Where There's Light | ✔

50. Pancakes

Nolan didn't stop until we were well past the Welcome to Bellcreek sign. The first thing on the agenda was food. Neither of us had eaten breakfast and all the fast food places we were driving past were tempting.

The restaurant we stopped at was pretty empty. There was a family of four in one of the back booths and an older couple sitting by the window. Some family friendly pop music played at a low volume overhead.

"Let's get to the tutti fruitti pancakes." I pointed at the picture on the menu. They were regular pancakes covered in whipped cream and what looked like fruity pebbles.

He eyed me from across the booth. "You're looking at the kids menu."

"I know." I smiled. "Oh, it comes with scratch and sniff stickers."

"You never told me you were a sticker collector." He chuckled.

"I'm not, but I could be," I state, folding the menu and setting it on the table. "Like how until twenty minutes ago I wasn't a delinquent who skipped school. This day is full of surprises."

He leaned in, curiosity on his face. "You've never skipped school?" I shook my head. "Ever?"

"Does leaving early for doctor appointments count?"

"Absolutely not." He leaned back against the seat, studying me with those gorgeous brown eyes. "I didn't know I was dating such a square."

"I am not a square," I said defiantly.

I tried to say it with a straight face, but the smirk on Nolan's face broke me. His mood has changed big time since we left the school and I was loving every moment of it.

The waiter came over and took our orders—two tutti fruitti pancake specials. As we waited for our food Nolan continued to tease me about being a square.

"I don't think you've ever done one delinquent thing in your life." His accusation sounded more like a challenge.

"Bold statement coming from someone who hadn't said a word to me until nine months ago."

He leaned forward again, clasping his hands together. "Alright. What have you done?"

I took a long sip of my ice water with lemon as I tried to think of something. Anything. When Nolan started making tick-tock noises I glared at him.

"Can't think of anything?"

"I've stolen." I announced.

"What?"

"Money."

He looked skeptical. "From?"

"Bee," I said, keeping my voice low. It wasn't something I was proud of.

His eyebrows shot up. "Really?"

"Well, technically, I stole from the waitress the tip was for," I explained. Feeling judged I quickly added, "It was before I knew my dad was sending my mom money and Taylor needed—"

I stopped when I saw he was laughing. "How is that funny?"

"It's not. It's cute actually," he told me. "But it doesn't count. It has to be something you did purely for selfish reasons."

The waiter came back with our food. Even with the extra time I had to think while we drowned our colorful pancakes in syrup I still couldn't think of a single selfish thing I've done.

The worst thing I've done recently was lie to my mom about getting a job. It wasn't selfish and it hardly counted as an act of delinquency.

Finally, I admitted defeat. "Apparently, I'm not a very selfish person."