One Year Before High School

Chapter 16

"Guys! Drop what you're doing and lets go! Meet me outside in ten, no exceptions! Carla bring your wallet"

Maci poked her head back in just as fast as she stuck it through. Everyone froze from what they were doing. They stayed like that for a full minute until Ivy came downstairs, took one look at the situation, then went straight back up.

"Was that Maci?" asked Tanya.

"I think it was" replied Ella.

Well, whoever this mysterious-not-so-mysterious person was, they clearly wanted them to be out in ten. It was Emily who voiced this thought, and once she said it verbally, everyone scrambled to get their stuff together. Carla made a beeline straight for the bathroom, Tanya and Emily ran into their rooms and started to change. Ella took one look at herself before following Tanya-and-Em's example.

Unfortuantely, there weren't any clothes that weren't school uniforms, slacks, or pjs.

Guess it'll be school uniform.

She quickly donned the overly-formal suit, and stepped out to meet with the others. In comparison, Carla seemed to have an outfit for every occasion. Suddenly, Ella felt very self-conscious.

They met outside of the school to see Maci pacing impatiently. She perked up when she saw them, and smiled. "Girl's night out" she explained once they all got there, then before they had a chance to speak, she lead them all to the bus stop, boarded, and went into town.

They settled for an Italian restauraunt. It was a classy place, with windows placed generously and low-hanging ceiling lights that set a calming atomsphere. The effect was somewhat spoiled by Maci's excited chattering. Ella looked through the menu quietly while Maci offered her very professional opinion on what should be ordered. Carla almost rolled her eyes.

Their waitress came, a young woman in her 20, hair done up in a bun, and a slightly dimpled smile. She greeted the people at the table. "Hi there, welcome to Italy Taste, my name is Natalie, can I get you started on some refreshers?"

Maci eagerly pointed to the menu. "Yep! Two iced waters, two iced teas, one tea-hot-, and one mocha"

The waitress nodded, jot down their orders, and left. They waited in silence for a while before Maci spoke.

"So, I'm going to go out and get some fresh air while we wait, someone text me when the food gets here!" she said. She skipped happily out of the room, leaving Carla to shake her head at her antics.

The drinks arrived first. The server carefully balanced two tall glasses of iced water, two slightly-shorter mugs of iced tea, one small, ceramic mug of hot tea, and cafe-style, brown-rimmed teacup of mocha. It was a mish-mash of people's preferances.

Without Maci, the conversation quickly dwindled down to awkward sentences. More than one person pulled out their phone and started to text.

It seemed longer than it actually was before the food arrived-the tense atmosphere had that effect on you. Plates of pasta and other were soon loaded onto the table. Tanya went to text Maci to come back in, but before she pulled her phone out, Maci had already skipped to the table, picked up her silverware, and dug in with relish. Tanya smiled in amusement as she put her phone back.

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They ate slowly, savoring the moment. It had been about five months since school started, and, with the exception of the first day, it had been nothing but training and work. An oppertunity like this doesn't come every day.