Dear Estella,

9. fifty dollars and a massage

Asher, Aaron, Devin, and I scan over the menus in our hands after being sat at the Olive Garden Asher drove us to.

Asher insisted on going out to eat somewhere with the three of us after school. Once the group settled on going to Olive Garden, I quickly let Brooke know that I was going to eat with them after school so there was no need to pick me up right after.

"I just want some pasta," Devin says as she sets her menu down with a huff. "This is why we should've gone to In-n-Out. Three burgers to choose from and they're all viable options."

"I wanted to take you all out to a nice dinner, at a nice restaurant. Is that wrong, Devin?" Asher asks, looking over to her.

She narrows her eyes at him. "The only reason we're here is because you were hoping we would get that one waitress again. Don't even try to deny it."

Asher shrugs, a sly smile on his face. "Jealous?"

She curls her lip in disgust. Rolling her eyes at him, she crosses her arms and slumps in the booth we're sitting in.

"What are you getting?" I ask Aaron, who's sitting on my left.

He closes his menu, turning his head to look at me. "Pizza." He shrugs. "You?"

"Chicken alfredo."

He nods, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair with a sigh. I notice the tense muscles in his jaw as he looks around the restaurant, seemingly searching for something.

"You okay?" I ask shyly as I twist my torso to face him.

"Yeah, I'm good." He nods.

I smile, twisting again so I'm facing forward. I'm immediately met with Asher studying me, his head tilted to the right in a curious manner.

"What's going on between you two?"

I cock my head to match the position of his, making him smile. "What do you mean?"

He laughs, shaking his head as he picks up his phone, completely discarding the conversation he began in the first place. I keep my gaze focused on him for a few more moments, waiting to see if he would set his phone down and continue talking.

The waitress arrives after a few minutes to our orders. Each of us ask for our beverages and meals politely. It all goes smoothly until Asher decides to keep our waitress at the table longer than she needed to be.

"Hey... um Stacey?" Asher speaks up after I finish ordering my food. "That's your name, right?"

The young curly-haired waitress nods, confusion clearly displayed on her face. She reluctantly grabs the menus from my hand, looking expectantly in Asher's direction.

"So I was wondering if I could add something to our order."

"Um... sure," she replies, prepared to type it into her tablet. "What would you like?"

"Don't listen to him—"

"Asher, don't—"

"Well, you see... I'm looking through the menu but I can't seem to find your name anywhere," Asher replies as he hands her his menu, flashing her the most charming smile he could muster.

My eyes widen in shock while Devin rolls her eyes and Aaron runs his hands over his face, shaking his head. Neither of them seem surprised. I'm pretty sure this isn't the first time Asher has flirted with a waitress before.

Surprisingly, the waitress isn't angry or offended by Asher's comment. She simply laughs it off, shaking her head as she walks away from their booth.