B.O.N.D.E.D.

6. Blaise: Wish Part 2

The waitress returned to bring them their lunches. Blaise didn't know how hungry she was until she smelled the incredible aroma of the burgers and fries.

"Can I have some more water?" Owen asked. The waitress took Owen's cup and poured more water into it, then gave it back to him.

The delivery of the water turned out to be a failure. Before the water could reach Owen's hand, the waitress already let go of it. Fortunately, Ernest was quick enough to steady the cup before all of its containment fell out, though some of it still landed on Owen and the waitress's clothes.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" The waitress screamed, frantically pulling out napkins.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Owen answered with an incredibly patient voice. He received the napkins and, to the waitress's surprise, gave some back to her. "Here, the water got on you too," His eyes were full of genuine concern.

The waitress looked stunned for a moment, probably because she didn't think a customer would care for her so much in this situation (and, Blaise suspected, Owen's good looks helped too). Her entire face gradually grew pink, and she rushed to grab more napkins due to the immense embarrassment.

WHAT IS THIS SHOUJO MANGA BULLSHIT!?

"Ahem," Darissa coughed, her face contorting into an awkward smile, "She looks at least nineteen."

"Some people say I look at least seventeen," Owen said, not showing any sign of guilt.

"It doesn't change the fact that this is basically pedophilia."

"Oh, come on," Owen said, chuckling, "Let's just eat."

And they did. For such a small family restaurant, the food was outstanding. The fries were not too soft and not too crispy, and the burgers were—

"Pretty good. For this kind of patties, it would be better if the buns were harder because they give off a chewy taste and hold up the burger's shape. Otherwise, their burgers are pretty great," Ernest commented while eating.

"You... cook?" Owen asked.

"Yeah, it's a hobby," Ernest said, slightly embarrassed.

"That's great," Darissa munched on her burger and said, "You'll make a great boyfriend."

Blaise observed as Ernest's face reddened to the color of her strawberry milkshake. He drooped his head and silently slurped his smoothie.

She never thought she would say this, but it was nice to see that a non-pedophilic ship is sailing just fine.

Since they all started savagely engulfing their meals, their little game of truth or dare had to be put to a stop. Instead of entertaining themselves, they turned to the cable news for entertainment.

The news lady was reporting a new series of hate crimes against Bonders. For the past few days, reports of Bonder assaults rose exponentially from all over the southern states. The victims ranged from infants to young adults, with no direct correlation from person to person other than the fact that they were Bonders. It was suspected to be the work of a certain religious cult, but there were not enough evidence supporting this claim.

"Didn't I see the same report last week?" Darissa asked, quite curious. Blaise also recalled a similar news from the week before.

"That one reported attacks from the East Coast, this one is from the South," Ernest, having finally gathered the courage to look at Darisa again, explained.

"What about the case from last month?"

"That was another different one, not related to this one at all. That one was just school bullying, this is a cult hate crime."