My first week of work was, in a word, hell. 

Long lines, loud noises, screaming customers and frustrating coworkers had me about ready to lose my mind. Several times I seriously considered walking out and just going home. The only thing driving me forward now was the overwhelming feeling that failure was not an option.

Kris and her family had done so much for me, taking long shifts at their respective jobs just to keep the household afloat with another mouth to feed. Plus, Taylor had taken time out of her life to help me apply to colleges and even helped me with making my resume seem just a little less sparse. I felt a bit obligated to succeed after everyone had worked so hard to get me here.

The blaring of my phone alarm pulled me from my self-pity. Groaning, I groped around under my pillow to silence the little black bastard disrupting my inner monologue. I turned off the alarm and looked at the time. Damn, I only have 30 minutes to get ready for work. Willing my aching bones to leave the comfort of my bed, I stood up and shuffled to my dresser. 

Every step on my tortured feet was angry, a reminder of the long shift I'd worked the day before. Even a full night's sleep didn't rest my aching muscles; they burned and creaked in protest as I went through the motions of forcing the shirt over my head and sliding into my khakis. I had to wash my uniform tonight when I got home, as I only had one pair of pants and had been washing them every other day.

After I dressed, I sprayed some deodorant on, no energy to spare for a shower today. It would have to wait until tonight after I got home, or tomorrow morning, which was one of my precious few days off. After figuring out I did indeed show up to work, Tracy had been calling me in whenever one of the crew didn't come to work. I was exhausted, but looking forward to my first paycheck.

Shoving my swollen feet into the worn non-slip shoes Kris had given me, I made my way through the house and out the door, where I knew Kris would be waiting for me. Ever the early bird, Kris was always ready for work an hour in advance and liked to be no less then 15 minutes early. As I dragged my half-dead carcass into her passenger seat, she smiled at me. 

"You look about as good as I feel today." I could see her nose and eyes were red, so she was probably coming down with a cold or just getting over one. The grocery store usually stole Kris from registers to unload trucks in the freezer section due to her uncanny ability to Tetris boxes of frozen goods in ways that defied physics. Unfortunately, this also meant that with cold and flu season rapidly approaching, Kris would catch any bug within a 3 mile radius. Her subpar immune system was unable to compensate for the abrupt temperature changes. Regardless, Kris loved the freezers, not having to deal with customers for a few hours and being able to pop an earbud in helped keep her sane on her double shifts.

"I got called in again last night. Taylor took me in after she got off work and I helped close." I yawned, looking out at the road blearily as Kris pulled out onto our road. 

"Oooh, god. Closing is the WORST!" She groaned. "I used to hate closing when I worked food service. Stupid people, gross old food and lots and lots of dishes." Her face wrinkled in disgust.

Closing actually didn't bother me all that bad. Aside from the dinner rush, the vast majority of the shift was peaceful and I was able to clean and go about my duties without being overstimulated. I often volunteered to hang out in the back and wash the endless mountain of dishes, singing along to whatever song was on the radio. The calmness of the night shift was a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the morning and afternoon shifts.

Sometimes Taylor would stop in and order a burger. My manager had learned the bluenette's routine and usually would let me take a break and go eat with Taylor for a while. Most times, she came to pick me up from work and take me home. I was happy for the ride, but I couldn't help but ask myself why she would take an hour out of her day just to take me home. 

I was pulled out of my thoughts by us pulling into the parking lot of BurgerByte. I reluctantly pulled myself out of the passenger seat and drug myself towards the door.  I waved, smiling over my shoulder to Kris and headed inside. 

BurgerByte was a flurry of activity in the mornings; our breakfast burger was locally beloved and hundreds of people came through every day just to enjoy it. Sliding behind the front counter, I donned my hat and apron before greeting Tracy. "Morning Trace!" 

The chubby, greying brunette had her nose in a clipboard, as per usual. She grunted a reply, scribbling furiously.  "Abby! Pull 50 more frozen eggs and sausage patties and get them prepped! Luna, get on dishes! We're gonna have the Sunday church crowd coming through in a half hour. Lets GO, GO, GO, people!" 

The snotty cashier I had met the day of my interview scoffed, but walked back to the freezers to pull the requested breakfast foods. Making my way through the chaos of the kitchen, I went back to Tracy's office to clock in, before walking over to the industrial sink which was overflowing with dishes already. 

Whilst washing dishes first thing in the morning wasn't really my idea of fun, I greatly preferred it to being up front or in drive through with the customers. I fell into a routine with each dish; spraying off stuck on food, Scrubbing it with soap, rinsing it and then dropping it into the sanitizer. The tinny beat of an old 80's song had me swaying and bobbing in time with the music while blasting bits of stuck on food off of the various dishes. 

Tracy had discovered my second day that I sucked miserably in drive thru. After stammering through our specials, having people repeat themselves and screwing up entirely too many orders, Tracy banished me to the dishes, stocking and freezer work during rush times and would pull me to front counter in lull periods to get me more practice.

Suddenly, the slow stream of customers in the drive thru and front counter turned into a rush. We went from 2 customers in the lobby and one lazily ordering over the speaker outdoors to a line around the building and a dozen customers clamoring at front counter.

"LUNA, GET TO THE DRINK STATION!" Tracy bellowed. Dropping a dish into sanitizer, I dried my wrinkled fingers on my apron and made my way to the drinks. Orders came over the screen rapidly, everything from sodas and teas, to coffee and hot chocolate. I moved like a woman possessed to keep up with the orders. Churning out countless cups of various drinks in record time. I took a breath, actually quite proud of myself.

Just as fast as I could pump out the assorted refreshments, they were whisked away to their respective consumers. I felt as if I was being pulled in countless different directions simultaneously. 

Just as quickly as the rush had come, it dissipated. The sea of people in drive thru had slowed to the occasional order over the speaker and front counter was silent once more. 

The rest of the day was like that; monotonous dishwashing, stocking and various other busywork punctuated by sudden swarms of people. I disliked the rush times, but I had to admit they made the shift go by quickly. I hadn't even realized how fast the time had gone by until I saw Taylor waiting in the lobby for me.