Once Upon a Time

Chapter Eight: Serious-Or Maybe Not-So-Serious-Talks

Chapter Eight: Serious—Or Maybe Not-So-Serious—Talks

"Alana, wait up!" I turned around to face Carson.

It had been about a week or so since the whole Carson and Samantha thing and me asking for advice from Stefan. Everything was well, fairly alright now. Maybe not necessarily alright, but it was better than I expected to be. And I was a hell lot calmer, too. Which, of course, was a good thing. Carson and I were pretty much back to normal now, though he had been spending a lot more time with Samantha alone. I tried not to mind too much and had kept myself busy to get my mind off from it, and for the most part, it was pretty successful. 

"What is it?" I asked.

He quickened his pace to catch up with me before he spoke again, "I—Wanna go hang out somewhere after school? I feel like I haven't properly spoken to you in ages."

I couldn't deny that. Although Carson and I had indeed exchange laughters and a couple of lighthearted conversations, we hadn't really talked. And by talking, I meant serious stuff and the things that the two of us usually talked about. We hadn't really connected much in a while. He was constantly busy, and I was constantly trying to keep myself busy. I didn't think that either of us had really tried to make time for one another.

But perhaps it was time for us to actually talk. To discuss things and know how the other was doing. Because while I was doing good, it felt awkward to not keep Carson updated and all. With him always around Samantha, I felt like I couldn't tell him everything. And it wasn't a nice feeling. I didn't want us to actually grow distant for real. Maybe talking to him would be good.

"Sure," I shrugged my shoulders. "The usual place?"

Carson and I didn't hang out outside of school that much, —we spent more time talking over Skype and text—but when we did, it was usually at the Coffee Cup. It wasn't so far from the school, but still not too overly popular and wasn't overcrowded by kids from Clemence. It made it the ideal place to have serious conversations over coffee.

"The usual it is, then," Carson agreed. "See you after school, 'Lana."

The last two subjects of the day flew by quickly. We didn't have English today—something that I was grateful of. Not just because of the whole Carson and Samantha thing, but because I didn't feel like continuing on with the story that Stefan and I were writing. Things had changed a little with Stefan ever since I asked him about whether he had ever felt the way I did that night when I felt like Carson was going to leave me. There wasn't much change, but I could feel him occasionally shooting me weird looks, as if he was expecting me to explain what that was all about. Sometimes I wished that I could actually talk to him about it, but that was impossible. Besides, this was Stefan Holden that I was talking about. I'd be crazy to wish for such things. 

I wiped the thoughts away from my head as I crossed the school's parking lot. Carson was standing by his car already. I waved at him and mouthed, See you there? He nodded his head, and I moved toward my car as I watched him open the door to his. 

We got to the Coffee Cup at about the same time. I joined him at a booth near the back of the café. "What do you wanna order?" Carson asked me. 

"Get me the usual," I told him—which meant that I wanted a cup of hot cappuccino. 

"Right," he said. "Be right back, 'Lana." He slipped out of the booth and placed our order, before eventually returning with two mugs of coffee and two slices of brownies. Carson slid over the cappuccino over to my slide, along with one slice of brownie. "Thought that you might want that."