Irreplaceable

12

"How was your date with the old man?" Nate's face was a blank unreadable mask as we sat eating our sandwiches at the diner.

"It was fine. It wasn't a date though, and he is not an old man." Even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice as I spoke the words. I didn't want to talk about it with Nate. That surprised me, because I always wanted to tell Nate everything. Right now though, he looked like a wall that I couldn't get past. That scared me a little.

"Whatever. Don't blame me if your flirting gets you in deep with the pedophile." His sharp words had me giving him a double take.

"Whoa. Who are you and what have you done with my best friend." I narrowed my eyes at him. He looked away testily. He shook his head.

"Sorry. I'm not feeling so hot. I'm going to go." He didn't even look at me when he got up from the table and strolled out. I sat there not moving for a good minute before I looked around in a daze. His sandwich was half-eaten, his fries untouched, and his drink didn't even have a straw in it yet. What the hell just happened?

"Everything alright, hun?" The waitress came over and I looked at her confusion. I cleared my throat.

"Could you pack up his meal to go? There was an emergency." I pointed at his stuff and she smiled at me.

"Sure thing." She replied, grabbing the plate and cup. "I'll have it at the front for you."

I nodded and half-smiled back. I stared at the empty spot across from me the whole time I ate my lunch. I had never seen Nate angry when it was just us. He got angry at other people, not with me. What could I have possibly done to make him angry at me? I was lost. Was he just worried? He didn't have to worry about me though. He wasn't my father.

Besides, what he said was just mean. It wasn't like I was having a relationship with the guy I just met; we just met for coffee. Once. I guess he did flirt with me a bit, but he wasn't that old and neither was I. I wasn't a kid. I was practically an adult. Greg had been around my age too when he met Mark. It was different I guess... but was it?

Was I hoping that this new guy, Derek, was my Mark? Maybe a small part of me was. I needed to know more about the dude before I made up my mind though. I wasn't going to let Nate's suspicion and dislike cloud my judgement either. He was my friend, but he didn't have a say in what I did with my life. Including who I saw for dates... or whatever.

*

"Seriously Brad?" I looked over at the glare Nate was sending my way. I scrunched my nose and gave him a look.

"What?" I said, annoyed.

"She was old enough to be your mother. Enough with the flirting with everything with a pulse that comes through the door. You are better than this." He preached as he finished entering information into the computer at the desk. I glared at him.

"What!? What the hell are you talking about? I was being nice to a customer. Get your head out of your ass, man. I am not like that." I pointed at him angrily. I stormed out of the room and muttered irritably as I put away my tools properly so they were ready for the next customer. How dare he!

As if I was one of those airheads that hits on anything that moves. A shadow crossed my table and I looked up to see Derek standing there with a grin on his face. My face cleared a bit. He was looking fresh in a polo shirt and khaki shorts. I wiped my hands on a rag and moved over to him.

"Hey there. What are you doing here?" I grinned back at him. His smile was contagious.

"I couldn't wait for you to call me after our coffee date. Let's go for dinner." He came close, but not so close to brush up against me and get dirty. I blushed at the advance.

"Uh, I don't know. I mean, I might like to... but I should probably check with my mom." I mumbled. I was overly conscious of the fact that Nathan was in the next room over and had a very large front row seat in the window of the office to this guy asking me out.

"What? Why? How old are you?" He was looking at me warily now.

"I'm sixteen, so..." I gave him a meaningful look like 'you still okay with this' and shuffled my feet a bit while he looked me over.

"Ah, yeah okay. I see what you mean. Well let me know what your mom says." He flashed me a smile and I let out a relieved breath. He backed out of the garage and gave me a wave at the door. I bit my lip and thought about the conversation I was going to have to have with my mom if I wanted to do this. What the hell was I thinking?

Maybe Nathan was right. No, no stop thinking like that. Derek was being nice. He was giving me a chance. He was not a creep or he wouldn't have wanted me to mention it to my folks, right? I think he saw how mature and stuff I was. That had to be it. Besides, I liked the slight discomfort he made me feel when he complimented me or flirted. It made me feel special, sort of.

He didn't make me feel stupid or inadequate. Not that my family or Nate meant to... but I was feeling pretty low after this last year of school. Derek made me feel grown up. Like I was a man in my own right. I could go to coffee with him and hold a conversation like my parents did. So why not dinner?