Loving Maya

Dinner Squabbles And Bad Jokes

"Well, a lot of customers like the steak." The waiter shrugs.

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Peyton gives him a death glare. He gulps nervously, before putting his small notepad in the pocket of his blue apron.

"I'll be back in a minute." He rushes off to another table.

"You're scaring the staff, Peyton." I look at Jesse. "I think you should leave."

"I think you should leave." I turn back to Peyton.

"What?" Jesse laughs. "I'm not going anywhere."

Why does this feel like my fault? I should've just kept quiet.

"Uh, we can all just get our food to go." Chris suggests.

"Shut up." Peyton dismisses him.

A look of hurt flashes in his eyes before he looks down, focusing on his menu.

Is it wrong if I actually want to leave?

"Peyton, that's enough." Zoe speaks and Peyton humphs, looking away.

"Yeah, tell her to-"

"Oh I'm sorry," Zoe interrupts Jesse, "I thought some lying, cheating ass was saying something."

"Is that what you told them?" Jesse turns to Peyton, who doesn't bother looking at him. "I told you from the beginning, it was just fun. We agreed on this."

Silence settles at the table as Peyton offers no reply. Jesse pushes his chair back, the wood screeching as it moves against the ceramic tile. He gets up and storms out of the restaurant.

"It's not your fault, Pey." Bianca is quick to try and comfort her. "He lied. You have every right to be angry at him. You thought he didn't have a girlfriend."

Peyton looks up at her and nods.

"I just... I'd like to get some fresh air." She also gets up and runs out of the room. Chris quickly stands up and follows after her.

"Well, this dinner ended before it even started." Bianca sighs.

As I look up at her, my eyes land on Max. I notice how awfully quiet he's been. He hasn't said a single word since we got here.

He looks up and our eyes lock. I smile at him and he does the same before quickly looking away.

"Should we leave or?" Zoe asks and I shrug my shoulders.

"I'm just starving." I sigh before my eyes move to the door. "Do you think Pey will be alright with Chris?"

"Yeah," a small smile plays on Bianca's lips, "I think we should give them a minute or so."

I nod and we all remain silent for a while until the waiter shows up again.

"Are you guys ready to take your order?" I notice the relief on his face when he doesn't spot Peyton or Jesse.

"Uhm... We'll have your spaghetti bolognese." I look to my friends for approval and they all nod, well, except for Max.

"Spaghetti bolognese." The waiter repeats as he jots down on his notepad. "Anything to drink while you wait for your food?"

"What do you guys have? Non-alcoholic." Mason asks and the waiter looks up.

"Uhm, pineapple juice, apple juice, mango juice, coke." The waiter shrugs.

"Mango juice." Mason and I reply simultaneously and we look at each other and smile.

"Since when do you like mango juice?" I tease.