached another sidewalk.
"Well, I guess it's time to part."
Giving each other a hug, the two of us waved goodbye to each other and parted ways. Frank headed left, while I walked deeper.
Middle street was generally divided into three areas, the top, middle and bottom. And just like the difference between High, Middle and Bottom street, the lower the street's name, the lower the socio-economic status of its residents.
Linel, who had just recently transferred down to Middle street from High street, currently lives at the top of Middle street. Frank's family were quite money savvy so they still managed to retain a place in the middle of Middle street. And among the three of us, only I lived at the bottom of Middle street.
Continuing down the path, I watched as the occasionally painted walls deteriorated, the off-white paint peeling here and there, before stopping at a slightly old looking apartment building. In the light of the setting sun, it even had a sort of tired atmosphere. This was my home.
Although it looked old, the landlord was a kind old lady so the insides were comparatively newer and more comfortable than how it looked. As thanks, sometimes my parents or the other tenants would help the old landlady out with moving her furniture or bringing her food.
Patting the note one more time in happiness, I was about to take a step forward to head to the staircase that led to my apartment when I noticed a foreign set of feet sticking out from the bottom of the railings. Curiously, I lightened my footsteps and inched closer to the mysterious person.
There, sitting on the stairs with a numb expressionless face, was a boy older than me. His clothes were extremely dirty, to the point it should have been thrown away, and he had no shoes.
Noticing the sound of my footsteps, it took a second for the boy to lift his head and refocus his attention from his slightly blue toes to my face.
"Hello."