The server finally comes around after five painstaking minutes of dead silence at our table.
Might as well have been an hour.
I was starting to wish Mom would just whip out her work laptop and engulf herself in that—just to relieve some of the tension.
No such luck.
She's been demurely staring into the distance the whole time while Hunter's been on and off his phone in between examining the menu.
I've been sitting here, unmoving the entire time, rereading the drink menu when I've already decided all I want is a water.
"Hey guys, welcome in! Nice to see the rest of the party here—oh my gosh, Hunter—hey!"
I'm sure the shock and confusion on my face doesn't go unnoticed as the dark-haired waitress greets Hunter like they're best friends.
Hunter looks up from the menu, his demeanor completely changing from a giddy kid about to order mozzarella sticks to chill and casual.
"Yo, Lauren, what's up?"
I feel my body cringe as my lip curls. 'Yo'...?
One look at her name tag informs me that it's actually LOREN and given by the plethora of anime stickers covering her server book, I'm guessing she's a fan.
"Nothing much, this is the last place I thought I'd see you." She laughs as she surveys the table. "Is this your family? Hello!"
"Hi." I raise a hand in a weak wave and Mom does the same.
"Yeah. My mom, sister." Hunter brushes off the entire introduction, leaning back in his seat. "I didn't know you still worked here."
"Yeah." She nods, resting her book against her stomach. "Tattooing is just fun money right now. Gotta have something to pay the bills, ya know?"
Hunter just nods and Loren clicks open her pen. "Well, I won't keep you guys waiting on drinks. Your lovely mom already got our famous Merlot, what can I get for you two?"
She turns to me first and I falter, not expecting it to be my turn. "Uh, water, please."
"For sure. Lemon?"
"Yes, please."
"And for you, Mr. Blake?" She turns her attention back to Hunter with a teasing grin and I blink in confusion.
"Just a Coke, thanks." Hunter smiles at her. Like not a sarcastic smile, it's genuine and I raise an eyebrow.
What the heck?
"You got it!" She snaps her book shut before walking off and I glance at Hunter to see if he's going to address this bizarre situation of someone being happy to see him just for him to be casually on his phone.
Mom is the one to break the silence—surprisingly—yet unsurprisingly says the worst possible thing she could've chosen to say.
"Well, she seemed... nice. You know, she reminds me of that girl you used to date. With the tattoos. Oh, what was her name?"
I choke on the ravioli I haven't even ordered yet.
No way this is happening right now.
Hunter looks at me, almost smugly, like he's about to make a joke. "You mean Trey?"
"Yes!" Mom nods, setting her wine glass down. "Super pale with the black hair, I always said she reminded me of a ghost, I remember."
"Yeah..." Hunter drawls, lips twitching in amusement as he sets his phone down. "Y'know, Mom, I actually saw her the other day."
"Did you really?" Mom's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and all I want is to facepalm as I slide down and out of this booth into oblivion.
"Mhm..." Hunter glances at me and I discreetly shake my head but he just continues. "Can you believe she actually has a kid now?"
My jaw drops at the same time Mom's does, but for very different reasons.
"No," Mom breathes and Hunter nods emphatically. "I know, crazy, right?"
Mom shakes her head, picking up her wine glass to take another sip. "I always knew that girl was trouble. I'm glad you ended things when you did."
"Same. I mean, could you imagine me as a dad right now?" Hunter lets out a short laugh and I feel my eye twitch.
"Oh no, no." Mom laughs but it's a cold, shallow laugh. "That wouldn't happen. Not on my watch."
I feel my heart sink into my stomach as Hunter makes a point of looking directly at me, not laughing anymore and suddenly I get it."Trey wanted to keep it and I wasn't going to let anyone try to convince her otherwise."
"Mom wouldn't."
"She would. And you know she would."
"Yeah." Hunter clears his throat, picking his phone back up just as Loren walks back up to our table with two glasses in hand. "Here we are--one water with a lemon and a Coke."
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𝒸𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉
Teen Fiction" ᴍʏ ᴄᴀꜱᴛʟᴇ ᴄʀᴜᴍʙʟᴇᴅ ᴏᴠᴇʀɴɪɢʜᴛ ɪ ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴀ ᴋɴɪꜰᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴀ ɢᴜɴꜰɪɢʜᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴛᴏᴏᴋ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴏᴡɴ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴀʟʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪᴀʀꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴀʟʟɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ɴᴏʙᴏᴅʏ'ꜱ ʜᴇᴀʀᴅ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴍᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜꜱ ...