~*~ Chapter 12: Dinner Time ~*~
“What time did they say they’d be here?” Ryan looked at his watch once again. It was 7:30 already.
“They said 7, but you know girls. They are probably late because their lip gloss didn’t match the earrings they are wearing. You know?”
“Those stupid things they take so long to get over with and care so much about and we don’t even realize there’s something about it?” Ryan smiled.
“Exactly what I’m saying, my man!” Seth grinned.
“Yeah…” Ryan nodded and looked at the door. At that moment, the two of them were entering the restaurant “Oh, thank God they are finally here.”
“Hey.” Marissa greeted and Ryan stood up to kiss her lightly on the lips.
“Hey.” he said softly and motioned for her to sit next to him.
“Hey, you!” Seth greeted Summer with a huge smile on.
“Whatever.” she sat down beside him.
“So…” Seth started when the four of them were all seated “The four of us here, having dinner… Just like old times, huh?”
“Except that there’s only one couple here now, Cohen.” Summer glanced at the menu.
“I already told you on the phone today, Summer, that’s only a matter of time.”
“Yeah, keep dreaming.”
“Don’t worry. I will. It came true once, so why wouldn’t it twice?” Summer just shot him a look.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving.” Marissa said to break the awkward moment.
“Me too. Why don’t we decided what we’re gonna eat already?” Ryan asked.
None of them opposed to that and searched for something to eat on the menu.
“Ok. The order is in mom’s name. You just go inside and ask for it, alright? They said it’d be ready by the time we got here.” Johnny informed his little sister.
“You go. Look what I’m wearing. I thought you were gonna get it, so I didn’t even get dressed properly.” Brandi informed Johnny.
“Why did you think I asked you to come, Bran? To get the food!”
“Oh, and here was I thinking you just wanted your cool little sis’s company. Silly me.”
“Aw…” Johnny kissed her cheek when she turned around and crossed her arms over her chest “It’s not that, it’s just that I don’t wanna get it, that’s all.”
“Oh, ok. So, if Mister USC doesn’t wanna get it, then I should, right?”
“Right. Glad you understood it. Now go.” Johnny even opened the door for his sister to get out of the car.
“Urgh.” Brandi got out off annoyed ‘I’m wearing sweat shorts and this awful t-shirt. Urgh. I hate Johnny!’
When she entered the restaurant, she went straight to the counter.
“Hi, may I help you?” the female bartender asked her.
“Yes, please. We called earlier and I’m here to pick up Alice Jackson’s order.”
“Oh, yes. The shrimps. Let me go check on that. Wait a minute, please.”
“Great!” Brandi exclaimed sarcastically, knowing it would take a while for the order to get ready and she hated waiting.
There were no stools by the counter, so she decided to sit at a small table in the corner and wait for the attendant to get back. She sat there and tapped her foot. She hated waiting… So she decided to take her mind off of it for a second and remember her talk with Maggie that afternoon.
They talked about everything, how Brandi missed New York and how much she wished she was there instead of Hellifornia. Also, Maggie informed she was dating, on the verge of it getting really serious. Brandi was, of course, happy for her, because she knew Greg, Maggie’s date and quarterback of Hibbing High football team, and she knew, even though he was a jock, that he was a great guy and they were also into each other for a while now, so it was about time.
On the subject of guys, Maggie decided to ask Brandi about the boys in California.
“I hear they are gorgeous.” Maggie said.
“Yeah, you would love it here, because the guys are totally your type. I, myself, hate them. They look all the same to me, except…” Brandi suddenly stopped.
“Yes?” Maggie asked interested “Come on! This ‘except’ sounded intriguing!”
“Oh, well…” Brandi really wanted to share Seth with her best friend, so she did “Except for this guy named Seth. He’s really cute.”
“Oh, yeah? And have you kissed him yet?”
“No…” Brandi sadly answered, wishing the answer was positive “He kinda has issues.”
“Like… mental?” Maggie asked worried.
“No! Maggie!” Maggie was just like that. And she was actually being serious. She was so clueless she didn’t know how funny she was “Not mental issues. He has issues with an ex-girlfriend.”
“Oh, that’s terrible. I think if he actually had mental issues, it would be easier to handle.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” they both laughed.
“But tell me more about him!”
“There’s really nothing to tell. I’m starting to know him now. We’re just talking. We had History together today and we couldn’t stop talking. I mean, he couldn’t stop talking.”
“Oh, so he’s a talker?”
“Oh, yeah!”
“So, that’s your opportunity!”
“Opportunity for what?” Brandi asked, confused.
“To kiss him! What else? You’ll tell him you had to shut him up. It was not your fault, it’s his for not shutting up.”
“Yeah, right!” Brandi giggled.
“I mean it. Try it.”
“No!” Brandi exclaimed.
“Come on! Promise me you’ll try it.”
“No, I won’t! And I’m never alone with him. The only time we are together is at school, and I can’t do it there!”
“Why not?”
“Because everybody’s gonna think we have something. And I don’t want people jumping to conclusions.”
“Ok, ok. But if you’re ever alone with him, promise me you’ll try to do as I told you to?”
“I can promise I’ll think about it.” Brandi said, not really meaning it.
“That’s already something. But how does he look like?”
“You wouldn’t like him. He’s kinda of an emo guy.”
“Urgh!”
“See? Told ya!”
“But that’s totally your type, so I’m glad you found him.”
“I guess.”
“Is he blonde?”
“Nope. Black hair with curls. So cute. Big brown eyes. The sweetest smile ever!” she smiled to herself, picturing Seth in front of her “And you can’t talk to him and not laugh. He is gonna say at least one thing to make you laugh, he won’t settle until you do laugh.”
“He’s totally your type. He sounds just like…”
“Don’t say it.” Brandi knew Maggie was gonna say Colin’s name and she didn’t want there to be any connections between the two of them.
“Ok. Over him already?” Maggie meant Colin.
“Well…” Brandi stopped for a moment “I don’t know quite yet. I guess I’d have to see him to know it for sure, you know? I can’t feel what I can’t see.”
“Brandi? Brandi?” she heard her name being called and woke up from her thoughts.
“What?” she asked annoyed.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing? Waiting for the stupid dinner.”
“They still don’t have it done?”
“No…” Brandi rolled her eyes to her brother.
“Let me go talk to someone.” Johnny stood up and Brandi decided to go with him “Hello, can you please see if Alice Jackson’s order is ready yet? We called almost an hour ago and my sister here has been waiting for like, 20 minutes and we still got nothing.”
“Ok, sir, let me go check on that.” a male bartender offered to go check this time.
“So, why did you get out off the car? Weren’t you the one that didn’t want to come inside?”
“Yeah, but you were taking so long I got worried.” her brother smiled fondly, placed his arms around her neck, pressed her against him and kissed her on the forehead.
“Hey… So… You have a boyfriend. That’s nice, I mean, you never told me, but, hey, you know, you didn’t have to, so, you know, whatever.” Brandi heard a familiar voice and turned to look who was the one talking so close to her.
“Seth.” she said calmly, now noticing that his words were actually directed to her.
* Thanx Hannah and Thea for reviewing and correcting the grammar errors *
~*~ Chapter 11 ~*~
~*~ Chapter 13 ~*~
Feedback: [email protected]