Chapter 2. Happy Saturdays
The Yellow Sticker Girl. That was my new nickname at school. It wasn't a nice nickname like ‘Meggie' or ‘Meg' or even ‘Meggie-Moo' (which was quite embarrassing at my age! ), it was horrible. Kyla posted my photo at the supermarket all over social media with the hashtag #theyellowstickergirl. All my classmates saw the photo and some people even left nasty comments like ‘They're a family of tramps,' and ‘They look in rubbish bins for their tea as well.' What is wrong with these people? Don't they know that just because we haven't got a lot of money at the moment, we're still just a normal family? Other kids at school laughed at me when I walked down the corridor and no one wanted to sit next to me at lunchtime. Thanks, Kyla! I can't believe she was my best friend at primary school.
Anyway, school was a nightmare and I couldn't wait for the bell to ring at the end of every day and go home. One day, I was walking home on my own when I saw a sign in the bakery window.
It was for a ‘Saturday Girl'. Hmmm ... a part time job? I looked in through the bakery window. There were a couple of ladies standing behind the counter, putting bread and cakes into paper bags. Cake! Yum! There was carrot cake, egg custards, iced fingers and lots more too! The shop was full of customers in a long queue, but everyone was smiling and waiting patiently. I decided to be brave and go in. As soon as I opened the door I was hit by the amazing smell of freshly baked bread. I have to work here! Suddenly, a loud voice shouted out from round the back.
‘The muffins are out of the oven. Get your muffins!'
And then, the owner of the voice appeared. Mr Turner was a large, round man (I suppose that's what happens when you eat delicious cakes every day) with an equally round smiley face. Ok, Meghan, you can do it. Ask him about the job.
‘Excuse me, Sir,' I shouted. ‘I saw the ad in the window for a Saturday girl.'
‘Ah yes,' replied Mr Turner as he came to the front of the counter.
‘Do you have any experience?' he asked.
‘Erm … no … but I LOVE cake,' I replied hopefully.
Mr Turner laughed.
‘Well, I suppose that is the main requirement for someone who wants to work in a bakery,' he said. ‘Can you start next week?'
‘Yes!!! Sorry, I mean yes, please. Thank you,' I laughed nervously.
There was one thing I had to tell Mr Turner though before I left.
‘Mr Turner?'
‘Yes, dear,' he answered.
‘Do you know that you can't advertise for a Saturday Girl? We're in the 21st century now, you have to advertise for a Saturday Person. I'm sure there are boys who like cake too,' I laughed.
‘You're absolutely right, dear,' replied Mr Turner. He went to the shop window, took the sign down, crossed out ‘girl' and wrote ‘person'.
‘I need another Saturday PERSON,' he said. ‘This is a very busy bakery'.
Mr Turner gave me my uniform, some FREE CAKE (Leah is going to love my new job!) and I went home feeling super-happy! Finally, there was some good news!
On the Saturday morning I was really nervous. I went downstairs for breakfast and there was a surprise waiting for me: a full English breakfast. Dad was putting everything onto a big plate.
‘You're a worker now,' he said. ‘You need a good breakfast.'
‘Thanks, dad,' I smiled back.
Leah came into the kitchen then with mum. There was bacon and eggs for her too but mum and dad just had a cup of tea.
‘Where's your breakfast?' I asked but they just shook their heads and said, ‘We're not hungry this morning, love. Eat up!'
Leah is too young to understand and happily ate her breakfast but I was already thinking about the first thing I wanted to buy with my wages: bacon and eggs for everyone!
After breakfast, I went upstairs and got my uniform on. The red skirt and red and white striped blouse made me feel very important - I have a real job! - but I wasn't too sure about the white hat. Mum, dad and Leah all thought I looked great of course.
‘You look beautiful,' said mum.
‘Yes, and so professional too,' added dad.
‘CUTE!!! !' laughed Leah.
I walked to the bus stop feeling happy and confident. The 204 bus came on time and ten minutes later I was in town. I had butterflies in my tummy but I was excited too. While I was walking to the bakery I saw Kyla and some of the other girls but luckily they didn't see me. I decided to go straight to the bakery. A run in with Kyla before my new job? No thanks! I was a few minutes early but Mr Turner was just happy to see me.
‘Come on in, Kyla dear,' he welcomed me. ‘We're busy this morning. Get your hat on!'
I spent the next four hours serving bread and cake, smiling at customers and trying to resist the temptation to eat a strawberry tart! Everyone was so nice and the morning passed really quickly. At the end of my shift Mr Turner came to talk to me.
‘Well done, Meghan,' he complimented me. ‘You worked really hard, you're smart and the customers love you.' ‘Wow, thanks Mr Turner,' I replied. Then he gave me an envelope with my wages in and a bag of bread and cakes. ‘We don't like to waste food,' he said. I love my job! I went to the bakery every week. Saturday was my favourite day of the week. There was even a new Saturday Boy . I used my wages to buy treats for all the family. I didn't need to ask mum and dad to top up my mobile phone anymore either, I used my money. Saturdays were my escape from the nightmare of school until, one day, I saw Kyla and some other girls at the bus stop. I was waiting for the bus to go to work when I heard ‘Hey! Yellow Sticker Girl!' Oh no! Not here as well! I looked over the road and Kyla was taking another photo of me … in my uniform. ‘Nice clothes,' she shouted. ‘Yeah, so trendy,' added one of the other girls laughing. Great! What will the next hashtag be? !
