DETENTION

3- Kannye's

Any Gabrielly POV

Kannye's is a large and comfortable diner. The kind of place I'd spend hours with my friends. The walls are wine-colored, and the floor is navy blue. At the entrance there is a light blue carpet that goes to the counter, where is the current owner of the restaurant, the son of the old Kannye; Luke Hallpster, a very sympathetic, tall, black guy who looks thirty years old, with dreads pinned to the top of his head in a bun. He's wearing a light blue shirt and a red apron, written "Kannye's" in navy blue and smiles to all the incoming customers. The outside of the diner looks like a big but ordinary house except for the huge electronic sign with red and blue lights, written "Kannye's Diner: The Best Burger You'll Find Here". The seats are all upholstered, with the same color of the wall, with a wooden backrest, as well as the tables.

At the moment I'm sitting on one of these upholstered benches, hands clasped and leaning on the table, swinging my legs and watching the street drive through the windowpane, biting my lip in nervousness. Josh was already making our request, but talking to Luke about something and laughing five minutes ago, which makes me even more nervous. What does this boy want with me?

We passed all the way here in silence, inside his beautiful silver pickup truck. I did not dare ask why he did what he did, something in me caught on talking to him and then we were just listening to music in the car. He also did not try to talk to me, I do not know if I appreciate it or if I get even more nervous.

"Hey" Josh's voice pulls me out of my reverie, and I watch him approach. "Moana, eh?" he says, sitting down.
"Ah, it is." I giggle, and I watch him nod, catching his laughter. "You do not believe me, do you?"
"I said nothing." he raises his hands at shoulder height, still holding back the laughter.
"Okay, one day I'm going to make all of you who doubted me watching the Moana movie in Portuguese." I say irritated "Then you say whether or not it is my voice."
"I believe." he says, leaning against the bench, but still not being honest, because he's staring at me with a funny facial expression. "Still, I really want to hear your voice in a movie."

I stare at him. Without saying anything at all, without even blinking. What does he want? Why did he bring me here? Why did he keep looking at me like that in school?

"What's it?" he asks, arching one eyebrow.
"What you want?" I ask at once.
"As well?" he laughs, frowning, not understanding.
"Why did you bring me here?" I ask. "Like, you did not even talk to me right at school, you just stared at me..." he smirked at the corner of his mouth.
"You lived here a month ago, I thought it would be nice to bring you to the best diner in the area, since your friends did not do that." he shrugs.
"Look." I approach the table, clasping my hands together. "I'm not going to be one of those little girls on your list, okay?"
"What?" he laughs.
"That's what you heard." I say irritated. "I've heard a lot about you today, Josh, none of them were good, you've got problems with my friends, and I'm feeling like a traitor to be here with you, since they were crazy to bring me here first. You still dating Taylor..."
"I WAS dating." He cuts off my speech.
"Whatever!" I say. "She doesn't seem like a good girl... I do not want problems, okay?"
"It's all right." he replies, after a few seconds watching me, in silence. "Can I defend myself?" he asks and I arched my eyebrows, crossing my arms. "Right." he laughs weakly and shakes his head. "I know you've heard horrible things about me, and you'll keep hearing..."
"And these things are lies?" I ask and he stares at me for a few seconds.
"No, they aren't." he says. "But it does not mean I have not changed, does it? People make mistakes..." he sighs. "Joalin, Sina, Sabina and Lamar ... all these guys were my best friends, too, until some things happened." he swallows dry. "Noah and I did some bad things. We hurt them and now they hate us," he looks at me. "Believe it or not, I'm trying to change, Any. They were my friends, and I want to be friends with them again."
"Then why are you hanging out with Taylor?" I ask indignantly. "Like... She's bad!"
"She's not bad." he defends. "She's just... complicated."
"She hurts others for fun" I say. "You may be in love with her, but she is evil."
"Who says I'm in love with her?" he asks, resting his arms under the table. His sleeves are bent up to the elbows, and I see some burns in circular shapes on his arm.
"What is it?" I ask scared, touching his arm.
"Nothing." he says quickly, pulling out his arms and hiding them under the table. "I cook a lot." he says, and I stare at him, suspiciously.
"Okay..." I decided not to dwell on the subject.
"You did not answer my question." he says.
"I heard that you and Taylor are the typical yo-yo couple. If you separate and come back all the time, it's because you have feelings for each other." I shrug.
"Yes, it may be..." he looks thoughtful.
"So..." I begin "What have you done to Sina and Sabina?"
"Is that..."