Carnival Day

Seven

RQC: Pancakes or waffles?

...Seven...

-May- (side note: for some reason when I typed in the name "May", auto-correct changed it to "Jay-Z"... hahaha)

6:20 a.m.

I awake to the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen and the mumbling of voices.

I wonder who that could be. We never have anyone over. Then the memories of where we're going today flood my mind. Oh. Oh, no.

Please don't tell me it's Grayson.

Just in case the visitor does happen to be Gray, I scramble out of bed and hurry to my room as quickly and quietly as I can. I open my dresser and fumble through my clothes, trying in desperation to find something nice to wear. Finally, I pull out khaki shorts, an army green tank top, and black combat boots. Considering where we're going, I need to wear something that's easy to move around in. I head to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, then make my way downstairs, into the kitchen.

As I enter, my eyes scan over the visitor. It's Gray, alright.

"Good morning, May." Cole says, while scooping incredibly delicious looking chocolate chip pancakes onto a plate.

"Good morning." I reply.

"We're going to need to leave as soon as possible, so Grayson is having breakfast with us, just to make sure we leave at a good time."

"Oh, okay. Hey Grayson." I awkwardly say to him.

"Hey, May." Grayson replies.

I realize that I'm just standing there at the doorway, so I walk over to the kitchen table and take a seat across from Grayson. I'm not really paying attention to where I'm sitting, so I nearly miss the chair entirely, but thankfully I caught myself before I made too much of a scene.

After a couple minutes, it's starting to get incredibly awkward.

Due to my very many previous experiences, my research has come to a conclusion that there are three phases to the levels of awkwardness. 1) The "sit and stare." 2) "Weather talk." And 3) The "Forced conversation."

I have yet to discover more.

"So..." Grayson starts, "How have you been?"

I guess we're skipping phase two.

"I've been okay, what about you?" I awkwardly.

"Pretty good. Excited for the adventure that awaits us."

"Me, too."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

After what seems like hours, no, days, Cole finally sits down with us, scooping pancakes onto our plates. There's no syrup, which is okay. I mean, it's chocolate chip pancakes. They're so good that they don't need syrup anyway.

I take a bite into my pancake. It's outstanding. "Where'd you get chocolate chips?" I ask Cole.

"Grayson brought them. Says he has a whole box full of 'em."

"Nice."

"Yeah. Gray sure does love his chocolate chips in the morning." He smiles.

Grayson laughs. "Yeah, well, what can I say? They're good. And I believe in eating things that you find good when you get the chance."