Habits Of My Heart

CHAPTER 3

HERE I AM ALONE

I left the house around 4 o'clock. I know that I'll be an hour earlier than Emily would, but I didn't mind it, and I wanted to finish the final chapters of this book I'm reading.

I pull into the driveway and park my car on the farthest empty spot. I don't plan on leaving my vehicle, so I turn my car off and grab my book. The one thing about reading that fascinates me is how the reader can get so captured in a few words, how three words can make you feel sad or extremely happy.

I wasn't going to lie and say I don't read for fun because I do. I like the feeling of having words on a piece of paper indicate my next emotion.

I must have gotten distracted with my reading because the two constant knocks on my window terrified me. I rolled down my window because I couldn't hear what Emily was mumbling behind the glass.

"Are you reading? Please tell me you're not reading," she says through the window.

"I'm not reading," I say, trying to be foolish.

"Aubrey, the school doesn't officially start till Monday. Please put the book down and get out of the car," she insists.

I chuckle at her. I was shoving my book back into my bag.

Grabbing my bag, I roll my window up and get out of the car. I checked the watch on my wrist for the time. It was precisely 4:59 to my wonder 59 minutes had passed since I opened my book. Like I said before, I like the feeling of being captured in the moments of tiny words. As I follow, we walk into the diner. I'm welcomed with the same mouthwatering smell. The beauty of this place still fascinates me. I mean, this place was magnificent.

We take a table at the far end. So far, it's only me and Emily at the table. The diner wasn't occupied by a lot of people like the day before, all together I would say there are about six people here.

"Is the diner always this quiet?" I ask Emily.

"Not everyone on campus knows about the place. The only people you will catch here are your regulars. As much as I would love for the whole campus to know about mike's, it's kind of a secret," she says, looking around.

"I see. Do you like working here?" I say curious because I, for one, never had to work a day in my life unless you count volunteering a few times through my life.

"Yes, it's decent considering it my first job, and I don't suck at it. But it pays bills so that it will do." She says.

Her phone buzzes on the table.

She answers.

"Guys, we promised five, and it's 5:05. This is super embarrassing." She says to the person on the other end of the phone.

I heard a male's voice from the other end, but I couldn't quite put together what was said.

After a few silent moments, Emily ends the call.

"Boys," she says, rolling her eyes, "they just don't know what 'be on time means."

While we wait for her friends, Emily catches me up on all the schools "tea" is what she called it, her word for "gossip." She talked about how cheerleaders are a bunch of bitches. Her words, not mine,  included that they were all bad news, aka not friend worthy. She even mentioned that campus has very hot guys but be aware some are man whores.