I inserted my library card into my sparkly peach coloured wallet.
"Give me your book." I told Austin.
"No, that's alright. I can just hold it for a while." Austin replied.
"I'll just put it in my bag for you, and you have nothing with you. Where are you even going to put it?" I asked.
"Alright. Thanks." Austin gave me the book.
"You don't have to say thanks all the time Austin." I said as I placed his book in my bag.
We walked out of the library. Tall trees were planted at our sides. We walked along the sidewalk, keeping to our right to let the guy with the skateboard pass through. As we walked, we neared a playground. The noise from the happy children overshadowed the silence between us. Many young children were on the playground. Some were on the swings while the others were on the slides. Two youngsters were on the seesaw and a small group of children were playing hide and seek. We walked past the playground. I realised that none of us were talking. Feeling the awkward silence between us, I asked Austin
"So . . . are you done with your homework?" I immediately looked to the other side and cursed at my communication skills. Great! Now he'll think of me as a nerd.
"Yeah, almost. I have finished most of the homework. I think I just need to finish Biology." Austin replied.
"Well, you're fast. I have not even written a single thing on the book until today." I said.
"Oh that's normal and you wouldn't even have any difficulty in doing the homework at the last minute cause you're so smart." Austin said.
"Oh I'm not that smart." I replied.
Austin stopped and looked at me and raised both of his eyebrows.
"Are you kidding me? You're always getting an A plus in every assignment and you think that's not smart?" Austin asked.
"Ok, ok. A plus is a good grade I guess." I said, starting to feel a little shy.
"You guess?!" He asked.
"OK. A plus is a good grade." I said and started to giggle.
I didn't even realise when we had reached the McDonald's. We kept on talking as we entered the McDonald's.
"Hey, how about you go and grab a seat for us and I'll go order the food?" Austin asked.
"Sure." I said and handed him some money.
"I want set number five." I told him.
"Set number five will be served to you in just five minutes ma'am." Austin said and I smiled.
The McDonald's was big and had two floors. I climbed the stairs and reached the second floor. I looked around and there were very few people. The McDonald's was huge with many tables and chairs neatly placed. A couple ate their burgers and chatted away softly in the corner while on the other side of the McDonald's sat a family. A father, a mother and their two children sat together, laughing at each other's jokes. They looked very happy. The children's loud voices filled the floor, making it seem like there were many people here but the McDonald's was almost empty.
I found us a table at the corner. I walked across the family and sat on the chair and placed my bag beside me. On the other side, was a glass window, exposing us to the wanderers outside. Apart from the laughs of the children, I heard the music play in the background. I noticed that my shoelaces were untied, so I bent down to tie them when Austin's sudden voice scared the shit out of me and I sprang up immediately, bumping my head into the corner of the table on the way.
"Ow!" I cried and Austin burst out laughing. He tightened his grip on the tray and placed it on the table. He fell on the chair, still laughing. The people around stared at us curiously.
"Quit laughing. It's not funny!" I said as I rubbed my head. Austin took a deep breath and said
"Yeah. It's not funny. I'm sorry." and then he started laughing again. This time, I laughed along with him as well. When our laughs finally faded away, I asked him.
"Are you done laughing now?"
"Yeah. I think I'm done." He grinned.
"Oh, here's the food. The lady at the counter placed all the food in one tray." He said.
"That's alright." I replied. We both reached for our coke and our fingers touched. We looked at each other. I pulled my hand away while Austin's fingers were still on the bottle of coke.
"Sorry." I said. Austin picked up the coke and handed it to me. "Here." He said.
"Thanks." I smiled.
I took a french fry and started nibbling on it.
"So, you ready for school?" Austin asked.
"Absolutely not and I don't think I will ever be." I replied to him immediately.
"Why not?" He asked.
"I'd rather stay at home and watch T.V. or hang out with my friends than go to school." I said.
"Me too." He said.
We went silent as we ate our lunch. After a while, I said.
"Uhm. By the way thanks for your help." Austin looked up at me and frowned "Thanks? For which help?" He asked.
"For pretending to be my boyfriend the other day and for being with me yesterday. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even known what a jerk Max was." I said and placed my half-eaten burger on the tray.
Austin took a bite from his burger and said "Seriously, I think you say 'thanks' and 'sorry' a lot. You don't have to say these words every time and I would always be there for you. Just remember that you don't need someone in your life to make you happy. You don't have Max with you right now but you're still smiling, aren't you?"
"Well yeah. That's because I have great friends around me." I looked at him and said.
Austin placed his burger on the table.
"Are we friends?" He asked and smiled hopefully.
I brought my hand forward and asked "Friends?"
Then Austin brought his hand forward and we both shook our hands. I smiled and said "I guess we are friends."
"Oh!" I exclaimed as I recalled something. I pulled my hand away, breaking our handshake, and I took out Austin's handkercheif from my bag.
"Here's your handkercheif. You may have left it on the stairs yesterday so I brought it home and washed it." I handed him the handkercheif. He took it and said "Thanks. I've been looking for it today. By the way I think you should stop doing that habit of yours."
"Which habit?" I asked him.
"Oh you know, the habit when you hurt your hand because you constantly have a boxing match with the wall." He replied.
I laughed. "Yeah. I'm trying my best not to do that again."
Austin lifted his hand and pointed his index finger at my mouth.
"What?" I asked him.
"Uhm, you have some ketchup on your face." He said and smiled.
I reached forward and grabbed a tissue from the tray and wiped my mouth.
"Gone?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said.
We kept on chatting until both of us had finished our lunch. We got up to leave.
"Be careful. Your shoes are still untied remember?" Austin smiled as he reminded me.
I laughed and said "Right."
I bent down and tied my shoes. We left the McDonald's and walked down the street as we chatted and drank from our coke. I felt my bag vibrate and then I heard my ringtone. I fished out my phone from my bag. Mom was calling me. I answered the call.
"Hey."
"Hi Ally. Are you still in the library?"
"No, Mom. I'm on my way home."
"Ok. I just wanted to tell you that I will be picking up Andy."
I smacked my hand on my forehead.
"Oh! Andy! I totally forgot about him! I'm so sorry."
"That's alright sweety. We'll just be arriving home in half an hour. I'll hang up now. Take care."
"You too. Bye Mom." I hung up the phone.
"All good?" Austin asked.
"Yeah. I was supposed to be picking up my brother at this moment." I said.
"And instead you're walking around with a total stranger." He said.
"Not a stranger anymore."
"Of course." He said with a smile.
We entered our building and waited for the lift to come. When the lift arrived, we entered the lift and reached our floor, the third floor. We walked through the corridor together and I stopped in front of his door.
"Oh, here's your novel." I recalled and fished his novel out of my bag. "Thanks."
"I guess, bye neighbor." I smiled at him.
"Yeah. Bye." It was all he said. I turned around and continued to walk toward my home.
"Hey Alicia." I stopped and immediately turned around. "Huh?"
"Are you busy tomorrow?" Austin asked.
"No."
"Wanna watch a movie or something?" He asked as he scratched the back of his head as a smile formed at his lips.
I smiled. "Courtesy?"
"No." He answered. "Flirting. Totally flirting."
I suppressed a laugh and turned around and continued to walk toward my home.
"See you here tomorrow seven in the evening." I said over my shoulder.