Luc should have gone to pick up more work, but her mind was so jumbled all she could do was drive straight to the cafe. The parking lot, for once, was full. At this time of day, it was a toss up on whether the diner side of the business was more active, or the cafe.

  Judging by the pair of young girls who walked out of the front door, each carrying to-go cups in their hands, it had to be the cafe.

  Rather than waiting for an open parking spot, Luc pulled into the gas station across the road, parking out front. She went ahead and transformed back to base neutral, a pair of jeans she needed to wash and her mom would probably give her shit for, and the loose top she’d slept in. She’d change into her uniform shirt for work anyway, so it was fine.

  She stepped out of the car, slamming the door closed and wrestling with it to get it to lock. Rather than head across the road for Lucky Penny’s cafe and diner, she walked around the side of the gas station for the front door.

  “Miss Luc!” The owner of the gas station who everyone only knew as Bobby exclaimed as she stepped through the front door. He was an older man, who had a whole bunch of grown kids he loved to praise to anyone with hearing ears. “How are you?”

  She shrugged, too sharp, the agitation going straight to her elbows.

  “Oh, not so good then,” Bobby said, concern knitting his grey-specked eyebrows together. “Lucky for you, your favorite treats are on sale!”

  Luc stopped in her tracks, raising her eyebrows. Her favorite snacks, sour gummies and salty pretzels, were on sale a suspicious amount, along with her favorite energy drinks. “Again?”

  “What can I say?” Bobby said with a casual shrug. “I ordered too much! Have to get rid of it somehow.”

  “Right.” She rolled her eyes but chose to ignore it. It was suspicious, the way he tended to have her favorites on sale or conveniently came up with some discount to give her at the register, but she couldn’t say anything without being rude. Plus, it meant she was able to afford buying snacks more often.

  She took her time wandering through the store, despite only picking up the same things she always did. A pack of sour gummy worms, and an energy drink that was supposed to taste like coconut and only kinda did.

  “You sure you don’t want anything else?” Bobby asked, motioning at her drink and gummy worms as she set them on the counter.

  “No, I’m fine,” Luc said with a simple shake of her head. It wasn’t like she could afford anything else anyway. She’d get paid by the commission tomorrow, but most of that would have to go to the electric bill, probably. Unless her bonus from being Marie’s rival was good, but she hadn’t really done much to earn that yet.

  She needed to put in more effort and not just run from her. It didn’t matter how hard it was, she would just have to put up with her.

  Maybe she would have been able to, if Mama Barnes hadn’t said anything about them dating.

  That was a stupid idea.

  Even if Luc had time to date, she wouldn’t date someone like Marie. What would someone as perfect as Marie see in a mess like her? She’d take one look at Luc’s life and run screaming the other direction.

  Or maybe not screaming. She was probably too perfect for that. But either way.

  “Thank you,” Luc said after paying, grabbing her drink and her candy.

  Bobby stopped her before she could slip away.

  “How’s this whole—” He waved his hand vaguely in the air. “—Magical girl thing going?”

  “It’s-it’s going well,” Luc answered, not sure what else to say. Being a magical girl was an odd job. Taking gigs in her spare time, what little she had, wasn’t enough to set her up for a career, which is what she needed to do. If she was ever going to get away from this place and do more with her life, she needed to make this job work, because it was the only thing she was good at. Problem was, she wasn’t good enough for it to be a career. Not yet.

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  “That’s good,” Bobby said, nodding. “You were always a resourceful girl.”

  “Yeah, well…” She shrugged, fighting back a bitter bite of laughter. “Not like it’s gotten me anywhere.”

  She waved the man goodbye and stepped outside, the door swinging shut behind her.

  Standing out on the concrete, she sucked in a deep breath, trying to force herself to calm down.

  This path wasn’t a dead end street. She’d agreed to be Marie’s rival to help herself grow, and so long as she got over herself, that could still be true. She just had to get out of her head about it, shake off the confusion and the hostility and treat it like it was: a job.

  Luc barely looked both ways before sprinting across the street, ducking inside the restaurant and ignoring Amy over behind the counter, making drinks for a cluster of pre-teen girls and their mom. If she didn’t make eye contact, Amy couldn’t try and slip away before Luc was ready to clock in.

  Rather than head to the back to grab her uniform from the office and figure out where her mom was, Luc stopped at the expo window and peered through.

  Malachi was hard at work, making himself a sandwich. If Penny caught him, he’d probably get a scolding, though she couldn’t afford to fire him. Luc really didn’t care enough to say anything.

  He wasn’t the most appealing person. Sure, he had great skin, though not as great as Marie’s. His hair was greasy, and his clothes were probably the same, though everything in the kitchen smelled like the same combination of seasonings and grease, so Luc couldn’t tell. He wore that stupid black beanie despite the fact that it was practically an oven back here, the one he always wore no matter the season.

  Malachi wasn’t great, but he also wasn’t bad.

  He glanced up, as though sensing her gaze, and flashed her a smile. His teeth were kind of crooked.

  “‘Sup, Luc.”

  She stared at him for another moment before making a decision.

  “Wanna make out?”

  He stared at her, baffled. “No.”

  “Damn.” She wasn’t actually upset, as nice as it would have been to have a distraction, especially one that would shake Mama Barnes’s suggestion from her head. “Want a gummy worm?”

  He nodded slowly and stepped toward the window. “Sure. What was with that question?”

  “Need a distraction,” Luc answered. “I’ve had a day.”

  “Yeah, that’s why I smoke,” Malachi said. “Wanna join me? I’m going on break.”

  “Does Penny know?”

  “Do you care?”

  “Fair point, let’s go.”

  She slipped into the kitchen, moving ahead of him and opening the back door. He followed her out, handing her the sandwich he’d made as he unlocked the car.

  She slipped into the passenger seat, then slid the chair back and kicked her feet up onto the dash.

  “Hey,” he said, glaring at her. “How would you feel if I did that to your car?”

  “You’d never do that to my car because you’d never sit in my car,” Luc said, but dropped her feet off the dash. “Here’s your sandwich.”

  “You can have some,” he said dismissively as he dug a lighter out of a cupholder. “You probably haven’t eaten today.”

  “Actually, I have,” Luc said, picking lightly at the sandwich. He’d stacked it high with just about every ingredient in the kitchen short of pasta, though she really wouldn’t put it past him to add it to the sandwich.

  “A first,” Malachi said with a snort. An acrid smell filled the car as he lit up. He smoked in silence for a moment before letting out a cloud that filled the car, then offered it to her.

  “No, thanks.”

  “All right. Eat some of that before I do.”

  “Fine,” she said with a roll of her eyes. She took a bite of the sandwich, eating in silence as Malachi smoked beside her. With a little more than half the sandwich left, she handed it over and returned to her gummy worms.

  The back door popped open, and Penny’s face appeared. Fury flashed across her face for a moment before she controlled it, but Luc could still see it. It hid behind her eyes, stored away for later.

  “There are orders,” she snapped. “And how many times have I told you not to smoke on premises?”

  “I’ll be right in,” Malachi said, ignoring her question.

  Penny didn’t go back inside. “Lucky, get inside. Now.”

  She rolled her eyes and slipped out of the car. “I’m not on the clock yet,” she said, meeting her mother at the back door.

  “I need you on the floor. Now. Amy needs help.”

  “I guess you’ll have to go and help her while I get into uniform,” Luc muttered, walking past. Penny let her go, allowing her to slip into the back and grab her uniform.

  Out of spite, Luc took her time changing, and met her mother’s furious gaze when she emerged from the bathroom. Penny didn’t say anything as she clocked in and began to help making drinks before heading back to help Malachi in the kitchen.

  Penny didn’t say anything for the rest of the night, not to Luc.

  It should have been peaceful, but it wasn’t, the tension only growing the longer the night went on.

  Luc escaped the moment she could, not even bothering to convince her mom to come home. It wasn’t like she wanted to be there anyway.