Aurora

14.

The next day, we went out for brunch.

Connor sat beside me, leafing through the thick pages of the menu. "I want something with potatoes."

"You can get the regular pancake with bacon and potatoes." Aunt Diane suggested.

"Nah," he replied. "I want a crêpe. Crêpes are better than pancakes."

"What about waffles?" I asked.

"Waffles are annoying. You pour maple syrup into all the little squares and it just seeps right through. You end up with a pool of maple syrup surrounding a spongy, overly sweet waffle. In that case, they become pretty gross."

"Then don't drown your waffle in maple syrup." Natalie cut in.

"But then it tastes too plain."

Natalie rolled her eyes and looked back down at her menu.

Connor turned to me. "What are you getting, Rory?"

"Umm, I might get the strawberry and banana crêpe."

"Ooh that sounds good! I want that too! Can I get that too, aunt Diane?"

"Sure, Connor."

"Also, can I get a smoothie? The smoothies here look good. Like the pink one here." He said, pointing at the menu. "Or this purple one."

"I thought you didn't like smoothies." I chuckled, "Didn't you say they're 'too cold'?"

He shrugged, "They kinda are. Yeah, okay. You're right. Never mind. No smoothie for me."

--

On the car ride back to aunt Diane's house, Connor sang loudly at the top of his lungs. He attempted to rap, but eventually gave up. He sighed in defeat, "I can't speak fast enough."

The car pulled into the driveway, and Connor jumped up. "Can we go skating with Julien and Landon today? I saw a park with a frozen pond just down the street! Please?"

Aunt Diane laughed. "Sure."

"Yes!" Connor grinned, unclasping his seat belt and bolting towards Landon's house. "C'mon, Rory!"

He ran up the staircase leading up to the front door, and I followed him. With a smile split across his face, he rang the doorbell four times.

"Connor," I said. "Stop ringing the doorbell so many times."

He shrugged, "Geez, sorry Mom."

Then, his gaze pulled towards the other end of the street. He gasped. "A squirrel!"

"Oh my god, Connor." I rolled my eyes.

"Shhhh!!" he said, bringing his finger to his lips, gesturing for me to stay quiet. He tiptoed down the staircase and began making his way across the street. I rolled my eyes once more.

The door opened. "Aurora? What are you doing here?"

My gaze met Landon's. "Oh, um. Connor was just suggesting that you guys come skating with us today."

"Oh, okay." He looked at the other end of the street and frowned. "What's Connor doing?"

"He saw a squirrel."

"And so... He's hunting it down?"

"Mhm. He's like the equivalent of the dog from Up."

"Up?"

"Yeah. You know, the movie."

"Oh. The one with the house and balloons."

"Yeah. Don't you remember the dog that like, spoke?"

"Well I've never seen the movie."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Really? You've never seen Up?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh. Okay."

"Yeah... So, um. Yeah."

"Yep." I said, looking over my shoulder and watching Connor, wishing he'd hurry up. I turned back to face Landon, unsure of what else to say. "So, um..."

Eventually, Connor came running back. He climbed up the stairs and grinned at us. "You guys look so awkward." He chuckled.

Neither of us said anything.

"So, Landon. Did Rory tell you? Are you and Julien gonna come skating with us?"

A/N: -Gabyy- I was almost gonna write the good chapter, but I thought it was too soon XD So instead I wrote some more Connor weirdness and Landon/Aurora awkwardness.

Hope you enjoyed!