Ghost Scarab

And a Fruit Cup

An hour later and I was sitting in the front seat of a big black SUV. Raven was driving and Corey had, at his own insistence, taken the back seat. I stared down at the cell phone in my hands, that Corey had given me to take. It was another emergency phone like the one Marc had given me and I felt bad about taking it since I had already managed to break the first one I had been given.

Corey, however, made a very persuasive argument, that as simple as the job sounded, you never know what may happen and I needed a way to contact them in case of an emergency. He also insisted that they would get me a better, more permanent cell phone when we got back.

Corey cleared his throat, apparently having noticed me staring at the phone, "Would you like me to show you how to download games onto it?"

I quickly shook my head, a light blush suffusing my cheeks, and tucked my phone into my pocket. I then pulled out the book I had borrowed from Axel and started reading while Corey went back to reading over the information he had been given by Ms. Band.

About an hour into the four hour drive a load grumble came from Raven's stomach and he decided to get something to eat for lunch.

"Sound good to me, but let's stop somewhere where I can get a decent cup of coffee. We are making good time; we don't need to eat and drive."

Raven laughed, "Marc will chew your ass if he finds out you got coffee from somewhere other than him."

Both Corey and I blushed and Corey was quick to correct him, "It's chew you out, not chew your ass, and before you say it, no, it's not the same."

"Marc will get mad if we get coffee at a restaurant?" I asked, confused as to why it would matter to him.

"No, not mad. But he will give us a hard time about it. He makes his own coffee blends and is convinced that his is the best there is," Corey explained.

I smiled at that, even though I had only ever tasted Marc's coffee but I could believe his coffee was the best.

"Is Panera Bread okay with everyone?" Corey asked.

Feeling guilty for not having any money to pay for food I simply shrugged, "I'm fine with anything. I'm not that hungry, so I'll probably just get a muffin or something."

"Фигня, you will eat more than that маленький котенок, you are too skinny."

Without another word, Raven pulled into Panera Bread's parking lot and we all got out of the SUV.

When we got up to the order counter I tried to simply order a cranberry orange muffin but at a scowl from Raven and a hurt look from Corey I ended up ordering a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Corey ordered a sandwich and Raven ordered a flatbread pizza and a fruit cup.

We brought the muffin, fruit cup, and our drinks back to a booth while we waited for the rest of the food to be ready. As soon as we were all seated, Corey next to me and Raven across from me, Raven presented the fruit cup to me, "Here, I got this for you."

Feeling confused I took the fruit cup from him, unsure how to respond. There seemed to be far more meaning and importance to him giving it to me than the obvious.

"Ummm, thank you," I said and carefully fished a grape from the mix. Feeling awkward under Raven's intense scrutiny I popped it into my mouth.

"Good," Raven said looking extremely pleased with himself.

"Okay, you're going to have to explain this to me," Corey said. "Why a fruit salad? Is it a Russian thing?"

Raven nodded, "Da, where I come from, a girl sits at a table in a restaurant and a guy buys her a fruit salad."

"What does the fruit salad mean?" Corey asked.

"Introduction, it means I would like to make your acquaintance."

I smiled at that and Corey reached over and stole a piece of pineapple from my cup before asking, "What if she doesn't eat it?"

"Doesn't matter, I'll talk to her anyway."

Confused, I asked, "Then why bother with the fruit salad?"

"Tradition," Raven said like that explained everything.

Corey, this time taking a piece of honeydew from my cup, said, "Sounds weird to me. What if the girl wants to talk to a guy? Does she buy him a fruit salad?"

"No."

"No, as in it doesn't happen or she doesn't buy him a fruit salad?" Corey asked, clearly perplexed.

"Doesn't happen."

I glanced over at Corey to see he looked as bewildered as I felt.

I shared the rest of the salad with Corey and by the time we finished the rest of our food was ready.