Dedication: To the wonderful, ashalayy aka freddi d, and penguinlover827.

Plagued By Guilt

Chapter Two: Bacteria

It has been six months since Diana's visit. Now, one might think that I would've picked up the phone to see if she made it home okay, but I haven't.

I can't call my sister, because my dad might pick up. And if he picks up then he'll probably start lecturing me. He will most likely say things like, "I trusted you." Or, my personal favorite, "You failed me."

I don't want to sound like a stupid whiny brat who doesn't know what her father will say, because she has never called to see if he will say that. Truth be told, I have called my father before, and he has said those things. And, even though I told myself that I didn't really care what he thought, I lied.

It seems that lying is what started this whole mess. I mean, if I had never lied to Chris and told him that I wasn't ready to have sex then my parents would still be together.

You know, most kids think that their parents are splitting up because of them. Now, we all know that in most cases this isn't true. However, their marriage was torn apart by the web of lies I created. As hard as I try not to let my guilt take over me, I always fail somehow.

"Just stop thinking about it, Rosa!" I tell myself this as I drive to work, which is indeed, Starbucks.

When I first applied to Starbucks, I have to admit, I felt like someone was holding a gun to my head and forcing me to do this. The only reason I applied was because my best friend and roommate, Abby, was applying there, too.

It has been Abby's lifelong dream to get a job at Starbucks. She always talked about somehow working there and getting free coffee.

I, however, couldn't stand the smell of coffee at all. I absolutely hated it. The smells, the sight, the taste made me want to vomit. So, trying to get a job at Starbucks seemed totally ridiculous.

But Abby wanted to work with her best friend, and when Abby wants something, she'll make sure she gets it.

For those past two weeks I could not go anywhere without Abby popping up and begging me to apply. She would give me her puppy dog eyes and say all sorts of thing. Sometimes she would talk about how much fun it'll be, or how much I'll enjoy working there. Most of the time she would just say 'please' over and over.

When I couldn't take anymore of Abby's whining I gave in. However, I didn't expect to actually get accepted. In fact, I purposely butchered my resume.

So, you can see my surprise when the lady shook my hand and told me I'd gotten the job.

My dad was so proud of me. I was fifteen at the time and Daddy's little girl. He would do anything for me; I just had to ask.

Of course, that all changed once I started dating Chris. I know that Chris didn't look like the greatest guy, and even though he wasn't, he was a lot deeper than most people thought. Chris had a sweet side that only came out when he was around people he felt comfortable with.

"Ugh! Rosa, stop thinking about it!"

I almost scream as I drive behind Starbucks. I didn't want to think about any of my past mistakes anymore. I managed to do so for four years! And then Diana came around and got my thing about all of it. Hopefully, work will take my mind of things.

"You're late!" Abby exclaims, as I walk through the door to the employ break room.

"Whatever," I answer, in a teasing tone.

"Seriously," Abby continued. "You're probably going to get fired."

I rolled my eyes and whacked her with my green apron. Abby had got it into her head that I'm late all the time. Trust me, this is not her first conspiracy theory. In fact, conspiracy theories are what started our friendship.

It was back in middle school, and for some reason, everyone was talking about Glen Learner. Someone cracked this really funny joke about him, and we all burst up laughing.

Suddenly a girl with short black hair stood up and shouted, "Hey, that's my father!"

I glanced up at her, and stupidly asked, "Are you serious?"

She nodded, and I felt my mouth open in shock.

One of this girl's friends, who was peeling with laughter, leaned over and whispered, "No, she thinks he is."

"Hey!" This weird girl snapped again, "I think I look just like him."

I burst out laughing. Now that I knew this girl was joking everything got funnier.

"I'm Abby!" she proudly declared. "And I will be your new best friend!"

"I'm Rosa!" I gasped out. "And I have no idea why I'm still laughing."

After that our friendship started to bloom. Slowly we became best friends and moved in together last March.

"Fired, huh?" I said, responding to Abby's previous comment. "You know, if I go down, you'll go down with me. Remember the scissors incident?"

Abby put on a mock betrayed voice. "Why would you do that?" she asked; her voice was quivering. "I trusted you!"

But I simply whacked her with my apron again. "Let's get out there before we actually are late!"

I put on the uncomfortable green apron on and walked out to the cash register. But, as I soon discovered, I was wrong about one thing.

Working was not going to take my mind off the guilt that was quickly spreading in my chest.

I do not own Starbucks by the way. Please PM me any grammar mistakes or typos.