Dinglehoppers

Twenty Four

24. Write a chapter where your character obtains Mickey Mouse ears in an odd way.

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"I give myself very good advice... But I very seldom follow it."

-Alice, Alice in Wonderland.

When Ellie had invited Lionel out for milkshakes and fries, she never really expected it to go so well.

Not that it had been the best outing of her life or anything, but she had actually enjoyed it somewhat.

That was why, three weeks later, she stood outside his door waiting for him to come outside already.

They would have gone out again sooner, but it had been exam week, and then the second week Ellie had had a swim meet and she had been training Monday through Friday.

And then the last week Lionel had had two 'very important football games'.

Not that it mattered anyway, because Ellie actually went to one of them to cheer him on.

And to cheer Paige's boyfriend John on, too.

The truth was, Ellie knew absolutely nothing when it came to football.

To her, the players just lined up, ran around, tossed the ball a bit and then got tackled.

And then they repeated the process over and over again.

It was cool though, she just cheered a lot when the school team had the ball.

They won.

"I am totally up for a giant cheeseburger today." Ellie told Lionel as he stepped outside his front door and locked it.

He turned to face her and began to descend the porch steps.

"Someone is being a piggy." He said, a smile on his lips.

"Hey! After a week of rigorous training for the swim meet, I think I deserve a good amount of junk food." She told him.

It was 7 PM, and the streetlamps were just starting to turn on.

The sound of crickets was the only thing resonating through the quiet street, and Ellie kind of liked the silence.

"Oh, please, McGillicuddy. You could eat 500 cheeseburgers and you would never get fat." He told her, to which she laughed.

"Yeah right. Every girl's dream. Eat without getting fat."

"I'm pretty sure that's a guy's dream, too."

"I think you deserve some junk food as well." Ellie told him as they rounded the block.

She could see the café's sign from a distance, and a couple with a little kid walk through the doors.

She turned to look at Lionel when he gave her no response.

"Am I right?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Meh." he said, "I don't like junk food very much."

"Ha-ha."

"Really."

Ellie narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're lying." She said as they both opened the doors to the café at the same time, the familiar sound of the little bell resonating in Ellie's ears.

The smell of hot brewed coffee instantly wrapped around Ellie, and she very discreetly took in a big whiff.

"I'm not." He answered.