Since You Came

Ch. 26

Mae sets a tall plate of steaming pancakes on the table in front of us.

"I'm still mad at you for sleeping through the surprise for Maddie," Dan scolds her. He stabs a couple pancakes with his fork and sets them down on his plate.

Mae groans. "I already said I'm sorry," she defends. "And besides, you didn't even know if you were actually gonna come."

"Guys, does it matter? It didn't bother me that there wasn't an actual surprise," I offer.

Dan looks at me and rolls his eyes. "It does matter, babe. It was supposed to be really cool," he says, pulling a chunk of pancake away from the plate with his fork. He shovels the food into his mouth.

"Dan it was cool," I say, resting my chin in my hand. Mae pulls a chair out and sits across from us, bringing with her another plateful of pancakes.

"No, it- fine," he gives in, "It was cool." the edges of his lips curl up in a smile and his eyes gleam.

I return the smile and place two pancakes onto my own plate. "So, what are the plans for today?"

"I'm actually not sure. Maybe we could go to the zoo or something," Mae suggests with a shrug.

"If that's the case, I only go to one zoo," I say.

"Cheyenne Mountain?" Dan asks with a smirk.

"Cheyenne Mountain," I confirm. Cheyenne Mountain is the only zoo in Colorado that allows you to feed giraffes. And I love giraffes.

"Thought so," he says. His eyes are glued to my face, watching me place a bite of pancakes into my mouth.

"Stop staring at me," I mumble, bringing a hand to cover my mouth as I chew.

"Why?" he questions, a playful gleam in his eyes. The smirk on his lips grows to a smile.

"Get a room," Mae complains. She lets out a groan, "I need a boyfriend."

"Why don't we invite Cameron?" I ask her.

She shrugs. "I dunno. I haven't talked to him at all this school year."

"We've had two days of school."

"But still," she says with a laugh.

"We're inviting him. I'll call him."

Mae groans again.

I dial Cameron's number, and he picks up after the fourth ring.

"Hello?" his voice sounds tired, even though it was ten in the morning.

"Do you have any plans for today?" I ask.

"Does nothing count?" he responds. I hear him yawn.

"No. Daniel is in town today and him, Mae, and I were wondering if you wanted to come to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with us," I tell him.

He considers the offer in silence for a moment before speaking. "I'm in. Where y'all at?"

"Mae's."