nine | DINER
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I N D R A F O R E S T
I always wanted my life to be like those cringy children's shows I used to watch when I was younger, they always seemed so happy. And even if they had problems with someone close to them, they're always solved by the end of the episode. In a way, I envied them, envious that they had their problems solved while I was still trying to figure out why my mother hates me so much.
I count each faintly greening tree as the bus pass by each one. Cold winds rush through the giant windows and cool the atmosphere inside the bus. Beau's arms brush against mine, his thick jacket obstructing the touch-on-touch contact. Even if I wasn't looking at him, I felt his strong gaze on me.
"Are we almost there?" I ask, facing him. A smirk etch on his lips, his hair pressed against his forehead, and his emerald green eyes instantly connect with mine.
"Be patience, Indra." He pauses, drifting his gaze behind me, looking at the window. "I'll tell you when we're there."
"You know, I don't like surprises." I tell him, furrowing my eyes together when a sad memory comes to mind.
"I'll add that to the list of things you don't like?" He jokes, "Which is a lot."
My lips slightly part, "I don't dislike that many things."
He lifts an eyebrow, "Yes, you do."
"Name some." I mumble, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Okay, let me think about it." He tilts his head up, gazing upward, his tongue rolling against the inside of his cheek.
"See, you can't name a-"
His head is turned towards mine as he interrupts me. "You don't like grapes or raisins. You don't like it when people breathe too close to your neck because it makes you feel weird things or when people eat too close to your ears." Beau's grin caught my attention as his pupils travel over my facial features. "You don't like it when it's too cold because it makes your nose red. You don't like it when you bite your nails but still, do it anyway. You also don't like strawberry ice cream." He raises one eyebrow, opens his mouth slightly, and one curve of his lips remains on his face. "Should I say more?"
I shake my head, "You actually listen to me when I talk?"
He nods, "I like listening to you when you talk." His raspy, deep voice states quietly, "Makes my whole day better." My cheeks instantly heat up as his statement escapes his lips.
Shit.
In a flash, I turn my head to the window, hiding my blush from Beau. Whether I looked at him or not, I knew he was smirking.
My fascination with talking was muted by all those bored facial expressions every time I spoke. So, I submerged the talkative part of me deep within me while the quiet one came out to play. When I started talking a lot to Beau, I didn't know he listened to whatever bullshit I was saying.
The bus halts for a stop, "Come on, we're here." Beau says, sliding off his seat. He stands to his feet and shoves his hands into his pocket, waiting for me. I stand up from my seat and walk in front of him. The automatic doors open, allowing both Beau and I to walk out. A blast of cold air hits me as I step outside. I grip my sky blue hoodie closer to my body to increase my body heat.
I should have worn something thicker.
"Should've worn something thicker." Beau points out, standing right next to me as the bus's door shuts. When the bus drove away, instant air from the bus blew my hair all over. "Come on, we're almost there. We just need to walk a little."
As we walked down the sidewalk, our footsteps echoed loudly as he walked in front of me, and I followed behind him. Beau casually glances over his shoulder a couple of times as we paced down the sidewalk. Cars rushing down the street make it more difficult to warm me up, the beautiful clear sky is being covered up with gray one, indicating that it was going to rain, but I could still trace my hand over the little gaps between the fluffy clouds. I drift my vision down to the ground, watching my black Converse crushes a couple of rolled-up brown leaves. Then, all of a sudden, my head bumps into someone's back.
"Fuck, Beau." I pull my head away from Beau's back, a groan slips out of my mouth, and I use my hand to rub my head. "Why'd you just stop walking?" He turns his whole body around and looks down at me as my eyes dart up to him, connecting my gaze with his.
"You should have been watching where you're walking." His grin spreads on his face as I realize how close we were. I back up slowly, trying to avoid my upper body brushing against his chest. I glance over his shoulder and see a diner, Albert's Diner to be specific. Medium size diner, Albert's Diner sign was large in bright red on top of the diner, and some tables were stacked outside.
"A diner?" I whisper.
"Yes, a diner." He confirms. He slips his large hand into mine, "Come on, We're going inside." My heart sinks at the warm sensation of his hand. He starts pacing towards the diner, pulling me with him. I am immediately enveloped by the warmth of the air when we enter the diner. Booths surrounded the whole diner, a long counter in the middle, the color red bounces to every corner of the diner, not leaving any corner untouched, and small amounts of people were sitting down and eating.
"Good Afternoon, welcome to Albert's Diner." A young man of my age approaches us. His brown eyes drop to Beau and my hands, which are still clasped together. "Let's get you guys seated."
Before the man moves from his place, my eyes caught the name tag on his tan-colored collar. Aaron. His slicked-back shoulder-length, wavy blonde hair was in a bun that fitted perfectly around his head shape. Aaron moves towards the booths, and Beau and I follow him, standing very close to one another with our hands still connected together.
Aaron, Beau, and I stop at an empty booth. I slip my hands out of Beau's, and the warmth he gave me vanishes along with it. I slid inside the booth, and so does Beau, but on the other side. The leather seats sticks to my skin like glue was splashed on them. There was a small blue music box on the table's edge, menus were slid near us by Aaron, and utensils were already situated nearby.
"Hope you guys enjoy." Aaron says, leaving the booth with a tight-lipped smile.
"Fuck, it's so hot in here." Beau groans, slipping his black jean jacket off. It is easy to see his arm tattoos inked into his skin with his tight white t-shirt showing every curve of his muscles.
"So, why'd you take me to this diner?" I ask, trailing my eyes down the different options on the menu.
"Because I work here." He answers as I look at him. "And because the food here is good."
We sit in silence as we find things we wanted to eat for lunch. A different waiter got our orders. I got chicken fingers with french fries and Beau got a burger and fries. Beau started teasing me because I picked from the kid's menu, but I told him about my obsession with food from the menu and he just decided to tease me more.
Beau leans on his side, reaching for something. He pulls out a deck of cards, "I did say I was going to bring them next time we see each other, didn't I?"
I smile brightly, "Yes! I could prove my theory right."
He rolls his eyes, "And I could prove you're theory wrong." He drew the deck of cards out of its case, and shuffle them a couple of times before we played. "Just know, I'm going to win."
First, he places five cards on the table, then one, then another, then five more. The rest of the deck is split in half, leaving Beau and me with twenty cards each, neither of us looking at the cards after he split them. I grabbed five cards from my deck. Beau did the same.
Both Beau and I place our hands on the cards in the middle, connecting both of our eyes together. "Ready, Mr. Monet."
He smirks, "Of course, I am, Ms. Forest." Then we flipped the cards in the middle and instantly placed our cards on the table. We both try to finish all twenty cards that we had but Beau didn't try hard enough because I ended up winning.
"Speed!" I shout, slamming my hand on the deck of cards. My laughter echoed throughout the entire diner, and some people stared at me for yelling.
A frustrating sigh escapes Beau's lips, "You cheated!"
"No, the fuck I didn't." I defend myself, a smile grows even more on my face as Beau scrunches his eyebrows together in anger. "What was that again, 'Just know I'm going to win' I guess you didn't, Mr. Monet." I mock him, beaming brightly.
"Baise son sourire." He mumbles. | Fuck, her smile. |
While I disregard what he said, I continue to laugh. "I never thought you would be such a sore loser."
He shakes his head, "You only won one game, bell fille."
"Then, let's play another one." I say, but a waiter comes with our food.
"One chicken tender with fries." The red-haired woman with freckles adorning her cheeks says, two plates in her hand. In a flash, Beau gathers all the cards on the table and puts them in his jacket. I raise my hand and the woman places the food near me and places the other plate near Beau. She leaves with a small smile.
"We'll play after we eat." I say, grabbing one of my fries and popping it inside my mouth. Beau nods, agreeing with my statement.
The curve on my lips grows, even more, in the realization that the feeling of loneliness disappearing when I'm around Beau, which is strange, but incredibly wonderful at the same time.
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Finally, I posted this chapter but it's my Favorite chapter so far.
Anyways, have a great day/night and be safe <3