Keanu Wren
“You got in!” Wren practically shrieks in my ear the next day. I wince, and push her away, rubbing at my ear as I hear ringing. The roster of the players who made it after tryouts yesterday for their respective sport are hanging on the main bulletin in the foyer. “I knew it!” My eyes scan the list for the girl’s football team, and nudge Wren.
“You made it too.” I grin, before bumping her shoulder playfully. “Do you think you can keep up?” Wren shoots me a scowl. I had to practically drag her from her house this morning and into her car to drive us to school. Even now, she’s still using me as a human crutch, claiming she’s still sore from the day before.
“Congrats on making the team!” I blink, and look up to see Andrew beaming.
“Thanks. You made it too?” I take a quick scan of the list, finding his name. Andrew Adams. “Oh, shoot. I realized that sounded rude. Sorry. Congrats to you as well.” My congratulations sounds more like an awkwardly worded question, but Andrew doesn’t seem to mind.
“Thanks! It’s gonna be a great season, I promise!” Andrew reminds me a little bit of when Sakura was still a puppy. He flashes both Wren and I a blindingly bright grin before literally bounding off to his group of friends.
“He’s so… bright.” Wren whisper-hisses to me. “I thought it was only an anime thing.” I nod, unable to formulate words, before I half drag and half carry Wren to our first class. However, as we reach the hallway of our classroom, I slow down as I notice two tall figures standing outside of the classroom. I halt, awkwardly, unsure if I should say something.
I don’t have to, though. The taller of the two notices us standing there awkwardly and stops talking, shoving his hands in the pockets of his slacks. He says something to the shorter one, whom I recognize now as Flynn, and strides down the hall towards us. Wren lets out a soft squeak, and presses herself close to me, her eyes wide as the other man passes us. He towers over the both of us, and he casts us a rather careless look, but his blue eyes are hard, almost dangerous.
Wren doesn’t seem to be breathing until he disappears from sight, and Wren lets out a flurry of German swear words. I can’t even bring myself to think of anything to say, in any of the three languages that I know. We’re both brought out of our stupor when someone speaks.
“Sorry about that.” I blink, and look up, meeting Flynn’s curious blue gaze. “That was my brother. He has a… habit of intimidating anyone he meets.”
“Hence the mafia rumor.” Wren grumbles. Flynn tilts his head at that, and I elbow her not too gently in the ribs. “Ow! Der Fick war das für dich, Misstück?” Flynn arches an eyebrow, and I simply shake my head, and drag Wren into our classroom before she can say anything stupid.
“Bitte ruhig sein.” I hiss at her, and Wren rolls her eyes.
“That’s what I do best. There’s a reason why I’m pegged as an outcast loner hybrid, or whatever the fuck you want to call it.”
“Did you get hit in the head during tryouts?” I ask, eyeing her warily. “I haven’t seen you… act like this before.”
“I think I may have run into the goalpost once by accident.” Wren admits, shrugging. “But… I don’t know. Flynn’s… brother just gave me unsettling chills and I guess that was just my defensive mechanism.” She frowns, and I shrug, bumping our shoulders together.
“Don’t worry about it.” I assure her. “We just keep doing what we do, and keep to ourselves.”
“Damn straight.”
“The ironic thing is, neither of us actually.”
“Oh, shut up.”
After school, Wren drives us to the little diner in the nearby area. I’d applied to work here part-time, since Dad and I needed as much financial stability as we could get. Wren’s family was incredibly sweet and supportive, helping us find the best deals for any shopping, sometimes even offering to lend us some money for more luxurious expenses. Dad and I had thanked them, but we couldn’t just… become charity cases. I wince at how harsh it sounded and worry my lower lip.
“You alright?” My gaze snaps up to see Wren glancing at me, concerned. I give her a weak smile.
“Yeah, just… thinking.” Her expression softens, and she nods.
“Well, should we go see what your work place looks like?”
“Sure.” We unbuckle our seatbelts, and I follow her inside. The manager meets us enthusiastically, her name tag reading “Melonie”.
“You’re the newbie?” She asks, and I nod.
“I’m Keanu.” I say, offering her a hand to shake. She grabs my hand in a firm grip smiling brightly.
“Welcome to the Bear’s Den! The name sounds intimidating, but I assure you it’s not.” Melonie says.
“Where does the name come from?” Wren asks. “I’ve been living in this area for about five years, but I still don’t know the origin of this diner’s name.”
“Well, it’s nothing… deep.” Melonie looks sheepish. “But it comes from the idea of bears hibernating for winter. We always try to make sure it feels warm and homey in here, and everyone leaves with a full stomach.”
“That’s sweet.” I comment, and Melonie looks happy. “So… what should I do?”
“Would your friend like to stay for a bit?” Melonie asks. I glance over at Wren, and she catches my pleading stare.
“Hell yeah. But I want Keanu to be waiting my table.” My cheeks flush, and Melonie laughs. Wren squeezes my wrist gently, in a comforting gesture. The diner is busy: busy enough to have my nerves standing on edge. Wren sits down at a small table, and Meonie ushers me to the back where she hands me a uniform with my name stitched onto the breast pocket.
It seems pretty simple. I change, clock in, and see what tables need to be waited. There are times where I might be placed somewhere else depending on the flow of customers, but otherwise it’s mainly waiting tables. I’m hoping that my social anxiety and general social inept tendencies won’t be too obvious.
But customers probably won’t be striking up conversations, right?
“If any customer gives you a hard time, press this.” Melonie presses a small buzzer the size of an eraser into my palm. “Keep it in your pocket, or somewhere that’s subtle. The buzzer connects wirelessly to little chips beneath whichever table you’re closest to. A higher up will come by to help if you’re in trouble.”
“That’s a really neat concept.” I blink, before I clutch the buzzer close to my chest. Melonie beams.
“I thought so too! It’s a good way to keep our staff safe.” Melonie smiles. “Well, I think that’s all there is for you to know. The other waiters and waitresses know about you joining the crew, and will keep an eye out for you if you need help. Flag one of them down if you need to.”
“Alright, thanks.” Melonie pats my shoulder, before ducking into the kitchen. I tug at the apron, feeling a little stupid. I clock in like Melonie showed me, and grab a pad of paper and pen before I shuffle back out into the diner. I spot Wren, and head over.
“Oh my God, you look so adorable, what the actual hell.” Wren’s eyes light up when she sees me and I instinctively flush, shifting uncomfortably. I tug the collar of my shirt over the lower half of my face, and show her the pad of paper. Wren rolls her eyes, and lists her order.
I’m surprised that Wren stays for my entire shift. It’s nearly six hours long, but she seems fine.
From her varying expressions throughout the time, she’s playing some sort of Pokemon or Animal Crossing emulator on her laptop. Every now and then, Melonie slips a free drink onto Wren’s table, and I can tell that Wren’s going to have a caffeine crash pretty soon.
My first shift was tiring, but the pay is decent at $14 an hour, which is above the minimum wage. I also get to keep any of the tips that I make, and I’m surprised at the amount that I made. On my break, I sit down with Wren, and she declares that I’ll probably get a little extra with tips, given that most of the customers who come in are college-aged, or high-school students.
“The cute ones make the most money.” Wren crows, giving me a knowing look, and I had nearly spit out my Sprite.
Melonie says that the paychecks come in at the end of each week, and I finally manage to clock out after helping with clearing the tables. Wren’s waiting for me in the car, and I pretty much collapse in the seat. I nearly fall asleep on the drive back, and I only wake up when Wren nudges me awake.
I sluggishly drag myself out of the car, snagging my backpack from the backseat. Wren follows after me. She’s staying at my house, since her parents went on a work-related business trip.
“Tadaima.” I say, before promptly tripping over my own shoes as I kick them off and fall face first into the ground. Ow.
“Okaeri. Tired?”
“A little.” I respond, my voice muffled by the wood floor. “I think I bruised my face.” I feel arms wrap beneath my arms, and haul me up off the floor. I stumble, and catch myself on the wall. “My feet hurt.” I complain.
“It went well?” Dad asks, and I nod.
“He made a lot of tips.” Wren adds, with a wink. I scowl, and push at her shoulder in embarrassment. “What? You’re freaking cute in your uniform.” I flush, and stagger away, my legs nearly giving out beneath me.
“Stop it,” I whine, and Wren laughs.
“Alright, alright.”
“I want to see Keanu in his uniform.” Dad pipes up.
“Dad!” Sakura barks at my wail.
“We both made our teams, though.” Wren adds, sliding her phone over to Dad. Dad lights up at that.
“You did? Congratulations!” He’s beaming widely, but I can tell that he’s tired.
“Did you stay up waiting for us?” I ask, bewildered. He nods sheepishly, before his gaze drops down to Wren’s phone, a smile crossing his lips. “How was work?”
“A little infuriating.” Dad admits. “You don’t know how many times I had to ask people ‘have you tried turning it on and off again’ with their supposed broken laptops.” A smile crosses his face. “You do look cute, Keanu.”
I frown, staring at my feet. I’ve never done well with compliments, and I honestly don’t like getting them. Wren teases me about it sometimes, but she usually drops it when she sees me get uncomfortable.
“Sorry, Keanu.” Wren sighs softly. “I probably pushed too far.”
“No… it’s okay.” I wave a hand aimlessly in the air. “Dad, you ate?” He nods. “Tomorrow I get off of work earlier since I have baseball practice. I can see if I can bring something home for you?”
“That’d be nice. I meant to go out food shopping the other day.” Dad rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Ich bin alt. Ich vergesse manchmal.” He shrugs.
“You’re like, forty five.” Wren blinks, and Dad chuckles.
“That’s still old.” Dad’s eyes flicker to the clock on the wall. “It’s late. How about we all get to bed? Wren, do you want help with blowing up the air mattress?”
“No, that’s alright.” Wren and I head upstairs first while Dad cleans up from making his tea, and I almost trip over the last step. Wren’s hand grabbing my upper arm is the only thing from keeping me kissing the ground again. I let Wren use my bathroom first while I get the air mattress ready.
“You alright, Keen?” Wren asks softly as we both settle in for bed. I know what she’s referring to.
“Yeah. I just wish I was more confident.” I can hear the frown in her voice as she speaks again.
“You’ve got confidence, Keen. You’ve just… gotta find it inside of you.”
“But what if I can’t find it?”
“Then I’ll find it with you. Remember what I said before we started school?” I hear her shift, and I glance over from cuddling with my Bulbasaur plushie to meet her bright green eyes.
“I gave you enough courage to continue being yourself.” I recite. Wren nods.
“Courage and confidence are similar attributes. If you have courage, you have confidence. If you have confidence, you have courage.” Wren reaches out and squeezes my arm gently. “I’ll have your back, always.”
“Thanks, Wren.” My response is soft.
“Any time.”
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