Bittersweet (7 page)

Grant didn’t say anything as we drove home. But I could feel his disapproval. I stared out the window and tried to think of something to say to break the tension.

“So, uh, what time are we leaving tomorrow?”

Grant scoffed.

“Tomorrow? Savannah, I didn’t think I had to spell this out for you.”

“Spell what out?”

“You’re fired.”

June 3

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Kiddo,

I had trouble keeping a job. Surprised? I was good at hiding it. Because I also had a very easy time finding new ones. I always made it seem like I was simply looking for a pay raise. Didn’t you ever wonder why I’d moved six times in three years? Trust me, those jobs weren’t for pay raises, sometimes I even took jobs that paid less than the ones before. That was a low point for me. Every time I thought I’d kicked the curse to the curb, it came back. I think that’s when I really started looking at the end, realizing that it was probably coming.

Do me a favor. Talk to Grant. He may be more understanding than you think.

Love,

Dad

T
HAT AFTERNOON
I watched TV in the empty apartment and tried to think about how I was going to get unfired. I ate an apple and whole box of chocolate. I’d need to visit the mall to replenish my stock. Godiva wasn’t on my list of top ten chocolates, but it’d do in a pinch.

I could try to talk him into just demoting me. Maybe Park Services? Or Foods. I shivered. That might be worse than getting fired. Or I could just listen to my dad. How did he always know what was going on?

My phone buzzed and I jumped. No one had texted me in quite a while. It was Candie.

Candie: Miss u.

Me: u 2.

It was true, I did miss her, but I didn’t miss the betrayer. I wasn’t sure I was ready to forgive her yet. I wondered what brought this about.

Candie: Come home.

Me: Can’t. Stuck in hell.

Candie: :(

Me: Haven’t heard from you.

Candie: I no ive been a bad friend. But I was afraid that u were mad at me.

Me: Yeah. I am.

Candie: :(. Come home. I miss u.

Me: Did u and Zane break up?

Candie: no. But he’s not the same as u. I want my best friend back.

Me: u can’t have both.

Candie: :(

I rolled my eyes. This would’ve been the summer of hell no matter where I’d been. It was loads better here than having to stomach Candie and Zane. She wouldn’t have stayed away from my house. And Zane was an asshole.

If I stayed here, then at the end of the summer I’d have enough money to do my Europe tour. I really, really hoped that Grant had reconsidered firing me.

My phone buzzed again. I thought about ignoring it, assuming it was just Candie still trying to get on my good side, but it could have been someone I actually wanted to talk to. Like Dallas.

It was my stepmom.

Gina: I really hope you’ll reconsider Christmas. I’d love to have you there. I miss you.

I sighed. At one point we were super close, I liked her better than I did my own mother most of the time. But now, whenever we spoke my dad hung in the air between us until there was nothing left to say. Plus, she was moving on, getting married and forgetting that we’d ever been a family. Why’d she want me there anyway? I stared at the text for a minute longer, then deleted it.

The door handle jiggled and Grant walked in carrying a pizza. He set it down and I grabbed the plates. He didn’t say anything, so I decided to wait before bringing up work.

The pizza was my favorite. Plain cheese and gobs of it. Maybe he was feeling guilty for firing me. Perhaps the situation wasn’t nearly as dire as I thought.

“Did you get garlic sauces?” I asked.

He pulled two cups out his pocket. I smiled. Minneapolis wasn’t that bad. Grant was better than my mom. Dallas and Julia were better than Candie and Zane.

I was halfway through my third piece when Grant broke the horrible, no good news.

“I called your mom. I can’t get off work, so she’s going to have to come up here. She said she’ll come get you this weekend. Try to be nice to her.”

I spit out the bite I had in my mouth.

“No, call her back. I don’t want to go home.”

He creased his eyebrows.

“I thought you hated it here.”

“I do. But it’s better than home.”

“Well, your obvious hatred of everything is wearing on everyone. You can hate home all you want, but I won’t let you continue to abuse myself or my employees. I thought you just needed time to adjust, but what you pulled today was unacceptable.”

After the conversation with Candie I couldn’t bear to go home and face them. My emotions were finally starting to come back and if I left I’d have to go home, back to the sheer nothingness.

“Look, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a bitch, but I’ll change. I swear. If I can’t work at the park then I’ll get a job at Ikea or the mall. Please don’t make me go home.”

He shook his head.

“People don’t change overnight. You can’t just magically be someone new and I don’t want to be your guinea pig.”

I clenched my fists. I thought about the letter from my dad. Time to bear a little.

“Can I explain about today? It’s not what you think.”

He nodded but looked wary. I twisted my hands together.

“You know about my hearing aids, right?”

“I don’t know much about them except that they help you hear.” He took another bite of his pizza. If he was concerned about the conversation he didn’t give any indication.

“So they can’t get wet. At all. One drop and poof, the electricity is fried. One time, when Teddy was two and still drooling he kissed me on my ear and we had to send it off to be fixed. Most of the time I just deal with it. I put a hood on and hope for the best. But today it was pouring and I was scared that water was going to get under my hood. I couldn’t just stand around and wait for someone to come relieve me. I panicked and ran.”

“Why didn’t you tell Becca? It was raining since the park opened this morning. She could’ve put you somewhere else.”

I sighed. How to explain about mean girls and pride?

“I did tell her. She wouldn’t listen. In the past week it’s rained several times and every time I tell her she rolls her eyes and drags her feet. HOLE doesn’t have too many dry spots and I didn’t want to be a whiner.”

He folded his hands in front of his face and thought for a minute. I continued with my pizza. Maybe I’d convinced him to rethink sending me home.

“What about the spitting incident?

I pouted. “He spit first.”

He smiled. “How old are you?”

“Only a few years younger than you. How’d you get to be so old at twenty seven?”

He narrowed his eyes. Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say. I backtracked.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t nice.”

He sighed. “It’s true. But that’s beside the point. What about your hateful attitude at work?”

“Done. I promise.” I smiled to show I was sincere. Smiling wasn’t something I’d done much of recently.

He got up and put the pizza box in the trash.

“It’s been a long day. Tomorrow, put in a few applications at the mall and I’ll see what I can do at the park.”

I squealed and gave him a hug.

No reason not to lay it on thick.

I did not want to go home.

I
PUT IN SIX APPLICATIONS
that day at various boring clothes stores and Godiva. If Haunted Valley wouldn’t work then surely I could spend the summer in a chocolate shop. At least I’d still be able to save enough to go to Europe.

I was nervous when Grant came home that night. My stomach was knotted and I was jittery. I brought home Chinese takeout from a restaurant at the mall. It was weird, but now that I’d made my decision to stay, I wanted to continue working at Haunted Valley. It had nothing to do with a certain hottie named Dallas. Nothing at all.

Grant set down a series of ride safety manuals in front me as I was opening the box of cashew chicken.

“You’ll start training on the Demon Drop tomorrow.”

I looked at him warily as I dished out our food.

“What about rain?”

“Only one position is out in the open for The Demon Drop crew and they’ve received instruction that you are not to be placed there if it is likely to rain. Both team leads and area managers have been informed. Do your best to memorize these books and you’ll report to work first thing in the morning.”

I closed my eyes and tried not to smile.

“Thanks,” I muttered and clutched the books to my chest. Once in my room, I dropped the books on my bed and did a little happy dance. No going home for me. I would not screw up this time. I finished dinner with Grant and was unsuccessful at keeping the smile off my face. Grant offered to clean up so I escaped back into my room to read the manuals.

It turned out the Demon Drop crew operated two rides, the Demon Drop and Cyclops Revenge. The Demon Drop was a fast giant wooden coaster. I grimaced. Not getting on that one. Ever. I almost took the books back to Grant and said “no thanks.” But I figured after everything else that I’d done, he’d just send me packing. Between the choice of facing my own demons or facing Candie and Zane I’d choose my demons. At least they were predictable.

Cyclops was like those pirate ships you ride at the carnival, except this one went upside down. No memories there. Dad didn’t like the small rides so we never rode them. I hoped that I could just pass off test rides to someone else for the Demon Drop.

Seemed like a pretty easy gig. Plus less puke potential than The Lurking Dead.

The next morning I dressed quickly and made sure my watch completely covered my tattoo. I wasn’t always careful but I didn’t want to screw this up. The locker room was still empty when I reported to the Park Ops office. The manager on duty looked up and I could tell it took a great deal of effort for him not to roll his eyes at my arrival. Apparently stories of my antics had spread to the office. I hoped the Demon Drop crew had not heard of my desertion. I wanted a fresh start. I paced in front of the office and waited for my trainer to arrive.