Wheelchair Accessible

Part Seven

Shawna: Markus Richard Harris the Third answer ur dang phone.

                Shawna: I'm literally going to kill u

                Shawna: Please tell me those guys weren't talking about u

                Shawna: If u don't reply, I'm assuming that I'm rite.

                Shawna: ...I'm rite, aren't i?

                Shawna: I'm considering withholding my friendship until u reply to me

                Shawna: Prepared to be punched in the face next time I see u.

                Mark: pls don't punch me in the face.

                Shawna: HE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                Shawna: But not for long because I'm going to murder u.

                Mark: sorry.

                Shawna: Where are u? I'm coming with my chainsaw.

                Shawna: Srsly. What happened?

                Mark: do you want to meet at the bean today?

                Shawna: When?

                Mark: lunch?

                Shawna: Deal. Meet u there with three vats of poison.

                Shawna: And a plastic fork.

                Mark: goodbye.

                Shawna: ...Is that a yes?

****

I pushed the door open to The Bean, one of the popular coffee shops in town, and scanned the room, looking for the familiar brunette that had been blowing up my phone. She wasn't there yet, so I headed for the back of the shop where the booths were, until a thought stopped me, and I switched directions to one of the little tables by the window. I pulled one chair out and added it to another table, leaving a larger space opposite from where I sat down and pulled out my phone so I looked less awkward.

The aroma of the brewing beans brought me back to when I would hang out here with friends after school. We'd sit in the back booths, freshly showered after finishing practice, there'd be a girl at my side, and we'd all be talking about the latest gossip that was going around the school. 

That seemed like a lifetime ago.

After scrolling aimlessly through some news website (I'd gotten rid of my social media over a month ago), I glanced at the time. A part of me thought that Shawna wasn't going to show up, payback for me bailing on her yesterday, but then I heard the jingle of the door opening. I looked up to see an older guy holding the door open for Shawna as she rolled her wheelchair through. 

She searched the room as I had, and then spotted me and smiled brightly. Seeing her bright eyes, I reminded myself that Shawna wasn't like my other friends. She wouldn't act out of pettiness or spite. There was something about her that was just genuinely kind.