Fruit of the Elements

Chapter Six

After walking for a good four and a half hours, Kyle looked agitated enough to punch someone, and I wasn't that far behind him. Annoyingly enough, Cailean was still as happy as could be with a terribly apparent spring in his step. The three of us had been walking ever since our conversation at the busstop and we hadn't stopped yet. While Kyle and I were trudging a little far behind Cailean, he had been singing, singing for God's sake, and not complaining a bit. But two of us were hungry and the singing, which was annoyingly pretty by the way, was really starting to get on my nerves.

"Cailean, if we don't stop somewhere to get food and rest for a bit I think Kyle is going to rip out your throat." I interrupted rudely, finally finding the moment to burst his happy little bubble. The boy turned around and was seemingly surprised at how tired the two of us looked.

"Wow, you should have said so earlier, I wouldn't have minded stopping." he replied innocently. I heard Kyle growl from beside me.

"I'm gonna kill somebody in the next ten minutes if we don't find something to eat." he said. I looked at him incredulously,

"You just ate like, six hours ago, I know I'm hungry but this is ridiculous, even for you..." the look I received after that statement was enough to make my mouth seal itself shut.

"Look, I think there is a diner not too far from here that I went to . Mom gave me money for food and a hotel, so let's go ahead and get some because if we don't-"

"Yadda-yadda yes we know, you're going to 'kill someone'." I taunted. One more look and I would wither into a pile of steamed Lilli. With that in mind I lifted my hands in surrender and stepped out of the way to let Kyle through. He resumed walking ahead of Cailean and I in the direction of what I assumed was the diner.

After maybe fifteen more minutes of walking we spotted the little diner on the opposite side of the street, it was a quaint little place with a 50's vibe coming off of it. From the colorful outside to the red seats and counter and the black and white checkered floor when we walked in. It was called The Skyline Diner, which seemed a bit wrong since there wasn't a skyline within 50 miles of the place. When we walked in it seemed like we were the only ones at the diner, we were seated almost immediately in a booth tucked in the back of the restaurant, Kyle and I on one side and Cailean on the other facing the door. The waitress that came over to take our order was a peppy one with bright blonde hair and a voice that was almost as annoying as Kyle complaining about not having food.

"Hey ya'll! How is everybody today? What can I getcha?" her energy took me by surprise and my eyes widened at the sight and sound. It wasn't long before our food was ordered and the waitress, whose name tag said Hi! I'm Shelby!, was off to fetch our meals. A good five minutes passed and Kyle and I were already in a heated discussion about what was better on french fries, ketchup or ranch. It took a moment before I realized that Cailean hadn't said anything since Shelby took our order. I looked at him, puzzled, and asked what was wrong. His response was in the form of a note written on a napkin using the pencil Shelby had left on the table.

You need to be very quiet, don't look behind you and only stare at me. There are Juntean here, four of them just walked in. We need to leave as soon as possible.

"I heard this poem the other day, isn't it great?" with that he passed the note across the table to me and Kyle and smiled as if he had not a care in the world. My eyes went wide as saucers and I stole a glance at Kyle and saw that his jaw had gone hard.

There are four Juntean that just walked in, don't turn around and keep your eyes forward. We need to get out of here. Now.

I tried to respond to Cailean with a nonchalant answer, but it came out strangled.