It's Not All Roses

Chapter 3; Knock, Knock. Get The Door, Its Depression.

As Echo, Carter and I were sitting at the booth in the diner, we were all having a good time. Yamone would occasionally drop by and add to the conversation. She's cool. I don't really like new people, but she gives off a good vibe. I trust her.

Weirdly, as we were in the middle of a conversation with Carter, Echo grabs my hand from under the table. Obviously, I hold her hand too. She's my best friend. Echo smiled sweetly at me.

As we finally finished all of our food, Yamone handed us the check. I reached into my little black backpack and pulled out some cash, holding it up and putting it on the check. Carter looked at me, unamused. "I'm totally paying next time."

"I will not disagree with that." I responded, winking playfully at him and leaning back. I haven't been in the diner in so long, to be honest. It's definitely unique compared to a lot of the other shops in Graycott.

There's definitely a ton of sensations here. Stressed parents with loud children who are impatiently waiting for their food to arrive, the sound of cutlery clinking on tables and scratching on plates, the weird smell of pine cleaner from a freshly waxed floor.

I looked at the poorly made tables and the mysterious sticky stain that will probably outlive me and my future grandkids. As Yamone took the cash and check, she thanked us for visiting her and walked away, probably to go help other customers.

Hopefully the poor parents in the other corner. "So, where to now? It's only like 3:30 pm." Echo asked, looking down at her watch then back up to us. Carter and I both instinctively looked at each other, hoping the other had an idea.

I looked out the window and saw the gardening centre across the street. Pointing to it with my thumb, I looked back at Echo and Carter. "You guys up for looking at some pretty flowers and plants?" I said, awkwardly.

Echo and Carter both gazed at each other as Echo shrugged. I looked at them unamused as they did their little silent conversation with each other. I started to get up from the greasy and sticky booth and somehow accidentally put my hand in some mysterious salt on the table. Disgusting.

We all say bye to Yamone and head out the door, walking across the street to the front of the garden centre. Immediately, the sounds of frustrated yelling can be heard. We all turned our heads to where the noise was coming from and saw this guy who looked not too much older than us.

There weren't many people there so it was easy to spot him out. It looked like he was talking to a girl next to him. You could hear the snapping of her polaroid camera taking photos of the flowers around her. The guy looked like he was having trouble with repotting a hollyhock flower.

Confidently, I walked over to him, grabbing his attention. Honestly, I have no idea where the hell that confidence came from. "Hey, do you need help? Hollyhock plants can cause skin irritation if you don't handle it correctly, so remember to be careful."

I said, looking at him as he put the flower on the table. He looked at me, up and down then smiled at me. "I'll handle it, thanks though. I am getting paid for doing this, so it is a perk." He says, winking playfully after saying that last part.

"I'm Eira, by the way. Eira Camone." I responded, nodding at him. "Aiden Duman." He said, taking off a glove and rushing a hand through his fluffy, frizzy hair. I obviously got the attention of his photographer friend because she put a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me.

"I'm Hayden Whitlock, but my friends call me Dee. I usually visit this loser around his work and it seems today, a cutie talked to him." She said. I smiled awkwardly at her, putting one of my palms on the back of my neck.

She's pretty. Hazel eyes with a light ash hair colour. The top of her hair was in a bun while the bottom half of her hair was down, and of course she had two strands in front of her ears out. Her dark skin was covered with stickers on her face and pen doodles of planets on her arms.