No matter how much she runs, Laura is stuck in an endless loop of her past. With a transfer of school and a curly-haired boy who seems to be wherever she goes, it's a matter of time she realizes that her universe ceases at the sight of him-and runni...
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LOUISA'S DINER WAS GLOWING under neon lights and a fizz of something I hadn't be readied for. The chairs were of the same leather, the table adorned with the very same patterns, and yet—the diner was nowhere near the simplicity it bathed in the last time I stepped into it, the wholeness of it suffused in luminescence. There were a billion things happening at the very entrance, and a portion of the diner was covered with a make-shift, bright-red tent people were lined outside of.
Evan grabbed me by the elbow so I could make it past the people at the crowd. My eyes ran all across, but before I could turn to face him and ask him if Maria had stopped working here, she stepped into my vision herself.
"Oh, my," she gaped, cheeks deflating as she heaved out my name. "Laura!"
One would think that she was my family with the way she ignored Evan. He had fallen extremely disinterested while I dragged him closer to the counter, my lips stretching into a grin. "How are you doing?"
"Better, now that I see you both here," she winked at me, and passed a discreet look to Evan. "What would you like to have? The same old?"
I turned to face him. "Order whatever. It's on me."
Only now did he give me a once-over, interest flickering back to his face. "I'll have to exploit that."
"What's all this hustle about?" I ignored him and asked her, "There seem to be more people than usual."
"Ah," she rubbed her hands, handing us a small menu card. She didn't need to—I had memorized all the nice dishes the first time I came here, and I had been here a total of four times—two of those times with evan, excluding this one. "We're having a couple's special week! You get a good discount, and all you need to do is take a couple pictures in the photo booth and put one on this wall with a nice message for your partner," she waved towards a bulletin board which was slowly starting to fill with happy-looking couples and their starry-eyed smiles.
"That's all? Just a couple pictures?"
She nodded, and I smiled a bright, big grin. "Can we. . .do it too?"
". . .Of course," her eyes widened at Evan who had completely zoned out, people-watching. "You're dating her, cariño?"
That question brought him back to the conversation. "What?" He opened his mouth to add something else, and then shut it quickly.
She looked so happy that it broke my heart to interject. Maybe we should play along—the thought was enough for heat to rise all over my body.
"You never told me," she half-cried. Maybe we weren't going to explain. I snuck a glance at Evan, and his gaze was obscure. Is he okay with this? "You look so good together. You remind me of my good old—"
"We're not together." Apparently not. His jaw was set, like he was uneasy, gaze ignoring mine—like he wanted to escape this situation altogether. A pretense with me was embarrassing enough for him?
