Cape Hawthorne Vol. 1

Chapter 8: The First Meeting

Allianne killed the engine, turning around in her seat. Hailey stayed glued to hers, deathly quiet. It was such a rarity for Hailey to not be talkingーespecially around Alli and Chrissyーbut she'd apparently been rendered speechless by Christina's account of their, shall we say, eventful afternoon.

After sufficient teasing and debate over a ship name (Chrisley had won by a landslide), of course.

Christina herself hardly knew what to make of what went down and she witnessed it all firsthand. The memories were getting fuzzier by the minute and she didn't want to forget anything. She had wanted to talk it all over with Wesley immediately, but he seemed determined that all the world and their dogs should be there for the minute-by-minute analysis.

The three girls looked over the dash of Alli's station wagon and up at the neon sign that read: Reyes Pizza.

"Well," to everyone's surprise (not), Hailey was the first to speak. "This ought to be fun." And with that, she grabbed her backpack and bomber jacket and out she went.

"Any idea what to expect?" Alli peered into her rearview mirror at Chrissy while she gathered her things.

"The unexpected." Christina rolled her eyes before heaving herself out of the car.

-*-*-

"I'm sure you're all wondering why we've brought you here at this hour-"

"Parker, this is serious-"

"I told you guys to wait for me to start the meeting!"

A mop-headed boy came barreling through the swinging kitchen doors, cleaning rag and apron still in place from his shift.

"And I told you, Samuel, no more weird meetings while I still have customers!" Mr. Reyes scolded his son, sending a warning glance to Parker and Wesley, but smiling kindly at the three girls before turning back to the last customer in the restaurant. Christina got the feeling that the Three Stooges didn't exactly bring girls around all the time. "Mrs. Dippet, can I get you anything else this evening?"

The old woman smiled slowly, her eyes squinting with the sweet gesture, before shaking her head. "Let Sammy and Wesley and Pepperー" Parker sighed dramatically; the woman had been getting his name wrong for years, "ーhave some fun." She looked over indiscreetly at the ragtag group currently all packed into a four-person booth by the window. "They've finally managed to snag some ladies." Mrs. Dippet winked at the three boys before paying her bill and getting up to leave. Mr. Reyes offered the old woman his arm and walked her to her car.

"Dios mio," Samuel mumbled, shaking his head of sweaty, chocolate curls as he pulled up a chair to the end of the table, before calling out, "See you for trivia night on Monday, Mrs. D! What? Our trivia cards are like, fifty years old so she kicks butt every time. It's hilarious to watch."

Silence fell over the table as they all stared at him.

"Anyway, as I was saying-"

"It's lost its effect now, Park," Hailey smiled, feigning sympathy. He just stared at her for a moment, utterly shocked that she had used his nickname. By the time he had finished processing, he'd missed his chance to respond with one of his signature quips so he welcomed Wesley's interruption.

"I can take it from here, anyway," Wesley spoke up, taking a deep breath. "As I'm sure you're all aware-"

"Samuel!" Mr. Reyes came back through the front door.

"Yeah?" He called back to his father.

Mr. Reyes surveyed the group of teens in his restaurant. "Only eat leftovers, clean up afterwards, and remember to lock up." He tossed Samuel a key ring. "And finish up by midnight!"