Something to Believe In

CH 15: Trying To Get Along

 Gallows and Serena have a booth in the back. They're sitting on the same side, heads together, when Michelle and I walk up. Whatever they're saying to one another ceases when we join them. "We ordered you guys cokes," Luke says.

"Thanks." I want to make a face, but I don't.

Michelle elbows me in the side before sliding into the booth. I slip in beside her as the waitress returns with the drinks. "Thanks!" Michelle says, pulling her coke to her and taking a sip. "Mm, that's good." She grins at me.

"You need a lobotomy," I mutter, which makes her laugh. She quickly covers it as a cough when Gallows glares at her.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asks.

"Um, we need a minute," I say, lifting my menu.

"Okay," the waitress says. She walks away, and Michelle ducks behind my menu with me.

I turn my head, and we're nearly nose to nose. "Michelle?"

She grins. "Hey, Punk."

"You have your own menu."

"Yup." She lowers her voice to a whisper. "But this makes Gallows more paranoid."

I slap the menu down, and sure enough, he's glaring at us. Michelle giggles. "I wish the two of you would try to get along."

Michelle grins at me. "Oh, okay." She pulls up her menu and looks through it. By the time the waitress comes back, we're ready. We order our food, then sit back to wait for its arrival. "So Luke," she says, "chicken, huh? Interesting choice."

Gallows looks at me. I sigh. "She's trying."

"Very," he mutters.

Michelle ignores that. "I'm sure you noticed I ordered eggs."

"I wasn't paying attention," Gallows says.

"And pancakes," she adds helpfully. "Which also have eggs in them. So as you can see, we have a lot in common."

Gallows lowers his brows and gives her a perplexed look. "We do?"

"Sure! You like chicken, and I like eggs, which come from chickens. Unless they're using ostrich eggs or something weird like that." She pauses. "Do you think I should ask?"'

"No," I say. "You'll just confuse the waitress."

Michelle nods. "Okay then." She smiles across the table at him. I'm about to to tell her to knock it off when her phone rings. "Oh, hold on a sec," she says to Luke. She pulls the phone out and frowns at it before opening it and snapping, "What do you want?" I raise my eyebrows at her, but Michelle is ignoring me. "Yeah, I saw it." She frowns. "He did what? No, I didn't see that." With a sigh, she says, "Thanks. I'll go look." Then she hangs up and starts messing with the phone.

"Michelle?" I ask.

"Just a second." She groans and hands me the phone. "That ass!"

"What?" I stare down at the phone. It's pulled up to Jericho's Twitter. I see the post where he'd said Hardy and I weren't together, but after it is a second post. This one reads, "IAmJericho But they'd make a cute couple, wouldn't they?" I meet Michelle's eyes. "Hardy and I would make a cute couple? What is Jericho's problem?"

She shrugs. "He likes to be antagonistic online. He's trying to keep up his heel persona."

"You may have to address this," Gallows says.

I sigh. "There isn't much I can do about it, aside from full on kissing a woman in the ring. And that's not happening any time soon."

"Why not?" Michelle asks. "It would fix the problem, at least somewhat."

"We've talked about this, McCool. You and I can't possibly be involved because of Hardy."

She grins at me. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you and Serena..."

Serena's eyes are huge. I hold up a hand. "I'm not going to ask that of her. I'm her mentor, which puts me in a position of power over her. It would be irresponsible of me to take advantage of that bond."

Michelle smirks. "Fine."

"So who was on the phone, anyway?" I ask.

"Oh. It was Matt."

I frown. "I didn't think the two of you were speaking any more."

"He wanted to make sure we saw it."

The waitress comes back with the food. The mood around the table is somber as she passes it out. "Thanks," I say. I take a bite of my food, then look up to see Serena frowning at me. "Is there a problem?" I ask her.

"No," she says, looking quickly down at her food and picking up her fork. Which is weird, because she's got a sandwich. I glance at Michelle. She's still smirking at me, and I have no idea why. I have a feeling I'm going to have to corner her and drag information out of her after the two of them have their little shopping expedition. Or maybe Luke can tell me what the hell's going on in my own group. Either way, it's going to have to wait until we get to the next venue.

"Well," I sigh, "let's eat. We've got a couple more hours on the road. I'd like to get there before dark."

"Sounds good to me," Michelle says brightly.

Despite Michelle's cheeriness, the meal feels grim. We're quiet, aside from Michelle, who seems to be chattering to fill the void. Looking at us through her eyes, I can see why she thinks we need to lighten up and have some fun. It makes me wonder how believable she'll be as a straightedge society member because she's too vibrant, compared to the rest of us. I'm ruminating on it through the entire meal, so much so that I scarcely taste the food.