Just Keep Swimming

VI

*6*

"These are so good, trust me," Ellie says, ceremoniously sliding the menu over to me.

Glancing over to where her finger is pointed, I skim the description.

"Hawaiian Mayan...," I say aloud, skimming the description.

"You don't want to try that," Josh says, bumping into the seat beside me. "That, right there is what you want to get."

"Double decker surfers turf," I read out loud, the rest of the table consumed in conversation.

"Ew, she's not here to pig out on food so she'll be full for the next three years," Ellie directs towards Josh, clearly displeased.

Josh rolls his eyes. "Look, if she's come all the way over here to beachy California, she should eat like a Californian."

Ellie throws him an irritated look, turning back to me to smile apologetically. "Don't listen to us bicker about stupid things like food. Choose whatever sounds interesting."

Well okay, there wasn't really that big of a selection.

Shrimp.

Fish.

Calamari.

....and sword fish...

"Um... sword fish?" I ask, perturbed. "Can I have something a little less...exotic?"

I can practically feel the wave of energetic enthusiasm wafer off of Devlin as she turns around to join in the conversation.

"It's kind of the norm here," she tells me, her eyes wide with sincerity. "Doesn't Portland have some sort of weird delicacy there?"

"Um not that I know of. My mom and I don't really try new foods..." I tell her.

Her wavy long hair flows past her shoulders to run across the table when she shakes her head vigorously with a thoughtful "I see".

Seeing the end of this conversation, I focus on studying the small taco shop.

The shack looked rickety with the wooden walls scrapped with age. There was the constant saturated smell of salt water and sun and it never went away-even here in the restaurant.

The only smells added in the restaurant were the spicy Cajun spice and woody fume.

It was a smell that was entirely different in Portland.

When the group gets up to order their food, I quietly shuffle into the end of the line, quietly observing them.

Even though I had friends in Portland, I wasn't as close to them as everyone here seemed to be with each other.

It was both a satisfying thing to see and an uncomfortable one.

Catching my gaze, Ellie grins at me, bumping her hip against mine. "We're just going to wait at the table, okay?"

I smile back, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. "Yeah, okay."

She glances behind her, snickering at the loud commotion of Sam crashing onto the floor after having Josh pull out his chair.

"See you there," she says, her hair flying as she spins around.

The front door opening sets the bell off, a gust of Californian breeze slipping through as I someone gets in line behind me.