College Fund

//Les escargots//

"This is a really nice restaurant," I commented as Eric and I got settled into our seats. The waitress had seated us near the back of the restaurant by the window and I glanced out at the view of the Parisian streets.

Eric smiled, and I noticed how his eyes sparkled. "Only the best for my best friend!"

I grinned back at him, then glanced down at the menu. "Do you understand any of this? It's all en francais!"

"We're in France, what did you expect?"

I rolled my eyes at him playfully. "Well, I don't know about you, but I have no idea what to order."

"I'll give you some advice." Eric lowered his voice, and leaned across the table towards me as if he was going to tell me a secret. "Don't order les escargots."

I scrunched up my nose in disgust. "No thanks, I get that it's a French delicacy and all, but I prefer my snails to stay in my garden."

Eric laughed. "Fair enough. What are you going to order then?"

"Mmmm..." I paused and scanned over my menu again, taking a careful look at the pictures. "Probably the 'du poulet avec pommes des terres'."

"And... what is that?"

"Chicken and potatoes," I replied and snapped my menu closed. "Because I'm basic."

"Sounds good, I'll probably get the same thing." Eric smiled.

I raised my eyebrow. "You're going to trust me? I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Probably not." He shrugged. "But if you go down, I go down with you."

My heart leaped in my chest. Why was it doing that? Eric totally meant that in a friendly way, right? Like, just friends. And there was nothing wrong with that. That was what I wanted. Wasn't it? Ugh, honestly I didn't even understand myself anymore. I felt like the more time I spent talking about my feelings with Dr. Saunders the more confused I was.

"Thanks Eric, I appreciate that."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Eric looked at me... hopefully? Was that the right word? I don't know, it almost seemed as though he wanted me to say we are more than just friends...

Stop it. Snap out of it, Cassidy. You and Eric can't be together, it didn't work last time, and it won't work ever. There's no point in living in a fantasy or daydreaming when it could never be reality. Wake up and smell the coffee, Cassidy, because Eric hasn't called you Butterfly all night, and if that's not a sign that he doesn't like you, I don't know what is. Now get over yourself and stop living in a cheesy rom-com movie that nobody likes!

"Bonsoir mademoiselle et monsieur," a young waitress with long dark hair greeted. "Que puis-je vous faire manger?"

Eric was about to order, but I really wanted to practice my French, so I started talking before he had the chance. "Bonsoir. Nous aurons le poulet et les pommes de terre, si vous plait."

"Ah, oui. Bon choix." The waitress scribbled some things onto her notepad and headed off to the kitchen to put in our orders.

Eric turned to me, his trademark smirk slowly falling off of his face. Was something wrong? "Hey, is everything alright?" I questioned.

"Yeah, yeah." He shook his head. "It's just-I was really looking forward to going to the Eiffel Tower with you."

My chest constricted, and I forced myself to put some of the deep breathing exercises Dr. Saunders had taught me into action. Truthfully, I had hoped that Eric had forgotten about our original plans to go see the Eiffel Tower because the thought of going into a car still terrified me. It wasn't even the fear of crashing anymore... It was the fear of having another panic attack and putting the lives of the people around me at risk.