Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 32 - This is Almost Romantic

Egret's Rest has only one dine-in restaurant; all the others might have a couple of random tables just outside their doors, but they're actually just take-out joints. Good take-out joints. There are a bunch of coffee shops, too, but they don't serve dinner or big meals.

Raffaello's also happens to be the best restaurant in Summerfield, and that includes Silverview. Their prices are reasonable, and they serve virtually any kind of cuisine, not just awesome Italian dishes. We come here at least once a month when we're out having fun and get hungry for good food and are in the mood to eat at tables like civilized people for a change.

Sometimes, we come with our parents and Uncle Ian, but more often, it's just us kids and all the guys, and then we push a few tables together. When we do that, Kira doesn't sit beside me on one side of the table, close enough for me to hold her hand like she's doing now. She usually tries to be as far away from me as possible. That means I have to wait for her to send her leftovers my way and hope Barn doesn't get to it first.

Fortunately for us, it is a weekday and we manage to get a table on the balcony overlooking the cove. This is pretty friggin' awesome because I'm hot, and I'm hungry, and there's a nice breeze going out here. Raffaello's is what one would call charming, with candles on the tables and lanterns and ivy and stuff, making it very pretty... that's what the girls always say... and Barn... he always says it too. It is almost like I'm on a romantic date with Kira, except we're not at a table for two, and my sister and her boyfriend are sitting across from us.

When Kira and my sister sit near me like this, we trade things from our plates. Kira gave me half her fries, and I gave her almost all my gherkins and tomatoes in exchange. Technically, I needn't bother to give her anything because she never manages to finish all her fries and lets me have them anyway. She loves gherkins and tomatoes more than I do and I felt I should give her something, so...

"How long before I get to join the swap club," Simon asks, and suddenly, I'm glad there's a table between us because what the hell? He's not getting Kira! Besides...

"Dude!" I growl at him, making it clear to him that he is skating on thin ice, which is a pretty stupid thing to do in this heat... Actually, it would feel pretty good to get dipped in icy water right now, so skating on thin ice might not be that stupid. The misting cooling system they have going out here on the balcony is pretty good, but some cold water... "You're dating my sister!" I snap, remembering that I was in the middle of teaching my sister's boyfriend about fidelity. "There'll be no swapping, not with me or anybody else." 

I put my hand on Kira's nearest shoulder, and I'm willing to pee against the legs of her chair to mark my territory if I have to. I thought Simon was a decent guy! His expression changes from amused to confused to horrified, and then he laughs, puts an arm around Deli's shoulders and pulls her closer to him. He is making some things clear to me too, and I like that.

"I was talking about food, Ethe!" he says in a voice that suddenly sounds a little high. "You guys are constantly exchanging things between your plates. Looks like fun."

Oh! Yes, he's right!

Delia did just take all those horrible fungi stuff from my plate. I told Bella, our waitress, no mushrooms, but she clearly didn't remember, or she's still a little pissed at me because I didn't want to quit school and run away to be a cherry picker in the North... I have no idea what that means.

Bella and I had a bit of a thing for a couple of days near the end of last year when I was still all messed up about what happened with Amber, and I wanted to forget about stuff and just have fun.

We were just hanging out with a crowd and might've kissed once or twice, nothing serious. When she realised that I was a grade behind hers and not finishing school with her, she said after graduation, she was going to pick cherries in the North and nagged at me to go with her. She wouldn't give up on the idea, and I eventually had to make it clear that I don't like cherries. They're nasty little fruits.