Trixie's Day- Always Second

“Hey Trixie!” waves Izzy.

“Hey Izzy! Hey Minty!” I reply while stepping behind the counter.

“We got a rush today so we need to lock in.” Minty says shrugging. Her real name is Araminta but we call her Minty for short.

“Oh okay.” I say then get to work. Then a memory floods back in. About a week ago I was doing a shift here and I met a lady. Later I found out that was my moms best friend! It took some time but I got to know her family well. Since my moms friend (Ms. Linda) stole most of my day, my mom made it up to me and said I didn’t have to work all week so today’s my first time back after that day.

As I’m drizzling caramel on whipped cream, that’s on a chocolate shake, my boss comes in.

“It’s Boss!” I whisper to Izzy. Izzy nods then passes the message to Minty.

“Hey Mrs. Ruth!” I say putting on a smile.

But she ignores me and goes straight to Minty and smiles.

When Minty is done handing a customer their coffee she speaks.

“Araminta there you are!” she says happily.

“Hello Mrs. Ruth!” replies Minty.

“Today I chose a new best worker of the week so do your best.” Mrs. Ruth says then winks.

I roll my eyes. Every single weekend Minty gets the best worker award and gets her name on the wall...I would love my name on the wall! Yes your name is only there for 7 days but it’s still cool! But for some reason Minty always wins that award. And there's a lot of people who work here but she still gets it! I think she is Mrs. Ruth’s favorite worker. It bothers me.

“Okay thanks for letting us know!” says Izzy even though she was talking to Minty.

Just then Lula comes out of the bathroom and walks toward us. Lula is kinda my friend but not really. She can be really annoying.

“Hey Lula!” waves Izzy.

“Hey Iz!” replies Lula.

Iz? I’ve known Izzy for a long time but even I don’t call her that…

This is also my second time seeing Lula before her normal shift time. I wanna ask why she is here so early but last time I said that she got mad at me.

I lean towards Minty. “Why is she here so early again?”

Minty rolls her eyes. “Can’t you focus on work?” she snaps.

My jaw drops for a second. My best friend never snaps at me.

“I was just curious sheesh…” I mutter.

“Well since you weren't here last week you didn’t hear. She said she’s too busy to come later so she does earlier shifts.” says Minty ignoring me.

“Now get back to work!” she adds.

“Okay.” I grumble then go back to decorating coffees. Minty is getting on my nerves! She's supposed to be my best friend right now but seems too focused on work. Then I glance at Izzy. She and Lula are side to side laughing, talking, and pouring drinks. Izzy is also my friend! Why isn't she talking to me? Am I like…second choice to her? Like only when Lula is gone then does she talk to me? This makes me angry. Mad enough for me to forget to stop adding chocolate chips to this cappuccino. Oops. I pass the drink to Brandon, the boy next to me. He takes it then hands it to the teenage customer waiting.

“Yessss! Extra chocolate chips!” the teen cheers before walking out.

Brandon raises his eyebrow and looks at me. I roll my eyes at him even though he didn’t do anything. I turn and look at the Best Worker of the Week wall. Minty’s picture was there. It showed her with a big bright smile with her dark brown hair, braided, flowing behind her. I am going to get that spot! I’m going to work faster than before. I focus my attention on the drinks in front of me. A caramel coffee that needed whipped cream and caramel drizzle, and a chocolate-strawberry shake that needed whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. I am going to decorate these drinks as soon as possible. That might give me some points. I pick up the whipped cream can and spray hurriedly. Then I pick up both the caramel and chocolate drizzles. I drizzle both drinks at the same time then slide them over to Brandon. I look around. Izzy and Lula were going so slow on making the drinks! There is no way they are winning the award. Ha. Even if they were going faster I’m going to win it! I look at my watch. My shift is going to be over soon. Lula comes over to me.

“Here you go! This one needs the small chopped up bananas.” Lula says carrying a banana shake. Her voice sounded cheerily…more happier. I haven't heard her sound like this in a long time. That's when I realize…I never talk to Lula. But before I think more on that thought I hear arguing. “What’s going on?” I ask Brandon, who is trying to calm down two customers who are holding their drinks.

“Why does my whipped cream look like this!” one customer yells, shaking her short blond hair.

“This is sloppy!” adds the other one, his voice deep. That’s when I notice. I was rushing so much I didn’t even notice how bad it looked!

“I can explain-” I say but the girl customer interrupts me.

“I need to speak to the manager!”

I cringe.

“NO! You can’t!” I protest.

“Why?” The man says with a raised eyebrow.

“Well…uhhh…cause she's busy?” I say.

“Who called me?” says a voice behind me.

I almost faint. This is bad! How am I going to get the award now? I moan.

"What's going on here?” asks Mrs. Ruth.

“My cappuccino looks sad.” complains the girl with the short hair.

“Oh we can’t have that can we!” agrees Mrs. Ruth.

“Here you go! A chocolate-strawberry shake with chocolate drizzle and caramel coffee with caramel drizzle.” buts in Minty with a smile. When did she get here? She just…apeared!

The girl smiles and takes her shake.

“Thank you! You’re the best!” she says smiling, then she tips Minty. Right in front of me! She had the nerve…

“Yes thank you!” adds the man taking his coffee.

After the customers leave Mrs. Ruth turns to me.

“Explian to me why you served sad drinks?” asks Mrs. Ruth with a frown.

I sigh and shrug. “I don’t know…I just thought if I worked faster…I could get people their drinks faster.”

“Well you can work fast but not sloppy.” says Mrs. Ruth.

“Yeah! And why would you want to work faster? You already decorate fast…” agrees Minty. I glare at her.

“I don’t know.” I mumble.

“Just don’t do that again okay?” Mrs. Ruth says then she turns to Minty.

“You saved the day! With their ‘back up’ drinks. Oh! I will send out the Worker of the Week tomorrow. Have a good rest of your shift, girls!” Mrs. Ruth says cheerily.

I look at Minty. She shrugs. I roll my eyes then get back to the banana shake. This time I take my time.

I glance at Izzy and Lula again.

“You should come over tonight and we can watch the reruns!” I hear Izzy say.

“Okay! I’ll text my mom after my shift to let her know I’m going to your house.” replies Lula. Anger burns inside me. I can’t help it anymore!

“Izzy, can you come here real quick?” I ask.

“Um. Sure.” Izzy says, coming over to me.

“I need to talk to you.” I whisper.

“Okay!” says Izzy looking around. “Wait. Why are you whispering?”

“It’s about…uhhhh…Lula. Why are you hanging out with her?” I ask.

“Oh.” Izzy lowers her voice. “Well Lula’s parents divorced recently…so that’s a hard time for her. And she doesn't have many friends, so I think we should be nicer to her! And she's really cool actually. But don’t worry. She’s not going to ruin our friendship.”

I let out a breath and smile.

“Oh good.” I say grinning. At least that problem is fixed.

The next day I’m sitting in my bed holding my phone. In a few seconds Mrs. Ruth is going to email us who won the award. I hope it’s me! I get a text. It’s from Minty.

Minty: Hey whoever gets the award...GGs!

But before I can respond the email comes in. I click on it.

Hey everyone! You all did get this past week but there can only be one winner…and that is ARAMINTA HILLS! Congratulations! (Since your picture is already on the wall no need to change it haha!) -Mrs. Ruth.

I sigh. I’m about to turn off my phone when Minty calls me. I didn’t really want to talk to her but I still answer.

“Yes?” I ask.

“Hey! Look…we need to talk. I’m sorry for snapping at you…it’s just…I get really competitive sometimes. Sorry!”

I was shocked.

“Aplologie accepted.” I say.

“Thanks for understanding!” she says about to hang up.

“Wait! Before you go…congrats! You deserve it!” I say before she hangs up.

“Thanks!” Minty says then hangs up. And I meant it. She does work harder than me and she does more shifts too. I guess you need to work hard but efficiently. Not make sad shakes! And…there’s always next week!