ANNIE

7 ☼ Smile

A N N E T T E

Sitting in a fancy restaurant between Dimi and Ms. Kenslee was slightly nerve-wracking. I watched as the two figures beside me glanced at their menus and closed them back again within minutes. Meanwhile, I was still staring at mine with absolutely no idea what to do with it. Everything seemed to be listed separately with no instructions. I looked nervously over at the woman who hadn't yet noticed my mild distress.

"Um, Ms. Kenslee?" I whispered, obtaining her attention. "I don't know what to do with this. Will you please just order for me."

"I don't know what you want, hun. Look there's a list of--"

"Please," I begged.

Ms. Kenslee smiled at me. "Well, what do you like?"

I briefly thought it over. "Hmm... I really like spaghetti and macaroni and cheese."

"They don't have those here," she smiled, taking over the menu and pointing to the first column. "Look, go down the list here and--"

"--I can't. I don't know what any of it means."

"Don't worry, I'll help. Do you want steak or chicken? Maybe seafood?"

"Chicken, I guess," I murmured under my breath, looking slightly less tense with the guidance.

"Okay, do you want it in a salad or as an entree?"

"I-I don't know," I strained while keeping my voice as low as possible, aware that Dimi was watching us with amusement as the woman tried her hardest to explain the menu and get me to make a decision.

"Yes, you do. Breathe," Ms. Kenslee said, waving off the waiter who had come to take our order.

Soon after, the woman managed to finally get me to settle on an entree. "We've got the entree figure out. That was the hard part, yeah? All you need to do is pick a few sides. I don't care which ones or how many..."

I laughed nervously and settled on three sides without any prompting. By the time everything arrived at the table, I was feeling much more secure and was eagerly participating in the conversation. When the meal started to come to a close and Ms. Kenslee had offered me dessert, I was quick to make a choice much to her satisfaction. Shortly thereafter, we drove back into the hotel, I was still happily chattering as we walked all the way back up to the suite.

As we sat on the couch clad in our pajamas, watching reruns of rugrats, Ms. Kenslee looked at the clock in the corner of the room. Then looked at me who was still smiling and rambling on about the series. Taking a deep breath, she turned off the television, causing me to quiet and turn my body towards her so we were facing each other.

"We need to talk."

"Do we have to?" I asked, scrunching up my face. I knew exactly where this was going.

Nodding, she sighed. "We should."

I took in a deep breath and dropped my head onto the back of the couch. "Right now? It's late."

"Then let's take it to bed," Ms. Kenslee suggested with a shrug of her shoulders before standing up and offering a hand to pull me off the furniture.