Larissa pays for her boba and settles on the couch. It's a nice celadon green. It's also probably the squashiest couch in the universe.
I flop onto the couch and sigh contentedly, taking another sip of my boba. Mm. No one could ever convince me to give up drinking these.
Then someone's stomach rumbles. I sit up, glancing at Larissa and then Cameron. He looks sheepish. Called it. "Sorry. My stomach decided to demonstrate a whale's call."
Larissa bursts out in laughter. A middle-aged lady in a navy pantsuit coming in frowns not so subtly. Outside, a little boy towing a plush polar bear presses against the glass, eyes wide. I give her a look. "'Rissa. We are in public."
"I know, Rosie," she trills. "I just wanted to scream a little."
Classic Larissa. I sip my boba, a piece of aloe vera slipping down my throat easily. Yum.
She scoots closer to Cameron, almost imperceptibly. I raise an eyebrow at her, but she ignores me and starts talking. "Hey, since you like food so much, why don't you order some side dishes? Takoyaki, brick toast..." Larissa rattles off a long list of snacks and side dishes that go well with boba. I bet she totally, definitely, undeniably didn't look all of that up the night before. The only boba side dish she actually knows of is brick toast. She had no idea what it was until I ordered some for her.
Sometimes, I feel kind of jealous of my friends, how they're so bold and straightforward. They're not afraid to do stuff without asking. They take on personal challenges with no qualms whatsoever. Like how Larissa's actually trying to get closer to Cameron. Honestly, she deserves better, but if she likes him, great. Hopefully it works out.
Larissa orders a butter brick toast scattered with strawberry slices, drizzled with chocolate, and topped with a cloud's worth of whipped cream. Cameron holds his hand up for a high five. "Nice. Sweet stuff for the win."
She smacks his hand enthusiastically with a shout of "Yeah!" as I order my usual plate of popcorn chicken, also called salt and pepper chicken. Nothing like something greasy to go with something sweet. The name of the dish comes from the fact that the surface of the chicken is very crispy and is often seasoned with salt and some pepper. Probably more salt than pepper, though, because Sugar Tea's popcorn chicken is very, and I mean very savory.
I still don't know how Larissa can stomach something sweet with something sweeter. If you ask me, it's much better to get something savory and something sweet. They cancel out.
Larissa, I notice, has earned a few more glares from the Sugar Tea customers, but she doesn't seem to care. She and Cameron are deep in enthusiastic conversation, probably about food or restaurants or whatever topic they've switched to.
Then she notices me. "Oh, Rosie! Cameron was just saying that—" She switches to a stage whisper. "—he likes reading as well!"
"It's not that weird, Larissa." Cameron raises an eyebrow. "Lots of high school seniors like to read."
"Yes, but I never would have pegged you as the reading type. The mischievous type...maybe." Larissa giggles.
I jump in before Larissa can go totally off the rails with her flirtiness. She's totally taking this challenge too far. "Which authors do you like?"
"Oh, Poe mostly." He runs a hand through his (unfortunately, gelled) hair. A nervous tic?
"I don't read a lot of Poe, but I've read The Tell-Tale Heart." I shrug.
"YES. That was really good. I mean, that moment when the mentally ill guy is like, 'It was the old man's hideous heart'? Awesome as he—" A mom glares at him. "—eck. Awesome as heck."
"Oh yeah, and how he keeps denying that he's crazy? Edgar Allan Poe is a master," I declare. My popcorn chicken arrives. Sugar Tea has always had the best service. I pop a piece into my mouth and offer one to Larissa. "You want?" I question through my mouthful of oily fried chicken.
"Such a hypocrite, Rosie, telling people they shouldn't talk with their mouth full with your mouth full of food." Larissa laughs, indicating a joke. "Give me that. You know I'll take free popcorn chicken any day."
Thirty seconds later, Larissa's brick toast shows up. "Oh my God. It's so big. I literally cannot finish this by myself. You two, share half." She makes a vague gesture at the sliced cubes of toast with all her toppings. A 4x4 grid of toast. That gives Larissa 8 pieces and Cameron and I 4 pieces each.
"Thanks." Cameron reaches for a piece and takes a bite. Each piece is about two bites, or in the case of Cameron, one bite. "Wow. This is really good."
"Isn't it? I always get this." Larissa swallows her second bite and reaches for another piece. "The combo is just so perfect. Chocolate, strawberries, whipped cream, butter...heaven."
"Mmm." Cameron leans back on the couch and mm's some more. "Mmmmmmm." Finally, he tips his head back and mm's aggressively. "MMMMMM!"
Larissa and I both start laughing like crazy. "I'm going to take some of mine to go," I gasp. "Maybe I'll mm some more at home."
I head up to the counter and ask the cashier for a few boxes and bags. "Sure. Have fun?" she asks. Her eyes twinkle, like an old friend's.
"Yeah."
She glances back at Larissa and Cameron. They're engaged in lively conversation over the brick toast. I guess Cameron didn't order anything. He laughs as he pops another piece of brick toast into his mouth.
It looks like they're enjoying themselves. And for some strange, weird, unfathomable reason, I feel kind of jealous.
The cashier must see the look on my face, because she says, "If you ever need someone wiser to talk to that's not your parents, come here. I'm here in the afternoons till closing on weekdays, and I'm also here for mornings and late-nights on Saturdays and Sundays. Because boba and takoyaki is hands-down the best hangover cure." She winks. "Oh, and I'm Rachel. Rachel Cao. Pronounced Chao. And you are...Rosie? Or is it Rose?"
"Rose Wang. Though you can call me Rosie. Whatever you want." I shrug.
Rachel studies me intently for a few seconds, then states her verdict. "I'll call you Rose. You seem like a Rose. Here's your boxes." She hands me a few cardboard boxes and plastic bags, both stamped with the Sugar Tea logo on the side. "Come see me sometime. You know when I'm here."
"Thanks." I smile at her. She flashes back a grin, a genuine one. Huh. She feels like...an older, more confident older sister.
"...and that's why I hate bunnies to this day," Larissa's chirping as I return to the couch to pack up. Oh, I know this one. She went to the petting zoo at the fair when she was 4, a bunny bit her finger when she tried to feed it, and she cried for an hour and a half afterwards. She swears to this day that that specific bunny was giving her the evil eye.
I hold out a box. "Pack up? 'Rissa, I don't think you'll finish that." She still has three pieces and she also doesn't appear to notice them.
"Yeah, no. I'm not gonna finish. Thanks, Rosie." She delicately plucks a box out of my arms with her perfectly done nails. They're a shade of pale pink today, with a little bow on each one. Cute.
I notice that Cameron's helping of toast is very much finished. But wait...didn't I have three pieces of brick toast? There's only two now. And I know Larissa didn't finish her helping.
I look up. Of course. Cameron's about to put a piece of brick toast in his mouth. "Cameron."
"Oh." He grins. "I guess I've been caught red-handed."
"You really like dessert, don't you." I raise an eyebrow.
"How'd you guess?"
"Whatever." I start packing the chicken into a takeout box.
He glances at the piece of brick toast in his hand. "You can have it back if you want."
"Nah, it's fine. You already touched it with your contaminated hands." I allow myself a smirk of my own.
"'Kay, if you say so," he says through a mouthful of toast. Wow. Of course. I sigh and pack the rest of my food.
We head out, the cute jingle sounding once again. "I have stuff, so I'm going to have to leave like right now." Cameron says. He runs a hand through his hair again. I'm almost blinded by the hair glare.
"No problem. We'll see you at school," Larissa trills. "Bye!"
He waves as he walks off in the opposite direction. As he turns the corner, Larissa turns to me. "Thank GOD, Rosie. You're finally becoming a less socially awkward person. You even talked."
"I talk, you know. I'm not a recluse who does nothing but stay inside and read manga. I go out."
"Yes, but you don't make an effort to get to know new people. Anyways, I have something way way wayyyy more important to tell you."
"What is this way way wayyyy more important thing?" I raise an eyebrow. What juicy new gossip has she found out today?
If there's an exposed little tidbit out in the open, Larissa snaps it up and tells me. We just like to know things and not tell anyone else. It actually gives us something to talk about. Plus, it's harmless. Two birds, one stone.
Larissa reads my mind and says, "No, Rosie, it's not about other people. I didn't find out anything new. Sadly," she pouts. "But anyways, what I want to talk about is Cameron."
"Oh yeah, how are you doing on the challenge?" We start walking down the street back to Satsuma, passing a Mediterranean restaurant and a few little knickknack shops.
She frowns a tiny frown. "Not very well. In fact, I think I'll drop it."
"What? Why?"
"Well first off, he's not my type." Larissa giggles. "If you ask me, he is tall, dark, and handsome, but he's kinda not as dashing and debonair as I thought."
I raise an eyebrow. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. I told you he was pretty annoying."
"Oh, no, it's not that. The thing is, he's just totally immune to my alluring female charm. And I really thought my alluring female charm worked on everyone."
"Not me," I deadpan, allowing myself another smirk. Then I feel a quick flash of horror. Oh God. Cameron is rubbing off on me.
"Wrong, Rosie. You are my friend because I charmed you into being my friend!" We both laugh.
"Well, anyways, my second reason is that he seemed a lot more friendlier towards you than me." Larissa waggles her eyebrows suggestively, grinning.
"Oh, heck no." I shake my head. "I don't hate him, but I don't like him either. Not as a friend, and definitely not like that."
"No, no, no. I mean that he was really nice to you and you guys were having a really good conversation about Poe. C'mon, Rosie. You should at least try to be more friendly to him. Especially because we have no idea who he likes." She winks.
Who he likes. I think about this for a second. He's only been here for a week. No way he could have an idea of who he likes already. Hmm. Who he likes. Larissa's right, we have no idea. Though if he does look that much like the star of a Chinese drama, I bet all the single senior girls are already rushing to get their hands on him for prom. And probably quite a few freshmen. I laugh at the thought.
"What are you laughing about?" Larissa asks.
"It's nothing." I smile to myself and keep walking.
We don't talk after that, just walk together in companionable silence. I think some more about Cameron. God, why would anyone want him? He's more of the annoying friend type. In other words, not my type.