Status: over.
Deception
flipping seniors!
Going to Chuck-E Cheese's without a younger sibling is weird. As we order our pizza, the waitress with red, 50's hair gives us a funny look. But one look at Alex, and she's fallen in love. Alex hastily squeezes Jack's hand lovingly, and the woman backs off after quickly jotting down our order.
"Dude, now everyone's going to think we're gay!" Jack jerks his hand back quickly, rubbing it. "Next time, be considerate of our reputation."
"That woman was way too old for me, man." Alex winces. "She looks like she's halfway through her midlife crisis!"
"Hey, be nice. She's probably got three kids and lives in a shoe, or something." In reality, she looks like she's still in college. Lori sips her orange soda. She looks at me. "How many tokens did we get, anyway?"
"Fourty. Ten for each of us." The three of them groan. "Look, there are a ton of kids here tonight. We can't hog up the machines. Shut up."
"But Kaleb!"
"Can't we get some more?"
"Please? Pretty please, Kaleb dear?"
I am thirteen again, babysitting three brats in place of mommy and daddy, who are out in some fancy restaurant, sipping champagne.
"Stop whining," I snap, and they shut up. "Besides, the food's expensive here. I can't afford to get more tokens."
"Well..." They all look into their wallets as the waitress drops the pizza in front of us. The grease practically slides down the cracks in the mozzarella. I cringe, and the three snatch a slice.
"Enjoy," the woman mutters, leaving the bill for us to take care of.
"She's not getting a tip," Jack murmurs when she's in the distance.
"Remember the three children and the shoe?" Lori brings up, grease-slathered pizza in her mouth.
"Hey, don't guilt trip me!" Jack looks at me. "Hey, aren't you going to eat?"
I shake my head. "Split the bill amongst yourselves. I'm not eating that." Grease isn't exactly part of the food group for track runners. Coach Greeley would have my head if he even glanced at that.
"Athletes..." Jack shakes his head. "How can she eat so healthy?"
"Hey! I'm an athlete!" Alex defends, reaching for his third piece.
"Dude, no, you're not. Eating is not a sport." Lori giggles as I grab my share of coins. Off to the game where you shoot the clown's teeth.
"Kaleb, hey!" Lori wipes the fat from her hands onto a napkin. Her hands still look glossy from it. "Aren't you going to hang out and talk to us?"
"I didn't want to come here in the first place. This is so embarrassing. I mean, we're a bunch of seniors hanging out at flipping Chuck E. Cheese's." I glare at Lori, who takes a step back. "I mean, we're almost adults! We're going to college in a matter of months!"
"Yeah, so this is our last time to do stuff like this. I mean, once we're in college...we can't come here unless it's with a sibling or a child of our own. People give us weird looks now, but it's better to do this when we're seventeen than to do it when we're twenty-one." I guess she had a point. "So come on, Kales! Don't be such a sourpuss. Come over, have a slice of pizza, and talk to us." She grabs my hand and drags me back to the table.
> >
We blew sixty dollars.
Fifteen dollars each.
Jack and Alex give us hugs as we depart in the parking lot. The waitress kicked us out five minutes ago, but we just couldn't stop talking. We continued our conversation outside, and now, here we are. Lori climbs into the front passenger seat and waves goodbye to the guys while I rev up the engine. The guys drive off first, and we're off. Destination: Lori's house.
"Your parents won't be mad?"
"As long as you were there." Lori sighs. "They think you're the responsible one."
"Since when am I responsible?"
"Since now."
I roll my eyes. "Tell them I was there." I turn on the beaten-up CD player, and surely enough, we play Jacks Mannequin's brand new album, "Everything in Transit" in my shitty compact car. We turn down the knob just as we enter Lori's neighborhood, so Lori's neighbor doesn't chase her with his cane again.
"Well...thanks for the ride." She grins. "We'll have to do this again some time."
"Do what again?"
"Go to Chuck E. Cheese's. Do stupid shit. Listen to Andrew McMahon's godly voice at half past midnight." She makes random hand gestures. "You know. The works."
"Why were you hitting on Gaskarth so hard today?" She told him she didn't know how to play that stupid spider stomping game. With the light up buttons. They played that stupid thing until it ran out of tickets.
"...I wasn't." She scowls, crossing her arms. "You're just jealous you didn't have enough time to spend with him."
"Lies." I crank up the stereo. "Gaskarth isn't as awesome as everyone makes him out to be." We exchange goodbyes, and I back out of her driveway, almost hitting her rooster mailbox. I drive back home, open the door as quietly as I can, and I find dad watching "CSI: Miami".
"Why are you back so late?" He doesn't even turn around to look at me. "Don't tell me it's because of a boy." Dad turns down the volume on the television. "Because if it is, I'm going to slice off his penis."
"Dad, that's harsh."
"It's not my issue. I already have a kid." He motions for me to come to him. I trudge over and drop down onto the couch. "Listen, Kale, I know you're a senior and all, but, honey...you can't be coming back home this late. It's preposterous." He turns it off. "C'mon, let's go to bed. We've got church tomorrow."
Stupid Liz and her stupid church.
"Dude, now everyone's going to think we're gay!" Jack jerks his hand back quickly, rubbing it. "Next time, be considerate of our reputation."
"That woman was way too old for me, man." Alex winces. "She looks like she's halfway through her midlife crisis!"
"Hey, be nice. She's probably got three kids and lives in a shoe, or something." In reality, she looks like she's still in college. Lori sips her orange soda. She looks at me. "How many tokens did we get, anyway?"
"Fourty. Ten for each of us." The three of them groan. "Look, there are a ton of kids here tonight. We can't hog up the machines. Shut up."
"But Kaleb!"
"Can't we get some more?"
"Please? Pretty please, Kaleb dear?"
I am thirteen again, babysitting three brats in place of mommy and daddy, who are out in some fancy restaurant, sipping champagne.
"Stop whining," I snap, and they shut up. "Besides, the food's expensive here. I can't afford to get more tokens."
"Well..." They all look into their wallets as the waitress drops the pizza in front of us. The grease practically slides down the cracks in the mozzarella. I cringe, and the three snatch a slice.
"Enjoy," the woman mutters, leaving the bill for us to take care of.
"She's not getting a tip," Jack murmurs when she's in the distance.
"Remember the three children and the shoe?" Lori brings up, grease-slathered pizza in her mouth.
"Hey, don't guilt trip me!" Jack looks at me. "Hey, aren't you going to eat?"
I shake my head. "Split the bill amongst yourselves. I'm not eating that." Grease isn't exactly part of the food group for track runners. Coach Greeley would have my head if he even glanced at that.
"Athletes..." Jack shakes his head. "How can she eat so healthy?"
"Hey! I'm an athlete!" Alex defends, reaching for his third piece.
"Dude, no, you're not. Eating is not a sport." Lori giggles as I grab my share of coins. Off to the game where you shoot the clown's teeth.
"Kaleb, hey!" Lori wipes the fat from her hands onto a napkin. Her hands still look glossy from it. "Aren't you going to hang out and talk to us?"
"I didn't want to come here in the first place. This is so embarrassing. I mean, we're a bunch of seniors hanging out at flipping Chuck E. Cheese's." I glare at Lori, who takes a step back. "I mean, we're almost adults! We're going to college in a matter of months!"
"Yeah, so this is our last time to do stuff like this. I mean, once we're in college...we can't come here unless it's with a sibling or a child of our own. People give us weird looks now, but it's better to do this when we're seventeen than to do it when we're twenty-one." I guess she had a point. "So come on, Kales! Don't be such a sourpuss. Come over, have a slice of pizza, and talk to us." She grabs my hand and drags me back to the table.
> >
We blew sixty dollars.
Fifteen dollars each.
Jack and Alex give us hugs as we depart in the parking lot. The waitress kicked us out five minutes ago, but we just couldn't stop talking. We continued our conversation outside, and now, here we are. Lori climbs into the front passenger seat and waves goodbye to the guys while I rev up the engine. The guys drive off first, and we're off. Destination: Lori's house.
"Your parents won't be mad?"
"As long as you were there." Lori sighs. "They think you're the responsible one."
"Since when am I responsible?"
"Since now."
I roll my eyes. "Tell them I was there." I turn on the beaten-up CD player, and surely enough, we play Jacks Mannequin's brand new album, "Everything in Transit" in my shitty compact car. We turn down the knob just as we enter Lori's neighborhood, so Lori's neighbor doesn't chase her with his cane again.
"Well...thanks for the ride." She grins. "We'll have to do this again some time."
"Do what again?"
"Go to Chuck E. Cheese's. Do stupid shit. Listen to Andrew McMahon's godly voice at half past midnight." She makes random hand gestures. "You know. The works."
"Why were you hitting on Gaskarth so hard today?" She told him she didn't know how to play that stupid spider stomping game. With the light up buttons. They played that stupid thing until it ran out of tickets.
"...I wasn't." She scowls, crossing her arms. "You're just jealous you didn't have enough time to spend with him."
"Lies." I crank up the stereo. "Gaskarth isn't as awesome as everyone makes him out to be." We exchange goodbyes, and I back out of her driveway, almost hitting her rooster mailbox. I drive back home, open the door as quietly as I can, and I find dad watching "CSI: Miami".
"Why are you back so late?" He doesn't even turn around to look at me. "Don't tell me it's because of a boy." Dad turns down the volume on the television. "Because if it is, I'm going to slice off his penis."
"Dad, that's harsh."
"It's not my issue. I already have a kid." He motions for me to come to him. I trudge over and drop down onto the couch. "Listen, Kale, I know you're a senior and all, but, honey...you can't be coming back home this late. It's preposterous." He turns it off. "C'mon, let's go to bed. We've got church tomorrow."
Stupid Liz and her stupid church.