A bell jingled as I pushed open the door to Rosa’s Pastries, and a sickeningly sweet smell met my nose, making me feel dizzy. No one was behind the counter to greet me, and this caught me off guard. “Hello?” I called and peered through the door into the kitchen. My eyes scanned the small pastry shop, which was brightly lit for seven in the morning. Sunlight reflected off of the rows of homemade cookie jars lining the walls. Not a person was in sight. Whatever, I thought.  I glanced down at my phone and saw that I had 6 unread text messages from last night. One from Michelle demanded: Lily how come your parents are making you stay home every single day? Don’t let them ruin your whole summer.  I definitely couldn’t tell anyone, especially Michelle, about this job. It would totally wreck my image. I heard voices coming from the kitchen and quickly tucked my phone in my purse.
“Helllloooo.” A tall, messy brown haired boy called, walking in behind the counter, “I’m Adam, and this is Rosa.” He motioned to the stout woman standing in the kitchen doorway.  The woman was eyeing me, suspiciously.
“Listen here, honey” Rosa said sternly, wiping her hands on her apron. “This isn’t prom. Wipe all of that makeup off your face, put your pretty blonde hair in a ponytail, and put one of these t-shirts on.”  Her flour-covered hand threw a Rosa’s Pastries t-shirt at me. “If you show up like that again tomorrow you won’t have this job for long.”
I was shocked and stood frozen, my mouth agape. Jeez. I picked up her t-shirt, and watched Rosa huff back into the kitchen. I made my way to the bathroom without a sound, and as I wiped my makeup off my face, I filled with anxiety. What if someone from school saw me like this? Wearing no makeup and a frumpy t-shirt in this stupid little pastry shop. I was supposed to be living the life, spending my days on the beach tanning, not covered in flour. My phone lit up in my bag, Hey Lil we’re all going to the beach today wanna come?  I groaned and pushed open the bathroom door.
“So, great first day, huh?” the boy named Adam said.
“Ha.” I replied weakly.
“Since Rosa isn’t really a people-person, she decided that I’ll train you today.” He explained. He held open the small door that led behind the counter and motioned for me to enter.
“I’m Lily, by the way.” 
“Oh I know,” he said sarcastically, “Who doesn’t know the great Lily Abbott?” I stared at him, annoyed. Wait, he goes to my school? I thought, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before in my life. My face turned pale and I got a wave of anxiety as a realization dawned on me.
“Oh don’t worry, Prom Queen. I won’t tell anyone you work here among the mere mortals. Your secret’s safe with me.” He chuckled and shook his head. He might be annoying, I thought, but at least he’ll keep his mouth shut. I half-heartedly tossed him one of my patented full wattage smiles. He rolled his eyes and laughed, leaving me shocked and pretty upset.
My first day flew by as Adam taught me what my job entailed; how to serve the tables, work the cash register, measure and package fudge, and how to fill pastries. Adam and I would share the menial labor, and Rosa would make all of the food. I hadn’t really expected anyone to come to such a tiny shop in a beach town, but surprisingly there were a lot of customers today. Each time the bell tingled in the doorway, my heart raced, but it was usually parents with young children buying treats.
As I wiped down the metal tables and chairs, I glanced up at the clock and noticed that it was already 4:55, just five minutes before closing time. A whole beach day down the drain—the first of many, I realized with a sigh. Just as Adam flipped the “Open” sign to the “Closed” side at last, an elderly woman with her dog entered the shop. What could she be doing here when the store just closed?
“Miss Ruby is that you?” Adam called from behind the counter.
“Yes, dear.” She said as she closed the door behind her. Her little dog, a brown mutt, sniffed around the shop. Adam went over to her and helped her sit in a small, white metal chair.
“The usual?” he said as he made his way back to the counter. He picked up two lemon tarts, cherry sodas, and a dog treat and brought them back to her. Adam pulled a chair over to her table and fed the dog treat to the dog, who wagged his tail excitedly. “So, what’s new today?”
“Well,” she replied enthusiastically, but quietly, “Today I first went to the store, then I was gardening and I noticed that my hydrangeas were getting a little droopy...” she went on and on about her garden, and the beach, and her little dog, who I learned was named Theo. Meanwhile, I realized that I hadn’t moved for the entire story and my hand was frozen on the table I was cleaning with a rag. I jumped when she looked over and saw me eavesdropping on their conversation. “Adam, you haven’t introduced me to this young lady. Come and sit, dear.”
Embarrassed, I shuffled to sit at the table. “My name is Lily.” I said politely to her.
“She’s the most popular girl in school, Miss Ruby.” Adam said with a smile and tipped his cherry soda bottle at me. “Isn’t that right, Prom Queen?” I smacked him with the rag in my hand, but I wasn’t feeling my usual annoyance towards his jokes. In fact, I thought it was kind of cute how well he listened to Miss Ruby’s rambling story. I noticed that my phone kept buzzing in my pocket, but I gave up and ignored it. We sat around the table and chatted for at least an hour before Rosa scolded us from the kitchen.
“It’s well past closing time!” She called, “Don’t you all have somewhere to be rather than making a mess of my store?” I glanced down at my phone for the first time all day. 46 Unread Messages, it read. Most of them said Lily where are you?? Or aren’t you coming to the party tonight? I groaned. I really missed out on a ton today but had no energy to go anywhere besides bed tonight. If this kept up, it would totally wreck my image.
The next few weeks flew by quickly and I had successfully managed not to see anyone that I knew from school. That, however, did not stop me from getting a nervous pit in my stomach every time the bells jingled above the door. I still spent every afternoon chatting with Miss Ruby and Theo, and had gotten used to Adam’s teasing jokes and nickname of “Prom Queen.” I hadn’t seen my friends in weeks, but they would text occasionally and ask “where the hell are you” or “how come you’re never around.” I felt less inclined to make up excuses each day, and eventually just gave up answering. 
My good luck changed however, on the busiest day of the year. On the Fourth of July, it was particularly crowded because it was a rainy day and beachgoers were escaping the weather. I was so busy serving tables that I didn’t even notice when the doorbell jingled and four of my friends from school sat down at a table.
“Excuse me,” I heard a snobby voice call from behind me, “Can we get some water?” I turned to see four of my friends sitting at a table, their eyes glued to their cellphones
“Oh no,” I whispered and held my tray in front of my face, “Coming right up.” I said weakly and sprinted behind the counter to duck behind the display case. Meanwhile, Adam watched the whole encounter from behind the cash register and chuckled while shaking his head.
“Wouldn’t want to blow your cover, Prom Queen.” He whispered teasingly and leaned over with a grin. He grabbed my tray from my hands and delivered the girls their water.
“Where’d that girl go? She totally, like disappeared.” I heard one of them whisper as Adam made his way back. I watched them at their table, peering through the display window.
“So, like, the other day, I saw this girl with a totally knockoff J. Crew sweater...” and one of my friends launched into a completely dramatic tale, as if it was the most important story in the world.
“So guys, do you think that guy is cute?” My friend Michelle whispered and motioned towards the counter. They all giggled and looked over at Adam who was busy making pastries.
“Yeah, I think he actually goes to our school.” someone whispered, “He’s one of those weird, quiet artsy types. I’ve seen him around. Just some random.”
I scrunched my nose, Ew! First of all, is that really how I sounded when I talked? And, secondly, who were they to judge Adam? They don’t even know him! There is so much more to Adam than just being cute and weird! He’s thoughtful and nice...
“Ok what am I doing?” I whispered to myself “and what am I doing down here? I don’t have to hide from my friends!” I pushed myself up off the floor and brushed off my knees. I grabbed the tray sitting next to Adam, and he looked at me with a confused expression. I made my way over to the table. “Hi guys.” I breathed out and they all glanced over slowly, annoyed that someone was interrupting their gossip session.
“Wait.....Lily?!” one of them said. “Is that you?” They all squinted at me and eyed my attire.
“Yep!” I said, a little too cheerily.
“Oh my god, you actually work here?” Michelle said patronizingly, “Is that why you haven’t been around at all?”
“Yeah, and actually, I’ve kind of been enjoying it.” I explained. They stared blankly at me so I continued, “So there is this little old lady, named Miss Ruby and she comes every single day and she brings her little dog named Theo, and she comes and tells Adam and me stories and they’re so sweet...” I trailed off from my rambling and realized that they were looking around uncomfortably.
“Listen...” Michelle said slowly, and glanced at her friends nervously, “we were totally going to invite you to come to our Fourth of July party tonight, but I don’t really think you can come in your.....state.” She added and eyed my outfit.  I stared back at them, confused.
They got up quickly and pushed open the door, the bell clanging furiously.  “Can you believe her? What a loser.”
I stared at the door after they left. Did they really not care about me at all? I slowly walked back behind the counter, tray in hand, and tears started to well up in my eyes. I looked over at Adam, who had a pained expression on his face. The next customer approached, however, and he was forced to look away and continue working. I made my way behind the counter, leaned on the display case, and slumped to the floor. Eventually, I heard the busyness start to die down and the bell clang, signaling that the last person had left. I heard Adam’s footsteps approach.
“Well, I guess you got what you wanted.” I said quietly, “I learned my lesson and I’m definitely not the most popular girl in school anymore, I mean, look at me.”
“That’s not what I wanted.” He said quietly. He stared down at my disheveled state. I expected a joke to follow, but the look on his face seemed concerned and genuine.  “C’mon, Lily, get up.”
“I think that’s the first time you called me by my real name.” I said with a weak smile. I heard the doorbell clang and Miss Ruby made her way through the door with Theo.
“We’re gonna miss the fireworks on the beach!” She exclaimed, “Come on!”
~
We set up a little picnic on the beach, of course with “the usual” cherry sodas and lemon tarts, and a few treats for Theo. It was a clear and cool night, despite the stormy weather earlier and Theo was especially excited for tonight’s adventure. We all lounged on the blanket and waited for the fireworks to start.
“So, Prom Que—” Adam cleared his throat, “I mean, Lily, sorry it’s a habit. Why did you decide to get a job at a dumpy little pastry shop, anyway?”
“Being honest?” I sipped my cherry soda, “My family needs the money, even if it’s just minimum wage. My dad lost his job in January and we haven’t really recovered. I figured I could still work my job without anyone noticing and still get time to spend with my friends. But that obviously didn’t work out.”
“Oh” Adam said, quietly. He rarely was a man of few words, but this time he didn’t have a joke to make. “You know, you’re not half as bad as I thought you were Lily. You don’t deserve to be treated like that by your friends.”
“It’s ok. They never really were my friends, anyway. You know I think—” I started, but the first firework went off and the show began. Theo and Miss Ruby sat up excitedly.
“I think,” I called to Adam over the ear-splitting booming, “that this job was the best thing that ever happened to me.”  He looked over at me, smiled, and took my hand.
“I think so too, Prom Queen,” he shouted back, “I think so too.” Then we turned and watched the fireworks. Out of habit, I looked down at my phone on the blanket and saw 0 Unread Messages, but I never felt more content.