Page 86 of Mistaken Prejudice

“You’re fired! Get the hell out of here!” he yelled.

Diesel removed his apron and threw it on the floor. “With pleasure.” He left the table without a second glance.

The restaurant’s attention was on us, and I looked at Miles, whose face was still in shock, before I jumped from between soda-soaked Shay-Lee and dumbass Don and ran after Diesel.

“Fuck, hold on!” I shouted as I managed to catch up to him by the dumpsters near the staff exist.

“Holy fuck, man.” I sighed as I held on to his shoulder. “Just, holy fuck.”

“I hated this shitty place anyway,” he rasped, shrugging my hand off his body.

“I know he’s a total jerk, but you can’t allow him to get to you.” I stopped for a moment as a grin slipped on my lips. “But did you see his face?” And just like that, we both burst into laughter. And it occurred to me it’d been so long since the last time I heard him laugh. Truly laugh.

“Fuck yeah, I saw his face.” He rubbed his jaw. “He’s such a whiny, little bitch.”

“And the twins? They were so shocked they could hardly say a word.”

“The world is a better place when they keep their dumb mouths shut,” Diesel added before he stretched his arm around me. “Fuck, it was so worth it.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Besides,” he said as he pulled out a cig from his pocket and popped it in his mouth. Lighting it with his lighter, he took a drag. “I’ve already saved most of the money I need for Bali,” he said while blowing out the smoke. “I’ll just get another job to make a bit more cash before we go.”

Bali. Our joint dream. The dream I still hadn’t found the courage to tell him I’d need to postpone.

We planned to go in the summer, as soon as we finished high school and before I went to college. Only that I agreed to take the work Daniel offered me, meaning I wouldn’t be able to go to Bali this summer.

“Just think of all the epic waves, the beaches, and the bitches.” He cracked a smile. “Fuck. I can’t wait to get the hell out of this fucking place.”

“About that,” I said, his hand still around my shoulders. “There’s a change of plans.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He turned my way, and I could see his dark eyes searching for an answer.

“I… Miles’s dad—”

He dropped his arm the moment I mentioned Miles’s name and took a step back as if it was contagious.

“Of course he has something to do with it,” he barked before he ran his fingers through his dark curls.

“Wait, hear me out first.”

“Sure, be my fucking guest.”

“As I started saying. His dad, Daniel, offered me a job. It’s due to start as soon as school ends.”

“And?”

“I took it.”

I thought he had a stroke or something from how still he went, but then he turned around and kicked one of the bins to the ground. I cringed at the sound of the metal hitting the gravel and watched as trash spread all over.

“Diesel.”

“No,” he rasped, shaking his head. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Come on, man, it’s just a trip. We’ll go another time.” Darkness fell on him, and his disappointment turned to anger.

“Another time? Don’t you get that I’m not like you? I don’t have another time.”