A Loser With A Cellphone (Alex Standall)

71

You: Hi
Alex: You're sitting right across from me
You: I know
You: I'm having a small anxiety attack
You: I'm not ready to talk quite yet
Alex: Okay
Alex: Are u enjoying the fries?
You: very much so
You: I'd never been here before
Alex: omg that's insane you've been missing this goodness for your entire life??
You: it's a good ass thing I have the whole REST of my life to enjoy it
Alex: You look really beautiful today :)
"You're lying," She said, looking up from her phone to speak.
"I'm not." Alex held his phone to his heart and his other hand to the sky. "I swear on these delicious fries and my life that I am not."
She rolled her eyes, and looked back down at her phone. Whilst she did, Alex looked at her - Her hair wasn't too short or too long, and her roots were black, but they blanched out into a bleached white color, sort of like his own. Her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, so he couldn't fully make out her face, but he could tell that she was beautiful. His heart thumped against his chest, reminding him that he was alive, and not just dreaming of this moment, like he had so many times before. It was funny how you could be living for somebody that you didn't even know. The longer he looked at her, the more he was certain that he had never seen her before in his life.
You: ur staring at me
Alex: And you're staring at your phone
Alex: How can you even see the screen with ur sunglasses on?
You: my superpowers
Alex: is it okay if I ask for your name now?
She looked up at him then, sliding her glasses down her nose to get a better look.
"It's Faith," she said, but then quickly added, "But I don't like my name. I mean, I don't hate it, but I'd prefer if you kept calling me Lyric. I mean, if that's okay with you, of course."
"It's okay," Alex said, unable to hide the smile that was blooming across his face. After that, they ate in silence - just the sound of them selecting fries off of the plate, and the soft crunch of eating them. In a way, it was a comfortable sort of quiet, but Alex was also exploding to say something, to hear something. He wanted to tell her that she was everything he'd dreamed of and more, but he didn't want to scare her away. Not so soon. He was hoping for more dates like this. Not that it was a date, of course - but he liked calling it one to himself.
When they were almost done, Faith - or, well, Lyric - spoke again.
"Have you ever thought of dipping your fries into a milkshake?" She asked, twirling the second-to-last one in her hands.
"No," Alex admitted, thinking about whether that sort of flavor combination would be good or bad.
"I've thought about it, but I've never done it. Sort of sounds like it would be good. They don't sell milkshakes here, though."
"They have some at Monet's," Alex noted, even though the thought of bringing her there brought chills to his spine. The last girls he had hung out with there were Jessica and Hannah, and neither of those stories had ended happily.
"Maybe next time," she said thoughtfully, and he blossomed at the thought that there would be a next time. Lately, the future had seemed a little bleak, a little more than he could handle. Maybe this would be exactly what he needed.
"Thanks for coming today," he said shyly, letting her take the last of the fries.
"I'm glad I came," She smiled.
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Guys, I'm so sorry that this update has taken me so long!! I really wasn't in the mood to write, and I wanted it to be perfect & not just something shitty. Thank yous for your patience with it/me ❤️❤️