Deviating from the Norm (A "Freaks and Geeks" Fanfic)

Chapter 25 - The Odd Couple

I was off to meet Ken and Nick at the River Crest diner for lunch... the only problem was that I was running a little bit late. It was a new place that had opened up around the middle of the school year and none of us had been there. The food was supposed to be great and the prices were cheap, which fit us to a T. On the other hand though, finding the place was a bit of a hassle and... well, I was cruising. Even if the temperature was in the triple digits, driving with the windows down generated a small wind that made for a very enjoyable experience.

Sometimes I would get lost in the scenery of our suburban hellhole and just appreciate the artificial perfection that was displayed everywhere, usually while listening to Kool & the Gang's Street Corner Symphony and Summer Madness on my 8-track (another guilty pleasure I didn't dare share with the gang). This was typically the kind of thing I would do at night to further enjoy the city lights, but it was one of those flawless summer days that was just too beautiful to pass up. Even though I was not ecstatic about our rough patch, not constantly driving all over the place with the gang saved me a little bit of green and having the extra cash to waste on gas was an acceptable consolation prize.

With his future still being uncertain, Andoloplis was really sticking to his guns about hanging out with his friends as much as he could, while he could. I had missed a few opportunities to hang out with him and Ken due to football and the fact that Daniel was with them most of the time as well. If Desario's path was ever to cross with mine again, it still would've been far too soon.

"Jesus H., man, I thought you were gonna no show or something," Ken ridiculed in his normal satirical tone as I strolled through the door and moved my sunglasses to the top of my head.

I held my hands up slightly and shrugged my shoulders, smiling at how nice it was to see my friends again in what I would consider our 'natural environment'... even if it wasn't Sal's.

As an older couple passed by me to exit the establishment, I moved to the side and bumped into whoever was sitting at one of the many swirly counter chairs.

"Heeey! Watch it!" a slightly miffed voice yelled out from behind me. I turned around and was met by a rather lanky kid with short, black, spikey hair. His face was unfortunately adorned by a large pair of glasses that actually covered a good portion of it. He looked a little more intimidated than angry when I faced him and I actually felt somewhat guilty. I don't know what it was exactly, but there was just something about the way he looked that made me pity him. A moment of silence passed as he awkwardly held his mouth open, looking like he wanted to say something more but wasn't sure he should. He was definitely from the geek crowd. I remembered passing by him, Lindsay's brother and some other short kid multiple times during school.

"Sorry, man," I finally said with a smile. "I'm like a bull in a china shop sometimes."

"It's okay," he replied, his eyes flashing around timidly, "I just don't want to spill anything on my shirt, ya know? It's my first date with my girlfriend and I want to make a good impression." As he continued talking it seemed as if he became more confident in himself.

I heard my friends begin to snicker at the idea of a kid like that having a girlfriend when he gave the distinct vibe of being too afraid to even converse with the opposite sex.

"Ohhh, okay. Well you have fun with that." My tone came out fairly mockingly and I had to swallow a snort of laughter myself. He turned back around in his seat as I made my way to our booth and sat beside Ken. He had a balled up fist next to his mouth and was biting at his knuckles to stop his taunting laughter.

I punched him in the arm and he immediately winced in pain and began to rub the area I hit.

"Be nice," I chuckled. "Let the kid have his moment."