The Wild

-6- Bonfires

Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.

It couldn't have been much more than a few minutes past noon before the bell rang again and Nellie came in chatting with none other than Mary. I was almost too surprised at seeing her that the mug I'd been filling with root beer nearly spilled over the rim.

"Mary! Where've you been?" I called out to her, wiping off the foam that spilled out onto my hand. Amaya shouted her greeting from the other end of the bar, causing Mary to look between us and all the leather jackets lined up on the bar stools. Since I couldn't hear her over the ruckus at the bar, I slipped past Hazel before she had the chance to wait on Mary and Nellie.

I scurried around the bar as they took a seat at front window. "Hi Lily! I'm on my break now," Nellie piped up, smiling up at me as I rubbed my stuffy nose with the back of my hand.

"I see that," I laughed. "How've you two been?"

"Oh, all right, I suppose," Mary drawled, distracted by the boys at the bar. I glanced over my shoulder at them, finding a few of them peering over their shoulders at us. Once I looked over, they turned away. She looked like she wasn't planning on blinking today, as if she was on edge.

"Worried about Bennet and John, huh? Must be lonely being home without 'em," I commented. She pursed her lips and shrugged. There was something off about her demeanor, and I was sure it had to do with her lack of talkativeness. Deciding to pass it off for the illness that was spreading around like garden weeds--a particularly unfavorable inconvenience--I cleared my throat to fill in the awkwardness and proceeded to list the specials for the morning.

"Say, Lily," Nellie inquired after ordering a tall glass of orange juice, "About yesterday. After you skidaddled out the back, this cute guy came strollin' on in. A part of me says he's lookin' this way right now." She had her suggestive, flirty look on that I knew all too well from her conversations with the Betcher boy, at least, not when they were fighting.

"Really? Which one is that?" Mary perked up, looking expectantly at Nellie.

The girl leaned across the table, peering around me before whispering back to us, "That handsome-looking blonde. Makes me wish I was older." I scoffed and slapped her across the arm with my notepad. She laughed and shoved me right back while Mary settled back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest, casually peering over her shoulder as if expecting the pictures above the cabinets.

"I'm too old for this girl talk. I can't even tell which blonde is cute anymore," she complained soto voce, which caused Nellie to dissolve into a fit of giggles and laughter while I rolled my eyes.

"Trust me, it's a blessing," I reassured Mary. "Besides, you've got a woodsmen all to yourself. You don't need a motorcyclist." She didn't respond to that comment, but it sure did send Nellie into a cycle of teasing and merriment. I walked off back behind the counter to fetch the drinks.

"Now who're they?" I looked up at the sound of Brian's voice from between Tyler and Amaya. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder back at Mary and Nellie.

"Oh, no one you'd know," I told him, giving him my largest, most sarcastic smile while Amaya snorted.

"Come on, Lily, be nice. That chick right there is Nellie." As a side note, she leaned over and whispered, "She's almost eighteen, so hang in there buddy."

"Not what I was lookin' for, but okay. Just figured I'd get to know the people around here. This seems like a nice little town you've got here," he complimented cheerfully, all full of smiles as if his statement hadn't caused me to internally flinch. Call me crazy, but after them spending two days around here I was starting to worry that they were getting a little too friendly. The last thing we needed was a biker gang scaring away our regular customers.