Four Years

Chapter 17

"That can't be right."

As we had started on our way back home on foot after Shelley had abandoned us, we were telling each other our hilarious childhood memories. He was telling me how one time when he was thirteen, he had confused buttercream for toothpaste because he was half-asleep while brushing his teeth and was confused why his toothpaste tasted the way it did.

"One time I spilled black ink on Aimee's white shirt. It left a huge patch of black in the middle. So, in order to not get in trouble, I decided to paint the entire shirt black. I did it so artistically, she didn't even notice. It was only when Mom did laundry, she found out about the ink."

He laughed, reaching forward to ruffle my hair. "Wow, you are quite the artist."

After Shelley had more or less turned a blind eye to how we were going to get home, I had called up Aimee to ask if she could pick us up but unfortunately, she was stuck in traffic. Kevin had his phone switched off for some reason we couldn't ask him to help us either. Seeing no other options, Jace and I had started on our feet when Aimee had called just a few minutes ago to tell me she would pick me up halfway.

She also wanted to know how dare Shelley had just left me stranded. Fortunately, she calmed down a little after I told her that Jace had sort of snapped at her for the exact same reason.

"Hey, you hadn't eaten anything at the carnival, should we grab something to eat?" Jace asked.

I was touched that he had paid attention at all when my own friend hadn't. "Sure."

There was small diner a little distance ahead whose sign glowed too brightly in the dark. It was glowing so much, species from other planets would be able to see it. Okay, that was a bit too much. Covering the distance to the diner, Jace and I asked each other random questions for fun.

"Have you ever wanted to learn a foreign language?" I asked him, curiously.

He blinked. "Yes, French. Because it is the language of love. What about you?"

"Ah, German. I read a book that was translated from German and ever since then I had wanted to learn that language."

"You don't like hot dogs." It wasn't a question.

I slowly nodded. "Yeah, bad memories attached with it. Hey, you said you liked playing basketball so why didn't you join the school team?"

At my question, he grew quiet. I wondered if I had overstepped my line.

"I'm not like Ivan." I waited for him to elaborate.

"I just have difficulties blending in with new people, making new friends and everything. You can say I'm aloof, it takes a lot of effort for me to talk to new people and sometimes, I get anxious easily. It's just," he paused, rolling his bottom lip into his mouth, "I'm not cool enough to be like Ivan, you know? I can't charm people left and right. I have a hard time opening up to people."

I nudged him with my elbow. "But see you opened up to me!"

"Yeah, we must be soulmates or something." He chuckled.

Then I grew somber. "I understand what you mean. Sometimes, I feel that way as well."

The diner was now in front of us. Jace opened the door and held it open for me to get inside first before he followed behind me. Inside, the place was semi-filled and had a very soft vintage aesthetic. Wow, we had just discovered a really cool place!

We went to sit in a booth next to the window. An elderly lady came to get our orders. Being the undecisive person I was, I couldn't really decide what to order. I caught Jace shaking his head at me, his lips twitching in a smile.

"Um, I will have a mac and cheese." I said firmly.

"A chicken sandwich for me. Do you want anything to drink?" He asked.

"Orange juice."

The lady went away with our orders after promising to return quickly. She was so nice, honestly.

Jace stationed his arms on the table, gazing at me. "Do you like watching movies?"

"I mean I don't mind them, but not a major fan of sitting in one place and staring at one thing. Do you like reading books?"

"Yes, but I usually prefer to read poetry books." Wow, he's so cool. "What about music, what genre do you listen to?"

I shook my head. "I don't really have genres, I just listen to music that has excellent production and lyrics worth thinking about."

"Fair enough."

The elderly lady arrived with our food then. Just looking at the food after not eating for so long, my mouth filled with water. God, I would never go anywhere with Shelley again. That was for sure.

I dug the fork deep into the macaroni and tried to stab as many as I could with it. And that turned out to be quite a few. I was proud of myself.

"Watching you eat gives me anxiety." Jace sounded, cupping his hands under my chin to save any piece if it dropped down. My phone took that moment to buzz on the table. It was Aimee.

"Pick it up and hold it against my ear." I tried to say but it ended up sounding like a baby just learning how to talk. Jace pressed it to his ear instead.

"Hello, it's Jace." He said into the phone. I continued shoveling food into my mouth as he talked to Aimee.

"What did she say?" I asked him after I had finished chewing.

He put my phone back down on the table. "Asking where we were. She said she'll be here in five minutes."

Five minutes later, my sister was walking into the diner and went straight to the counter. She stood there for a minute, conversing with the girl working on the counter before heading towards us. Coming over to my side, she sat down with a composed face.

"Now both of you tell me when I need to kick this Shelley's ass. Because no one bullies my little sister like that except me."

Jace and I exchanged some glances. She came to kill, alright.

"Uh, we're done anyway so let's go." I tried to avoid any topic of Shelley.

"Yeah," Jace supported me, "it's getting late."

I nodded. "We'll drop you home on our way."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I'll just walk home. I don't want to cause any trouble."

"There's no trouble. We'll drop you and it's done."

Jace sighed then smiled. "Okay, you win."

"Let's go then." I stood up from my seat.

Aimee pulled me back down. "No, my food is yet to arrive — and look it's here."

Just as she said that, the same elderly lady who had served us arrived with a plate of hamburger and fries. Aimee practically inhaled her burger while I stole some of her fries and also passed some of them over to Jace.

"I'm full now we can leave." Aimee announced.

When the time came to pay the bill, Jace went for it but Aimee was faster than him. She snatched it right out of his hand and told him to step back.

"You both are babies. It doesn't feel right to let a baby pay for food."

Jace started to protest, but I pulled him aside.

"Enjoy it, don't sweat it." I told him some golden words.