oranges and sharpies :: ch

1

Like all days spent at the diner, it was lonely.

The diner was probably one of the happiest and most beautiful places on earth, but to Jade Xandar, it was lonely.

Jade Xandar was a storm on legs. No matter how sunny the world was, Jade just couldn't seem to get past the mist that surrounded her. So, she wasted away at a nearby diner every Friday at exactly one o'clock in the afternoon.

One particular day, at one forty five in the afternoon, a not-so-intimidating boy stepped in.

She observed him, not because he fascinated her, but because her world was so dull, she had nothing better to do but look at strangers from afar.

He was probably the most interesting thing she had seen the whole week. She watched him order a corn dog, she watched him get it, she watched him eat it, and she watched him watch her.

She was too far out to even care about what he thought she was. So, Jade Xandar continued to watch him as he got up and approached her.

"Hi," he breathed.

"Don't fucking speak to me," she said as she got up and left.

The boy, completely fazed, thought that following her was a good idea.

"I mean she's honestly so into me," he thinks to himself. "why on earth would she be staring at me if she weren't?"

So, the boy immediately exits the diner, his corn dog long forgotten and abandoned.

"Hey, wait!" He hollers.

She whips her head around, and lets out an exasperated laugh.

"I told you specifically not to fucking speak to me. Are you deaf, or something?" She snaps.

"Well, what kind of person stares at a stranger and acts like a total bitch to them?"

"What kind of person chases after a stranger who told them to stay away from them?"

"You didn't tell me to stay away from you. You told me I wasn't allowed to speak to you. That's it. And FYI, I wasn't going after you. I was actually on my way out."

Point one for Calum, he thought.

"You dumbass, you clearly went after me. Who would leave a perfectly fine corn dog behind? And you said, "Hey, wait." so you were clearly going after me."

Jade Xandar was a good person. Good, but mischievous, vindictive, and not to mention, moody.

He looks at her in disbelief. No lady has every spoken to him like that. "Why are you so rude?"

"Why do you follow strangers?"

"Why do you stare at strangers? Staring is rude. Didn't your parents teach you that? Oh, wait, by the sound of it, you don't look like you were brought up properly."

He knows he shouldn't have said that, but this girl was being rude. All he wanted was to have a proper conversation with her, but she completely shut him down before he even got to start.

She turns on her heel, and starts to walk toward him slowly. The sad smile on her face made him strongly regret what he just said.

"My parents died before I turned five. Yeah, go blame them, silly boy."

Too far, Calum, too far.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I just wish you weren't so disrespectful," he says.

"Same," she mutters. "I mean, like, I wish I wasn't so disrespectful, but I'm still not sorry."

"Do you wanna go for a walk?"

"No, bye."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go fuck yourself."

And there he stood, watching the stranger go. She was as rude as she was fascinating.