Shay cautiously watched the boy as he unlocked his car and sat in the drivers seat. She slowly opened the door on the passenger side and sat down beside him. She wasn't too fond of strangers, but then again, they weren't really strangers after all. She felt like she could trust him, and unlike other men, he hadn't stared at her chest or her face for too long. He seemed genuine.
Brad started the engine and began driving to a diner that was only a couple of minutes away. He stole glances at the girl sat beside him as he drove. They were introduced and had already spoken a couple of times, and Brad wondered why it was still awkward. He had spoken to many girls before, he used to have game and yet none of it seemed to matter to this girl.
Shay watched as Brad reached for the stereo, turning it on and trying to find his favourite station while keeping his eyes on the road. He was surprisingly good at multitasking. Once he found the intended station, a song by Arctic Monkeys played. Brad smiled at his impeccable timing, as they are his favourite band.
Shay also grinned slightly. She knew this song and saw that the boy did aswell. Alex was always blasting the album so it only made sense that she knew all the words. Brad felt a sting of pride as he too noticed how the other person enjoyed the track. Kelly had never taken much interest in his love for the band, much less in his love for music in general.
Once the song finished, the song that played next wasn't favoured as much. The song playing, Shay thought it was offensive and Brad just disliked the whole construction of the song. Shay felt comfortable enough to change the channel, and as she tried to, Brad still looking at the road did as well.
In the tiny second that the tips of their fingers brushed against one another, Brad's eyes went wide and a chill went up Shay's arm, causing goosebumps to appear. Brad saw her embarassment and noticed that it matched his own. So badly he wanted to scream that it was an accident, but instead he let the song play all the way through, not wanting to make the girl even more uncomfortable than she already was.
They soon parked outside a diner that Shay wasn't familiar with. Brad debated on whether or not to open her door for her, but she was too quick for him. After all, this wasn't a date. Shay followed behind Brad into the diner and slid into a close booth opposite him.
Brad almost immediately picked up a menu and unfolded it, using it to shield his face. He used this time to think of a thing to say, to psych himself up. Shay watched Brad's strange behavior and picked up the menu, copying his actions.
After Brad felt confident enough to spark up a non-awkward conversation, he lowered his menu and placed it on the table. He tapped on Shay's menu that she was holding in front of her face. She put it down almost immediately, getting ready to speak.
"This is weird." They both blurted at the same time. They then both laughed and further refrained themselves from speaking again in fear of cutting the other off.
Brad felt stupid, not only for being the shittest company in the world, but because he practically begged a girl to have breakfast with him and he couldn't even speak to her without stuffing up.
After ordering breakfast and a few minutes of silence going by, Shay thought it would be safe to speak.
"Did you have fun at the club last night?"
Brad thought back to last night and while remembering some parts of what happened, he tried to think if he had seen Shay throughout the night or not.
"It definitely could have been better." He said and Shay nodded. She wondered if she had seen him, but she barely remembered anything.
In the moments of silence Shay looked closely at him. He appeared to be around her age, give or take a little. He was most likely still in college.
"You still in college?" She asked and he nodded.
"Just up the road." He said and nodded his head in the direction.
"Oh." Shay breathed out. "The rich people school?" That had been what all of her friends at college referred to the large posh school where Brad attended.
"What about you?" He asked even though he already had a faint idea.
"Amel State." She said and Brad nodded. He had been right.
"Do you still live at home?" Shay asked. She wondered if the house where she went was his or his parents. It was common for kids to move out at their age.
"Yeah." He smiled. "No real reason to leave." Brad loved his family. His parents, his older sister and his dog Jesse. "You?" He asked Shay.
"Nah." she shook her head. Brad's smile faltered and Shay soon corrected herself.
"Not that I don't get along with my parents or anything," She said quickly. "I just thought it best. I wanted to move out as soon as possible and my friend Alex had her own place. She has a real rocky relationship with her parents and has been living by herself sine she was fifteen."
Shay didn't know why she was telling Brad this, not to prove herself stable but for some other odd reason. Their meals soon came and Shay began to feel a little less hungover. Brad started wondering if he would ever see her again once school went back. They only had a couple days left of holidays and he felt as if he should ask her if she wanted to spend some of it with him.
He tried to decipher whether he was attracted to the girl or not. Even though he was technically still dating Kelly, he still continued to wonder what if. As he was staring at Shay pieces started coming together and he realized that he had in fact seen her before.
"You were the girl throwing up in the bathroom!" He said, but Shay didn't understand. "Last night while I was fighting with my girlfriend in the girls toilet you were in there vomiting and-" Shay felt a sudden sense of betrayal at the mention of his girlfriend. If he had a girlfriend why had he invited her to breakfast? She thought he said that he didn't.
She nodded as if she remembered and smiled at the funny parts of the story. Once she had finished eating, only around a quarter of her meal she stood from the booth.
"Thanks for the breakfast, but I've got a tonne of stuff to do and you've got to give your girlfriend her bag back, so."
Brad looked confused and stood up also. He was about to walk closer to say a proper goodbye but she walked off. He watched as she left the diner and proceeded to walk home. Did he do something wrong?
As he watched her cross the street from the near window he felt beyond stupid that he had made her walk home, that he hadn't been interesting or at least polite company.
It was then that he realized he'd probably never see the girl again, and he didn't have so much as her purse as an excuse to do so.
