You, Me, And The Divide

Chapter 11

"You look surprised," Katie pointed out as we laid on her bed lazily.

"Well I'm just a little confused. For one," I said and held one finger up counting off the reasons I'm confused, "Danny is a player. I doubt he even knows the definition of steady relationship."

"You're so stupid sometimes," she told me and shoved me with her weak little toothpick arms. "Danny looks at you like Alex looks at chili cheese fries. Have you ever once seen that boy carrying books for someone before you? The correct answer is no. He goes so out of his way for you. The kind of out of his way that means tracking down your house, meeting your family, and be completely out of his rich boy bubble just to invite you to a party."

"Alex does love chili cheese fries," I said softly. "But there's also the fact Allen hasn't seen me much in the past two years. Why would he start liking me now?"

"He liked you for so much longer than you realize. Remember that time you dated Rodney McFlinn? And he never wanted to go over to your house. Well I found out that Allen threatened him that if he hurt you he'd hurt him, and sure enough. When he broke up with you and came back to school with two broken ribs, that was Allen. He's always cared for you. You just always thought it was brotherly."

"Allen isn't one to keep back from chasing someone he likes though. Why wouldn't he have said something if he liked me for so long?" I asked her beginning to lose my patience.

"I don't know if you've noticed, Is, but you aren't a very emotionative person. The second someone says the words I care about you, you build up a twelve foot wall to keep them out," she told me matter of factly.

"And that wall has kept me from getting hurt many a time, my dear Kate," I told her trying not to let the truth of her words sting.

"It's keeping you lonely," she told me and crossed the room to her en suite.

There was a vibrate from my pocket, and it didn't take a genius to know it was my phone. Alex updated me with a curt "it's broken" to keep me from nagging. There was another message I guess I never felt alert me. Dad informed me that he and Toby were going to Jackie's diner for brunch about ten minutes ago. I told Kate I was leaving to meet with them, and she called back to bring her a cookie from their baked goods. She was a sucker for all the things in life girls like her don't eat. Cookies were on that list in twenty nine different variations. She just does three hundred crunches to try and balance it out. That girl has this thought in her perfect little head that if she eats anything at all it's going to turn straight to fat, thus she works out a lot.

Jackie's was around the corner, and by far, it was the best diner I've ever been to. I'm quite the connoisseur of diners after the disaster that was my mother. She didn't cook much growing up, so we ate at diners to imitate home cooking. There was a kind of atmosphere to most diners that made it seem warm and welcoming, but when my mom walked in, it was anything but. There was always this bubble of judgement she held over the world. It was like nothing was ever good enough for her. I guess we weren't good enough for her either.

Dad and Toby sat in a booth across the room with menus perched open. I sat down across from them and caught Toby's foot between mine. He tried with all his might to free his foot, but it was held firmly in place. I opened a menu nonchalantly as he squirmed around in his seat. I set the menu back down at the end of the table deciding on the steak and eggs.

"Give up?" I asked Toby as he sat back in his seat causing him to slouch pretty bad considering he's not very tall yet.

"Yes," he said with a sigh of defeat.

I released his foot and turned back to dad. He was studying the menu the way I study my notes five minutes before a test. He didn't have coffee like he usually did. Instead, a glass of water sat in front of him. I didn't question his sudden healthful decision. A woman named Cathy that often worked Sunday's here asked what I'd like to drink, and I followed Toby's decision with an orange juice. Toby started talking about how he's supposed to get the history tests back tomorrow, and I told him if he got a good grade I'd make him his favorite dinner this week. Dad didn't input much of anything.