That evening, everyone gathered in the foyer to leave for our dinner reservation. Cream was glued to my side and just kept talking, going on and on about their tours, the museums they had visited, the food, the Eiffel Tower; she just wouldn't stop. I pretended to listen, but was actually watching everyone around me. Things were certainly different from they had been before the accident.
As I watched, I noticed the little things. Blaze had been right, everyone did kind of shun Sonic. Even Tails avoided him. Sonic sat alone at the front of the bus, staring out the window, a sad look on his face. I was tempted to go to him to show everyone that they didn't have to hate him, but then I remembered all the awful things he had ever done and said to me, and I wanted him to suffer for a little while longer.
Blaze and Silver sat across the aisle from Cream and I. They were whispering to each other, their heads bent close; it seemed they were talking about something either secret or important.
After a few minutes of Paris traffic, we arrived at our restaurant. A cute little place with a name I couldn't dream of pronouncing. We entered and were immediately treated with such respect and reverence that I wondered if the owners were racing fans.
We were taken to a large room filled with tables that could seat several.
"Sit anywhere," Calvin announced. Everyone swarmed the tables to sit with their friends. I took a seat with Cream, Silver, Blaze, and Tails. I was between Blaze and Tails, a seemingly safe place to be. We had one empty place at our table and there were a few stragglers wandering, trying to find a place to sit. And then it happened.
"Shadow! Come sit with us!" Silver called out to the dark hedgehog, eliciting a red-eyed glance in our direction. He hesitated a moment, then sauntered over to the table, taking the empty seat directly across from me. I looked everywhere but at him. He said nothing, just watched everything. At that moment, I knew that it was going to be a really long night.
