Decode Me (On Hold)

The Game

                                               3~The Game

                                                    Aiydin

Everywhere I go, everybody knows me, knows that I stand alone...

It's all part of the game.

-Alyssa Reid

"Best. Frappe. Ever!" I smiled as I took another sip of my Double Chocolate Chip Frappuchino, courtesy of Lauren.

"You've never had Starbucks?" She asked incredulously.

"Nope."

She gawked at me.

"Sorry, I'm culturally deprived," I joked, even though it was true.  I never got out much in my last town, considering I lived with a foster family, had no friends, and I was only there for a whopping week.  Same goes for the town before that, and the town before that and- well, you get the point.

"Obviously!  You aren't an American if you haven't had a Starbucks coffee!!"

"Well, now I have, so quit your bickering," I snapped.  "And I am most definitely American!  Hence, the fair skin and no foreign accent!"

She rolled her eyes, ignoring my last comment.   We headed over to Sbarro, a place in the food court that sells, quote,  "Pizza slices larger than your head!", unquote, according to Lauren.  Yet, another place I had yet to experience.

"So what are you ladies having today?" I heard a strangely farmiliar voice ask.

Looking beyond the glass and metal that protected the food from grimy hands, I found myself staring into a pair of sparkling gray-blue eyes.  If it weren't for my current lack of mobility and comprehension skills, I probably would have straight up laughed in his face.  The cool guy who was too full of himself to take a hint, working at a mall- in a pizza parlor of all places?  Okay, I could picture him working in, say, Abercrombie and Fitch or Aeropostale or Hollister.  But, Sbarro?

Hey, at least it's a nicer pizza parlor.  He could be working at, like, Domino's....

At that point, I'd started to thaw out.  I realized that during the time we were having a stare down, Lauren had moved on to the next guy waiting to serve someone.  She shot me a look- I'll give you guys some privacy. 

I rolled my eyes, and turned back to Hunter.  And this time, as I took in his appearance, I let out a shocked giggle.  Which slowly turned into a round of laughter.  People turned to stare at us, but I didn't care.  I would most likely never see any of them again- despite the secluded-ness of the area I now lived in, I had come to find out that this was a rather large town, which was a blessing in itself.

When I finally calmed down, I looked up to see an amused smile spreading across his face.

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.

"You're cute when you laugh."

My jaw dropped as I tried to process what he just said.  How did he go from Mr.Cocky to Mr.Sweet in the course of an hour?  Is he bipolar?

"Uh..."

"Oh, sorry, I kind of forgot that you probably want food.  So what kind of pizza?" Glancing down at the pizza in front of him and frowning.  Obviously, he was expecting a different reaction.  Maybe I should have said thank you or something.

"Um, peperoni, please." I shifted uncomfortably in my spot while he put the biggest slice of pizza in the world on a equally large plate, remaining silent.  Well, this is turning out to be the most awkward pizza experience I've ever had.  Come to think of it, it is the only awkward pizza experience I've had.  Note to self: Find out when Hunter's shifts are and avoid Sbarro during those hours.