"And Frankie's a horse." "What are you talking about?" "Everyone's face is either a bird, a horse or a muffin, and I'm a muffin." " Hmm?" "What's happening?" " I think Lola's having a stroke." "Frankie, do you have a second?" "Oh, is this about my essay?" "I know my thesis wasn't the strongest." "I just wanna check and make sure that you're doing okay." " Was it really that bad?" " No, it's about your socials." "After everything that's happened, the administration is trying to keep an eye on kids who seem to be struggling a little." "Wait, you think I'm struggling?" "You've been posting a lot of sad pics, stories, tweets..." "You guys follow all that stuff?" "I know breakups are hard, and now that Jonah's dating Grace, it just..." "Ugh, no." "Okay." "No, I'm..." "I'm totally fine." "I'm fine." "Well, if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me." "Mmm-hmm." " What was that about?" " She was worried about me." "Apparently, I'm high risk 'cause of the stuff I put online." "Did you know the administration looks at our socials?" "Okay, but maybe she has a point?" "I mean, your feed's been kind of depressing lately." "I'm going through a breakup." "But it's not, like, scary sad." "It's just regular sad." "And that's why you're losing the breakup." " What does that even mean?" " Okay, Jonah's got a new girlfriend, and Frankie's been moping around online." "You have to show him what he's missing." "How happy and awesome you are." "But I'm neither of those things." "Okay, could you tell that I was going through a breakup with Tiny?" "No, you look great in all of these." " So, what?" "I fake it till I make it?" " Exactly." "Oh, can you use your camera to take a picture of me to send to Karima in London?" " I miss home so much." " I..." "I can't right now." "I have to finish my homework before school." "Liar." "You always finish your homework the night before." "I'm going to go get your camera, and I'll just do it myself." "Abra, laah!" " Saad..." " Please don't tell Omy and Aby." "Why?" "What happened?" " Some guy at school..." " Broke your camera?" "That's bullying." "You need to tell someone." "I..." "I don't want to cause trouble." "Omy and Aby have enough on their minds." "It's complicated." "I punched back." "Saad..." " I lost control." " Omy and Aby will find out eventually." "Not if I can get the money to have it fixed." "And how are you going to do that?" "I'll figure it out." "Here." "Still interested in those waffles?" "All right, take a break, ladies." " Am I still at nine?" " Yeah." "I need to get to ten if I want any chance of getting scouted by a good school." "Don't be so hard on yourself." "Girls often slow down for a year or two while their bodies change." "I don't have a year or two!" "Is there anything I can do to speed up?" "Anything at all?" "Well, some athletes use supplements like creatine, beta-alanine, to help them build muscle, but they're very expensive and I" " wouldn't necessarily recommend..." " How expensive?" "We're talking in the hundreds." "Listen, just keep working hard... and eventually you'll get there." "You know if I had any cash, I'd give it to you." "I know how important it is for you to get scouted this year." "If I don't improve, I won't get into a Division I school next year, which means... my career as a competitive athlete is over." "So what do we do?" "Get a job, I guess." "And what about training?" "Well, I can sleep when I'm dead." "Or after I get a track scholarship." " A drumming festival?" " It sounds smelly." "Ugh, it'll be totally fun." "And it's the perfect opportunity to take some not-sad photos for my socials." "You were the ones who said I needed to show Jonah all the awesome stuff I'm doing so I can win the breakup." "Because that's a healthy way of thinking about it." "Besides, no can do." "I have to train." "And I have to help my Dad find a new busboy." "Wait, you're hiring?" "Can I have the job?" " You want to bus tables?" " I really need the money." "Okay, then." "Come by for a trial shift tonight." "I have to make sure you can do the job." "Can anyone apply?" "Well, yeah, it's a free country." "Oh, sorry, is that offensive?" "Wait, then who's gonna come with me?" "Oh, this is awesome." "This is a nightmare." "I cannot believe I let you rope me into this." "The amount of times I've lied to Mom for you?" "You owe me." "Don't care." "Hard pass on all of this." "Good thing I brought a contingency plan." "Wait." "Ugh, seriously?" "You're not gonna take pictures with me?" " No." " Well, I can't take photos by myself." "Then I'm just gonna seem lame and lonely." "Go forth and frolic." "Maybe you'll find another granola weirdo to help you out." "Frankie?" "Frankie!" "Over here." " Hey, guys." " I need a second opinion." "Can you please tell Zig he looks hot in this outfit?" "I look ridiculous." "Let the lady decide." "I dunno." "I think it kinda goes well with the black eye." "Told you." " You here by yourself?" " No, um, I'm..." "Yeah, I'm totally alone." "It's just me." "Come hang out with us." " Really?" "I don't want to intrude." " Eh, the more the merrier." "Okay, now, stack the plates on your arms." " All of them?" " The world record is 30." " Crap!" " Opa!" "I am so, so sorry." "Oh." "Damn, boy." "You're good." "I bussed tables at a restaurant back home." " What is he doing here?" " Trying out for the job, duh-doy." "Him?" "Tiny says he punched Zig." "You can't hire him." "Okay, well, get better at stacking plates and maybe I won't have to." "I can get better, okay?" "I promise." "But I really need this job." "I'll talk to my Dad, okay?" "Just try to make it through the rest of your shift without dropping anything else." "Closer!" "Closer!" "Aw, you're so cute." "Isn't she cute?" "Yeah, I'd say so." "Oh, that's Tiny." "Uh, I gotta go." "That dude that gave me a black eye is at Lola's." " Give me my shirt." " What?" "No." "At least one of you has to stay." "You stay." "I can handle it." " You sure?" " Yeah." "Don't worry." "We can have fun without him." " Great work, you two." " Thank you for the opportunity." "Well, you were awesome." "And Shay..." "You were spilling less by the end." "You work, so we pay." "What do you think this is, a 19th century workhouse?" "Thank you again." "I..." "I would really, really like to work here." "Well, I'll talk to my Dad, and I'll let you know, okay?" "Are you okay?" "Yes, absolutely." "Uh, have a good night." "Waitressing is so tough." "I'm tipping way better from now on." "Uh, hold on a second, okay?" "I'll be right back." "Hey!" "Hey!" "You know, it's not polite to ignore someone when they're talking to you." "I'm just trying to get home." " I don't want any trouble." " Ah, well, you should've thought about that before you gave me this black eye." "You need to stay away from us and our friends." "I don't have to listen to anything you say." "Now, get out of my way." "What are you gonna do, sucker punch me again?" "I get it." "You're all tough now that you've got your friend here." "You wanna find out how tough?" "Yeah, that's what I thought." "Oh, my God." "That's Jonah." "What should I do?" "Should I go talk to him?" "How do I look?" "Should I go talk to him, though?" " Like, what should I do?" "How do I look?" " Uh..." "First, you should breathe." "Okay." "And... now go talk to him." " Frankie." " You are such a piece of crap." " What're you doing here?" " Don't "what're you doing here" me." "I knew you were sneaking around behind my back" " and I asked you about it and you lied." " I never lied." "Everything we've been through, and that's all you have to say?" "Nothing that I ever did was good enough for you, okay?" "Clearly, breaking up didn't even change that." " Maybe I should go get snacks." " No, forget it." "I'll go." "What're you doing?" "This is a really nice guitar." "An awesome girlfriend must have bought it for you." "Frankie." " What is your problem?" " It used to be you!" "Let it out, girl." "Good." "Very good." " Very good." "Lean to your right." " Okay." "There." "Very good." "Yes." "All right." "All right." "Go, go." "Come down." "Come down." "Look at that." "I'm so glad you got your camera fixed." "Karima is going to love these." "I want her to see how happy we are here." "Are you happy?" "Why wouldn't I be?" "It's awesome here." " Disagree." " Maybe you'll have more fun if you stop being so grumpy all the time." "I'm not the problem." "Oh, who did you think I was?" "No one." "I just..." " I'm sorry." " It's okay." "Um, I just wanted to let you know that you got the job." "I did?" "Uh, yeah." "You totally kicked butt." "Thank you so much..." "But I can't accept." "What?" "Why not?" "I've made some enemies here and I don't want to cause trouble for you." "Enemies?" "Oh, you mean Zig and Tiny." "I'm not scared of those idiots." "I don't think they would be very happy if I took the job." "I'm not going to let some bully stop me from hiring the right person." " You said you really need the work." " I do." "Then don't let those dumb-dumbs stop you." "Plus, if you say no, I'm gonna have to hire Shay, and she's gonna put us out of business." "I'll take that as a yes?" "How can I ever thank you?" "By being the best busboy Lola's Cantina has ever seen." "And maybe a box of jelly beans?" "See?" "Maybe it's not so bad here after all." "Thank you, ladies." "We'll see you tomorrow." "No faster, huh?" "My whole future is resting on tenths of a second." "I need to figure out a way to pay for those supplements." "What about the cash you got from the training shift?" "Not nearly enough." "I need to be able to keep affording them." "What?" "Lola gave Saad the job." " I heard them talking this morning." " Seriously?" "Shay, I've been waiting in the car for 15 minutes." " Sorry, Mom." " Hi, Mrs. Powers." "How was work?" "Long." "This kid swallowed a battery." "It came out, thank God, without too much damage to his insides." "Sweet." "I'll see you tomorrow." "You know how I was saying I need to become the fastest in the school" " to get a chance at a good scholarship?" " Uh-huh." "Well, there are these supplements Mr. Armstrong told me about." "I'm sorry, we can't afford anything like that." " They cost 200 or 300 a month." " But I need to get faster." " It's my only shot." "I'm almost there." " Well, then you're just" " gonna have to train." " I do train." "More than anyone else." "It's not enough." "What was the point of me working so hard if stupid puberty was going to mess everything up?" " Shay..." " No." "You promised that if I work harder than everyone else," "I can achieve anything that I want." "Well, you lied." "Everyone lied!" "Honey, I wish I could help you out." "But don't worry, because if I know you, you'll find another way." " So is Esme your new BFF?" " What?" " Wait, how do you know that?" " Because your escapades are posted all over the Internet, dumb-ass." "Hey, what is your problem?" "It used to be you!" "I cannot believe you abandoned me for those losers." "Oh, God." "Do you think Mom's seen these?" " Okay, I can explain." " I sure have." " Why you destroyed Jonah's guitar?" " It was his fault." "He showed up with Grace and he was looking all happy, when the whole point of me going was to show him how happy I am." " That must have been hard." " It was!" "Oh, God, I just feel like, no matter what I do, I'm doomed to be miserable." "That's not true." "But you are doomed to be grounded." "That's unfair." "You never grounded Miles for any of the crazy stuff he did." "That's 'cause I'm not dumb enough to put" " photos of me all over the Internet." " Fine." "Whatever." "After this, no one will want to hang out with me anyway." " I'm such a loser." " I can't argue with that." "And as for the guitar, you're gonna give Jonah the money to pay for it." " No, Mom, no." " Yes, Frankie, yes." "Do it today." "Hey, that's what you get for hanging out with crazy Esme." " She was the one who posted that stuff?" " Who else?" "And here I was thinking she was actually being a friend." "You didn't even tell me yourself." " I was scared you'd be mad." " I am mad!" "You know I need that money." "Okay, I can't just give you a job you're bad at." "But you can give it to some guy you don't even know?" " He punched Zig, Lola." " Because Zig went after him first." " So, that makes it okay?" " No, but..." "Okay, how about some free nachos instead?" "And then maybe I can help you find a job you are qualified for." "One sec." " Hey." " Hey." " Nope." "No." " I don't understand." "Why is she destroying that musical instrument?" "Because she's crazy." "Hey, what is your problem?" "It used to be you!" " So, what are we doing tonight?" " Oh, I'm not here to make plans." " I'm here to yell at you." " Why?" "For posting all that stuff." "I got in so much trouble." "Someone's being a little dramatic." "I'm grounded." "And everyone's laughing at me." "Not everyone." "Five hundred likes?" "Tons of comments?" "People think you're totally badass." "Are you sure it says "badass" and not "pathetic"?" ""I wish I did that to my ex's car."" "Taylor Swift made an entire career off of her exes." "You really think she cares what people she went to high school" " with are saying about her?" " Yes?" "I have to give Jonah money for his guitar, but the thought of speaking to him makes me wanna barf." "Then keep the cash." "We'll go get massages." "That's a great idea." "Except if my Mom found out, she would kill me." "Then we just need to find a way to get him the money that makes you feel awesome." "Here." "Let me help you with that." "Enjoy your meal." "Saad, can I talk to you?" "Should I have offered to clean his sunglasses before giving them back?" "I have no idea what you're talking about." "I'm sorry." "I just want to do the best job for you." "Too late." "You're fired." " What?" " The tips are missing." "And you think I took them?" "Well, we haven't had a problem before you started." " I would never steal from you." " Wouldn't you say that if you had taken it?" " There must be another explanation." " Not one I can find." "I thought you were different." "But you're judgmental and small-minded like everyone else here." " There he is." " Is this a totally stupid idea?" "No, I promise you, it's not." "People are gonna love it." "Ready?" "Jonah." "Frankie?" "I have something for you." " What the hell?" " Oh, it's for a new guitar." "So you can pay for a date." "For once... in... your..." "life." "That was totally badass." "Okay." "Posted." "Oh, my God." " Seriously?" " Um..." " I was just..." " Putting back the money you stole?" "Yeah." "I fired Saad because I thought he took it." "Everyone's gonna think I'm a racist employer now." " I'm so, so sorry." " Why would you do that?" "I mean, it just..." "I have to pay for these supplements." "It's the only way" "I'm gonna get fast enough to get scouted." "Because if I don't get scouted this year... that's it." "The thing I've wanted my entire life just... just goes away." "You're lucky I love you so much." " Wait, you're not gonna tell?" " Did you put all the money back?" "Yeah, plus an extra 20 from my birthday money." "Okay, well, I don't want to get you into trouble." "And I know how much this running thing means to you." "It doesn't even matter." "I'm toast unless I can get an extra edge." " Well, maybe I can help." " You're gonna give me the job?" "Oh, hell no." "You're terrible." "But" "I will lend you the money, at least for the first month." "Really?" " Even after what I did?" " Well, what can I say?" "I'm a saint." "I love you, too." "But you have to promise that I get to design your athletic wear line when you become a famous Olympian." " Yes." "Deal." " Okay." "I sent Karima the photos." "She says my school is way nicer than hers." "She's totally jealous of how awesome it is here." " I don't know about that." " Well, I'd rather be here than Douma."