Waffle Cones (#1)

l i q u o r i c e

"Promises and pie-crust are made to be broken." – Jonathan Swift

■ □ ■ □ ■ □ ■ □

"What's up, Flip-Flop-Fletcher?"

"Heya, Sushi!"

"Tell me more about yourself."

"I'm at school, Sushi.

"What's your point?"

"You have no sense of compassion for my punishment due to phone usage, do you? How rude of you."

"Punishment? What do you mean?"

"I'm lucky that I'm a sneaky ninja waiter, but phone usage on school grounds would put me in detention."

"Isn't that already your home?"

"I'm wounded, dear Sushi! I'm not a delinquent, thank you very much."

"Alright, calm your farm. Your school must be incredibly strict. Public or private?"

"Private, and full of prestigious snobs who secretly blow each other on the weekend. A bunch of fakes."

"Private? Damn, your family must be super wealthy to afford that. Why the hell are you working at an ice cream store?"

"Sushi, Google doesn't parade around and chuck internships at every nouveau riche snob. Also, I don't like mooching off my mo– er, family's money."

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You were going to say something and then stopped halfway through."

"Yes, thanks, Captain Obvious. Alright, I'll let you in on a secret. I've had some family problems in the past."

"What, did your bunny soft toy get tossed into the paper shredder?"

"Excuse me. His name was Fluffy, and it was a sad day."

"I'm genuinely starting to believe that you're a child in a young adult's body. So, do you have anything else mildly interes–"

"My dad passed away when I was a kid."

"Oh! I'm so sorry for your loss, Fletcher."

"It's alright, it was a long time ago. It's my mom who's the problem."

"How so?"

"She's hell bent on wanting me to go into medicine or law for a career, and also pressuring me into achieving well at school. Like, 4.0 GPA, perfect SAT score, etcetera, etcetera."

"Ah, that seems typical for a parent."

"Yeah, but between exams and Waffle Cones, it's difficult to manage. She wants me to quit my job."

"She what?!"

"You heard me. I'm considering it."

"Listen up, Flip-Flop-Fletcher. You are not going to quit working at Waffle Cones."

"But–"

"I won't let you, Alex won't let you, and Erin won't let you. I don't know about Melanie. But Waffle Cones is your life and what makes you happy. You can't drop that! Waffle Cones needs you, Fletcher, and so do I."

"..."

"..."

"Wow, Sushi, that was a cliché speech if I've ever heard one, but surprisingly motivating. Thank you."

"Now get me some ice cream, peasant!"

"Sure, sure, you ice cream junkie. I'd do it if I wasn't at school right now."

"After school, then. Chop chop!"

"Anything for you, m'lady. Anything for you."