Madelaine

Chapter two

"Are we close?" I questioned impatiently while watching the continuous winding of the road.

"Just a few more minutes," he said with a chuckle. We'd only been in the car a good ten minutes, but it's felt like an eternity. My foot tapped the floor of the car as a sign for a diner came into view.

The sign read Rosie's diner, cute white and pink roses were paint on the large wood sign along with large light bulbs that outline the name. Zack turned on his blinker before turning into the diner and finding a close parking spot, which was hard since the entire lot was full of cars. "This is it," he stated as he quickly hopped out of the car. Reaching for my seatbelt I unbuckled and looked for the door handle, but before I could open the door Zack had beat me to it. Smiling kindly at him I thanked him as I hopped from his truck before he closed my door, locking the car in the process.

"This place is very unique," I said as I looked at the nicely planted flower pots and cute road signs that lined the walkway to the entrance.

"After you," Zach said as he opened the entrance door for me. The diner got even prettier as we walked in, string lights hung from the ceiling and large antique roses hung from the walls and sat at the center of the tables. The waitresses and waiters wore white polos with the logo of the diner imprinted on the top right of their chests.

"Wow, this is amazing. How'd you find out about this place?" I said as I looked around.

"My sister Aurora told me about it," he replied. We walked over to a booth, sitting across from each other and looked at the menu. Our waitress, a short red head, walked over and asked what we wanted to order.

"May I please get a cheeseburger, no onions, and a strawberry milkshake?" I asked as I saw her writing down my order on her notepad.

"Can I get the same thing, but a vanilla milkshake please?" Zack told the waitress.

   "Yes of course, I'll be right back with your food and milkshakes," the smiling waitress told us. As the waitress left I turned towards the window next to our pastel yellow booth and looked at the orange swirl mixing with the blue sky as the sun started its descend.
"So Madelaine tell me about yourself," Zack said as he leaned in closer to the table. The dreaded question. My personal life isn't something I talk about. Ever. The only person who knows about my situation is Margirene. I'm just the type of person who likes to keep to myself.

"There's not much to tell." I reply, not being able to look him directly in the eyes. The waitress walked over, our plates in hand and set our orders down, asking if we needed anything else.

"No thank you, everything looks perfect." Zack replied, probably sensing my uneasiness from his question. He didn't try to ask anymore questions that were too personal after that, which I was very thankful for.

"The food is delicious, I am definitely gonna have to come here again sometime," I said as I ate the juicy, flavorful burger. We both sat contently sipping on our milkshakes, and munching on our burgers. This is nice, I thought. I hope we continue this relationship we have forming, but maybe just as friends.

"You look beautiful Madelaine," Zack said to me, causing me to blush.

"Thank you, you look pretty good yourself," I said causing us to laugh together. Zack was wearing white Nikes, khakis, and a green shirt, which made his bright green eyes pop even more.

"So tell me more about your sister you mentioned, Aurora," I asked Zack.

"She's my twin sister and she has blonde hair like me, but blue eyes. She's kind, lighthearted and very smart. We're new to town and both attending the University of Pennsylvania. I think you would get along with her well." He replied. I could tell he loved his sister very much.

"I'm nineteen. I have a little sister named Lily, she's ten, she's very stubborn, but she loves everyone and especially animals. " I said feeling slightly embarrassed that I forgot to tell him my age.

"Lily sounds like a wonderful girl," He replied after listening.

"She is," I said with adoration.

As we finished our dinner, the waitress came over handing us the check. Zack immediately grabbed the check, insisting that he pay for our meal. Not wanting to argue, I let him slip his cash to the waitress. After paying, we got up and made our way to the door, walking outside into the dark. We got to Zack's truck, him opening my door once again, then walking to his side and getting in. He started the engine and we drove off into the night. Windows rolled down, my short brown hair flapped in the wind, as we sped down the highway.

Fifteen minutes later, I saw my apartment building in the distance. We pulled into the parking lot and parked. Stepping out of the truck, I turned and saw Zack following me. Oh no, he can't see the condition of my house, or he might not think of me the same, I thought to myself as we stopped outside of my door. "So I guess this is where we part ways," I said looking up at him.

"Guess so. I had a really fun time tonight, I hope we can do this again soon," He said.

"Yeah me too," I replied. Zack looked down at me, his fingers brushed my cheek, as he started leaning forward capturing my lips with his. His lips moved in a soft, slow pace, I felt his hand on the curve of my back gently pushing me forward. I pulled back slowly, our lips parting, as my brain registered what had just happened. My eyes lit up in surprise as I felt my rosy cheeks heat up.

"Wow, that was um," Zack said still looking at me.

"Not what I thought that would feel like," I replied trying to word what I was feeling.

"Hey, don't worry, I know what your feeling." He said. "Friends?" he questioned, reaching his hand out to me, I took his hand, shaking it as we both laughed in understanding. The kiss was nice, but there wasn't a connection. No fireworks, sparks or any of that cliche stuff I hopelessly believed in.

"I'm sorry. I guess we just weren't meant for something more than friends," I said.

"Don't worry about it, I still think you're amazing, and I don't regret anything that happened between us tonight," He replied. I don't know what I did to deserve Zack's kindness and understanding towards me.

   Zack turned his back and walked away, turning around to give me a smile and a goofy wave, as I opened the apartment door. Margirene sat on the recliner chair in the living room reading a book. "Hey Margirene, thank you so much for watching Lily tonight. Is there anything I can do for you in return?"

"Oh no sweetie you already do so much, I don't want to add to your plate. I love Lily, she is such a darling. I don't mind watching her at all, call me anytime you need me, or you know where I live," She answered with a wink.

"I don't know what we would do without you. Goodnight Margirene, sleep well," I said. She told me goodnight and walked out the door towards her apartment next to ours.

After taking a quick shower, brushing my teeth, and putting on pajamas, I climbed onto my bed laying my head on the grey pillow and pulling the baby blue comforter over my body. I turned my alarm clock on and closed my eyes giving in to my exhaustion.

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We hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it was a little shorter, we didn't feel that we should add more because we didn't want to overload you guys with information. This chapter was more of a filler chapter to explain the date and where Zack and Madelaine's relationship would end up.

If you enjoyed this chapter please leave a vote and we'd love to hear your thoughts on the story so far!

Thanks for reading and we hope you come back for the next chapter to the story.

Thanks, J&K

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