Butterscotch Backstabber

Chapter 8: Laffy Taffy

"D-ah um. Yeah. Works great." I nervously spat out.

"I'm glad," She smiled at me before leaning over the counter and kissing my cheek.

I jerked back and slipped in the mayo once more.

She laughed.

Alvin came back with the mop and helped me clean up the mess. Afterward, Hilary said,

"Go on your break, we can eat together."

I looked at Alvin and he just gave me the yeah whatever shrug. So I took my hat off and made me and Hilary a sandwich before grabbing us a drink and sitting in a booth with her. Technically employee discount was only half off but Alvin never cared that I ate for free.

He's cool like that.

"So I was working on the project this morning and got one whole wall finished. I took a picture." She said around a bite of sandwich and pulled out her phone to show me.

"I'm off again on Wednesday," I said.

"Great, I'll be working on it a little bit every day."

I smiled at her and I saw her cheeks flush. It made my own cheeks flush and I quickly looked down at my food.

"So," Hilary started.

I forced myself to meet her lavender eyes.

"The annual art show is coming up again, you going to enter in your work?" she asked.

"I don't know, probably." I shrugged and took a large bite of my sandwich.

"What's your piece going to be this year?"

"You trying to get ahead of me in the competition already?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No! I wasn't, I didn't mean to insinuate, what I mean is,"

"Kidding," I rolled my eyes.

She sighed in relief.

I shook my head and smiled at her.

Her cheeks flushed red and she shyly went back to eating.

"I haven't planned out my piece yet, might go for painting this year. I'm feeling sort of greyish. Maybe I'll do something greyscale. Whatever inspires me, I guess. I try not to plan too much ahead or I psych myself out and won't want to do it anymore."

"Oh wow, really? I always plan way in advance what I am going to do. Always doing multiple test sketches before I settle on something."

"Sounds like a lot of work."

"I just want to make sure I really like something before I spend hours making it. Don't want to wing it and find out I hate it."

"Meh, most of my best work comes from winging it. I just let my emotions do the talking."

"Spoken like a true artist."

I giggled as she flipped her hair and acted all posh for a moment.

She giggled too.

We ate in silence for a moment before she said,

"Even though we just barely, officially, met, I feel like we are already good friends."

I felt my stomach twist up.

Friends.

She thought we were real friends.

Yet I've been pretending this whole time.

"Yeah." I forced a smile.

"You are way better than most of my other friends. I just feel like I can be myself around you."