The laminated menu felt slick in Maya's hands as she stood at table six, heart pounding. Three customers—two middle-aged women and a guy in a flannel—barely looked at her, too caught up in their conversation. That should've made it easier, but instead, it made her feel invisible.
She cleared her throat. "What can I get you?"
The woman closest to her, short hair and sharp eyes, barely glanced up. "Coffee. Black."
"Same," the second woman muttered, scrolling through her phone.
The man in the flannel didn't even look at the menu. "Cheeseburger. No onions."
Maya nodded, scribbling it down. "Fries with that?"
"Obviously."
Her grip on the notepad tightened. She ignored the heat in her chest, the familiar feeling of being dismissed. This was nothing. She'd been through worse.
As she turned to leave, the door chimed. A group of four walked in, their laughter too loud, their presence shifting the air. Maya's stomach clenched. She knew that sound.
Her eyes flicked toward them, heart hammering. She recognized two of them from before—before she got clean, before she left town, before she decided to start over. They hadn't changed. Same glazed eyes, same twitchy energy.
They hadn't seen her yet.
Act normal.
Maya forced her legs to move, dropping the order at the window. She could feel the heat of their presence behind her, the weight of old mistakes pressing in.
"Yo, Maya?"
Her body stiffened. The voice was familiar—too familiar.
Slowly, she turned. Zeke.
Tall, wiry, all restless energy. The last time she'd seen him, they'd been sharing a cigarette outside a halfway house, both pretending they had their shit together.
She forced a smile. "Didn't expect to see you here."
Zeke grinned, flashing teeth that weren't as white as they used to be. "Didn't expect to see you working." He let the word drag, like it was unnatural for someone like her.
Her hands clenched into fists under her apron. "Yeah, well. People change."
He chuckled, looking her up and down like he didn't believe it. "Sure they do."
Maya felt Sue's eyes on her from across the diner. The moment stretched, Zeke waiting for a reaction, testing her.
She exhaled slowly. "You want a table or not?"
Zeke smirked but didn't push. "Nah. We're just passing through."
"Good," she said, turning on her heel before he could say anything else.
But as she walked away, she heard him mutter under his breath.
"Bet you won't last a week."
Maya swallowed hard, her fingers gripping the tray.
She had no idea if he was right.