I placed my fists in front of me and just starred at my coffee. It was hot, steaming indeed. I looked outside my window as the scattered droplets of rain disturbs my view. Everything looks cold, and normal. A lady wearing a really thick coat and a small cute beanie was walking towards her car that was parked at the parking lot. She unlocked her car and placed all the bags that she was carrying into the back seat before starting her car. She sat quietly in her car and I could hear some 90's music playing as she closes her car door. She vanished, just like that as her car climbed on the road and joined all the other fast moving vehicles.
I looked at my coffee again. The steam was slowly disappearing, and the bubbles were also going missing. I felt like I should take a sip, but then I didn't want to because I felt like ordering something to eat. I was not hungry but I wanted something to chew and just forget about everything that just happened. I was waiting for any waiter or waitress to walk by, so that I can actually get something to eat but then no one was passing by. A old, bald man probably in his 60's was sitting alone in a corner, sipping tea from a white mug and was reading the local newspaper. He looked happy even though he was just sitting alone, enjoying his tea and newspaper.
I heard footsteps walking towards me and instantly spun around to notice a familiar girl, wearing a casual t-shirt and had her hands in her pockets of her ripped jeans. She smiled and straight away sat on an empty chair right in front of me. As she was sitting down, her brown, silky hair fall right in front of her face and covered the right side of her face.
'Hey' She said.
'Hi' I replied trying to smile as much as possible.
'You alone or waiting for someone?' She continued.
'Just alone, wanted some coffee' I replied, trying not to mention the real reason
'Well, that's great, can I join you while I wait for my friend to come?' She asked, politely as her fingers pushed her hair that was covering her face.
'Yeah, sure, no problem. Can I get you something to drink? Maybe coffee?' I asked, trying to be as casual as possible.
' No, it's okay I'll just a take a sip from your's' and before I could say that my coffee is already cold, she already took a sip.
She was still the same person, she is still adjusting her hair every four seconds and always wearing that smile, that certain gorgeous smile.
I was back to reality as she gently tapped her fingers on my fist and asked me about something.
'So, what do you feel about school coming to an end? is it something great, or the other way round?' She asked, trying to keep the conversation progressing.
'Delightful in a way I suppose, as I don't have to complete my maths homework in my chemistry class while pretending I know shit in front the teacher anymore, you?' I smirked, trying to keep the conversation alive.
'Not much of a difference I suppose, maybe I'm just gonna miss the people, definitely not the environment' She smiled-again and took another sip of my cold coffee.
As we continued our light conversations about school and future, it made me realize how least she has changed since things happened between us. Basically she's still the same. Still laughing while holding my hand, definitely not awkward about sharing since we grew up together and survived school together.
Maybe the decision of coming to this diner alone is a good one since I'm actually escaping the mist of negativity that was surrounding me since this morning. As we were talking, I looked at her dazzling green eyes, so clear and I could actually see my own reflection. She's so enthusiastic and into the conversation and I'm just starring at her as she talks about her life and friends.
'So, is everything okay at home?, how's your parents? cool?' She asked, eagerly.
'Everything's fine. They are great ,as usual busy but Mum's always home early nowadays so at least I don't have to survive on pizza and chinese take-outs anymore' I replied.
'Well, that's not the case for me, my parents are always home and I'm still eating like trash because my siblings love fast food. I practically go to drive-thrus every damn day' She replied, still adjusting her hair.
Her ringtone interrupted us and she answered her phone straight away without any hesitation.
'You can't come? Really? It's okay, no no I'm not alone, I have company, okay bye' and just like that, she ended the call.
'Sorry, Cara called, she had to cancel because her family is going somewhere all of a sudden' She said, still maintaining that precious smile of hers.
'So, you're gonna be alone? How about you just order something and I'll wait' I suggested.
'No, it's okay, actually me and Cara wanted to spend time here because we were bored, not because we wanted to eat anything' She said.
'Okay then, how about we go for a walk? shall we?' I suggested again, trying to spend more time with her.
'Let's see, I still have an hour to kill, how about we just drive around town? How did you come here?' She asked as she was preparing herself to stand.
'I took an Uber, too tired to walk' I let out a chuckle.
'So, we'll just go for a ride then I can drop you home? Is it okay?' She looked excited as she was holding her car keys.
'Yeah sure!' I nodded slighty and took some cash , left it on the table ignoring the cup of cold unfinished coffee just standing there.
Both of us walked out of Ralph's Diner and it was still raining, slightly. None of us had an umbrella and we just braced the rain, quickly getting into a navy blue Chevy nearby. I got onto the driver's side by mistake and she just gave me the keys, asking me to drive.
I put the keys into the ignition and the engine roared. Slowly, we left the parking lot and headed towards the road nearby. As we were driving, we continued our conversation. We just talked about how our lives are moving so fast, just a few more weeks before ending another chapter of our lives, high school. We drove pass a few neighborhoods , saw children playing basketball, riding bicycles and tag happily.
'So stress free aren't they' She sighed while adjusting her hair yet again.
'I wish we can go back in time and pause to when we were like 10 , everything was way easier back then' I smirked , remembering all the good times we had.
'Yeah, I know, but why are you blushing?' She asked as her left palm gently pushed my right cheek.
'I'm not, don't lie, I'm not blushing, you're blushing!' I quickly blamed her.
'I'm not blushing, it's just that I have thin layer of skin and my blood is kinda red!' She said while her hands rested on my right shoulders.
'Yeah, blame your skin or whatever, but I'm not blushing that's for sure' I confidently halted the conversation.
Suddenly both of us were quiet. We were in complete silence. I was focused upon the road in front of me as I was driving and the rain began to pour down, heavily. I peeked at my watch and it was almost 7pm, it was becoming dark and gloomy. A few left turns later, I stopped right in front of my house, under a tree.
'Hey, your Mum's home I guess' She broke the awkward silence between us.
'Yeah, she's home and I guess I have to go now' I replied as this is my first time looking at her face to face after the whole 'blushing' thing.
'Okay, see you next time! Say hi to your parents' She said, smiling.
I opened the car door and within a few seconds I was already soaking wet because it was raining cats and dogs. I said goodbye before shutting the door and before I could take another step, I heard the sound of the car door opening. She got out of the car, whilst still adjusting her perfect brown hair to the right side and approached me.
I turned around and instantly she hugged me, and I didn't know what to do. I just hugged her back and in that moment, flashbacks and all the dead memories of us came back to life. Everything stood still, even the rain drops paused. Everything was being reignited.
'Thanks for making my day today , Asher' She mouthed those words to me and this time, both of our cheeks were red.
'Thank you for spending time with me as well, Jade' I replied, smiling.
She said goodbye and hopped into her car before it roared off.
I stood there, as the rain continued pouring and I was soaking wet, yet I was smiling like an idiot.
As I was standing there thinking about what the hell just happened, a familiar voice made me aware of my very odd behaviour.
'Is everything alright?' Mum asked me while holding an umbrella a few metres from me and looking at me like I've gone nuts.
'Yes, Mum everything's alright!' I ran towards the door before Mum could get me.
Before going inside, I looked at the road again.
I miss Jade .
ps; ignore all grammatical errors bc I'm too lazy to correct them :)
Cheers.