Ash [Prince Zuko - Book Two]

❃Chapter Thirteen❃

"Okay," the man said, shrugging. He didn't seem to notice how upset she was about him serving turtle-ducks on the menu. "You're missing out. We have ginger-infused pea tendril and hibiscus-root salad, crab puffs, noodle soup, and seaweed soup. We don't have much food items because we're a small tea shop, and tea is our specialty!"

"I'll just have the noodle soup."

"Good choice. Your meal will be out soon." Asake watched as the man walked away from her, sighing. She should have stuck with something else than this little tea shop. It was too rundown and run by a weird man. She didn't have to wait long, though, for her food since there were not that many people in the shop. "Enjoy!" the man said happily.

"Thank you," Asake said, smiling. 

The man left her alone, and she picked up her chopsticks, starting to eat. The noodles weren't that bad, just a little bland. There was some sort of meat in the soup as well, and it tasted pretty good. She hoped there wasn't any turtle-duck meat in this soup, but she didn't want to try to think about that. Asake took a small sip of the lychee tea, grinning when it hit her tongue. The man was right; this was their specialty! The sweetness of the lychees wasn't too overpowering, and whatever else was in the tea balanced it out really nicely.

She took another bite of the noodles, accidentally slurping it up loudly. Her cheeks turned a little warm when the two people in the little shop glanced at her. That was why she couldn't go out in public; people always looked at her strange whenever she did just about anything. She would much rather hide out in her little room in the house she was staying at rather than facing the wrath of people's opinions.

A shadow descended over her, so she glanced up, frowning. She couldn't tell who the person was that was standing over her because of the sun shining against his back suddenly. She said, "What are you doing?" The person sat down in front of her, a grin on his face. It was the boy she had met a couple of days ago. What was his name? Jet? She couldn't exactly remember right now. "Oh, it's you."

"You sound disappointed," he said, feigning hurt. He pressed his hand to his heart, his eyebrows dipping low into his eyes. "I thought we left on a good note."

"We did," Asake said, laughing. She found it strange that she could laugh that easily with him. She set her chopsticks down suddenly, feeling bad that she was eating in front of someone. Asake didn't want to embarrass herself again. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I was hungry. It is lunch, after all."

Her cheeks reddened yet again. She still embarrassed herself without the help of her chopsticks or her food. "Of course. Sometimes, I'm not that bright."

Jet smiled, making her heart flutter. There was something about his smile that seemed like it was only for her. "It's alright. I was just teasing you."

"Oh, you were," Asake said, cringing inwardly. How could she be so cool the last time she talked to this cute boy? Where did that girl go? Maybe she was only alive once in a lifetime, and now she was forever stuck being awkward and forgotten. "Do you want some of my noodle soup?"

"I'll order some of my own," Jet said, raising his hand already. The man that dealt with Asake walked over with a smile on his face. He glanced between Jet and Asake, his smile widening even more. Before Asake could blurt out that they were definitely not on a date, Jet was already saying, "I'll have whatever she's having."

"Okay," the man said, nodding. "It'll be out soon."

"How is the food?" Jet asked once the man left them, pointing at her abandoned bowl. 

Asake grimaced, shaking her head. She leaned forward, and Jet did the same thing. He seemed to want to hear every word she said, unlike someone she knew. "It's very bland," she whispered to him. "The meat that's in the soup is okay." She glanced around to make sure the man wasn't near because she felt bad for saying that about his food when he seemed so happy about it. "The tea is amazing, though."