Distortion [S. Harrington]

chapter 23

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

"Steve, are you okay?" Lucy asked, completely worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Lu. Let's just go so I can take you home," Steve said, not wanting to stay at the party any longer.

Billy watched angrily from in the crowd of sloppy, drunk high school students as Lucy grabbed onto Steve and gave him a tight hug. After Steve pulled away he put his hand on the small of Lucy's back and led her out the door and to his car.

"Can we go out to eat? I'm starving," Lucy asked. "And we can talk about everything that's been bothering you on the way."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get in the car," Steve said as he unlocked the car and got in.

Turning on the radio, a song that Lucy recognized came on. 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' by Scorpions.

"Oh, I love this song," Lucy said, turning it up as Steve sped away from Tina's house.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

"I'll have a cheeseburger with lots of fries and a chocolate milkshake, please," Lucy said, looking up at the old waitress.

"Of course, sweetie," She said, smiling, taking the menu. "And you?"

"Oh, I'm not having anything," Steve said.

"Are you sure, honey?"

"Yeah, thanks though." Steve gave her a fake smile until she left with the menus.

"Why aren't you getting anything?" Lucy asked, slapping her hands down, her pinky ring making a noise from hitting off the table.

"I'm just not hungry."

"Because of what happened at the party? What happened by the way?"

"I already told you, nothing happened."

"Whatever," Lucy said, annoyed that Steve wouldn't tell her anything. Looking around the place, her mood quickly changed. "This place is so beautiful."

Steve had taken her to the only place still open around midnight which was a small place at the edge of town called Tilly's Diner. It had a white and teal exterior which matched on the inside. The only thing that wasn't white or teal was the pink neon lights that reflected on everything. There was a jukebox in the corner and I'm sure the owner would allow dancing on the checkered floor. Too bad Steve and Lucy were tired from Tina's party or maybe Lucy would've forced him to dance.

It was kind of comforting that the only people in here, besides the three ladies working in the back, were Steve and Lucy. It was nice. It was odd that Lucy had never been here before. She loved little places like this, especially with nice waitresses like theirs.

"Yeah, it looks nice."

"So, how was your dinner with the Hollands the other night? You never told me about it," Lucy asked, resting her head in her hands, looking at Steve.

"It was nice. It was good."

"Nice and good?" Lucy scoffed. "Come on, get into the details. It's like you're blowing me off recently."

Steve tried to not make it awkward with Lucy but it was hard when he didn't know how she felt about him. He wasn't sure if his relationship with Nancy was going any further.

"Well, Barb's mom got KFC and it was finger lickin' good," Steve laughed. It still felt weird to say Barb's name out loud.

"That's good," Lucy commented, smiling.

"Thing is, they're selling their house."

"What!?"

"Yeah, to pay some detective guy or something to find out what happened to Barb."

"You should tell them the truth, Steve. I think they deserve to find out what really happened," Lucy said.

Just then, Tilly, their waitress, came back with Lucy's food. She set it down on the table and it looked delicious.

"If you need anything else, just holler," Tilly said, smiling and then walking back to the kitchen.

"This looks so good," Lucy said, practically drooling on her burger. "Here." Lucy cut the burger in half and shared the fries with Steve, not wanting him to feel left out.

"Lou, I told you I didn't want anything."

"Okay, well I'm not going to eat if you don't," she said, staring at Steve. He rolled his eyes and picked up a couple fries, making sure to take an exaggerated bite. "Thank you because I was really hungry."

Lucy quickly ate the burger and most of her fries before she was full. She grabbed one of the straws the lady gave them and opened it, sticking it into the shake and sipping some down.

"Two straws," Lucy pointed out.

"You think it's funny but there's no way I'm not getting any of that milkshake," Steve said, quickly opening the other straw.

"Says the guy who didn't want to order anything!" Lucy gasped, laughing.

"That's because I was just going to eat yours," Steve smiled.

"Oh my God, unbelievable!"