Change (Published under The Change For Her)

Three

After dropping my things off at my dorm room, Conor suggests going to a small diner that's few blocks away from campus. Luckily he has his own car, so we didn't have to walk. I really need to get a job, so I can get my own car. As we drive towards the diner, I couldn't help but notice a small little daycare. That would be a good job for me since I plan to become a teacher.

"We're here." Conor breaks me from my mind filling thoughts. I smile in response as I exit the vehicle. I stand on the sidewalk, wait for Conor to get out of his car. "This place isn't that popular, so it's not gonna be full of people from our campus." He tells me as we walk towards the entrance. He opens the door and held it open for me. "Thank you." I softly say as I walk in. The diner had an old vibe to it, I really liked it. Reminds me of the one my dad used to take me to, on our father-daughter dates.

I followed Conor to an open booth and sat across from him. I look around taking in the vibe of the diner. As I look around admiring the place, memories of my father start taking over my mind. How he and I would come to a diner like this every day after school, how he would bring me to one after my dentist appointment to get ice cream. I feel my eyes start to tear up as I see him constantly flash through my head. "Hey, you okay?" Conor asks as he reaches over to place his hand on mine.

"Um, yeah," I say as I pull my hand away from his. "My dad used to take me to a diner-like this," I tell him as I tuck piece a hair behind my ear while looking down at my menu.

"What happen to him?" He asks in a concerned tone. I close my eyes as I let out a deep breath. "He um.. H-he died." I choked out. I bite my bottom lip in an attempt to keep myself from crying. "Oh, I'm so sorry Chlo." He tells me as he grabs my hand in an attempt to comfort me. I normally hate it when someone calls me Chlo, but in this case, it doesn't bother me. "If being here is hard for you, we can go somewhere else to eat." He tells me as he rubs my hand with his thumb. Which sends a warm feeling through my body.

"No, we can stay here and eat." I look up at him and gave him a soft smile. Which makes him smile in return. "They have amazing burgers here." He said very enthusiastically, which makes me laugh. He never let's go of my hand as we look over the menu, and when the waitress comes to take our order. It sends a warm feeling through my body, but I feel so awkward. I couldn't decide if I should let go or not.

"Tell me about yourself." He said to me as the waitress placed our drinks in front of us. "They're not much to tell," I say to him as I take a sip of my tea. "Tell me about your dad." I close my eyes as I try to calm my nerves. I hate talking about my life, especially my dad. It's not that I'm ashamed of him or anything, it just brings back that pain I felt when he passed away. "My father used to be a preacher before he left us. He was such an amazingly strong man. We were best friends, he would take me to a diner-like this every day after school even though he knew my mother was at home cooking us dinner." I laugh at the memory of how mad my mother would be knowing why we were home late.

I feel him squeeze my hand reassured me that it's okay when I wipe a tear from my cheek. "What about your dad, what's he like?" I ask him to get the attention off me. He shakes his head as he lets out a chuckle. "My dad is something else. He used to be in the military, he very strict and very strong man. We used to have to move place to place while he was serving. I hated it because I had to go to different schools and had to constantly make new friends. I also loved it because I loved exploring my new home. I hardly got to see my dad, so every home visit he got I would cherish every second of it. Sometimes he would surprise me at school. He would sign me out then take me out to dinner or get ice cream. After my little sister was born when I was in 9th grade, my dad finally decided to retire from the military. So they bought a house here since this was the last place he was based." He tells me.

"What's your little sister's name?" I ask him while smiling. "Her name is Selena, she'll be 4 this year." He smiles. The waitress comes and places our food in front of us, while Conor tells me about his sister. I couldn't help but direct my attention to a group of people walking in, but my eyes were focusing more on one person. When I saw that they were walking towards our direction, I place my attention on my food. I pick up a fry as I see them walk pass up, I look up at Conor and smile so he knows I'm listening but only to see that Liam was looking at me while walking to meet up with his friends. I couldn't break our eye contact and I started to get a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I hear Conor groan which helps me break back into reality. "What?" I ask him, as I watch him roll his eyes as he watches Liam sit down with his group. "I forgot that they hang out here, I haven't been here for a few weeks." He tells me before taking a drink of his coke. "Wait, you know them?" I ask him with a hint of shock and confusion.

"Sorta." He said as he steals one of my fries which causes me to give him a playful glare as I try to smack his hand. "I only know Liam, which is the blonde who just sat down, the others I hardly know." He continued after he took a bite of the fry. "Yeah, he friends with my roommate," I tell him as I take one of his curly fries as payback for taking one of my fries.

Which makes him laugh a little before he realizes what I told him "We don't really get along, be careful around him." He tells me while looking at me. "Don't worry, I plan to stay away from him as much as I can." I smile at him, which makes him smile. "Good," He said as he takes my hand, which makes the fuzzy feeling shoot through my body again.

As I look down at our hands I couldn't help but wonder why Liam and him don't get along, what could of possibly happen between the two and how did Conor cross path with him. I look over at the booth Liam was sitting and saw him glaring our way but look like he was staring at our hands. I turn my attention back to my plate and pull my hand away from Conor's so I can go back to eating. Conor went back to telling me about his little sister and complaining about him, not being her favorite which makes me laugh.

"I would love to meet her." I laugh out. "Maybe after our second date, I'll introduce you to her." He smiles down at his food. "Second date?" I raise a brow at him, I can see his cheeks slowly turning red, as he fiddles with his fries. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-" "I'll like that." I cut him off while smiling as I look at his flush face. I see him bite his lip as he looks at me. "Me too." He tells me.