Otis and I walked into a diner tense and anxious. The red car had disappeared a few blocks away, but he insisted that we go eat anyway. He was still uncomfortable. We sat on stools in front of the counter and looked at the menu on the wall.
"Whoa," he said, jerking his head back. "Things cost a lot on this side of town."
"Yeah," I agreed.
"We can buy one milkshake and share it. I mean...," he looked at the half-full unfinished glass two stools down, "they look big anyway."
"What do you mean share it?"
"With two straws." He continued to stare at the menu as if he hadn't suggested something crazy.
A girl stood in front of us wearing a bright pink shirt and maroon apron. "Hi," she said with a smile. "Have you guys figured out what you want?"
I sighed and turned away, looking around at the people sitting together. There were many couples holding hands and laughing together. My brows fell. Some of them had shakes with two straws in them.
"Hey," Otis touched my hand. "What do we want?"
"We?" I stared at him.
"Yeah. As in the flavor of our milkshake."
I slowly nodded looking down. "Vanilla maybe. It's up to you."
"Vanilla."
"Coming right up." The girl walked away.
I looked around again, then looked at Otis. "I don't see a red car anywhere. We can just cancel our order and leave." I looked at all the couples sitting around one more time.
He looked around too. Then he snickered and shook his head. "Dalta, come on. You can't be nervous because of them."
I shrugged and looked down feeling my face burning up with embarrassment.
The waitress walked back over to us with the tall glass. Two straws floated inside. "A Vanilla milkshake with two straws and one cherry." She put it down in front of us. "Enjoy."
"Wait," I said after hesitating a bit.
"Yes?" the girl smiled.
"Is there any chance you can pour it into two separate glasses?"
"Uh-"
"Don't mind her," Otis shook his head. He took money out of his wallet and handed it to her. "We're fine. Keep the change."
The girl grinned. "Thank you." She skipped away.
I folded my arms on the counter and squinted my eyes at Otis. "So, you can give her that big a tip, but you couldn't buy us separate shakes?"
Otis snorted and smiled. "Dalta-"
"I could've bought one for myself."
His eyebrows narrowed. "What is your problem?"
I let out a sigh and looked around. "Nothing." I took a sip of the milkshake then I leaned back, pushing my hair away from my face.
Otis stared at me with his usual judgy stares. "You think I'm trying to date you."
I sat upright. "I never said that-"
"Dalta, you don't have to. I can see it. Since after we kissed you've been acting weird-"
"And you haven't? You're acting like we're dating."
"Because I had to protect you from Chad. He looked at you in this way... I lied. That was stupid. I guess I thought it would be easier to say that than to sit there and let him make assumptions about us."
I squinted. "A what now about what now?"
He turned away and sipped some of the shake.
I stared at him, then sulked. "I'm sorry... I'm just not into dating right now."
He looked at me with a purse-lipped smile and shrugged. "I figured."
I rolled my eyes. "I mean...I thought I was at first, but after we pretended to date at Chad's..." I stared at the milkshake. "I just realized that I'm not into it."
"Dating's weird, just like having a crush on someone. I'm nervous about it too. But you'll never know what it's like until you try it."
"Sounds like you're trying to sell me drugs." I smiled at Otis.
He chuckled, then he looked at the milkshake. He pushed it in front of me.
I lifted the straw and put it to my lips, taking a sip of the shake.
His eyes strayed to the front door and his smile faded.
I turned around. Taylor had come to the diner. She waved at us, smiling this weird, fake smile. I sensed it, but wise, all-knowing Otis couldn't.
"Hey, guys!" She wedged herself between us with a grin. "Funny seeing you here."
"You too," Otis said, with slightly squinted eyes. "What are you doing on this side of the town?"
"I live here actually. What are you guys doing here?"
"We were visiting a friend."
"Who? I might know them."
I looked at Otis. He looked pale. "You won't know him." I smiled at Taylor.
"Are you sure-"
"We're sure."
She nodded, then noticed the two straws in the glass. "Oh..." She lifted her brows. "I know this diner is the place where lovers hang out. Didn't think you two knew that since you're not from here. But it seems like you do."
"Oh no! We're not on a date," Otis quickly corrected her, chuckling awkwardly and waving his hand as if disgusted by the thought of it all of a sudden. "We decided to share the shake so we wouldn't have to pay too much."
Taylor looked at me, then she looked at him. "You're on a date." She forced another smile, then walked away shaking her head.
Otis sighed and turned around.
I looked down trying to hide my disappointment. I pushed the rest of the milkshake in front of him. "You can have the rest." I got down from the stool and started walking away.
"Dalta, wait."
I walked out of the diner and made my way over to the car.
He ran after me. "Dalta," he sighed and stood in front of me holding my upper arms. "The only reason why I said we weren't on a date is because I want you to be ready for that. I don't want to force you to date me after you said you didn't want that."
"Are you sure that's the only reason?"
He stared at me waiting for me to explain myself.
"Penny told me that you like Taylor," I said with a shrug.
He groaned. "You can't tell Penny anything, can you?"
"You've learned your lesson... Otis, she told me that when you told her you thought you were talking to me."
"What's that have to do with us?"
"You thought you were talking to a friend." I pushed his arms off of mine and held his shoulders, then I looked into his eyes. "I'm not ready to date anyone. And I think we're better off as friends right now."
His brows fell.
"That being said," I let him go, "I think it's okay for you to date other girls if you prefer to wait until I'm ready. And if you don't want to wait...then that's fine too. I'm not going to be ready for a long time."
"But I-"
"Otis," I sighed, "Taylor likes you. Don't waste your time on me. Go ask Taylor out."
He stared at me with a slight frown. I could tell he was a bit disappointed. But I was fine with that. He really liked Taylor and I liked our friendship. Even though it was a really terrible one. It was obvious that Otis and I had nothing in common except for the fact that we were both criminals. Otis was mature and he was already into dating. He thought a lot about things before he acted. I didn't. I was more of the "act and not think" type. The only thing I'd given much thought into was dating, and after my date with Ethan, I had decided that I would rather get to know someone before I started getting serious. SO, I decided that I would stalk Otis from afar.
I watched him walk back into the diner. He made his way over to Taylor and sat in front of her. I could see how nervous he was from far away. His shoulders were shrugged and his eyes were wide. He clasped his hands together and stared at her. His eyes met mine. I smiled at him and he smiled back, then he unclasped his hands and sat straight, suddenly gaining his confidence.
I was about to get into the car, when I noticed the red one parked near the sidewalk. I looked at Otis, then I started making my way out of the lot. I walked on to the sidewalk staring at the car. It was empty. I walked over to it, completely suspicious. I peeped into the window and looked around. A pink wig and sunglasses were on the seat driver's seat. I stood straight. "Uh-oh."