The Opposition

Chapter 10: Carter

"Son, good to see you," he says, only nodding at Dimitri and Landon. He's never been fond of my friends, yet I don't know why.

"It hasn't been that long," I mumble. I don't want to be rude, but being at home unnerves me, like my father will finally be able to convince me to quit all my dreams and take over the diner as he's always dreamed. I don't know how to get it through his head that I don't want to be holed up at the diner making double-patty burgers for the rest of my life.

Mom plucks the spatula out of my hand and uses it to load up the sandwiches on a platter. "Your father and I have to go into the diner, so you boys can look after Conner. Don't forget you're working a morning shift tomorrow. Landon and Dimitri can be servers, if they have no where else to go, but making food is off limits. Love you, honey." And, with that, she grabs onto dad's arm and they turn to leave.

Conner grumbles "I don't need a babysitter" and Landon makes a comment about him being a literal child. Dimitri is oddly quiet, but it's fairly clear why when I glance at him. He's staring down at his phone, probably texting Angie, who he hasn't shut up about for hours. It's oddly wholesome and so fucking annoying at the same time.

"Are you going to visit home later?" I ask Landon, even though I'm pretty sure of the answer.

"Fuck no," he says. Landon lives a few hours from me, so, when we come back from breaks, he gets a ride to the train station in my town to go back to FP together. I don't press him on the matter.

"So, how's Isabelle?" I ask Conner, placing the grilled cheeses on the dining table for everyone to grab. I take a bite of my own and am thrown into a flood of memories of coming home from school everyday before I got into Fairridge.

"She's good. She let me kiss her on the cheek yesterday. Maybe we'll get married," he replies, nonchalantly, inhaling his food.

Landon snorts, but Dimitri slaps him on the arm. "That's sweet," he says, and I wonder if he's thinking about Angie. Let me tell you, the dude is whipped as hell.

"What about you, Carter?" Conner asks. "Did you get a date to your dance."

"Yep. Her name was Carrie. She was nice." I think back to her guiding me across the dance floor when the last thing I wanted to do was dance. I hate to admit that standing at the punch table arguing with Sadie was more enjoyable than pretending not to notice Carrie's multiple attempts to get me to kiss her. I don't know why I didn't. My mind was elsewhere.

"That's cool. Are you dating?"

"No."

After we finish eating, Conner goes down the street to meet up with some friends while Dimitri, Landon, and I settle on the plush couch and catch up on dumb rom-coms. It's a guilty pleasure that we've agreed to never tell anyone about. Especially since Landon has made it his life's mission to give Anastasia shit for all the rom-coms she reads. Regardless, ever since I can remember, the three of us would spend at least two nights per month going on rom-com marathons, making fun of and enjoying them at the same time. It started out as a joke one night because we were bored, but one look and we knew we were all thinking the same thing: this stuff is entertaining as fuck.

We're watching a movie about some guy who saves this girl from drowning and then dies before he can propose to her. The girl finds the ring in a sock drawer or some shit. Just because we watch the movies doesn't mean we always pay attention to the finer details. They help turn your mind off from everything else going on around you, and I like that.

"That ring is fucking ugly," Dimitri points out, staring intently at the screen.

"Since when do you have opinions on engagement rings?" Landon questions, gaping at him.