Escape From Riverdale

II

FP caved and let me convince him to stop at a diner reminiscent of Pop's. It's smaller, and not as clean, but the essence is close enough. The booths are just as vacant as one would expect at 7am, but I couldn't help my hunger and my cravings. 

The waitress drops off my milkshake and FP's coffee without a word. 

"You look so cute drinking that milkshake, Doll." FP muses, watching me suck down the blended ice cream treat. 

"It's not as good as Pop's." I reply with a fake pout. 

"Bummer." FP says, swiping the cherry from the top of the whipped cream. "The coffee's no good either." He whispers. 

Our waitress comes back with our food, and I'm less excited than I was when we ordered. If their food is anything like their other offerings, it won't be anything satisfying. 

"There you go," the waitress chirps, setting down my plate of eggs, hash browns, and fruit.

 I immediately add salt and pepper to my eggs without bothering to taste them first. Without meaning to, I watch FP take a bite from his bagel sandwich. He grimaces. 

"That bad?" I whisper, squirting ketchup onto my plate. 

He responds by chewing. The bagel crunches like it's burnt. I laugh and he struggles through his mouth full. 

"Sorry," I mouth, diving in to my own plate of food. 

"I'm glad we're just passing through." FP comments as he pulls out of the parking lot. "Having this as the go-to diner would really put a damper on living in the middle of nowhere." 

I laugh, watching the sun rise outside of my window. 

"Yeah, at least we're fortunate enough to be from a small town with a good diner." 

"Exactly." FP grins, reaching over to interweave our fingers and let our palms rest against each other. 

"I love you." 

"I love you too, Kimberley."