Novice in Love | on hold

Eleven

ELLIE

I cross my arms and stare at her in anticipation. This better be some news, I think to myself. Something big enough of a deal to not only eat a dinner out at an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant but to invite the unexpected Michael over as well. 

"Let's order what kind of meat we want first, okay?" Jenna flips through the menu in her hands, not meeting my eyes. "Then we can talk while we eat." 

"Come on, Jenna." I let out a whine. Why is she being so suspenseful and secretive? I am already getting impatient. 

To my surprise for the second time tonight, Michael takes her side. "Yeah, Ellie, why don't we order first? We have plenty of time to talk after. Aren't you hungry?"

I frown. Is there something going between the two of them? Something romantic perhaps? How could I have not noticed this before? 

"How about one serving of bulgogi, galbi, pork belly, and brisket?" Jenna suggests, setting down the menu in her hands after looking over it once more. Bulgogi is marinated beef strips and galbi is beef short ribs, two very delicious meat cuts for Korean BBQ. "Will that be enough?"

"That sounds good for now," Michael says with a nod and closes the menu in his hands. "We can always order more later if it's not."

They both look at me for my opinion, silently waiting to see if I will go along with it or insist on knowing what was going on. I weigh my options and decide to just wait. I was getting hungry with all the appetizing smells wafting around me and especially after seeing savory meat grilling on other people's tables. "Alright, that's good with me too."

Relief flashes in both of their eyes, and then, Michael raises his hand to signal a server to come and take our order. 

+++

When the server leaves with our order, I want to ask Jenna again, but I hold back. She did say to wait to talk about it while eating. I wasn't going to get rejected again and make the atmosphere weirder. Instead, I just make small talk with them while we wait for our meat to be brought over. I ask about how their weekends were, what they did, and etc., and they did the same to me. Easy conversation to pass the time, while inside, I was dying to open my mouth and pester Jenna to spill whatever she was holding. 

Finally, after ten minutes of eternity, our meat is served. 

"Okay, can you tell me now?" I ask right away when the last slice of bulgogi is placed carefully on the grill. I can't help but notice how Michael clasps his hands together and glances at Jenna to speak. "Are you guys dating?"   

"Gosh, no!" Jenna exclaims with a cringe. "What on earth makes you think that?" She shakes her head like she just imagined that reality and wanted to dump it out of her head. 

"I don't know? Just everything about this situation is freaking weird and you two look guilty as hell for some reason." 

"Does the thought of me being your boyfriend disgust you that much?" Michael laughs at Jenna's reaction. Laughs! He found that funny! What is going on?

"No offense, Michael," Jenna replies slowly, "but you are not my type. I never even saw you in that way at all."

"Ouch, did you just break up with him in front of me?" I mess with her, liking how how much the idea of dating Michael bothered her. 

"We're not dating, my gosh, Ellie!" Jenna throws her hands up in frustration. "I simply invited him because I thought it'd be nice for us to hang out together and get to know each other better. And I wanted it to be a surprise."