The Prom Queen's Sidekick

Chapter Four: Brunch at Marie's

Marie's was the best diner in town. It's located at the center of the neighborhood. Fortunately, it's not that far from my house, so I just walked my way there. I was kind of nervous and scared about meeting this guy with ridiculously beautiful blue eyes. I mean, who wouldn't? This was the first time I'm going out with a stranger all alone.

When I arrived at Marie's, I noticed that there were a lot of people having brunch and it was very noisy. I looked around for a guy sitting alone with "the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen" as Kendra kindly described him. When I did not see him, I approached a waitress and tapped on her shoulder.

She turned around and pulled an earphone out of her ear. "How may I help you?" she asked as she chewed on her gum loudly.

I tried to ignore it. "Um, I'm looking for a blue-eyed guy," I said unhelpfully. "He's alone. Maybe you've seen him?"

"Let me guess. A friend set you up on a blind date?"

"How'd you know?"

"Trust me, I have my own bunch of crazy friends," she said, rolling her eyes. I smiled and I immediately like her. "Come on, I saw this dark-haired dude waiting for someone. He arrived a few minutes ago."

I followed her as she walked to the farthest side of the diner. "Is he cute?" I asked in spite of myself.

The waitress chuckled. "Oh, he's cute all right."

Was that sarcasm? Since I was not sure, I did not reply after that. We stopped in front of the cashier where the waitress greeted her friend who's playing Word Search. "So, is the dark-haired dude still here?" she asked.

The Word Search friend nodded. "Yep," she said, pointing to a guy whose back was on us.

My waitress turned to face me. "That's your guy. Have fun, darling."

I thanked her and slowly made my way to the mystery dark-haired blue-eyed guy. I got closer to him and he sipped on his coffee. I paused and cleared his throat. He turned around, looked up and faced me. I felt my breath catch up on my throat, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. Yeah, that sounded a little cliché and dramatic, but it was the truth. Kendra wasn't lying when she told me he has the most beautiful blue eyes. Actually, I'm not even sure if it was blue. It almost seemed like violet.

He slowly smiled. "Dee Garner?"

I nodded and I felt a smile creeping on my face. "Yes. Yes, I am she."

The guy stood up and offered me his hand. "James West," he told me. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

I let out a one-syllable laugh and shook his hand. I went to the seat across him and sat. He sat back again and looked back at me with those penetrating blue eyes. He was handsome, but not as handsome as Wendell. He was wearing an apple-green button-down shirt with white jeans. It was obvious that this guy was rich. Where the hell did Kendra meet this guy?

"So, should I call a waitress? I'm starving," he said, chuckling.

I smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I had a little talk with Kendra before I got here."

"You tried to back out, didn't you?" he asked playfully.

I blushed in embarrassment. I haven't even spent ten minutes with him and he was already making me blush. "Uh, not exactly. It's just that... you're a total stranger and I don't know you. It's my first time doing this 'blind date' thing."

"Then we'll get to know each other," James replied. He turned around and called for a waitress.

The waitress who led me to him walked over and gave me a surreptitious wink. She brought out her notepad. "So, may I take your orders?" she asked.