Oh my Holy Nando's

  I love the feeling of dewy grass under my feet and the smell of the air early in the morning.

That's why I go out to my garden at 7:00 a.m. with no shoes on, still in my pyjamas.

Every morning I walk out through the kitchen door to my backyard and walk a few steps, enjoying the humidity of the grass under my toes. Then I turn around and go take a shower.

  It's weird, I know, and my mum wonders why I do it. Sometimes I do, too. It's been a habit for a while already. I think it started when I was about eight years old. Now I'm seventeen and have no idea what I'm going to do in two years. 

  I close the curtain of the shower and turn the water on, cold water hitting my bare back. It's extremely cold, but my body's used to it. I've even grown to like it. I wash myself and stay under the freezing water for a while. I feel relaxed. 

My mum hates cold showers. She prefers warm bubble baths. That's why she's got her own bathroom.

I don't know why I thought about this. I turn the water off and walk out, wrapping my pink towel around my body. I get dressed into my jeans and my favourite Ramones shirt.

  I feel it's going to be sunny outside. I look at myself in the mirror as I brush my hair and then dry it, before tryng to get it all messy again, I fail and my hair falls perfectly into place. I ruffle it one last time before walking out and heading to the kitchen.

Mum's made breakfast today. Toast, fried eggs and sausages. It looks good. I sit down, pick up my fork and start eating.

"Good morning, love." Mum says, biting out of her toast,

"Morning..." I reply, a bit doltishly. 

"How did you sleep?" She asks me. I shrug,

"Grand." I eat my eggs and feel my mum's eyes on me.

"I slept very well, too. Thank you." She says sarcastically as she stands up and puts her plate in the sink, "You'll wash the dishes today." 

I moan, "Ma! No! Why won't you use the dishwasher?"

"Because, you have to cooperate in this house, too." She says, smiling. I roll my eyes,

"I've made my bed if that's what you mean."

Mum shakes her head, "That's your own business. I don't care if your room's messy or not, I want you to help around the house."

"I'm not twelve years old anymore! I'm seventeen!"

"Exactly, and if you want to eat lunch here today, you better wash the dishes."

I sigh, eating my toast, "Alright, I'll do it. But I'm not eating here today, anyway."

Mum looks stunned, "Oh? Where are you going?"

"Nando's." I say.

"Ah. Of course you are. Well, I'm going to work, I'll be back by noon." She pats me lightly on the head as she passes by to walk out. 

  I finish my breakfast and put my plate in the dishwasher. If she wanted her plates to smell like her past meal, that was fine by me, but not while I was around. I finish putting everything in the dishwasher and walk out of the kitchen. I have tons of stuff to do anyway. I have to read the first 300 pages of a book for English by Tuesday and we're already Saturday. The only book I'd read that fast with so many pages was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

  I take the book and sit down on the sofa in the living room. I start to read.

It's really boring. It's something about secret agents in the 70's and boats and helicopters. 

I'd rather be reading The Lord of the Rings. Then I realize it's already ten in the morning and I've read a hundred pages. I smile proudly at myself, push the book away and turn the T.V. on. There's nothing very interesting so I just put MTV and watch South Park. Then I change it to RTE Two

because Jersey Shore is about to start. Club Disney is on. I leave it there but don't really pay attention until it's already 11:30. The moment I've been waiting for. It's time to go to Nando's.

  I put my shoes on and head outside. I haven't been to Nando's in a while. I remember I used to go at least once a month with my best friends Ellie and Georgia but now they're both spending time with their boyfriends at McDonald's instead. I've seen them.

 My last boyfriend was in year 8, we never really talked and we never really broke up... I don't know what's happened to him, now. His name was Hugo.

  I walk into Nando's and order a 1/2 chicken with chips and garlic bread. 

I sit at my table and eat the chips. I don't really feel like chicken, to be honest. I feel so dumb for coming here. When I look back up, that's when I see him.  

I've only seen him on T.V., and honsetly I didn't think I'd ever see him. 

The chip I'm holding falls back on my plate and I can't help staring at him. He's even more beautiful in real life. He smiles at me and when I realize this, I sheepishly smile back.

  But a couple of seconds pass and a group of girls walk in the restaurant and surround him, blocking him from my view.  I look back down at my plate. I could just go join that group of fan-girls or stay here with my food. Alone. 

I prefer staying at my table, if I join them I'd look out out of place, because those girls seem to know each other and I wouldn't know what to say.