"Hey, how about we go play in the arcade when we're done?" She asks. Susie's eyes light up and she nods, kicking her feet as she chews away at her pizza.
Aella flicks her hair behind her ear. It was almost to her hips at this point, and it kept getting everywhere. He father was pestering her about cutting it soon, but she refused. Susie and her had nearly matching lengths, but Susie's was a bit longer.
The two weren't blood related. Susie was the daughter of a family friend who'd chosen Aella's father as her godfather. When Susie's parents died only a few months after her birth, Susie became his responsibility.
"Are you done?" Aella asks as she wipes her hands on the paper. Susie drops the crust on the plate and nods, standing up. "Wait!" Aella stops her, walking around the table to clean the bits she had on her face.
"There. Let's go." She smiles, throwing the paper in the trash as Susie grabs her arm with both hands and snuggles her cheek into her forearm.
"Hold on, Su." Aella stops, patting at her pockets to see if she had spare change. She didn't.
"Hey, can you wait for me by the air hockey machine while I ask dad for change?" She squats to ask Susie, moving her hair out of her face.
Susie nods happily and skips over to the machine, waving as Aella dispersed from the area to go and find her father.
"Dad!" Aella yells throughout the restaurant, white sneakers contrasting the dark blue floor as she reaches her dads bag.
She presses her lips together and reaches into it, looking for his wallet. When she finds it and scratches through the few $50 bills he has stacked in it, she pulls out a handful of quarters. Just enough to get them through a few games.
Aella hurried back over to the arcade, not wanting to leave Susie alone for too long. "Susie!" She exclaims, smile bright on her face as she walks back over to the hockey table. Except, Susie isn't there.
The only thing that's left behind it the yellow keychain she won at the claw machine the last time they came. Aella picked it up feverishly, flicking it around. "Susie!" She yells again.
"Susie!"
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Aella sat back in Mike's car, hands on her lap as she pondered her dream from a few hours earlier. Her fingers tapped impatiently against her jeans as she bit her bottom lip and stared at the road in front of them until Freddy's came into view.
"You okay?" Mike asks as he makes the turn into the parking lot. Aella turns her head to him and nods silently, licking her lips. She zips open her bag and digs through it, silently trying to find her chapstick.
Mike stops the car and takes the key out of the ignition as Aella gives up on her chapstick. She zips her bag back up and opens the car door, closing it and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Vanessa's here." Abby announces as she walks around the car.
