Ocean's Storm

Chapter Eleven

               Out of four different options for a ride, I had found myself sitting in the passenger seat of Spencer's minivan. Ansel was driving in front of us with Reggie, Carpenter following closely behind Spencer and me, and Capri getting stuck further back behind five other cars. Capri getting stuck behind all of those cars is a bit of a wonder to me- since Spencer's minivan isn't going that fast and Ansel is a relatively slow driver. She must be one of those overly polite drivers that constantly have to let everyone get in front of her.

                "So, how worried should I be for Ansel's choice of food?" looking over at me from the corner of his eye, Spencer asks. "On a scale of 1-10."

                  Reggie had messaged me as soon as we had left the parking lot near Kaylee's store. He told me that Ansel had started to talk about this restaurant with a one-star rating he had been to, but Ansel had insisted that the singular star review meant nothing. What this restaurant has to offer is a mystery. A mystery that even Ansel can't solve, even though he claims to have eaten there once. The last time Ansel had dragged Reggie and me to a place with a one-star rating wasn't nearly as bad as what I had thought it would be. So, my level of worry probably isn't the same as what Spencer's is.

                "What would it take to make you worried?" I ask, lifting my legs up onto the seat and crossing them. All the more perks of being on the "short" side of the height spectrum.

                "If we ended up on a side of town that is sketchy, the restaurant makes you sign a waiver for liability reasons, or if the restaurant is only ranked at a singular star," he replies and turns without any warning.

                "Um, where are we going, Spence?" looking back into the side mirror to see if Carpenter had turned with us, I ask. However, Carpenter's truck is nowhere in sight and Spencer has already managed to get further away from where we need to be.

               "I was thinking we could do something else," he gives a slight shrug and turns down a road that I swear is familiar.

               "Were you going to tell me at any point? Or was this supposed to be some sort of surprise that I just ruined?" pulling my phone out of my pocket and unlocking it, I ask.

                 I send a quick text to Reggie to inform him that we wouldn't be joining the rest of them at the exquisite one-star restaurant Ansel had chosen. Reggie would have been the last person I messaged, but I am not about to be the reason someone gets into an accident for texting.

                   "Were you going to tell me at any point that Ansel had chosen a one-star restaurant?" he asks back.

                   "Of course!" I exclaim. "Just after we were inside the place." muttering the last part to myself, I add.

                  "Your sister seems like an interesting person," trying to change the subject by making small talk, Spencer comments.

                 My phone buzzes in my hand and a text with Reggie's contact flashes on my lock screen. "Uh-huh."

                 Detention Bud: have fun on ur date... or was i not supposed to say that? anyway i can have Ans turn around, if u want me to

                  "Has it really been that long since you have seen your sister?" not seeming to notice I have no actual interest in the conversation, Spencer asks.

                  "What gave that away?" quickly replying to Reggie's message, I ask. Maybe I should have told Reggie to have Ansel turn around, but I didn't feel like it was necessary.