Mud & Kale

Julie's

Kayla wasn't being modest. We almost ran over two dogs, a child, and some bicyclers. Plus she managed to go ten miles below the speed limit which was usually thirty five. How that made sense, I still don't know.

"How was it?" the blue-haired girl asked as she parked in front of the diner. Her hands were still like lead on the steering wheel, and her shoulders were hunched so awkwardly.

"Eh," I wanted to let her down easily, but I was also curious. "How long have you been driving?"

"Since fifteen."

"How old are you now?"

"Nineteen."

"Oh." Four years.

She frowned removing the key out of the ignition. "I had to retake the test, like, six times. And the last time, I barely passed. Like it was the same guy who had done three of my prior exams, so he probably just wanted to keep his life."

"Oh," I repeated, suddenly thankful that I had survived.

"Well, enough of my horrid driving. Let's go get some greasy burgers!"

She leaped out of the car, and I followed suit.

"About that, um, I'm actually--"

I was interrupted by a car horn, and we both turned around to see a beige minivan trailing behind us. I was bewildered for a second but then the driver's window rolled down and a familiar head popped out.

"Yo, bitches." It was Amy.

Kayla sprinted toward her and they attempted to hug but the car door made that completely impossible. In the midst of their awkwardness, a car horn bleeped and our eyes darted toward the car behind Amy.

She removed her minivan from neutral and blurted, "lemme park and I'll meet you guys there."

After Amy had disappeared, Kayla tugged my arm, causing me to have a slight heart-attack. I trailed behind her and when she opened the diner's entrance, I was greeted with the greasy smell of bacon.

It wasn't so bad. And okay, my stomach grumbled a lot(probably from the hash I smoked earlier). All my life, I'd been a faithful vegan, yet I was pretty passive toward the life choice. I mean I didn't want innocent animals to be slaughtered or abused in order to get my next meal, but I was somewhat curious about the stuff beyond my usual vegan diet.

Anyway, the diner looked... retro. Well it looked like it was trying so hard to look retro, but it looked more like some semi-new, corporate wannabe restaurant that was trying to win over it's costumers whom, by looking at most of their pubescent faces, had not even experienced the pain of dial-up, let alone the segregation and sexism which that "retro" age entailed.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking: a lot of shitty junior high kids. But if you ignore them, this place is pretty rad," Kayla mumbled, scanning the area.

I nodded, starting to feel queasy. Surprisingly, the presence of the preteens was not the reason for my sudden bout of nausea. It just hit me that I'd have to sit down with Kayla and her friends and I'd be expected to strike up a conversation. I had already spent five minutes with them, and that had ended in disaster.

Hey, what's up guys!

Oh hey, Maude right?

Yeah, that's me.

Is that a Weezer shirt? I love them!

Oh, really? I got this bad boy in one of their concerts. It even has all their signatures--mostly faded, but yeah.