WILD (✓)

~ fifteen ~

This time, when I tell Mom I'm leaving to go see Hannah, I'm not lying. I need to get my head straight, and some girl time just might do the trick. I twirl my straw in my iced coffee, peaking out the diner window for her car. We picked this spot our freshman year - a small diner, nothing special except that it's the exact middle distance from our houses. So even when we weren't in school, we always had a place to go and catch up. Lord knows we needed that our first couple of years, our families even more stressful than adjusting to college.

The place is right out of a movie - red and black checkered floor, torn pleather booths and wobbly old tables all just clean enough not to be gross. The smell of grease hangs in the air and there's a jukebox in the corner that probably hasn't been touched in years. Still, they do tend to play an old timer playlist off of someone's phone to keep the ambiance.

I shift uncomfortably in my seat, preparing for whatever reaction I get from Hannah today. I'm not sure what's been going on between us lately or why she and Cassandra seem so distant. All I know is that I miss my friend.

"Kat!" Hannah's voice comes up behind me, sending me to my feet. I throw my arms around her immediately, and she giggles. "Did you miss me that much?"

"I always miss you," I smile at her, glad this is the reaction I'm getting. "How's home?" I ask as we take our seats. The question always seems loaded - Hannah's parents don't make her life easy, often arguing over where she spends her time or who she should be spending it with.

She shrugs casually. "It's home. I'm ready to get back to school, aren't you?" Hannah puts her large purse on the seat beside her and begins scanning the menu, always one to spend lengthy periods of time looking before finally ordering the same thing she always does.

"Um," I pick at the frayed edges of my own menu. "Well, I guess so. Things are off with my mom after grades came out," I admit sheepishly.

Hannah's baby blue eyes search my face, "You okay, Kat?"

"I didn't do well in Biochemistry," I explain softly.

Hannah lets out a small sigh, grabbing my hand across the table. "Does anyone?" I smile at her encouragement before she continues casually. "You can always retake it."

I nod my head dismissively, something else preoccupying my mind. "Han, can I ask you something?"

"Mhm," she doesn't take her eyes off the menu.

"Have you ever, you know, been interested in more than one guy?" Hannah's eyes dart to my face then, her jaw dropped.

"No way! Kat!" She slaps me playfully across the table, her excitement making her bounce in the cracked booth. "So you're dating Lucas... who else could guy number two be?" She ponders to herself, tapping a delicate finger to her chin dramatically. "Oh, I know!"

I roll my eyes, "Hannah, come on, that's not important,"

"It's that dirt boy, isn't it?" I cringe at how she calls CJ the "dirt boy." The night had been more than that, but she doesn't seem to understand. "Well, I've never been in your situation exactly. But I do think you're better off where you are,"

We're interrupted as a waitress comes to our table and we place our dinner orders. A burger for me, and a chicken sandwich for Hannah. She orders a beer but I decline, not in a drinking mood. Her words stir in my mind until the young girl walks away to place our orders. "What do you mean, 'where I am'?" I ask, grabbing at the little diamond necklace Lucas got me.

"You know, with Lucas." Hannah replies simply before diving into the drama between her and Cassandra. I listen numbly, wondering why my friends are so quick to place judgement on CJ. As great as Lucas is, it would be great if just one person wouldn't put him on a pedestal. It makes me feel even crazier for not being fully satisfied.