10. We wasted all our hopes on a whim

“Hey!”

Arms went around my waist, my feet came off the ground, and I was being spun in circles.

“What are you doing?” I twisted my neck around to see who had picked me up. “Derek you scared the crap out of me!”

“Haha. Sorry. How's the working girl?”

Hmph. He didn't look very sorry.

“I love it!” I beamed. “Any luck with you?”

“Nope. Hey are the others here yet?”

“Uh, no why?”

“We're supposed to meet here for lunch, remember?”

I quickly glanced at the clock. My face must have mirrored my obvious surprise because he started laughing.

“Wow, I didn't realize it was already 12:30. It'll take me two seconds to finish emptying these garbages.”

When I finally finished that, Jade and Cameron were walking towards us, arm in arm. A slight twinge of jealousy hit me.

“Hey, how goes it?” Cameron asked.

“Pretty good. Really fun.” I smiled.

“Awesome. Man, I wish we could find jobs like yours.” Jade said. “Or even any jobs at this point.”

“I'm guessing you guys haven't found anything yet?” I asked

“No,” Cameron sighed. “But we will soon!”

I took a sip of my ice water and listened to them talk amongst themselves. They obviously weren't too worried that no one else had found a job yet. I kinda felt guilty about finding a job so soon. I hoped it hadn't given them false hope that jobs were easy to find.

“So what kinds of places did you guys apply at?” I asked.

“Well, I read in one of the newspapers that this group of kids needed a lead singer for this band they are starting, so I went and tried out. They said my voice was terrible. Like hello! I'm a really good singer, everybody has always said so!” Derek vented his frustration with elaborate hand gestures and pathetic face expressions.

I almost choked on a piece of ice in my throat. I had to pretend like I was coughing to mask the fact I was laughing. I once heard him sing, and it wasn't pretty. I guess his friends were too nice to give him their real opinions.

But seriously, did he think he was going to come to California and just suddenly become famous?

“Aww, that's too bad.” Cameron patted his arm. “I applied to all the clothing stores around, but nobody is hiring. They said they'd let me know if they had any positions that open up.”

I mentally snorted. It's great to apply to stores you like, but let's be practical. Everybody wants those jobs. When you're in desperate need of a job you can't be extremely picky.

“I just applied to any place I could.” Jade said.

That's the way to do it! I felt bad for her though. She had done the same thing that I did, but wasn't having any luck with it. I secretly feared that I had taken the last available job in Newport Beach.