"She seemed fragile like a moonflower - destined to bloom for a single lovely night, and then fade and fall."
- Juliet Marillier, Wildwood Dancing

[23] awkward conversations

Something hard hit me, causing my eyes to fly open and catching myself from the shock of it all and almost falling out pf my seat. I rubbed my eyes, not fully realizing I'd actually fallen asleep until now. I looked up to see Claire standing before me. She held her notepad in her hand - which was what she'd hit me with I assumed.

"You're not supposed to sleep on the job," she advised. I stretched my body, some of the bones popping. I yawned. I hadn't gotten any good sleep last night. I had tossed and turned, thinking of what Morris had said. I didn't know if he would tell our parents. If he did and they believed him - because he'd be telling the truth and I'd feel bad if I lied - I would more than likely be in big trouble.

"I know," I said. I stood up to stretch my legs. "I'm just super tired." I felt kind of embarrassed for falling asleep on the job.

"Yeah, so am I." said Claire, patting my shoulder. Just as she went to say more, the door opened with a loud ding. We looked towards the door, and I frowned. It was her friends. They were always loud and obnoxious and sometimes really rude. Usually, they'd come at least once a week to eat here and hang with her for a bit, ending with Claire always paying for it. I guess I couldn't really judge them due to the fact I'd never actually hung out with them so I didn't really know how they were. But I knew how the acted now and I didn't seem to like it much.

Claire waved at them. "I got them, alright?" She turned to look at me. I nodded and stood by the sodas, knowing they'd all get some. Claire stood there a while longer and chatted with them. One guy, named Tyler I believe, glanced over at me before looking back to Claire.

She walked away and headed my way. "Two Dr. Peppers, Sundrop, and water." She read off the drinks and picked up some menus for her group of friends. I carried the drinks for her while she held the menus in her hands.
"Who are you again?" asked one of the girls seated. She twirled a black lock of curly hair around her index finger as she met eyes with me. She was very pretty.

"Nolan," I answered quietly. The girl didn't reply, only nodded her head and opened up her menu. I felt a couple of their eyes on Claire and I.

"You and Claire are friends, right?" asked the guy named Tyler. He was staring at me hard and I got uncomfortable.

"Yes, Tyler," sighed Claire. "Look, I'll leave you guys alone to look over the menu." Claire's hand dug into my arm, pulling me away from them. Once we were out of reach, she let go and looked at me. "Sorry about them. Tyler's complicated. I know you don't like them much, but they're the closest thing to friends I got."

"It's fine," I said, assuring her. "They don't bother me too much, and as long as you like them then it's alright." And then we got back to work. Her friends were loud and goofed off by tossing food at one another and just making a huge mess we'd have to clean up. Once they'd left with loud laughter and conversations, it finally became quiet.

I was sweeping up the mess of french fries and napkins when Claire came over with a wash cloth. She began stacking up all the dishes in a big pile. "I'm sorry about them," she said, looking over at me with an embarrassed expression. "I appreciate that they come here to see me, but I wish they wouldn't make such a mess and be disruptive." I felt bad for not mentioning the fact that they barely talked to her when they come here. Also, I felt bad for not mentioning that her friends seemed to like it when she paid for their lunch instead of being with her.

I grabbed the dust pan. "It's not that big of a deal, Claire, don't worry."

"Are you sure?" She asked, turning to me. She needed reassurance that it was okay and I could tell she was still upset about it.

I nodded my head and patted her shoulder before going to dump out the dust pan. Mom came into the front from the back, glasses hanging from the tip of her nose. She sat down and scribbled some words on the piece of paper she held. "How much napkins do we have?"

"Enough to last us for a few weeks. Why?" I watched as she looked over a list she'd written. "What is that?"

"A list for some things we need to buy," she said, looking up at me. I noticed the bags under her eyes and the wrinkles that formed around her eyes. I could tell she was very stressed and tired.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She put her hand on top of mine. She forced a smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Before I became too concerned, she reached in her pocket and put some money in my hands. "Go out with your friends, okay? You've been working a lot lately and you deserve a few hours of fun."

I looked up at her and saw a new, genuine smile on her face. "Are you sure? It isn't too busy now, but it'll be getting busy in an hour or so." It was weird for her to do something like that because she rarely ever just gave me money and told me hang out with my friends out of the blue.

"No, we're closing early tonight." She said and stood up. "Now go wash up before you go. You smell like sweat and greasy food."

I furrowed my eyebrows, but didn't ask any more. "Okay. Thanks, mom." I looked over to Claire picking up all the dirty dishes, a straight look on her face, I decided to see if she'd like to go with my friends and I.

She looked up and raised an eyebrow, "You're inviting me?" I could tell she didn't get invited to do things a lot, and that saddened me.

I felt awkward and clammy at the way she was gazing at me. "Well, my mom said she's gonna close early...and I figured you'd like to go. I mean, if you don't -"

"I do."

I smiled, "Okay. Good. Um, I'm going to go back home and wash up a bit but I can text you where we can meet up. Alright?"

"Alright." And as she turned to walk away, I saw the beginning of a smile.

°°°

I should've thought this through when I remembered what had gone down between Flynn and Mia. Would they be okay around each other? I hadn't talked to either of them so I had no idea how Flynn had handled the news. I decided to go to Fun N Go. It was a weird name for a place that sold food, had an arcade, mini golf, and go karting. As I waited for the two of them to come, I decided to order a pizza. Claire came not long after I arrived.

"Have you ever been here before?" I asked her.

She looked around the room before looking back at me, "Not since my sisters birthday."

"How old is she?"

Claire looked down at her hands in her lap, "Uh, she would've been thirteen last month." She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, sighing.

I wish I would've kept my mouth shut and I didn't want to be the cause of putting her in a sad mood, "Oh, um, wow. That's..."

"Hi!" And I looked up to see Mia walking towards us, smile on her face and it was good to see her in a better mood since the last time she wasn't. "You're Claire, right?"

Claire smiled as Mia scooted in beside her in the booth. "Yes, I'm guessing you're Mia. Nolan told me about you."

"Correct," she said. "It's nice to meet you. Have you guys ordered anything?"

"I ordered pizza. It should be coming soon," I said.

"Did you get banana peppers?" She asked, hopeful. Mia didn't have a drink yet so she scooted mine over to her and took a couple sips.

I smiled, "Claire insisted on getting some."

Mia turned to Claire, "They're good, right?"

"Yes, they are." They both smiled.

Once the food came out and we began eating was when Flynn arrived. "This is so like you, Flynn, arriving just when the food comes."

He grinned and shrugged, "I do it so I don't have to anxiously wait for the food. It's honestly an agonizing wait." He glanced at Mia, grin still halfway on his face. "I see you got the banana peppers for Mia." He slid his phone into his pocket and sat down.

"And Claire," I included her.

Flynn put a slice of pizza on his plate and glanced at Claire. "Hi, I'm Flynn. Glad to see you have a love for banana peppers like Mia. While I, on the other hand, do not." He plucked them off and set them on Mia's plate, knowing she'd eat them. Mia kept her eyes down and didn't speak. I looked between the two and wondered if they were okay. Flynn was acting normal, but that didn't mean anything. The rest was tense and awkward. Claire noticed the tension between Mia and Flynn, but didn't say anything about it which I was grateful for. Either of them would blow up soon to try to get one another to talk.

But once we were done eating, I sent Flynn and Claire to get a card with money on it to spend on the games. I turned to look at Mia, arms folded across my chest.

She caught my eyes and sighed, "I know what you're gonna say. Look, don't get mad, okay? I never talked to him about it." And Mia was playing with the ends of her hair, chewing on her bottom lip and I knew she was anxious and upset so I decided to not be so hard on her.

I widened my eyes. "Has he not tried to talk to you?" It seemed like Flynn, of all people, would at least attempt to.

"And all of them I've made excuses or ignored it," said Mia. "This is the first time we've seen each other since, you know..." And Mia was looking down and not at me.

Before I could say anything else, Flynn and Claire walked over. "What do you guys wanna do first?" Flynn asks, unaware of what we were talking about.

"We can play mini golf," suggested Claire. "Even though I completely suck at it."

Mia bumped her shoulder, acting like everything was okay, "I do too," and then we made our way to get the clubs and golf balls. Flynn and I decided to be on a team and the girls on the other. Claire gradually got somewhat better than the beginning however Mia didn't progress one bit except having the golf ball roll in the water. Being the savior, Flynn took off his shoes and rolled up his skinny jeans as much as he could to get if for her. I found it very sweet and Mia seemed happy.

Once the game was over with Flynn and I winning, we decided to go play a few arcade games.

"Man, look at that huge stuffed bear," said Claire as we all eyed things we'd want to get with the tickets we would receive once we played the games. "Five hundred tickets just for that thing?"

"It's a nice bear and all," joined in Mia, "but just a lot of work to get it."

"I'm going to get it," declared Claire, standing up a bit straighter and I smiled.

"Have fun with that," Flynn said, shaking his head with a laugh. Then we all set off to play some arcade games.

After a while, we all decided to go get some things with our tickets. Flynn had eighty six tickers and decided to get fourty three pieces of candy with it. Mia laughed at him as he counted out each piece. Mia ended up getting a couple balloons, candy, and a small bouncy ball. Claire didn't have enough so she decided to go play some more. All I got was some candy and a colorful slinky.

"I wanna go on the go karts," said Mia, watching as a group came in laughing from the ride.

"Well, let's go," Flynn said, looking at the side of her face as she kept watching the group.

Mia turned to look at both Flynn and I, "Claire's still playing the game to get tickets and -"

"I'll stay with her," I interrupted. Mia really wanted to go and they needed to talk anyways, so I was perfectly okay with just staying with Claire.

Mia turned her back to Flynn to look at me with slightly widened eyes, "You sure?" And I could she was getting nervous, eyes widening and lips pulled in a line, but I was hoping everything would be okay.

I gave her an assuring smile, "Yes. Go ahead and have fun."Mia and Flynn began walking away, their shoulders brushing one another along the way. I stepped back in the arcade and spotted Claire right away. "Mia and Flynn went to the go kart," I said, approaching her. She was on a car racing game, currently in fifth place.

She kept her eyes on the screen, biting down on her lower lip. "If I knew they wanted to go, I would've stopped and we could have went with."

I shook my head, "It's alright. They needed to talk anyways. Plus, I'm gonna help you get that bear."

Claire came in third place and got the tickets she earned from its slot. Looking up at me, she smiled, "Thanks." I just smiled back and walked away to go play some games. A lot more people had arrived now and kids were giggling and running around.

"Nolan?" said a voice, bringing me out of my zone. I pulled the rest of the tickets out and looked up. Of all places, I'd never expected to see Clarity here. I stood, somewhat shocked for a moment. Looking over beside her, was a girl a bit taller than me with cherry colored hair with lipstick to match and a golden nose piercing.

"What're you doing here?" I asked, looking back to Clarity. Her hair was straightened and she had the same lipstick on as the other girl.

"We don't have time to sit and chat, Clarity. I'm going to go and find my brother before my parents found out he snuck out to hang out with his boyfriend." The girl walked away quickly.

"Exactly what she said," Clarity said, voice soft. "You?"

"With friends," I said. I bet she didn't come here often, it didn't seem her thing. She enjoyed hanging out and going way out of town and partying. I wondered if she thought I was boring. Then I realized it didn't matter much to me anyways. I was my own person and so was she. "Well, I hope you find your friend's brother."

Clarity smirked, "We will." Then she walked away to catch up with the girl.

Before I could even think much of what happened, Claire ran up to me from the opposite direction and showed how many tickets she's collected. We both figured she had enough by now and she
did. She was smiling as she received the bear.

"Do I seem like some little kid because I really wanted that bear?" She asked, looking up to me as I was watching her with a grin.

I laughed, "No, you're good." She just smiled and we went to sit down.

"Do you think Flynn and Mia will be back soon?"

I nodded my head, "I suppose so." I felt nervous for them, for our friendship. What would happen if they stopped being friends? I didn't want to be caught in the middle of their suffering, but I loved them and didn't want to lose them. And I needed to support them and try to help them.

But then they came in with big smiles and close together and from the look on their faces, everything was going to be okay.