How To Save A Life

Chapter 6

"Get whatever you want, I'm paying." Sean says as we slide into a booth.

"Well I'll have to think about it." I pause,"I'll get onion rings."

"Are you sure? I thought you weren't a fan? I distinctly remember you saying that if I wanted to pay you back, I shouldn't buy you onion rings."

"Yeah? I think your memory is a little off. I could've-"

"Hey guys, welcome to Joe's. Can I start you off with any drinks or appetizers?" A waitress asks, cutting me off.

"Yeah, we'll have two orders of onion rings. I'll have a water." Sean orders.

"I'll have a raspberry lemonade, please." I tell the waitress.

"Sounds good. I'll be right back with your drinks." She says and walks away.

"So have you ever eaten here before?" Sean asks me.

"No, my family doesn't eat out much. When we have in the past it's always been at that weird hippie place out in west fields."

"The west fields, huh? What is that place called? I think I've heard of it." He says thoughtfully.

"Alfalafa." I answer.

"What do they have for food?" He asks, curiously.

"Patchouli burger." I answer, trying to keep a straight face.

"Sounds delicious." He says, trying not to look disgusted.

"Here are your drinks, water and raspberry lemonade." The waitress says, bringing us our drinks. She walks away and we continue our conversation.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. I don't know if patchouli burgers are even a thing. Sounds gross though." I tell him, laughing at the look on his face.

"Oh thank goodness. I thought you were being serious. Not that there's anything wrong with hippies, I just don't think patchouli sounds appetizing." He says, looking relieved.

"You and me both. I'm not kidding about eating there though. It does exist and my parents do eat there. I just eat the salad. All-Natural, very healthy, incredibely disgusting."

"But you keep eating it?" He asks, slightly confused.

"Well yeah, it's the only thing on the menue that doesn't scare me."

"That restaurant sounds wonderful. I'll have to check it out sometimes." He says sarcastically.

"Oh you really should, bring me with you when you do." I reply, matching his sarcasm.

"Here are your onion rings. Would you like to order an entree?" The waitress asks after she brings our food.

"Nothing else for me thanks." I tell her.

"Yeah this will be all thank you." Sean says with a polite smile.

"Okay, I'll be right back with the bill." She leaves us to enjoy our meal.

"So you haven't eaten here before, you'll have to tell me what you think of the onion rings." Sean tells me as I take a bite.

"These are great, reallly good. Best onion rings I've ever had." I say after I've finished chewing.

"Really? The best? You have some pretty low onion rings standards. Not that these aren't great onion rings, but they really aren't the best around."

"Well I've only ever had onion rings from A&W. I love them, but I can imagine there's better rings out there."

"Oh yeah there is. you'll have to try the best in town at least."

"Where are the best in town?" I ask, curiousity peaked.

"I don't know, I haven't tried them all. We'll have to figure it out. We should keep doing this until we've tried every onion ring in town." He says, smiling at me.

"Oh you want to do this again? So you like my company, huh? Well I'm happy to go on a onion ring conquest with you."

The waitress brings the bill to the table and tells us to have a wonderful day. She seems very sincere in her good wishes so we return them with our own. Content with our politness, she moves on to the next table.

"How often should we go? Definitely no more than once a week, that would be unhealthy." Sean asks.

"I didn't realize you were so health consious." I tease.

"I didn't realize you were on the hunt for a heart attack."

"Very funny. So no more than once a week? How about just that then? Once a week I can pick you up from your session and we can go galavanting through town, on the search for the best onion rings around."

"Sounds good to me. Nice use of the word galavanting by the way, don't hear that in conversation much these days."

"Yeah, I got it from all the classics I don't read."

"Not into classics. I'll keep that in mind. Any particular reason?"

"I just don't see why they're so special."

"I see, well I don't read classics either, for no reason other than they just don't interest me." Sean says, then checks his watch. "Oh jeez, it's alreaday six. I didn't realize how late it had gotten."

"Do you have to go? I'm just finishing up anyway so we can head out." I tell him.

"I mean not really, I don't have anything going on, my parents will just be wondering where I am. They've been really cautious ever since the thing. They worry that if I'm not at the doctor, or with them, that I'm off crying in a closet. Like it happened one time the day after the shooting and now they won't even let me go to school." He tells me as we walk up to the cash register with the bill.

"Well parents usually get worried about those things. You're lucky they care, my parents will do anything to get Mavis out of their hair."

"Yeah I guess." He says as he pays the bill.

"Hey, thanks for the onion rings." I say as we walk out.

"No problem, thanks for picking me up from the session."

"Next time I'll try to get Mavis to come. She's really great if you can get her to talk to you."

"I bet she is. I'd say I'll invite Scott, but chances are he already has plans."

"Oh yeah, well that's fine. The smaller the group the more likely Mavis is to open up to you. Although, I'll warn you it isn't going to happen the next time you see her, or the next time after that either." I say after we've gotten in the car.

"That's okay, she can talk to me when she's ready, I understand."

"That's good. So how do I get to your house from here?" I ask.

The rest of the ride he gives me directions and inquires about my air freshener, which apparently smells really good. I kindly explain that I don't have an air freshener in my car and have no idea what he's smelling. Yeah good times. He still trying to figure out what smells good when I pull into his driveway.

"Thanks again for the ride, I'll text you about next week." Sean says.

"Yeah okay, sounds good." I reply.

I wait for Sean to get out of the car but he doesn't. I turn to ask him if something is wrong when I realize he's staring at me. Is there food on my shirt or something? I'm trying to figure out why he's staring at me when he reaches over, grabs a piece of my hair, and smells it. Why is he smelling my hair? That's kind of weird, maybe he has a hair fetish.

"Now I know what smells good, it's you." Sean says, then winks and gets out of the car.

What just happened? Do I really smell good? Well I did shower this morning, and put on clean clothes. Did he just make a move? It kind of felt like a move. Then again what do I know I've never had a boy interested in me before. As Scott so nicely put it, I look like I could be twelve.

I'm still pondering the events that just took place when I pull into my driveway. I park then hurry in to tell Mavis about everything that happened. Hopefully she'll be excited and want to join me on my next adventure.