in the autumn breeze.

2- Oakdale Diner

Picture is Quinten

What do I wear? Where are we going? A skirt? Jeans? T-Shirt? Sneakers? Flats? A frustrated groan escaped my lips as I sit down on my bed, not knowing what to do. Just then, my phone vibrates, alerting me that I had just received a text message. It's Quinten, asking for my address for later. I reply and ask what to wear. That boy must have really good timing. A few scones later he replays with a simple 'nothing fancy. jeans are fine.' I sigh in relief as I now know what to wear.
I look into my closet and pull out a pair of blue light wash jeans along with a The Breakfast Club tank top. It is one of my favorites despite the fact that I don't wear it too often. I go into the bathroom to change and touch up my makeup a little bit. After that I decide to actually put more effort into my hair. I remove the elastic holding the braid together, causing the messy strands of hair that had been woven into one to come apart.
I plug in my curling iron before charging my phone. I wrap a fairly large chunk of my light brown hair loosely around the curler before holding it in place for a few seconds. I release and repeat that process until I have done all of my hair. By the time I am finished with tag it is already 4:47. I truly take a long time to get ready. But in my defense I have a late bus so I didn't get home until 3:30!
I decide to put on my black vans, another one of my favorites. Despite how old the poor shoes were, I had grown this deep love for them and refuse to throw them out. At least, not anytime soon. I walk over to the dining room table where my wallet sits and grab it, placing $20 inside in case I need money. As I'm zipping my wallet up and putting it in my purse, I hear a knock on my door. It must be Quinten. I walk over and open the door, and as expected, there stood Quinten. He was wearing a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt with a nice (fake) leather jacket to top it all off.
"Hey!" I greet almost too enthusiastically. "Hey. You ready?" Quinten asks me. I nod. "Yup. Let's go." He smirks. "You're in luck. My car just got out of the shop recently so she's all ready to go." He says. I nod again. I go to open up the passenger's side door but Quinten beats me to it. I bow my head and curtsy a bit before getting inside. My door is shut and he walks around to the drivers side before starting the (very nice is I might add) car.
"So, Braelynn, how are you doing?" I am asked. "Quite well. If I may ask, where are we going?" I question. "Good to know. And actually, we are going to a little diner to meet up with a few of my friends to, 'celebrate' the new school year." He explains. I nod. "Makes sense." He pulls into a lot and parks before turning the key, which turns the car off. I open my car door and get out before Quinten can beat me to it again. "Darn it! Don't you know that the men are supposed to open all the doors for women?" I laugh. "Of course, but I like to do things differently." Quinten smiles at me. With that, the door leading into the small diner is held open for me by Quinten of course. "There they are." He leans down to my ear and whispers, pointing to a group of two boys and a girl sitting at a large booth in the corner. I nod. He leads me over to the group and I follow silently, tapping my fingers together in a pattern, something I do when I'm nervous.
"Aye, Quinn, you actually invited a friend this time!" One of the boys says. He has blonde hair and dark green eyes that lit up whenever he smiled his boyish grin. The other boy has dark brown hair and light blue, almost grey eyes. The girl has naturally light brown hair showing by the small amount of roots she has showing. It is currently dyed a pale grey. The two boys stand up and they all do a weird handshake hug thing that I don't quite understand. The girl looks at me and smiles. I offer one back and sit next to her, taking the place of the dark hairs boy. "Hi." She says. "Hey. I'm Braelynn." I introduce myself. "Emma." She replies. The boys finally finish their reunion. "Braelynn, this is Xander ," Quinten points to the boy with the dark hair. "this is Rowan," he points to the boy with the blonde hair and wide smile. "and as you must already know that's Emma. She Xander's girlfriend." I look over at Emma and wiggle my eyebrows at her, causing her to laugh and hit my arm. "Guys, this is Braelynn." Quinten finishes. I nod and wave.
"Damn, how'd you manage to get a girl like that, Quinn?" I hear Rowan say not too quietly. Quinten hits his chest. "We're not dating, Rowan." He replies with a scowl. "But you know you want to." Rowan says with a teasing smirk. My face goes red at that comment and I cough loudly, multiple times. He gives me an innocent smile and I roll my eyes playfully, the corners of my mouth tipped upwards into a small smile.
We all figure out our seating and end up with Emma and Xander on one side. On the other it's me, Rowan, and Quinten sitting on the outside, despite his many protests. "Oh come on, Quinny, I'm not gonna do anything to poor little Braelynn" he says putting his arms around me. I laugh and smile. "It's not that-" Quinten starts but is cut off by Rowan. "Nope. Don't wanna hear it!" He says and turns his head. The waitress comes over and takes our orders before leaving, letting us talk again. "So wait, do you guys go to Oakdale or-?" I ask. Xander is, surprisingly, the one to answer. "Rowan just moved closer to Oakdale High, making that his primary school so we decided to transfer with him." He replies. "We didn't come in today because we wanted to be, as some people call it, 'fashionably late'." He finishes. I nod. "Cool." The waitress comes back with our drinks, telling us that food would be out shortly.
Currently Rowan had his arm around my waist and his head was resting on my shoulder. He looked like he was about to doze off, even though it was only about 6 o'clock. Quinten, Emma, and Xander were currently in their own conversation. I pull my phone out of my purse and text Molly, asking how her date is going. I'm not expecting a reply anytime soon considering, well, she is on a date.
"Braelynnnnn, I'm so tired." Rowan whines, dragging out my name. "Then take a short nap." I suggest and look down at him. He was like a small child, just more attractive and buff. "Really? You'll let me?" His eyes light up with hope. I nod. "Yup." He smiles and puts his head back down on my shoulder, yawning. Then he adjusts his grip on my waist, getting a bit more comfortable before closing his eyes. In an instant, his breathing steadies and he's asleep. Quinten looks over at the sight, laughing a bit. "It's so early." He says. I nod with a small smile. The three of them quiet their voices a bit. I take a sip of my water and join the conversation. "Braelynn, don't you think a two year anniversary is very special?" Emma asks me, a frustrated look across her face. I don't even try to hide the look of surprise on mine. I nod quickly. "Of course!" I say. Emma throws a pointed look over to Xander. "See? Even Braelynn agrees with me." Xander sighs and rolls his eyes. "Fine." He mumbled quietly. Emma's eyes light up and her harsh glare is removed. "Thank you." She says with a nod. He mumbles again. "Yeah, yeah." Emma smiles in victory.
After about another five minutes our food comes. I poke Rowan. "Hey, Rowan, our food's here. Wake up." After a bit more poking he wakes up, wiping his eyes. "Sorry." He apologizes sheepishly. I shake my head. "It's fine." He nods as a light blush covers his cheeks but keeps his arm securely around my waist. He rubs his eyes again before starting to eat. Silence covers the five of us as we eat, too hungry to even say a word. Finally, we finish eating. We talk a bit more and pay the bill before going outside to leave. It is around 6:45.
"Alright, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow?" Emma says in a questionable tone, looking at everyone and settling her gaze upon me. "Yup." I say as Rowan's and Quinten both say 'yeah'. "Good. Bye!" She says with a wave, Xander also waving. They go to Xander's car and get in, starting it. "Quinny?" Rowan says with hope in his voice. Quinten smiles and laughs. "Fine. Get in." With those words Rowan smiles and cheers before getting in Quinten's car. "Rowan doesn't have a car so he usually takes the bus or has someone drive him where he needs to go." He explains. I nod and start walking to the car. Quinten grabs my arm and looks me in the eye, completely serious. "Braelynn, whatever you do, don't hurt him. He's already quite attached to you and he met you only an hour and a half ago. You're good for him, I can tell." He says. I can see in his eyes how much Rowan means to him. I nod. There's no way I would hurt either of them. "Good. Thanks." He gives me a smile and pat on the head before we both get into his car.
Rowan is sat in the passengers seat. "Rowan, you do know that that's Braelynn's seat, right?" Quinten asks, amused. He frowns. "Sorry, Braelynn." He says. I laugh. "Wait, can I sit in the back with you instead?" He asks. I nod. Rowan jumps out of the passengers seat and sits in the back, next to me. "You guys ready?" Quinten asks. "Yeah." He starts the car and drives off. After a minute I notice that Rowan's gaze his focused on me. "What?" I ask, a light pink color tinting my cheeks. "Your nails. It's like God sent Angels down to give you the perfect finger nails!" He exclaims. I hear Quinten chuckle to himself. Rowan picks my hand up and studies it carefully. His face is filled with awe as he looks at my hand. Then, he sets my hand down and nods. "Definitely Angels." Rowan says. I shake my head and laugh.
The drive home is quiet. You can tell we are all tired, despite how early it is. Quinten drops me off first. I get out of the car and both boys follow me up to my front door. "Thanks, Quinten." I say. He nods and offers a smile. I return the gesture. "I'll see you guys tomorrow then." I say. They both nod. "Bye, Braelynn!" Rowan says with a wave. "Bye, Rowan!" I reply, matching his tone. I wave to both the boys. "Oh, do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?" Quinten asks me. I think about his offer for a moment. "Sure, if it's not too much trouble." I answer. "No problem. See ya." "See ya." I say with a wave before unlocking my front door and then closing it behind me. I smile to myself at how the day had went by quite pleasantly. And with that, I walk upstairs and into my bedroom, the smile never leaving my face.