MIAX

Change of Plans

The waiter distracted the two with some menus, while mandy and twinkle tiptoed outside, right behind their backs.

Ashton crawled near another table, which was being used by a family of six. There was a little boy of three among them, who watched ashton curiously.

When ashton came nearer, he grabbed his hair and tugged it.

Ashton winced in pain, but made no sound. The family did not notice him, so he kept moving forward towards the door, knowing that the kid was still staring at him.

He crossed right behind Max's chair and out the door when he saw them staring at the menu.

'I really cannot believe you crawled past them, they must be so into their menus', giggled mandy, once they were outside.

'Mia doesn't look like she's reading the menu, she looks confused, did she see you?' Asked twinkle, peering inside.

'You are forgetting, she thought he wanted calamari today, just like that letter described', Ashton grinned.

The girls remembered the letter and started giggling.

'I think we better go in and sit far from them as possible', said Ashton, 'they sit so close to the door that they're bound to notice us. Come on!'

They walked in grandly, with their chins sticking up, and went to a table on the other side. They were sure they heard a menu drop behind them.

As they sat down, a familiar boy came and sat next to them without asking permission.

'Thomas!' greeted Ashton, as he smiled to his 14-year old cousin, 'you did a great job bro. Mandy, Twinkle, this is my cousin Thomas, Thomas, these are my kidzbop friends, Mandy and Twinkle. He said the word ' friends' quite firmly.

Thomas noticed that too. 'Ah, but I say, you might be old enough to have a girlfriend, but two is crossing the line, don't you think?' He asked sarcastically. Ashton glared at him while the girls giggled.

"Well, it's nice to meet you in person", said Mandy, "Ash's told us a lot about you already."

"Aww, that's nice of you Ashy, but I must say, I kind of worked out why you wanted me to bring those two here."

'Go on' said Ashton, folding his arms and leaning back.

'I was moving about all over the place, and then I saw those two staring at a window of a shop, they're quite interested in shells to be honest. Anyway, I went to them and pretended to be a kidzbop fan, praying that you never showed them a photo of me, but they just smiled so I asked them for a selfie and they said sure. I couldn't think of another plan.'

He paused to take a breath.

'Then I asked them what were they going to do next, and mia piped up saying that she wanted to go to a restaurant, our restaurant', he said proudly, "So I quickly said that I would take them to a very decent one, and they, thinking that I was this mad fan who wanted to help in whatever way I could, happily allowed me, so I brought them here."

"I must say, that was a clever plan", smiled twinkle. Thomas smiled back.

'Then, when I came in, I left them there and went to the kitchen, wondering why on earth would you send them here. So I came back up and hid behind a table and saw everything."

"Twinkle, Mandy, it was a good thing they didn't see you behind the door, I had to pinch my nose not to start laughing."

The two girls blushed.

"And Ashton, I saw that little boy pulling your hair too!" He laughed.

They all talked for a while, going over what they'd done.

"And then I realised your second plan, and My God, you should have seen their faces, it was so hilarious I laughed till my sides hurt. . ."

They stole a glance behind them. Mia and Max were gone.

"Do you think they ran away, thinking that we might go to them?"asked Mandy, who looked really worried.

"I think we got carried away, I regret doing all this now, I feel so bad for them", twinkle gulped.

"Yeah, you nosy, interfering kids", teased Thomas.

Ashton looked worried himself. Had he gone too far? Will Mia and Max stop talking to them? Will they both forgive them for what they did? Thomas was right. He should have never interfered with them. It was their business, not his. He felt a sudden wave of guilt.

"Guys, I think we should go apologise, I feel bad too."

'. . . finally come to his senses I guess', muttered Twinkle, which Ashton heard and ignored.

'You know what, I think we'll go home today, and see them tomorrow, if they're mad at us, we'll apologise, if they're not, then we'll pretend nothing happened.'

'Ashton!', scolded Twinkle. Thomas grinned.

They all got up, Ashton playfully punched Thomas on the shoulder, said goodbyes and left.

The weather outside became a bit chilly, as the three kids hurried to their homes in the bus.