THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

4

||ETHAN||

We received another order from Kenny who was serving as the cashier. We rotate stations every now and then. At the moment, my job right now is to be a waiter and distribute people's dishes once Carla was finished making them. The day went very well. People here are so nice and I would occasionally strike up conversations with them when it wasn't rush hours, though, there may be some unpleasant encounters. Overall, I really like working here. I turned to Carla who was putting on the final touches on a fish-fillet and a salad.

After we had our lunch-break, and seeing my well-prepared lunch. She had this burst of inspiration and motivation that she would equally work hard into putting effort into her dishes and added some garnish and other decorations even though we weren't supposed to nor needed to.

"Here Ethan, table 4," Carla smiled as I took the plate from her. Pushing the double doors with my side while maintaining the food carefully in my hands, I immediately saw the table card with the number four and made my way to an old couple. "Here you two go," I said with a smile.

"Why thank you dear," The old lady murmured dearly, "this sure looks extra lovely," the corners of her mouth creased as she smiled.

"It's her birthday today," the old husband chuckled as he gently held his wife's hand on the table.

My heart warmed at the sight of them, "aww, that's so sweet. I hope you two have a wonderful evening..." I greeted and turned to the lady, "...and happy birthday to you," I sang with a soft, symphonic melody. They looked at me surprised as the lady giggled, both giving a short applause. Waving at them, I turned my way back when I thought I saw someone familiar from the corner of my eye. Looking, my mouth faintly dropped in surprise when I saw Jackson starring at me with big astonished eyes. "Jackson, is that you?" I said. His face began to redden when I walked towards him, this expression still remained stunned. "Woah! How are you doing?" I smiled.

"I-I'm okay," he stuttered, though for some odd reason he couldn't look at me properly as though nervous.

"What brought you here? Well, besides to eat," I let out a small laugh.

"Erm, I was in the nearby college just roaming around and I haven't had lunch. Bored, so I thought I would drive around these parts when I saw this place" he scratches the back of his neck shyly.

I was about to say something when Kenny called out for me, "Ethan, you can keep the conversation going after you give him his order," he said across the counter.

"Sorry, I'll be there," I replied. Looking back at Jackson and giving him a wave, I padded over. Jackson, with puckered lips, gestured back at me. Going back into the kitchen, Carla already had the food ready in her hands. Before I could take it from her, she spoke, "do you know him?" She asks.

"Yeah, he's a guy that used to go to my school when we were seniors in high school," I said.

She gives a look before lending me the beef schnitzel, telling me that this is his. Entering into the dining area, I saw that he seems to be looking at his reflection in the window whilst styling his hair and checking himself out. Raising a brow, I walked to his table. "Here's your food," I said, catching him off guard because he looked startled to see me.

"Gah!" he slightly jumps. I looked at him with a grin trying not to laugh as he hides his pink face. "Th-thank you..." he mumbles as I place his food down in front of him. Glancing around, it was only us and the couple sharing laughs and jokes on the other side. Taking the other seat in-front of Jackson, I smiled as he looked at me surprised. "So what were you doing in the college, is that where you go to study now?" I asked inquisitively.

"Oh, yeah I do~," he says before taking a bite out of his food, "mmm, this is good," he compliments it.

"What are you studying?"

He pauses for a moment before breaking into a soft simper, "agriculture," he says.

I beamed at him with astonishment, leaning a bit forward on the table with glimmering eyes, I asked, "that's cool! Do you like gardening and farming?"

He continues to flush but lets out a hearty chuckle, "yep, I do," he says. His eyes dart at me, eyeing the details of my attire, "so, you work here? I didn't know that," He asks and takes another bite and chews.

I nodded, "yeah, I started today actually."

"Really? Did you make this?" He says, pointing at his food with a fork.

"No actually, But I do hope that I get to start working on the stove tomorrow," I grinned.

"Well, I should make sure that I remember to come back here then," he laughs gently.

We talked for minutes and minutes about so many things even when he had already finished his meal. I asked questions about him which he would immediately reply to and vice versa. A tinge of lament hit me as I thought that he seemed like such cool person and that I didn't spend much time with him during high school. I also noticed that, throughout our conversation, his habit of continuously checking me out is still there. I don't why he was doing that exactly, but I would admit that it was just peculiar. Suddenly, my phone rang out my alarm in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that my shift had already ended for today. Jackson raised a brow as he looked at me. Feeling slightly disappointed, I looked at him, "ah, sorry, my times up, I better get going," I said.

He looks at me with a very upset frown, "are you really leaving already?" He whines.

I nodded, "yeah, my father awaits me to come back in time, he gets worried if I'm late," I said, "see you," I sat up lastly before returning to the back.

"See you too..."