Riley's Secret

entered the building into chaos. There were children reading books and playing board games in a game room set up to the right. One boy was screaming as he chased a little girl around with a rubber snake. To the left was a bunch of adults watching TV and reading magazines. In front of me, a woman in her forties was sitting at a desk, talking on the phone. She was pretty, with long honey-colored curly hair and blue eyes. A pencil that was stuck behind her ear peeked out of the curls. “Yes, please, and we’ll need them this afternoon. We want to treat everybody. Today is Frank’s fiftieth birthday. We need a cake.” She paused, listening to the person on the other end. “Thank you,” she said before hanging up the phone. Then she noticed me. “Can I help you?” “Yes, I’m looking for Julia Benton?” I glanced at the form the man at the police station had given me to make sure I had the right name. “That’s me. Are you Megan Banks?” she asked with a frown. Great, more people looking at me with disapproval. When I nodded, she handed me another form. “Take this to the kitchen and report to your supervisor. You’ll be working with him. Just do what he tells you.” I thanked her and headed in the direction she had pointed to. I heard a mixture of sounds, pots banging, voices, laughter, and loud, out-of-tune singing. I stood at the entrance of the bright, spacious kitchen, watching the activity for a few seconds. Giving myself a silent pep talk, I took a deep breath before stepping forward towards the person closest to me. He was wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with a white apron. His black hair was messy and a little damp; it fell into his dark brown eyes. He looked about twenty and he stood in front of a large counter making sandwiches. “Hi. Could you tell me where I could find, ah…?” I glanced down at the form. “Nathan.” A grin spread slowly across his face before he looked me up and down. “Are you sure you’re not looking for Eddie?” He leaned against the counter, giving me a flirtatious grin. “’Cause that would be me.” I smiled. “I’m sure.” “Fine then, you want the boss man. He’s the one elbow deep in pots and pans.” He pointed to a guy washing dishes at the back. Nathan had been the one singing loudly. Everyone close to him was singing along and laughing. After I thanked Eddie, I made my way slowly over to my supervisor, weaving around a girl that was about sixteen. Her hair was black with a pink streak down the center of her head. She glared at me as I stepped past her. She was standing beside Eddie, helping with the sandwiches. I ignored her, but dodged a large bowl that was almost jammed into my stomach. “Sorry,” a man in his thirties said, smiling as he rushed past me. I finally managed to get to the sink, where three people were doing the dishes. A teenage girl with blond hair in braids was drying, and a woman in her mid-twenties was putting them away. I approached the guy that was to be my supervisor, wondering if any of these people had heard of dishwashers. He was tall, maybe six feet, and his wavy blond hair almost reached his shoulders. “Excuse me, are you Nathan?” I asked quietly. He turned around, smiling. “That’s me, but you can—” He stopped speaking when he saw who I was. But I knew what he was about to say: “You can call me Nate.” The person that was in charge of my community service was none other than Nate Green. His smile disappeared, replaced by a scowl. “What are you doing here? I thought you were in jail.” He tossed a plastic dish he had just washed into the empty sink, where it clanged against the stainless steel. “I was, thanks to you. Now I have two hundred hours of community service to do, so if you don’t mind, I guess I have to report to you, as much as I hate to say it.” He grabbed my arm roughly, but when his hand touched my skin, it was surprisingly soft. He dragged me through the busy kitchen to the front desk, with curious faces staring as we passed. Once we were standing in the front hallway, he let go of me. “You can’t be serious, Julia. I am not working with her.” Disgust dripped from his words. Julia dropped the pen she had been holding and leaned back in her office chair. “Nate, she’s a volunteer. You are in charge of the volunteers, remember?” “No, she’s not. She’s forced to be here. It’s not the same thing.” “Doesn’t matter the reason, she’s here to help. Now put her to work.” He scowled at me again, and then a slow grin appeared on his face. That grin suddenly made me nervous. “Fine, after you help serve lunch, you’ll be in charge of cleaning the washrooms.” He leaned against the desk, crossing his arms in front of him. I gulped, but made sure he didn’t notice. “What do you mean?” “You know, cleaning the toilets. I’m sure you’re great at that, Princess.” I cringed inside. He was right. I had never cleaned a toilet before. Actually, I had never cleaned anything before, but I certainly wouldn’t be telling him that. All I wanted to do was wipe that smug look off his face. “Anything I can do to help, is fine with me.” My voice was all sweetness. He scowled again, obviously expecting a different reaction from me, like maybe running out the door screaming. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “Fine, follow me.” As I walked away, I thought I saw Julia smile.