Endo
"Have you talked to Mom?" I ask as I finish folding a load of laundry. This week has been busy at the store with the start of all the fall sports, so I've spent my Saturday morning catching up on housework.
"Yeah." Micah's one word answer makes me roll my eyes, even though I know I should've been more specific with my question to them.
"Do they want us to pick up something for dinner?"
"They want burgers from Ida's."
"Okay. I'll call it in." I say.
Micah looks up from their laptop and urgently says, "No pickles on mine!"
"I know," I chuckle, "have you ever wanted pickles?"
"Absolutely not." They say vehemently, causing me to laugh deeply.
"I wasn't being funny."
"Oh don't pout, it was just the way you said it that cracked me up."
"Whatever." They say, "I'm almost done with this, I'll be ready to go by the time you call in the food."
"Alright." I grab the laundry basket and take it down the hall to my bedroom. I sit next to it on the bed and pull out my phone. I dial the number by heart, and smile when I hear Brooke's voice on the other end.
"Ida's diner, this is Brooke."
"Hey, Brooke. It's Endo."
There's a moment of silence. "Um, did you need something?"
"Oh, yeah, I need to place a to go order. Sorry, should've led with that." I mentally chastise myself for being weird.
"Ah, right. What can I get for ya?" She sounds relieved that I didn't just call to chat with her. Would that have been such a bad thing though? I certainly enjoyed her company yesterday, and I felt like she had a good time, too. I'm probably thinking too much into this. We're still practically strangers, after all. I don't expect anything from her, although I wouldn't mind if we became friends. I could use more of those, and she seems like a good person to know.
I snap out of it and relay our order to her. She tells me it'll be ready in 15 minutes, which works out well because that's about how long it'll take us to get out to town.
I head back into the living room just as Micah's putting their computer away. "Ready?" I ask.
"Yeah. Do you want me to drive?"
I shake my head 'no' because I know they've had a long week and driving is a stressor to them.
We climb into my truck and start out the holler. Micah connects their phone and we roll the windows down, arms and voices riding in the wind.
When we enter Ida's, Brooke greets us with a smile. "Hey Endo, you've got perfect timing, I just bagged up your order."
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Micah smirk. "I'm telling you, you come here too much." They say playfully.
I elbow them. Brooke raises an eyebrow. "They're my sister." I explain. "Micah, this is Brooke. She's Todd's boyfriend's cousin. Brooke, this is Micah."
In their typical fashion, Micah thrusts their arm out to shake Brooke's hand. In a sing-song voice, they say, "Hello."
If Brooke is taken aback by Micah's demeanor, she doesn't show it. She just smiles, returning the handshake, and says, "Nice to meet you, Micah." She sits two bags on the counter and tells me the total.
As I'm fishing out my wallet, Micah asks urgently, "No pickles on one?" Their face looks disproportionately worried for something as seemingly small as pickles on a burger. For Brooke's sake, I hope the order is right. Micah wouldn't intentionally be rude, but they would very possibly freak out a bit.
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Broken Roots
General FictionAfter moving back to the small town of her childhood, Brooke spends most of her time working at Ida's Diner. It's a decent place to work, she doesn't expect it to change her whole world. At least, she didn't, until one customer who frequents the res...
