Let's Stay Strangers

The Meeting

I push open the beautiful double doors and smell the sweet smell of chicken, and look around as if I've never been inside a Chick-fil-a.

"Good morning, Jace, Sarah, Collen, " I say waking towards an empty line up to the front register.

"Ay!" Collen responds throwing up a piece sign.

"What up?" Jace announces.

"Same thing as yesterday?" Sarah asks still looking down at the cash register.

My face suddenly shifts to a confused and unhappy look.

"No good morning for me today then,  huh?" I ask with an eyebrow raised

Sarah looks up at me from the cash register.

"Nah, "

"Yeah, I want the same thing as usual,"
I giggle just a bit.

"Hey,  why aren't there any costumers today, Edith?" Jace questions me as if I should know.

"Well,  I guess when you scream, there's a bomb in the inside run, people scurry away, " I smile deviously.

"What, did you really do that! " They all shout in unison.

"Nah, I think there's a celebration or something in town today, "

I live in a really small town, Clobber, Georgia. They always got stuff going on here.

As I'm talking to Jace and Collen and Sarah jots down my order her eyebrows suddenly shift down then she says:

"Oh wait, " she pauses for just a bit then continues, "Hey, new kid, com'ear and take your first order,"

"New kid?" I think to myself, everyone here is old they couldn't be  kids, nor could they be new so what in the world is she talking about, my eyebrows raise, but I suddenly understand when a tall, bewildered, brunette, walks from the back. My jaw drops, who the heck is this guy.

"T-take the order, " he questions her confused, "like with the cash register and stuff?"

He points at the cash register.

"Well, thats what you use to take the money," Sarah snickers

"But I don't know how,  I haven't been taught that yet, "

"What, " she looked at him confused, "who is in charge of you?"

While they talk about how to take the order, I read his name tag.

"Noel," I pause for a second, "like Christmas?"

The boy, Noel, turns to me wide eyed,  like he didn't know what was going on.

"No, it's Noel, like Pole," He shakes his head, "see the e makes the o say O, the e isn't silent, but it kinda is, I don't know. "

He makes the most baffled and confused face, all of this because he tried to explain his name.

"We can talk about name pronouncing later, take the order kid," Sarah orders him.

"Oh... Oh yeah, " he shifts his body to face me and the cash register.

"What would you like to order, miss?"
He smiles cutesy at me

"Eight piece chicken nugget, large fries and a lemonade, please, " I smile right back at him.

"Ok," He jots it down on the cash register.

I pay and go back to talking to Jace and a while later:

"your food's ready, " That same Noel the Pole dude comes up smiling all cutesy at me again.

"Ah,  thanks, " I try to avoid eye contact.

"My pleasure," He replies then looks back and smiles at Sarah as if to ask "Did I do well?", and she mimics his smile unmannerly.

"You did good kid, " Collen tells him giving him thumbs up

"Thanks," He sits there for an awkward second then goes back to the back

"Who was that?" I question everyone

"Noel Schneider," The manager, Jeremy Reed, says coming from the back, "He's new here so be nice, Eddie,"

Jeremy Reed, manager, forty-something but acts twenty, and for some reason always calls me Eddie (And I Hate It!).

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Are you ever though," he laughs

"Yes, and also don't call me Eddie!"

"Exhibit A, " He chuckles.