3. Bumblebee Westcott: Busy as a Bee (Unedited)

Bumblebee wants to buy a pair of expensive shoes for her mother's birthday. In order to earn the money she takes up her first job and quickly learns that working is, well, hard work.

One day I was shopping Rae and my life changed forever. We were at the mall on a Saturday morning when we walked by the shoe store Step Up. That's when I saw the most beautiful pair of shoes that I'd ever laid eyes on. They were fire engine red high heel peep toed shoes. I knew in a heartbeat my mother would love them. It was almost her birthday and I still hadn't gotten her a gift. I grabbed Rae's sleeve and dragged her inside. I went right up to the counter and asked how much the shoes in the display window were. The answer left me heartbroken.

“Those shoes are two hundred and fifty dollars.” The clerk told me. I could tell from the smirk on her face that she knew I could never afford them. “You're welcome to try them on.” She said. I knew she was just being facetious so I shook my head. “No thank you.” I said and I left the store with Rae in tow. When we were outside she asked me why I wanted the shoes. “For my mom, for her birthday.” I told her. “I have fifty dollars in my savings jar but that means I still need two hundred.”

“Why don't you get a job?” Rae suggested. We reached the food court and headed to Burton's Burgers. There, on the counter, was a help wanted sign. “You could work at Burton's Burgers.” Rae said. “You could probably get us free cheeseburgers.” I walked up to the cash register. “Can I speak to the manager here about the help wanted sign?” I asked the young man working there. The man nodded and called over a blonde girl whose name tag read Mitzi. “Can I help you?” she asked. I gave her my best smile. “I'm inquiring about the help wanted sign. I'm looking for a job.” I told her. She looked me over, her eyes traveling from my waist to the top of my head. “How old are you?” she asked me. “I'm fifteen.” I said. “Do you have any previous working experience?” She asked. I shook my head no. “What days can you work?”

“I can work whenever when you need me to.” I said. “Do you know how to work a cash register?” she asked. I shook my head no again. “Are you a fast learner?” I couldn’t believe my ears. Was she really considering me for the job? “I'm a fast learner and I'll do whatever you want me to do.” I promised. Mitzi nodded. She reached under the counter and pulled out a hamburger shaped hat. She placed it on my head. “What's your name kid?”

“My name's Jamie Westcott.” I told her. She smiled. “Do you know Savannah Morrison?” She asked. I tried not to grimace. Savannah was a cheerleader and the most stuck up girl I knew. The very thought of her made my want to gag but I only nodded. “Savannah's my sister.” Mitzi said. Fantastic. I thought. “That's cool.” I said. I wasn't about to trash talk her sister. I wanted this job. Mitzi laughed. “She's horrible isn't she?” She said. I was taken aback. “She's your sister, how can you say that?” I demanded. I knew exactly how she could say that. “Just because she's my little sister that doesn’t mean she doesn't get on my nerves. Do you have a sister?” I shook my head. “Then you wouldn’t understand. Siblings are horrible. Anyway, you can start tomorrow.”

“I got the job? You didn't even interview me.” I said. Mitzi snorted. “Fine, I'll interview you. Do you have any past history of drug use or arrests?” she asked. I shook my head no. “Then you're hired, interview over.” Mitzi said. I decided not to dispute this. I just nodded. “Thank you.” I said. “Can we order our food now.” Rae said. “I'm starving!”

The next morning my mom drove me to work. As soon as I got there Mitzi got down to business. She showed me how to work the cash register and then the first customer arrived. It was a classmate that I recognized but I couldn't remember her name. She ordered a two large fries and a soda. Mitzi got the fries while I poured the soda. When I handed it to her she took a sip and then made a face that looked as if she'd just drank urine. “Is this diet?” she cried in horror. “You gave me a diet soda?” She pushed the cup back towards me. I wanted to tell the girl off but that would only get me fired so instead I said “I'm sorry, I must have pushed the wrong button. I'll get you a new one.”

“You think I'm fat don't you?” The girl said. “Huh?” I demanded. Was she insane? “You gave me diet on purpose because you think I'm fat.” She said. She took another sip of soda and then spit it in my face. “You're just jealous of my figure.” She sniffed. I stood, face covered in diet soda mixed with saliva, not knowing what to do. Mitzi finally returned with the fries her eyes widened. “What happened?” she cried. “Why are you all wet?”

“Your employee told me I was fat.” The girl said. Mitzi looked horrified. “You called a customer fat?” she demanded. “No, I didn't.” I said, glaring at the girl. “I accidentally gave her a diet soda and when I offered to get her a new soda she spit in my face.” I explained. “I hope you know I'm not paying for those fries.” The girl said. She hit them with the back of her hand, sending them to the floor, and then walked away.

“Please tell me you did not call her fat.” Mitzi said. “I told you I didn't.” I said a little too harshly. “That girl is crazy.” Mitzi just nodded in response. “Go clean yourself up” She said.

After I washed my face in the back I return to the register. There another customer, a heavy man with a balding head, waited for me.

“Hello, welcome to Burton's Burgers. How may I help you?” I said in my most pleasant voice. The man rubbed his chin, considering his options. “Give me a turkey burger.” He said finally. “I'm sorry Sir.” I said. “We don't have turkey burgers.” My answer seemed to upset him. “What do you mean you don't have turkey burgers?” he demanded. “This is a burger joint, ain't it?”

“Ain't isn't a word Sir.” I said, trying to be humorous. He didn't look amused. “Sir, we do sell burgers here, but only beef ones, not turkey ones.” I told him seriously. This didn't please him either. “Why don't you sell turkey burgers? Do you have something against turkeys? What did they ever do to you?” He demanded. I sighed. “Sir, I don't make the menu.” I said. “I can't control whether or not we sell turkey burgers. If you want a cheeseburger, or a regular burger, or fries, then I can sell you that, but we don't have any turkey burgers. If it's not on the menu then we don't have it.”

“Give me a cheeseburger then.” He said. I put in the order but when I gave him the cheeseburger he took a bite and grimaced. “This is a cheeseburger.” he said. “I wanted a turkey burger.” I groaned internally. “Sir I already told you, we don't have any turkey burgers at Burton's Burgers. You asked me for a cheeseburger and I gave you a cheeseburger. That's all I can do. I can't change the menu for you. I'm sorry.” I said. I prayed that he would go away. Mitzi came to check on me. “What’s the problem?” she asked the man. “I want a turkey burger.” he said. “She gave me a cheeseburger.”

“I'm terribly sorry Sir. I'll get you a turkey burger.” Mitzi said. I flashed her a confused look and she winked at me. She disappeared into the kitchen and then returned with a fresh hamburger. She handed it to the man and he took a huge bite. He nodded in approval. “Now this is a turkey burger!” he said happily and he waddled away eating his burger.

“That wasn't a turkey burger.” Mitzi said. I sighed. So far my two customers had been crazy people. Working sucked.

Things with my third customer went smoothly at first but when I went to print out the receipt nothing happened. I pushed the button again. Nothing happened. I pushed it again. Nothing happened. I pushed it a forth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth time. On the tenth push the receipt came out it kept going, and going, and going, until it was over a foot long. I handed it sheepishly to the customer. When she saw I'd charged her ten times for one order she demanded to speak to the manager.

After that Mitzi put me on kitchen duty. She showed me how to work the oven but as soon as she left me alone things went down hill. Nearly every burger I cooked was charred and blackened. A couple actually caught on fire. By the end of my first day I'd ruined twenty burgers.

I wasn't excited to go back to work after that, but I knew that I had to. It was obvious Mitzi was becoming frustrated with me. Perhaps she was even beginning to regret hiring me. She never said it but her face told me all I needed to know. I kept going back though. Mitzi put me back on the cash register and I improved. I was still miserable but in the back of my mind I promised myself this was only temporary. I just had to earn the money to pay for my mother's shoes and then I could quit.

On Sunday, my first day off, Rae and Kurt wanted to hang out at the mall. It was just about the last place I wanted to be on my day off but I didn't say that. I just went along with them, feeling like a third wheel. It was still strange to me that Rae and Kurt were dating. I'd known them both for years. We've always been close, but I never saw this coming. When they'd told me I'd felt like they'd dropped a bomb on me. It wasn't getting any easier.

“Why don't you just quit now?” Kurt said after I spent a good half hour complaining about how much I hated my job. “If you really hate it so much. Why keep going back if you're that miserable?” I shook my head. “I can't quit yet. I want to get those shoes for my mom.” I told him. “Are those shoes more important than your happiness?” he demanded. I frowned at him. “If it was your mom, what would you do?” I asked. Kurt shrugged. “I'd buy her another present.” he said. Rae nodded. “I know I told you to apply for the job,” she said. “But there are other jobs out there.”

“You really think I can get another job? It was a stroke of luck I got the one I have!” I cried. “If I quit then I'll never find anyone else who will hire me.”

“How much are you getting paid?” Kurt asked. “I'm getting minimum wage. I've been working all week and I still don't have enough money.” I complained. Kurt smirked.“That's why we go to school Bumblebee. So we don't end up getting stuck serving people burgers at the mall for the rest of our lives.” He said. Rae laughed. I didn't think it was funny.

After we ate lunch we went to go see a movie. Kurt pulled the whole yawn, stretch, arm over the shoulder trick as they stole kisses in the dark theater. I just sunk down low in my seat and devoured my salty and butter logged popcorn. I'll be the first to admit that I was jealous of them. I'd had a huge crush on Kurt but I was over that now. I wasn't jealous of the fact that they were together, I was jealous of the love they had for each other; the companionship. I'd only ever had one boyfriend, Jesse Crabbs. When he'd told me he loved me I'd ran as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I wasn't ready for a relationship then but I was now. No one had asked me out but I would have said no if they did. I missed Jesse. He treated me like a queen and even though we didn't have a lot in common we always had fun whenever we were together.

On the last day of my second week of work I finally got my paycheck. I was elated. It was just over two hundred dollars. I had enough money to buy the shoes for my mom. My day would have been perfect...had the last customer of the day not been Jesse. He wasn't alone either. He was with a tall brunette named Vanessa Horne from our Spanish class. From the way they were holding hands I could tell they were dating. They hadn't seemed too close in class but our teacher was so strict there wasn't much time to talk, unless it was in Spanish. We were only in Spanish 1. It was nearly impossible to talk to each other when we couldn't even form full sentences in the language.

“Bumblebee?” Jesse asked in surprise when they approached the counter. “You're working at Burton's Burgers?” Vanessa frowned. “You know her?” she said snootily. I couldn’t imagine what Jesse saw in her. She was pretty but that was about it. She was dense and full of herself; not exactly the kind of person you'd want to spend any amount of time with.

“Who's she?” Vanessa demanded. Jesse back tracked. “She's in our Spanish class. I mean, I don't really know her. We're not friends or anything.” He said. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He was denying that he even knew me. Sure he didn't know me. I was only the girl who he'd professed he'd love not even a month ago.

I picked up a bottle of mustard and a bottle of ketchup. “You're a jerk!” I told him angrily and then I squirted the mustard and ketchup in his face, covering him in strings of yellow and red.

It took me a minute to realize what I'd done. I had acted irrationally; without thinking. I set the bottles down and looked around the crowded food court. It felt as thought everyone was staring at me, and most people were.

“What's going on?” Mitzi cried when she saw Jesse. “This freak squirted condiments on my date's face!” Vanessa cried before I had a chance to answer. She pointing a bony finger at me. Mitzi looked at me and shook her head. “You know what I have to do now.” She said softly. “Don't bother.” I said. “I quit!” With that I stormed out of the mall. I was already in tears. I was horrified by what I'd done. At the same time I felt as though, I felt like Jesse had stabbed me in the back.

That night I was home alone when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and there was Jesse. He hadn't been to my house since we broke up. I was tempted to slam the door in his face but I decided not to. I stepped onto the porch and closed the door.

“Hey Jesse.” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He said. “I'm sorry you lost your job. If I'd known you were working at Burton's Burgers I never would have gone there.” I was shocked. He was sorry?

“Jesse I squirted you with ketchup and mustard and you're apologizing to me? I should be the one apologizing to you.” I said. He sighed. “Why did you do it?” he asked. I glared at him coldly. “You told your girlfriend you didn't even know me. Are you ashamed to have dated me Jesse? Am I some kind of embarrassment to you?” I demanded. Jesse shook his head. “Vanessa isn't my girlfriend.” he said. “We were just on a date, a first date. I didn't know how to handle the situation. What was I supposed to say? Oh, she's my ex-girlfriend? How do you think that would have gone over? I didn't mean to offend you, I really didn't. I just didn't know what to say.”

“Well you said the wrong thing.” I told him. I was ready to go back inside. I started to reach for the knob but Jesse grabbed my hand. “Wait.” He said. “What?” I cried. I was done with him. “Can I ask you something? Are you jealous of Vanessa? Because if you are...I still love you Bumblebee. I've been dating, but only because I'm trying to get over you. I can't be hung up on your forever, right? But the thing is, I can't get over you. I think about you all the time; I miss you.” I stood there in shocked silence. I didn't know what to say. Finally I found my voice.

“Jesse, you can't just show up at my house and drop a bomb like that on me.” I said. He shrugged. “I didn't know how to tell you. If you want me to leave right now then I will.” He swore. “I don't want you to leave.” I said. “Not ever again.” And then I kissed him. Maybe I was making a mistake, but if Jesse still loved me then I wasn't going to question it; I was going to embrace it. I'd already run away from love once. Now it was time to take a risk and allow myself to love Jesse.

I knew I had to go back. Even though I quit it wouldn’t be right of me to leave things the way I had. It wouldn’t be professional. Mitzi had been kind to me since I'd started working at Burton's Burgers. She'd all but handed me the job on a silver platter. She deserved an apology.

When Mitzi saw me she frowned. “You came back?” she said. I nodded. “It shouldn't have left the way I did. I feel horrible about it.” I said. She sighed. “Let me guess, that was your ex-boyfriend with his date?” she asked. I nodded sheepishly. “You know when I was your age I dated this one guy. At the time I was working at an ice cream parlor. I found out he was cheating on me so when he dropped by the parlor I dumped a milkshake on his head.” Mitzi said. I laughed. “You did? That's so awesome!” I cried. “It felt good.” Mitzi agreed. “Except after my little stunt I got fired. Bumblebee, when I said 'you know what I have to do', I didn't mean I was going to fire you.”

“Then what did you mean?” I asked. “I was going to suspend you. Probably I should have fired you but I know what young love and crazy teen hormones are like. I wanted to give you the second chance I never had. If you want the job back then it's yours.” Mitzi told me. I considered this for a minute but then realized the last thing I wanted was my job back. “I'm sorry Mitzi, but I think you're going to have to find someone to replace me.” I said. “I hate working.” Mitzi laughed. “It's alright Bumblebee. Can I ask why you wanted the job in the first place though? You never seemed to enjoy it.” She said. “I wanted to earn enough money to buy my mom a pair of shoes for her birthday.” I explained. “Your mom should be proud to have such a great daughter.” Mitzi said. “Thanks.” I said. We chatted for a few more minutes and then I went back to the shoe store and purchased the shoes.

I made the mistake of wearing the shoes home. My mom and I wore the same size and they were so beautiful; I couldn’t resist. Then a big truck plowed through a mud puddle, sending a wave that covered me from head to toe. I knew the shoes were ruined. I tried to clean them when I got home but they were scratched up from me taking the short cut home through the woods. I could never give them to my mom. I felt like crying because I worked so hard to get them and in much less time I'd destroyed them. I decided not to tell my mom about the shoes and made her dinner for her birthday instead. She loved the dinner and told me it was the best present she ever could have received. Why hadn't I just thought of the dinner in the first place? Because I could never do anything the easy way.