Unconditional Validation

Chapter 10

"T-Thank you, I needed to hear that", I tried to hold back the tears again, but to no avail. They spilled out from my eyes and onto my face.

Cherry pulled out a handkerchief from her blazer pocket and started drying my eyes from the tears. "Anytime, Tyler, you're one of my favorite regulars. Speaking of that, I have a surprise for you!" She smiled and winked.

I tilted my head up at her with a look of slight confusion. "What is it?"

"I'll be right back! Wait for me at the counter by the register!" Cherry walked quickly to the back room.

America and I looked at each other and shrugged. The two of us walked over to the register to wait for Cherry to come back. A few minutes had gone by before Cherry finally came back with what looked to be a very cute bracelet! It looked so shiny with the crystals and diamonds that were in the colors of light blue, cherry red, lilac purple, and clear. The gems were arranged into flowers on a rose gold chain.

"This is the newest bracelet to the floral collection! It's one of a kind that only a few people can get!" Cherry beamed with a big smile.

I stared at it in awe, wanting to have it because of its sheer beauty. "I'll take it!" I exclaimed with the biggest smile ever.

"I knew this would take you out of your cloudy day! Sometimes all you need are some flowers, real or not." Cherry smiled warmly with a little giggle while ringing it up at the register.

I paid for my new bracelet and Cherry put it in its box and then put it into a shopping bag.

"Thank you for everything, Cherry, I mean it", I smiled softly to her as I grabbed the bag off the counter.

"You're so welcome Tyler, come back if you need to get away from it all", Cherry replied and gave us a wink at the last part. I chuckled at her humor.

"I'm so glad that you've been feeling better, Tyler", America smiled with contentment as we stepped outside and the door closed behind us.

"Thanks", I paused. "Even if it was because of a pretty bracelet?" I sheepishly smiled towards America.

"Yes. Even if it was because of a pretty bracelet", America laughed and shook her head.

"Are you feeling better from earlier?" I asked her with some concern in my voice.

"Mostly", America started with a sigh but then I heard her stomach rumble. I chuckled at that, and she followed with laughing at it as well.

"It sounds like I found out that's what my problem was, I'm hungry", America laughed.

"Let's go grab something to eat then" I responded, while my stomach also rumbled from hunger.

DING!!

I looked down at my phone, it was a text from Meghan.

'Do you and America want to meet me at the diner that's in our neighborhood for lunch? Just got out of class for lunchtime.'

"Looks like it's our lucky day!" I smiled.

"Why? What happened?" America asked me with a confused look.

"Meghan wants to meet at the diner for lunch, she just got out of her class," I replied.

"Oh my god, yes! I'm so hungry!" America exclaimed in her response. I laughed at her outburst.

"Plus I don't want to run into my mom anymore", I huffed.

"Yeah, you're right about that", America agreed.

The two of us headed towards America's car, got in, and headed to our destination where we could defeat our hunger. I responded to Meghan's text while on the way to the diner.

'Yes, we'll meet you there in like ten. We'll tell you everything.'

I put my phone down in my lap so I could live in the moment of relaxing with the windows down. However, I did put on my new bracelet because I did want to show it to Meghan.

It didn't take us long to get to the diner. As we pulled into the parking lot, I started to realize that I've yet to actually notice this place. Putting the car in park, we got out and walked in. We scanned the restaurant interior to find our friend. Meghan noticed the two of us and waved for us to come to the booth she was sitting at. I sat across from Meghan, while America scooted into the spot next to her. I took a moment to truly scan the environment around us in the diner. It had a retro theme to it, with a bit of neon pop, which gave a great feeling to be here. The waiter came quickly over and took our orders. I decided to go with a chicken sandwich with fries and a chocolate milkshake. You can't go wrong with a chocolate milkshake, right? Once we were done ordering, the kind and handsome waiter took our menus from us and walked away. He didn't forget to wink at us and flash the three of us a pearly white smile. We giggled at that for a bit.

"So, where have you two been for the first half of the school day?" Meghan asked us curiously.

"We needed a break outside of school to clear our minds, we went to the Garment District", I responded with a sigh.

"Luckyy, you should've invited me too, it has been boring without you guys", Meghan playfully pouted.

"We'll invite you next time, I promise", I laughed while America rolled her eyes, who eventually laughed as well.

"So what happened?" Meghan asked.

"We did some shopping, but we surprisingly had to keep an eye out for my mom, apparently she was also shopping today", I said with a bit of annoyance towards the end.

"Yikes! Did you guys get caught?" Meghan asked with concern.

"Almost." I deadpanned, while America rolled her eyes.

"Cherry did save our asses though", America laughed at what happened in that moment.

"That's great to hear, at least you had a place to hide out", Meghan responded in a bit of shock.

The waiter eventually brought out our food, and boy did it smell so good! I couldn't wait to dig in, but America had beaten us to eating by starting to chow down quickly. Meghan and I just laughed at the way she was acting like she hadn't eaten in weeks. While the three of us were eating our lunches, we kept chatting about what happened this morning. I also showed Meghan my new bracelet and she thought it was so pretty. At first, she almost choked on her milkshake when she first saw it. We laughed really hard at that. The three of us finished our food after a bit and paid our respective bills. Don't worry, we tipped our waiter very handsomely. We walked out into the parking lot to discuss the rest of the day.

"Do you want to finish the school day, or do you want to go home?" America asked me.

"One, I don't want to get in trouble with my parents. Also Two, Cherry's right, I need to wait out the storm until it subsides" I replied with confidence.

"Then let's get going! Meghan, we'll meet you back at school!" America exclaimed.

"Okay!" Meghan smiled and went to her car.

America and I got back into her car and headed off towards the school. I knew something bad was going to happen again, but I knew I had people that had my back when I was down on the ground.