The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland #2- First Day On The Job

Hi, I’m Stellar, and welcome to Stellar in Neverland! In case you didn’t see my announcement last Monday, I took the week off last week. I did it for a few reasons, the main one being that I was dealing with a tragedy in my life outside of the blog. I’d prefer not to get into details, but what happened took a toll on me and my ability to write, and I wanted to take a week off to deal with my emotions. Don’t worry, I’m back and better than ever now! I started a series called The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland last month. Here is the link to last week’s post. I’ve decided that I’m gonna write a new installment once every month, and this is the installment for February. The series is from the point of view of my Bitmoji (the little cartoon of myself that appears at the beginning of each post), and it’s basically a fictionalized version of my life. This one in particular is pretty teenybopper-cliche, but that’s kind of the whole point, seeing as I’m a teenager. So I’ll quit my rambling and just say this: welcome to The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland #2: First Day On The Job.

Side note: My Bitmoji got a new makeover, being that I switched the avatar style from "Bitmoji Classic" to Bitmoji Deluxe. I think a few of them automatically changed styles, but some of them still have the classic style. Not that you really care, though. 

High school comes before college, so I think it would be fair to say that the entirety of the high school experience is specifically created to prepare students for further education. Because of this, a lot of the Neverland High student body has at least one job, likely to pay for college. My friend Will works at Neverland Acres, the local golf course/supper club, and another one of my friends, Macy, works at Harry’s, a grocery store in Tinyton, a town nearby. And of course, my friend Penelope Schuyler is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Nightshade Romancers, the mega-successful vampire series that will soon be a movie. And she’s sixteen, which I can’t stress enough. So yeah, everyone in my immediate circle has a job. Except, of course, for yours truly. I would’ve gotten a job sooner, but my parents insisted I wait until I got my driver’s license. When I did, I quickly began applying for jobs left and right. At first I wanted to work with Macy at Harry’s, because she’s told me all about how they pay really well and I just feel like she’d be fun to work with, ya know? I applied there, but so did Caroline Cameron (aka Little Miss Perfect). That girl’s got straight A’s, multiple scholarship offers, rich parents, and consistently flawless winged eyeliner. I can’t compete with somebody like that!

Of course, Harry’s gave Caroline the job, leaving me to search by myself. I applied to McDonald’s, Subway, and the bowling alley, but none of them hired me. McDonald’s wanted somebody more experienced, Subway said I didn’t have the right paperwork, and the bowling alley liked me...until they saw a video I posted on Instagram of me and Macy rapping “Gucci Gang” (ironically, mind you) and didn’t want someone who curses like that working for them. Sigh. The job I wanted more than any other was at the movie theatre about twenty minutes away. I love going to the movies, I figured it would be well-paying (because snacks there are unreasonably pricey), and I’ve watched enough Drake and Josh to know that jobs at movie theatres can get a little crazy in the best way. I applied, figuring they’d never hire me. I’ve heard that they’ve turned down quite a few people from my school, including, rumor has it, Caroline. If Caroline freaking Cameron isn’t good enough for the movie theatre, then how was I? I was feeling desperate, so I applied on a whim. I knew there was no way I’d get hired, but what’s the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen, as it turns out, is that I showed up to the interview with nacho cheese on my shirt because my idiotic brain thought going to Taco Bell before my interview was a good idea. (To be fair, I hadn’t eaten since 7AM and the interview was at 3PM. I was STARVING.) I also possibly offended the person who interviewed me by saying I’ve never seen a Star Wars movie. But you wanna know the funny part? I got the job! Yes, that’s right. I, Catalina Lily Taylor, am now an employee at the Sunset Hollywood Cinema in Almsdale. Take that, Caroline Cameron. (Sorry, I just really don’t like her!)

My first day on the job was on a Saturday. I’m scheduled to work on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:00 to 8:00 and Fridays and Saturdays from 6:00 to 10:00. Sunset sent me my polo shirt a few days ago, so I strolled into the theatre wearing my polo with a pair of khakis and some new Converses. I attempted to style my hair nicely for the job, but it still looks somewhat disastrous. Altogether, I felt like I’m in middle school band again, forced against my own will to wear a stupid, almost grimy polo shirt and act “perfect.” Ugh.

I appeared confident as I walked with my boss, David, to the snack counter, but I was nervous on the inside. I kept having this repeating nightmare where I mess up EVERYTHING and spill Icee on myself and a customer. You know, like in a cliche teen movie where I star as the awkward teen girl who can’t do anything right but is quote-unquote “adorkable” and ends up being really hot and dating the Ken-doll male lead? Maybe that’s just me.

The first coworker I was greeted to wore a name tag that revealed her name as Patricia. She looked maybe a little younger than me, with short but unruly red curly hair. She had pale skin, light green eyes, and a huge grin on her face. I could tell I was going to like her.

“HI!!!!!!!!!” she said enthusiastically, practically skipping up to me. “You must be Catalina! David’s told us all about you! I’m Patricia O’Brien, but you can call me Pixie! Or Pixy Stick! I can feel like we’re going to be friends! Is it true that you’ve never seen a Star Wars movie? David told us that. Don’t worry, I’m not offended! But Marcus will be!” Her voice was high pitched and sugary and she talked a mile a minute. I could see why someone would think she was annoying, but I found her kind of adorable.

“Umm...hi?” I said awkwardly, then nervously chuckled. Pixie giggled so loudly the entire theatre could hear her. I began to grin, because I’ll be damned if her enthusiasm wasn’t contagious. “So, you’re Pixie, who’s this Marcus dude?”

“Marcus Williams, at your service. Welcome to Sunset, your new place of employment,” a deep baritone voice said almost sarcastically. I looked up to see a tall black older teen who looked vaguely familiar shake my hand. He had short black hair, dark eyes, and a medium build, and he wore glasses. I couldn’t get past his face. I knew I had seen him before, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember where.

“Hi, Marcus. Not trying to be awkward here, but...do I know you? I swear I’ve seen you before,” I shrugged.

“I’ve never seen you, but maybe you know my brother Isaiah? He’s a running back for Boatwright High. Nationally ranked. Won the state championship three times. No big deal.” Despite what he was saying, he didn’t sound like he was all that impressed. There was a twinge of jealousy to the way he spoke, like he felt overshadowed by his brother.

“Oh yeah! That makes sense now. My dad and brother are, like, always talking about how good your brother is, but I don’t really care about football so I tune out. No offense.”

“None taken. I don’t really care about it either. I like comic books and Star Wars. I’m a bit offended that you haven’t seen any of the movies, but if we can fix that, we can probably get along.” He laughed, more of a soft-spoken chuckle than a guffaw like Pixie.

There was one other new coworker I had to meet, a skinny Hispanic-looking (is that racist?) boy. He had curly black hair, chestnut-brown eyes, thick lips, and pronounced cheekbones. He looked sad, so I decided to give him a little space. Pixie didn’t let me, though, as she yelled, “Hey Ramon! Come meet your new coworker!”

Ramon walked over and sighed. “Hi,” he said wistfully. “Are you Catalina?”

“Yeah. Is something wrong? You look sad.”

“I’d prefer not to talk about it.” He walked away.

Pixie pulled me over and whispered, “His boyfriend broke up with him a few days ago, and he’s still not over it. He’s been moody ever since.”

“Pixie, I told you not to talk about it!” Ramon sounded angry.

“Well, I’ve never dated, so I don’t know what advice to give you. I guess I’d say just take some time and cry it out while eating Ben & Jerry’s? That’s what I always hear.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t immediately comment that he was gay, or make a joke about he’s her new gay best friend,” Marcus quipped. “That’s what Brynn did the first time she met him.”

“Who’s Brynn?” I asked. Pixie began to speak before she was rudely interrupted by another coworker. She looked like a model, with big blue eyes, long platinum blonde hair, thick eyebrows, and perfectly straight white teeth. She walked like she owned the place and had everyone under her finger. From the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she reminded me of Caroline. I hated her instantly.

“That...would be Brynn.” Pixie’s normally hyperactive self shrunk all of a sudden, and from the looks on the boys’ faces, I could tell that they all hated her.

“What’s up losers?” Brynn’s voice was pretty much what I expected. She spoke like she thought she was better than everyone else, and her tone was obnoxious and vapid. She looked at my coworkers, then scoffed when she saw me. “Oh...the newbie’s here. Ugh.”

I glanced at Pixie, who looked as scared as I felt. “Y-you know, Brynn, I d-don’t think you should be so judgy...Catalina could be...g-great for all you know,” Pixie stuttered.

“Shut up Pixie, no one cares what you think. I don’t care about Caterina or whatever the new girl’s name is, all I know is she…,” she glared at me. “...is the reason why I have to take a paycut. I’m never gonna get into an Ivy League school now. The thought of getting to Harvard is the only reason why I put up with you morons anyway, but now that’s never gonna happen because I won’t have enough money.”

“Brynn, your dad owns like half of Wall Street. Money should be the least of your problems,” Marcus sighed.

“Besides, last time I checked, Harvard doesn’t accept people who bully and harrass people they’ve only known for two minutes!” I said passionately. “ I may not be Miss Perfect, and I may not be drowning in my own wealth, and I’ll never make it into an Ivy League school. But at least I have humility, something that I am quickly discovering that you lack! Everybody knows that the girl who pushes people down to get to the top will always lose. You know why? Because, honey, karma is never wrong. Karma will come back and knock you off of your cloud, and none of us- not Pixie, not Marcus, not Ramon, and definitely not me- will be there to help you. So back off.”

As soon as I finished speaking, everyone was awestruck. Pixie gave me a hug and yelled, “You go, girl!” as loudly as she could. Marcus gave me a round of applause and a look that said, I did not expect that from her. Even Ramon came out of his corner, clapped, and smiled at me. Truth be told, I felt a little mean for my outburst, but I mostly felt awesome.

Brynn stormed off to the bathroom in a feisty rage. Served her right. As soon as she was gone, my coworkers began talking excitedly about how proud they were of me. Apparently, they’ve all hated Brynn for quite some time, and they were proud of me for saying everything that they had wanted to for awhile now. I was so caught up in the moment that I didn’t notice him.

“Hi, sorry I’m late. Lacrosse practice ran long,” he quickly apologized, hurrying behind the snack counter. I couldn’t believe it. They say love at first sight isn’t real, but thanks to my first impression with this mystery guy, I could confirm this as false. He was the single most attractive guy I had ever seen, with chocolate brown hair spiked up in just the right way to make me swoon, amber eyes that squinted as he smiled, adorable dimples, and a smile that left me feeling weak. I had to practice some incredible self-control to stop myself from drooling. I took another look at him to notice his body, which was...oh my god. He was muscular, but not to the point where it looked like he was constantly working out. His biceps were perfectly ripped to my liking, and I bet his abs were perfect. I would have loved to see him shirtless...oh my god Catalina, you sound like such a pervert! For the sake of everyone’s sanity, I will shut up.

He looked at me and smiled, and I thought I was going to have heart palpitations. “You must be the new girl! Carolina, right?”

“No, I’m Catalina.” He looked like a puppy after he realized he messed my name up, adorably, genuinely sad. “Nice try,” I told him out of kindness. And also to prevent myself from saying what was really on my mind. Do you have a girlfriend? You’re so attractive you can’t possibly NOT have a girlfriend. Any girl would be lucky to have you. If you do have a girlfriend, which you probably do, do you also have an identical twin brother? And with the incredibly slim chance that you’re single, do I have any chance of being your girlfriend?

“Nice to meet you, Catalina. I’m Josh, and I look forward to working with you.” I had to giggle once he told me his name. Of course it was Josh. He noticed, and seemed to be confused. “Did I do something funny?” he asked.

“Sorry, it’s just that over time, I’ve realized that I consistently have a thing for Joshes. It started in like first grade, when there was this dude named Joshua who I don’t even remember liking that much but wrote that I was gonna marry. I was so weird in first grade. And I still am weird. But not like, creepy-weird. I don’t, like, collect the teeth of famous people or anything.” SHUT UP, CATALINA. It’s a miracle that a boy of this caliber is talking to you at all. Don’t blow it.

“That’s a relief. So, do I join your list of lovers named Josh?”

YES! YES! YES! “Well, I don’t know you too well but you seem nice enough...maybe?”

“Duly noted,” he laughed. His laugh sounded like music to my ears. “So, Catalina. What kind of stuff are you into?”

“I like writing.”

“Me too! What do you write?”

“You know...anything. I mainly write realistic fiction, but I can turn out a pretty bomb English paper in an hour. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten below an A- on an English paper.” I laughed nervously.

“Interesting. I guess I’m not into writing-writing, if you know what I mean. I’m more into songwriting. Me and my friends just started a band, but we haven’t played any gigs yet. I’m the lead singer, and I play guitar and write the songs.”

Oh my god. As if this dude couldn’t get any more perfect, he just so happens to be a musician. Musicians are like kryptonite for me. Roughly 99% of the dudes I’ve had crushes on have been musicians. There’s just something so sexy about a guy who, regardless of talent, is as passionate about his music as he is about you. Swoon. I’m convinced God created this boy for the sole purpose of killing me. “Um...you write songs? That’s cool. I wish I could write songs. I tried to be a songwriter in elementary school but everything I wrote was garbage. And like three lines long. Horrible.” Catalina, this is the second time you’ve brought up your embarrassing childhood in front of this guy. He doesn’t care about it. Stop it. OH DAMN YOU AND YOUR PERFECTNESS JOSH PLEASE STOP MAKING ME FEEL FLUSTERED.

“And I wish I could write awesome English papers, so I guess we’re even.” WHAT? PERFECT JOSH IS JEALOUS OF ME? ASDKFSJDKLFJASKLDJFSKLAFD.

“So, tell me about your band. Who’s all in it? Are you guys any good? No offense. I’m sure you’re wonderful.”

“It’s me and a few of my friends from school. Hayden, Drew, and Tyler. We’re called Rollercoaster Streets and we’re as good as a band who’s only had two rehearsals. Which is to say, not that good.”

“Haha. Where do you go to school?”

“St. Martin’s.”

“Oh...well, you’re not gonna like me saying that I go to Neverland.” St. Martin’s Catholic Academy and Neverland High are fierce rivals, and I mean fierce. I’m pretty sure I’m committing treason by interacting with one of them.

“I guess this means we can’t be friends? Unless you wanna do some Romeo and Juliet-type thing. But they kill themselves at the end so I don’t see why you’d wanna do that.”

That wasn’t even that funny, but Josh had such an immense charm and natural sense of charisma that every word he said seemed hilarious. Plus I’m just a sucker for bad jokes-if you can even call them that. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe.

“Um...Catalina, are you okay?” Marcus said to me. I was so lost in my conversation with Josh I forgot there were other people in the place.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Now to change the topic: Josh, did you see what Catalina did earlier?” Marcus asked.

“She owned Brynn! Brynn was being really mean to me so Catalina was just like, ‘You’re being horrible and karma will get you.’ It was AWESOME!” Pixie said in her trademark excited way.

“Well, she was being really rude, and it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I don’t want any of you to think I’m like her,” I defended myself.

“You’re good. We all HATE her, and anyone who shows that much loyalty to a person they’ve just met is pretty awesome in my book,” Josh winked at me. Am I going to faint?

“Brynn cheated on him last year,” Ramon added, breaking his silence.

“...oh. As if I didn’t already hate that girl already. I’ve never dated anyone, but if I were to, I would never cheat on them. Common courtesy, you know?” I said sincerely.

“Ignoring the fact that you’re from Neverland, you seem pretty cool, Catalina. I look forward to working with you. See ya round,” Josh said as he walked out. I checked the time, shocked that it was already time to leave. I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun...or rather talking with the most attractive teenage boy on the planet.

Pixie and I walked out to the parking lot. She explained to me that she had to get a ride with her mom because she wasn’t old enough to drive. As we walked, we made small talk.

“Oh my god, Cat, you totally looove Josh! And he totally seems to looove you too! I ship it!” She got so excited talking about it.

“Was it obvious? I felt like a nervous wreck. He’s just...so dreamy. And funny. And he’s in a band. And he’s really, really cute. Did I mention that?”

“No offense, but it was pretty obvious. You were blushing the whole time. But that’s okay. He probably didn’t even notice. Josh is cute, but he’s painfully ignorant sometimes. We had to straight-up tell him that Ramon was gay...”

“Really?”

“...even though his boyfriend at the time had been coming to see him at work for a month! He thought they were brothers!” Pixie was giggling really hard to the point where it was hard to understand her. But hey, it was funny.

“Oh my god, that’s hilarious. So what about you? Are you dating anyone?”

“Not at the moment. I’m trying to look but I can’t find anyone. I’m bi, so you’d think the field is wide open with both boys and girls. Nope! But just between you and me, I kind of have a thing for Marcus. Don’t tell him!”

“I can see that happening. You should ask him to hang out. You’d be cute together. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”

“You’re a good friend, Catalina. You know that?”

“Thanks. I gotta go. I’ll see you Monday.”

“Bye!” She scurried into her mom’s SUV. I got into my dad’s Nissan Altima and headed home. As I drove, all I could think of was Josh. I couldn’t wait to tell Macy and Penelope about my big, stupid, embarrassing crush on him. He was just...too perfect. All I wanted was to see him again. And call him my boyfriend. It’s still unclear whether he’s taken or not. Anyways, Catalina out. Hopefully next time she’s less of a nervous wreck.

Yeah, I know, it’s really cliche. And I didn’t actually mention anything about Catalina or anyone doing actual work. And Catalina is a bit of a Mary-Sue. Don’t worry, I’ll fix these things as the story goes on. Also one last thing: Some of the characters in this series are based off of real people, but Caroline and the movie theatre gang are not. Josh is, to be pretentious, “an amalgamation of every boy I’ve ever loved”, and the others are from my imagination. I’m just mentioning that in case someone who actually knows me reads this and is curious or nosy. My birthday is in two weeks, so I have one more post left before my birthday special. I’m going to do something inspired by songs or TV shows from my childhood, but I’m not entirely sure exactly what. As for Stellar Adventures, the next installment will come out some point in March. I’m not saying much about what it’s gonna be, but it’s inspired by something that happened as a result of the tragedy I mentioned at the beginning. Don’t worry, it’s actually a very fun story. I’m Stellar in Neverland and I’ll see you next week. Peace!

Stellar