Roof-Top Romance

“Well that was interesting,” I said.
“Why? What did he say?” Ray asked.
“He’s all freaking out cause I’m almost famous. He didn’t even seem upset that he won’t see me anymore.”
“I’m sure it will sink in sooner or later,” Gerard said.
“I’m pretty sure he will hate it. We have never been separated for more than 10 days.”
“Why would he hate it?” Gerard asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because I won’t talk to him and we won’t see each other.”
“Well, you can call if you get spare time. And it’s not like you’ll never see him again,” he said.
“That’s a good point. Oh well, I’m not going to worry about it,” I said.
Frank pulled the bus in to a Bob Evans. “Is this okay?” He shouted.
“I’m cool with it. Is everyone else?” I asked.
“Food is food. Let’s eat!” Ray exclaimed.
We got off the bus and Frank locked everything up.
“Well all look decent,” I said as we were in the parking lot. “Wait, who cares! We’re not from around here. They won’t see us again,” I said.
“Well they may not see you again, but it’s possible they might see us.” Frank pointed out.
“And? Do you really think someone at this place is going to shout it out that you’re here?”
“Exactly. Don’t worry about it,” Gerard said.

When walking in, the aroma of warm apple pies filled the air. It was wonderful.
“Welcome to Bob Evans, how many?” The waitress asked.
“Six,” I replied.
“Smoking or non?” The waitress asked.
“Um, what do you guys want?” I asked them.
“Non is fine,” Gerard replied to the waitress.
“Okay, follow me.” She told us.
“I thought you smoked,” I half asked Gerard.
“I do, but not while I’m eating,” he replied.
“I see,” I said as we walked.

We sat at a table near the back of the restaurant. Ray was across from Bob, Frank was across from Mikey, and I was across from Gerard.
“My name is Cathy. I will be your server for this evening. Can I start you off with something to drink?” Cathy asked.
“I’ll have a sprite,” I said. Cathy nodded and wrote it down.
“Coffee for me,” Gerard said.
“Cream?” Cathy asked.
“No thanks.” Gerard replied.
“Okay, and for you sir?” Cathy asked to Frank.
“I’ll just go with a coke,” He told her.
“I’ll have a coke too,” Mikey told Cathy.
“Coke,” Ray said.
“Dr. Pepper,” Bob said.
“Okay I’ll be out in a moment with your drinks,” Cathy said to all of us.
“So what are you guys gonna get?” I asked them.
“I’m not quite sure yet. I’ll probably check the menu,” Mikey said.
“Okay,” I said and laughed. “That would be the best place to start.”
Ray and Frank weren’t exactly paying attention. They were flicking each other with their spoons. Gerard was watching them. Bob was behaving well. He was reading his menu and doing what he was supposed to. I looked over my shoulder and saw Cathy was walking over with the drinks.
“Sprite for you,” She said to me as she set the glass on the table. “3 cokes,” She said and she handed them out. “Dr. Pepper,” she said to Bob and handed him his drink.
“Thanks,” He said to her.
“And coffee,” She said to Gerard. She set his cup down and poured the coffee in. She set down a small bowl of cream cups. She also put a glass of ice water in front of him. She put down 5 straws for the people with sodas. “Are we ready to order or do we need another minute?”
“Probably a minute or so,” I told her.
“Alrighty then. I’ll be back soon,” Cathy said.
I watched her walk away. I looked over at Frank to ask him if he was ready to order and a piece of crushed ice hit me in the eye. They all laughed at me. I started to laugh too. It was quite funny.
“She was hit in crossfire!” Mikey exclaimed.
That made me laugh a bit harder.
“Kids, stop it,” Gerard said to them. Then a wadded up straw wrapper was flicked at him. It went in his hair. They still laughed. I put my straw wrapper in my mouth to make a spit ball. I used my straw and spit it at Ray. It hit his hand and he jumped.
“Eww, that is so nasty!” He exclaimed. Everyone was laughing at him as well. He was freaking out. He was shaking his hand trying to get it off. Then he wiped it on Frank. They were still laughing when Cathy walked up.
“Are we ready now?” She asked.
“Yes, we are ready,” Bob replied. “I’ll have the Chicken club sandwich with a side of fries. And can I have dinner rolls as well, please?”
“Sure thing hun. And for you sir?”
“I’ll have the bacon and eggs breakfast with home fries,” Gerard said.
“How would you like your eggs?” She asked him.
“Over easy is good,” He replied.
Cathy looked at me. “And for you?” She asked.
“I’ll have the kid's chicken and fries with a side of ranch,” I told her.
Gerard looked at me funny. “A kid's meal?” He asked.
“I always get that. I love kid's meals. They are better than the adult stuff. I’m still ten on the inside,” I told him. He laughed.
Ray ordered the kid's M&M pancakes with whipped cream.
“Oh just what you need, more sugar,” I said to him.
He just smiled at me.
“I want the same,” Frank said.
“And I’ll have, um... the cheddar baked potato soup with a side of dinner rolls as well,” Mikey told Cathy.
“Would you like a cup or a bowl?” Cathy asked him.
“Yes,” he replied.
This made her smile.
“No really, what would you like?” She asked him.
“A bowl is fine,” He told her.
“Alrighty then, it will be out soon,” She told them.
I looked over at Gerard and asked, “What made you decide to get breakfast?”
“It just looked good. Besides, I’ve never had breakfast here,” He replied.
“Oh really? It’s not too bad,” I told him.
“Good. I’d be pissed if it was,” He replied.
They were quiet for a few minutes. “I’ll be right back,” Bob said. He was going to the restroom. When no one was looking, Frank and Ray took Bob’s drink and put packets of sugar and sweetener in it. They stirred it up real good and set it back where it was. I looked over at them and Mikey was shushing them for some reason.
“What did you guys do?” I asked inquisitively.
Ray just stared at me like a kid in trouble. Frank responded with, “We didn’t do nothin'...” He was trying to sound like an innocent kid.
“Really now? Then why are you smiling Ray?” I asked.
Ray turned around and saw Bob coming. “Shh, he’s coming!” Ray said excitedly. They all sat silently as Bob sat down. Bob looked at all of them.
“What?” He asked them in a voice that said, “Why are you staring at me?”
“Oh nothing, we’re just sitting here,” I told him.
“Whatever,” He said.

I looked at Gerard and saw that he was drawing something. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I watched him anyway. “Those are for the kids,” Mikey told him.
Gerard laughed at this. “I am a kid. I’m just trapped in a psycho’s body.”
Ray took an orange crayon and said, “Oh yeah, look at me go.”
Everyone looked at him as he did his little crayon bit from the ‘I’m not okay (I promise)’ video. But he actually kept the part of the crayon that he bit off in his mouth.
“Oh my God, that’s nasty!” I exclaimed. It was nice to fire out some sarcasm at him since he’d basically been throwing it at me the entire time.
He smiled and then got up to go to the restroom. He turned back around and grabbed his drink.
“Its not gonna happen,” He said looking at Frank. While saying this, a chunk of crayon fell out of his mouth. Frank was laughing his ass off.
I looked around at all of the people in the restaurant. While passing, I saw someone that caught my eye. It was Kim and Lonnie, my Uncle Wayne’s sister and husband. I chose not to get up at talk to them, but I told Gerard that I definitely knew a couple people in the dining area.
“Well go talk to them. It’s okay,” He said. His voice coaxed me into getting up and making conversation. Really I didn’t know them that well, I just knew who they were. But when I got to the table, I saw that my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Diane were there with them.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked them.
“I was wondering the same thing when I saw you!” Diane said. “Who are you here with?”
“I’m with um... some people.” I said.
“Elena. You are extremely far from home. Who are you here with?” She asked. This time her voice was much more serious.
“If you really must know, them come to my table with me.”
Aunt Diane got up from the table and followed me to mine. “I’m with them,” I told her and pointed to them with my eyes.
“Is that,” Diane began to ask in a low voice.
“Yes it is. There’s no need to say it.”
“No offense, but why are you with them?” Diane asked.
“Well, they came to my school on Thursday and I left with them and we came here. Mom knows and so does Dad. I’m going home in the morning. We’re driving tonight,” I told her.
“Oh, well so are we. We came out here a couple days ago and we’re leaving after we eat,” Diane told me.
“Are you guys in the van? Cause I didn’t see your car.”
“Yes, we’re in the van.”
“Well we’re on a bus, so beat that!” I exclaimed. “Oh how rude of me. Guys this is my Aunt Diane. It’s her house that the party is at tomorrow.”
“Oh hi, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Gerard,” Gerard said to Diane.
“Oh I’ve heard so much about you Gerard.” Diane said to him.
“What? No you haven’t!” I fired back quickly.
“No wait, no I haven’t,” Diane said.
“Nice save there buddy,” Frank said to me.
There was nothing I could do, so I laughed and Gerard just smiled. More things to make situations uncomfortable…

“It’s okay, I already know,” Gerard told Diane.
“Okay, well I don’t mean to cut it short, but they want to leave as soon as possible and our food is there so I’m going to go. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Diane said to me as she hugged and kissed me goodbye. “Bye sweetheart, and it was nice meeting the rest of you!”
“You too,” They said back. Then she left.
As she was leaving, Cathy was walking up with their food. She handed it all out and then walked away.
“Hey Bob, you should do something to Ray’s food,” I said.
“Okay,” Bob said. He picked up one of Ray’s pancakes and licked it. Then he put it back down. I took the salt and sprinkled it on some of his whipped cream. I sat down quickly when I saw him coming. He sat down at the table with his coke.
“My God Bob, what did you kill in there? I nearly died!” He said sarcastically. Frank laughed at this. Bob continued eating. He didn’t say a word. I started eating my food as well. Ray looked at his pancakes with big eyes and just started eating them. He took a huge bite of the pancake with the salty whipped cream. He didn’t even notice that it was there. He just kept eating it. Bob and I looked at each other and smiled. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their meals. Then Bob took a drink of his pop and made a horrible face.
“What the hell is that?” He asked loudly. Frank and Ray had totally forgotten that they had done something to his drink. That seemed to make things even funnier. Mikey looked at everyone, smiled, and then continued eating. Frank and Ray laughed hysterically at their success. Bob looked like he was going to punch someone in the face. He got up quickly to get a fresh refil. When they managed to calm themselves down, Ray and Frank flicked chunks of their pancakes at each other.
“Do you like it?” I asked Gerard.
“Yeah, it’s good,” He replied.
When they all finished eating, I paid and no one knew. Everyone thought that someone else had paid. No one brought up the subject.
“Everyone should probably use the restroom here. One's on the bus only please,” Gerard said to them. I busted out laughing after he said this. “It’s not that funny. Actually, I’m serious.”
“I know you are, but it’s the way that you said it that was hilarious,” I told him between breaths. “Haven’t you figured out by now that I laugh at the stupidest things?”
“It’s okay,” Gerard said to me. “It was sort of funny