Sometimes You Need To Let Down Your Hair

Chapter 8

       When I slowed down to look at everything we passed Lucas laughed and grabbed my hand. A blush splattered itself onto my pale cheeks, and I walked a little faster. A cool breeze wahed over me, and the aroma of flowers filled my nostrils. Lucas thought my curiosity was kinda funny, and decided to say, "You don't get out much do you?"

       I replied by saying, "you have no idea." We started talking about all the places we had gone after that. I told him about all the times I had moved, and he talked about all the places he had visited. Apparently he's travelled all the way to South America! I almost don't believe him, but the stories he told were nice so I didn't say anything about it. It was nice how our conversation flowed easily. There were no akward pauses, or mumbled responses. Just two friends walking side by side, actually listening to each other and talking. 

       For a brief moment I wished my conversations with mother could come as easily as this one did. Lucas stopped suddenly, and pulled me out of my thoughts. We were at the diner. 

       It was a small building with a lot of windows. We walked inside, and I noticed that there was a bell above the door. How cool! We sat in a booth with red seats and a view of the entire restaurant. Once seated, I looked around. This place had a hometown feel to it. There was a metal counter with stools in front of it that gave customers a view of how their food was being cooked.

       There were also a few more booths and a couple tables. On every spare surface there were pictures and posters of old rock and roll legends, and there was an old fashioned jukebox by the door. I smiled, and Lucas said "Well, it's decorated like it's from the fifties, but I like it. What do you think?

       "I think it looks great," I said. Then a waiter with curly red hair and a wrinkled uniform came over to our table. She gave us our menus and asked what we wanted.

       I had no idea what I should get, so I let Lucas order for me. A few minutes later, I was glad. The strawberry milkshake and cheeseburger that I got tasted great! I chided myself for being so excited about eating out, but let it go. "So how's it taste?" 

       I said "great," a little too quickly for my liking. 

       "Have you ever eaten at  diner before," he asked.

       "Nope." 

       He looked at me with disbelief. "You've gotta be kidding me." I shook my head no. "Why not? Don't you ever go eat out with your mom, or your friends?" 

       "Nope. I usually just eat at home with my mom, and I don't have many friends to eat out with anyway." I looked down at my almost empty milkshake then decided to change the subject. "So how old are you?"

      "Sixteen. What about you?" 

       Well close enough right? "I'm fifteen."

       "When's your birthday?"

       "May Tweleveth, when's yours?" 

       "May Twenty-forth. It's coming up pretty quickly, isn't it? Your birthday is just in a few days," he said. Then he gave me a small smile and said "are you doing anything special for it?"

       "Well of course," I replied. "All of my very best friends are coming over to my house, and mother is going to throw me the best party ever." We both laughed, and I let that dream sit in the back of my mind.  My smile slipped a little and I said, "Actually I will probably just make myself a cake and get some new books."

       "Sounds fun. But do you know what sounds better?" I thought about it for a second. Honestly, a lot of things sounded better. 

       "Well, what do you have in mind," I asked. A mischievous smile lit up his face, and he shook his head.

       "Nah, you probably wouldn't like it."

        I knew that he probably expected me to tell him to tell me. Then he'd probably avoid telling me until he had enough fun, so I decided to do something different. "Yeah. I probably wouldn't," I said with a yawn. Then I became comically uninterested. 

       I glanced back at him, and laughed. His chin was resting on his hands, and he was starting at me with wide eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him, and started to stare right back at him. After a few moments of stairing into his eyes, I got embarrassed. My cheeks reddened, and I shyly looked away.

       Then I gave in and asked, "Ok what was your idea?" 

        "It's a secret," he said. I rolled my eyes, and then he said some more. "But, I suppose I can tell you a little bit. Just don't be surprised when I knock on your door and take you somewhere to have fun. Ok?"

       "Alright." After that Lucas payed for the bill and we walked back to my house. "So, how's your highschool?"

       "Like any other. We have testing soon, and then school is over. That doesn't mean that our teachers realize that we don't need any last minute projects to complete though. Are you transferring over for the last few weeks, or are you just done with school for the year?"

       "Actually I'm homeschooled, so I still have stuff to do to." 

       "Wait, you don't have a computer. How are you homeschooled?"

       I shrugged my shoulders, "my mother teaches me everything." He scrunched his eyebrows together and frowned at my answer. I didn't understand why though, was that not normal for a parent to teach their kid by themselves? "What's wrong?" 

      "Nothing, I just thought that wasn't how homeschooling worked. How do you take state tests?" State tests? I've never taken any state tests. This was confusing. Why was the way I was taught suddenly seeming wrong? 

       Lucas must have picked up on my confusion because he said, "Let me guess, you've never taken a state test." I nodded my head in confirmation, and he shook his. I heard him mutter that it was strange, but then he changed the subject.