We were all at the Cliff House. Ben and I were sharing fries as usual while Kim sipped her strawberry milkshake contently. We were seated in a booth, Kim and Ben sat together, and I sat facing them.
"that's bullsh.it , Ben" I smirked "we all know that if there was a zombie apocalypse Kim would probably be the only one to survive, she's most likely the only one in our group that has any brains at all"
"what happened to bros over hoes?" he asked closing his eyes and sighing
"the f.uck?" Kim pushed him while Ben laughed uncontrollably
"yeah, you're right." Ben said dipping one fry in Kim's milkshake "Kim is more of a bro than a hoe"
"you're such a pig, this is why you haven't kissed anyone else besides your aunt Rosa" she retaliated
At this I burst out laughing, while Ben sat there sulking. Kim satisfied with the discussion, took out a book from her backpack, and slipped her reading glasses on.
"what are you reading?" I asked
"pale blue dot" she answered without looking up from her book.
Sensing her plea for solitude, I glanced at Ben, who unsurprisingly was trying to build a fort with our french fries. Not wanting to interrupt him, I analyzed our surroundings, taking it all in even though I've been here countless times.
Cliffhouse diner was one of the few attractions in our town, it wasn't as popular as the Cinema and the Broken Shelf coffee shop, but the food was awesome. Most of our classmates and youths went to the coffee house, so we decided that the Cliffhouse was our meet up place, kind of like a club ( even though Ben hates to think of us like that )
All of the waitresses were over fifty years old, and for older women they wore ridiculously short skirts and they all had funny names like "Lola" and "Diamond". The booths were red, and the floor was tiled, very retro looking.
I glanced at the tables surrounding us, wondering if I knew anyone. Tom, the janitor at our school sat near the window, with a little girl, who sipped happily at her lemonade drawing with colored crayons and swinging her feet happily. I remember that on my first day of high school as a freshmen I was locked up in some senior's locker, and Tom wretched it open. Since then he always makes comments on how skinny I am and how I should build some muscle to defend myself, even though that was years ago.
A couple of police officers sat at the bar eating pie and drinking (what I stereotypically assumed was coffee).
"Hey, isn't that that Zöe chick?" Ben asked catching my attention, Kim looked up from her book and we all glanced towards the door.
She stood there at the doorway with hooded eyes, staring at the floor. She was expressionless with her bag hanging on her shoulder. Her frame looked tiny in contrast to the big metallic doors.
As if she had woken up from a trance, she quickly lift her gaze and locked her eyes with my own.
"why is she looking at you like that?" Kim asked coyly "you guys have only seen each other in class right?"
I didn't answer, I wasn't sure if I should even move. So I did the first thing that came to my mind.
I waved.
First a flash of surprised crossed her face, then she frowned, looked away and sat at the farthest booth possible.
"rejecteeeeeed" Ben commented while Kim laughed clutching her stomach.
"she is so into you" Kim remarked sarcastically "what's up with the wave?" she continued to laugh. I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest.
"I was just trying to be friendly" I shrugged, trying to make it seem like no big deal, when in fact I was pretty sure that my ego had received a fatal wound.
"okay but seriously" Kim pressed, seeming genuinely interested "was today at school the first day you saw her?"
"yeah, I have no idea who she is" I shrugged again, biting on a french fry.
"well it's no big deal since you haven't spoken a word to her and she already 'nexted' you" Ben snickered laughing at his own joke
"seriously Ben? 'nexted'?" Kim said rolling her eyes and reopening her book, signaling that she had lost interest in the conversation.
"you know you love it" Ben said earning an eye roll from Kim while she tried to subtly lift her book to cover her rosy cheeks.
"you guys are cute, you make me want to puke" I said leaning on the table.
"at least some of us are getting some action" Kim stated without lifting her gaze from her book. Her statement made me frown, while a really flushed Ben seemed suddenly really interested in his fingernails.
"what's that supposed to mean?" I asked carefully
"well it means-" Kim began
"nothing, it means absolutely nothing. she's just trying to have the last word, as usual" Ben said with a nervous chuckle glancing towards the window.
