Twist of Fate

The Last Goodbye: Part 4

I finally got back to this story and written another scene. I hope you like it. 

After returning to the car the girls with, Johnny tagging along, headed for the pizza parlor. When they arrived, they found the place was busy but still managed to find an empty table. They sat down and waited for a waiter to come over, and before long, Frankie, one of the high school employees came over to take their order.

"Hey, Frankie," Brooke said with a smile.

"Hello, Brooke," he said bashfully. Most boys were like that when seeing her.

Being a model, not only was she beautiful, but in the town of Laurel she was famous. She was the girl that most girls looked up to. She wasn't super famous like a lot of super models that traveled all over the world, but she hoped some day she would be.

"So, what is today's special?" Brooke asked.

"We have a good deep-dish pizza with everything on it," he said and took out his little order pad. "Would you like that?"

"Sure, that sounds good and a plate of chili fries," Brooke said and looked over at Zoe. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, but hold the onions," she said, and Frankie quickly wrote it down.

"Sure thing," Frankie said, giving Zoe a smile. Brooke picked up on it and encouraged Frankie's flirting.

"Have you met my step-cousin Zoe?" Brooke asked as the boy's attention shifted from her to Zoe. The red-headed teenager was oblivious to what was going on, having her mind on more serious matters.

"Hey, Zoe," Frankie said, but she didn't seem to hear him.

After a few seconds, Brooke nudged her which made her come out of her trance. "Huh..." Zoe said, not understanding anything that was going on. "What was that?"

"Frankie is saying hi," Brooke said, giving her the signal that most girls give each other when they're in the presence of a boy who likes them.

"Oh, hi," she said back, not even looking at him.

"Brooke, I'll see you later," Frankie said and left the table with a disappointed look on his face.

Zoe was still looking at the menu, while Brooke looked somewhat shocked by her behavior. Johnny was busy playing at one of the arcade games that had been newly installed, so Brooke was not going to let her behavior slide and was going to find out why she was acting this way.

"Zoe, why did you do that?" Brooke asked as Zoe pretended like she was looking at the menu. "I know you're not reading that thing."

"No, I'm not," she said and peek over the top of the menu. "I'm trying to disappear."

Brooke grabbed the menu snatching it away from Zoe. "I'm not going to let you do that."

"Give that back," Zoe demanded and reached her hand out for the piece of laminated folded paper.

"No way, Cousin," she said and threw towards an unoccupied table. It slid onto the table and fell on the floor on the other side. She should have been embarrassed that she had drown undo attention to herself, but she just gave a coy look and turned back towards Zoe.

"Why did you do that?" Zoe said sounding upset.

"To get your attention," Brooke said, but Zoe just sat back folding her arms over her chest. "Frankie likes you, and you acted like he didn't exist."

"Who?" Zoe asked confused.

"The waiter, he was trying to flirt with you," Brooke said, but Zoe just rolled her eyes.

"I'm not interested in any boys, especially not now," she said and looked towards the entrance of the pizza parlor. Her face turned white as she saw that man again, the creepy one she saw in the park.

"Brooke, he followed us," Zoe said and tried to hide her face, but the man was looking right at her.

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asked, and Zoe nonchalantly pointed in his direction.

"I told you Lance Baker is okay," Brooke said, trying to reassure her. "He's probably here to see his brother."

"I can't help it," Zoe said and sat uneasily in her chair. "He gives me the creeps."

She was looking away not wanting to see him any longer, but then she heard a man's voice, and looked up to see him standing between her and her cousin. "Hi, Lance," Brooke said in her usual perky tone. "Have you met my cousin Zoe?"

"Hello, Zoe," he said and held out his hand. She wouldn't take it, so he awkwardly took it back. "I saw you in the park, and I thought you looked distressed."

"No, I'm fine, it's just..." he started but then stopped.

"Zoe's mom was killed last night," Brooke said without thinking. "She's just upset is all." Zoe looked annoyed that Brooke had announced her business to this strange man she had just met.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said and touched her hand. She found his skin to be cold and clammy.

She shot up from her set, her face turning white. "I have to go," she said looking directly at Brooke and then ran towards the door.

"Zoe!" Brooke called out to her. "Frankie, make that pizza to go!" She made to command to the teenager who was standing behind the counter.

Johnny joined Brooke after finishing his arcade game. "Where did Zoe go?"

"I'm not sure, Johnny, but we'll find her," Brooke said and took his hand leading him out of the pizza parlor.

Thanks for reading and I will be writing more. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment and vote if you like. See you later.