KIM'S STORY
By Laura-Ines Piantini.

Kim knew her day was over as soon as a small group of preppy girls in yellow and navy colored Uniforms, pleated skirts and polo sweaters came bursting through the Plexiglas doors of the Milk Drop Coffee House. They were laughing hysterically until their faces turned pink. "Yeah, I know, she was like so fucking him. I heard it is like a pencil, gross right?" The tall gangly blonde mocked while flinging her golden locks of hair out of her face with the back of her hand. She was dangling her silver charm bracelet on her wrist and looking around sheepishly for a place to sit. She was the leader of the pact, the gossip girl. She was the type of person who made it her priority to know everything about everyone in her entire school. Vanessa it read, engraved in gold cursive letters on the right breast pocket of her blue v-neck pull over sweater. Kim just watched from behind the counter as she was serving a sixty- year old man a cup of his usual Joe. Her thick auburn short layered hair matching her maroon-colored apron. She watched as the girl on the right of Vanessa pulled out her pink laced Coach handbag, something Kim always stopped and stared at in the store window but could never afford. The closest she came to getting a Coach bag was a ten- dollar pea green- studded purse she purchased at Wal-Mart two months ago and the thread was already unraveling from the seam. The girl who owned this expensive obnoxious bag had permed curly red hair, plucked done over eyebrows and two emerald colored eyes lodged in a butter cream face. Her body was like a layer of skin just hung on a stack of bones. Kim had finally recognized the small insignia on their shirts. The Chatham School for Girls she made out in tiny letters, a rich and prestigious private school about a half of a mile up town, the upper main class of Philadelphia where they practically bread perfection. Kim stared down at her fingernails all chipped with cheap magenta drug store nail polish. She leaned her rough elbows against the smooth counter top with her hazel eyes fixated on the three glamorous girls. She stared from a distance, hidden behind layers of black mocha, white chocolate, hazelnut and French vanilla coffee beans and the girls still oblivious to her every existence. Greg, a tall forty year old black- haired man and the manager of the coffee house, made his way through the swinging doors of the back entrance, carrying a heavy load of freshly polished coffee mugs and plates. "Kim!" Greg yelled, no answer "Kim!" he screamed again nudging her on the back with the corner of a box he was carrying. Kim jolted forward turning around and still not aware of the situation. "Jesus Christ Kim, what are you doing?" Greg pleaded, his face flushed and his fingers still holding the weight of the heavy box. Kim said nothing, letting her body escape her trance. "Well, are you going to fucking help me with this shit or not!" Greg demanded. Kim nodded and started to unload part of the box as Greg sat it down on the counter. "What were you doing anyway? I mean what if there is a customer or a fucking fire for god damn sake!" Greg asked in a concerned manner. "I know, I'm sorry Greg, I just felt dizzy that's all." Kim responded rubbing her eyes. "Dizzy? Gees, what the fuck are you on? That is something that should be happening to me, not a young nineteen-year old girl like you. You got your whole fucking life ahead of you." Greg lectured. He looked down at the table, reexamining the china sets and making sure they were completely spotless before he put them out for serving. "I like you Kim; you're a real good kid, you just gotta watch out you know? I am glad none of our customers saw what you did, I mean, do you have any idea how bad that would be for business?" he said shining a cup with his dish cloth. "Yeah, I know" she sighed. Looking at the motto Greg had put up on the wall three months ago when she was first hired. "Always keep the customer satisfied." Those same cheesy grueling words burning a hole in her eyes every time she looked at it. Kim glanced back at the girls talking and giggling about who had STD to who had the largest tits. Kim fucking hated them, absorbed in their fancy le rouge and trapped in the fake pathetic egocentric lives, picking on plain innocent people's lives just so they can feel better about themselves. Kim just could not help it; she was entranced and addicted to their nastiness, like a bad pill, wanting to hear more with every breath. "Kim!" Greg bellowed "See, there you go again" Kim put her head down" sorry" she whispered. I'm going to unload another god damn box; there is a new table of customers that walked in not so long ago. Table 19 and nobody's waited on them yet. When I come back, you better have their orders already put in; can I trust you with that?" Greg asked. Kim nodded, as Greg disappeared behind the sliding doors. Kim started to prepare herself mentally notebook-check, hair-check, earrings-check, smile and she looked in the reflection of the nearest coffee machine, double check. She started to walk down the side aisle, her long tight black pants bunched up against her skin. Her long thin legs supported by her large pair shaped hips and thin rounded torso. Kim finally got a good look at the three girls, up close and personal. She laid her eyes on the last girl who stuck out like a sore thumb-her short plum burgundy artificial died hair hung right below the three piercings on her ear lobe, one cartilage in her right ear and two regular piercings on her left ear lobe. She was wearing a short sleeve white polo shirt that exposed a tattoo of a moon and star on her bicep, her wrist covered two inches full of rainbow gummy bracelets and spiky collars. Still standing in front of them for five minutes she wondered how a girl like that was hanging out with the two drama queens like them. Finally the punk girl lifts her head after laughing about something that the brunette girl with the coach bag said. Staring up at Kim with her ocean blue eyes. "Oh, hi....Kim? Is it" she asked, as she tried to read the little red pinned name tag on Kim's shirt. Kim smiled "yeah, uh, so can I get you anything to start with? Coffee, tea, Italian soda? Vanessa opened her big mouth first "yeah, so like, do you have the creamy coconut frappaccino in nonfat?" she asked looking down at a small menu laid out on the table. "No, actually we only have one percent." Kim said as her hands were shaking waiting Vanessa's response. "Ok, I'll just have a bottle of Evian then." Kim relaxed, thinking damn, that was a close one. The brunette was next "Yeah, can I have a grande Iced nonfat caramel macchiato? She asked picking the two thin split ends of her hair and twirling it around her fingers "Ok," Kim replied writing the order and forgetting what the fuck it was, some nonfat shit? Then it was finally her turn, the cute brunette, her light a sandy skin and gleaming reddish purple highlights in her hair. "Um, I'll have a chai latte." she said biting her bottom lip and staring straight back into Kim's eyes, giving Kim her full attention. "Would you like cream or sugar?" Kim hated asking that but the cringing thought of her parents finding out she quit her job and was hanging out on the street because a customer was not happy with her service, even though this particular girl looked as though she would not hurt a fly. "Ok, well, I'll put those orders in for you and it should not take longer than fifteen minutes tops." The girls did not seem to care less; they'd just start up their conversations about hickeys, blow jobs and any other obscene stories. Kim scurried back to make the coffees, she started exactly in the same order as stated, first with Vanessa's bottle of Evian water, then the brunettes, grandee ices nonfat caramel....she froze with a sudden rise of amnesia. "Macchiato" she said out load, scooping ice into the clear plastic cup, pouring the cool coffee, topping it with skim milk and squeezing the gooey silky caramel on top. She put it aside while she worked on the chai latte. She carefully poured and mixed the flavors while soothing the smell of cake onto her clothing. Finally, as she finished, she placed them all on a tray and headed toward the girls table. "Kim!" Greg yelled, taken by surprise and shifting her head backward to look at him, she tripped on a crack in the wooden floor of the cafe, her body lunging forward unable to balance herself, she flung the tray forward and less than two feet away nailing Vanessa with the Chai latte, all over her navy blue sweater. Kim skinning her knee caps and trying to pick up what was left of the chai and nonfat caramel macchiato Vanessa squirmed and wined, the other two girls just watched with terror as the hot tan milky substance soaked Vanessa's clothes. "Clumsy fucking bitch!" she yelled as she stood from her seat to leave. "I'll never get this out!" as she grabbed her bags, stuck her nose in the air and held drenched napkins to her chest. Kim did not even get to mutter the words sorry. The coach bag brunette followed Vanessa right behind. "Helena! Aren't you coming?" the two prissy girls asked simultaneously. Kim waited for her reply. "Huh, I'll catch you later, I have some writing I need to get done" she responded nonchalantly, still sitting at the coffee soaked table. "Fine, whatever, we'll see you later." Vanessa wined violently not hesitating to bash through the doors, not even caring to look back. Kim cleans up the dripping coffee with a wash cloth from her apron. "Helena had already moved and found a cozy spot on a nearby couch in the corner of the cafe. As Kim relentlessly walked back to the counter to redeem her place, Greg stood waiting for her, one hand on his hip and the other hand lightly stroking the salt and pepper shakers. Kim stared at her feet trying not to look at his frowning face and rows of skin pinched closely to his beady eyes. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you Kim but you leave me no choice, because of what you did today, you have to cover the next shift. Brandon Is still on leave in France and I need someone to do clean up and closing." She lifted her head and simply replied "OK," knowing not to push his buttons and just accept the fact that she screwed up. It was around nine o'clock in the coffee shop and still Kim said nothing to Helena who was crouched up on the sofa, her shoes off and her legs places under her body like a pretzel. Kim still kept watch, infatuated by Helena's every move. Kim prepared for closing the cafe; she lowered the lights and took out a dingy gray colored mop and began to clean the floors. Not realizing that Helena and she were the only two left in the coffee house. Kim gradually shifted her way to the other side of the room mopping as much as she could trying not to pick up every detail about Helena. "Shit, fuck...I can't seem to get this right; Helena cried out. Kim looked up at the girl struggling with herself, her palms holding up her head as she became more and more frustrated with her writing. . I am sorry Helena said turning to Kim "I just can't get this line right" Kim just stared in disbelief, like a squirrel caught in headlights. Come here Helena said "I need your opinion on this, Kim right? "Yeah, Kim looked surprised; she remembered most people did not ask for favors because of how antisocial Kim could be sometimes. "Listen to this" Helena whispered. "You carry me like a bird to the highest heaven, you look like gold, I feel like shit, you warm me, my body in yours, come sit here and stay till...." Kim's face leaned close to Helena's, the smell of her coconut scented hair, Jell-O like lips and warm skin. Kim backed away from Helena's face with a million thoughts rushing through her head. "I don't know" she stuttered walking away as the high tension trickled down to no emotion at all. Warm tears streamed down Kim's soft brown eyes as she tried to cover her face among the shadows of the building while she mopped up the last spaces. Helena stood up from the couch un-bending her body and slowly gliding across the wood floor as she approached Kim from behind. "Why are you crying?" she hummed softly into Kim's ear. "I don't know, you're so fucking beautiful and you ask me what I think. How can I think when you are so fucking beautiful?" Kim said boastfully. A flood of tears saddened Kim's face, her eyes tried to hold back tears while her fists wiped the gushing drops. "Show Me?" Helena replied standing stern as her teal iced eyes stared back. "Make me feel beautiful." Helena demanded relying a little stronger. Kim stopped, her whole world melted into one picture; Helena. Kim stroked the bangs of her hair and embraced Helena in a kiss, letting her tongue slip between the crevices of Helena's mouth until finally meeting hers. Gently and passionately they were joined together. It was over as soon as it started. Helena licked her lips. "You fucking dike!" she angrily responded. Helena grabbed her bags, her poem and everything else she had with her, leaving Kim standing still in her world, where every dream was made to be real.