We are greeted with loud, upbeat music from the gazillion year old jukebox located in the very front of the diner.

We all stand next to a sign that announces in big, black, bold lettering; ''PLEASE WAIT HERE TO BE SEATED".

Then, I see in tiny, red lettering, at the bottom of the sign; "If With A Party Larger Than Six, Please Ring The Bell".

We have seven people.

I ring the bell, and am met with no customer service.

So I start furiously tapping the bell with my middle and index finger until a flushed, and rather frazzled waitress comes bouncing over.

Literally, because there are quite a few old people doing weird dances to the 80's music currently playing.

The waitress (whose name tag reads; "Irene") has to weave through the crowd of seniors doing these super awkward versions of the shuffle and one old man is really getting down in an attempt to do the floss.

"Would you like indoor or outdoor seating?"

I look back at our group and they all shrug; "Indoor please."

"Actually, outdoor, ma'am," Kathy butts in.

"I..." Irene looks between the two of us.

"I'd like to sit on top of one of those nice table umbrellas, please," Kathy says.

I would have believed her from the deadpan look on her face, but then she relaxes her face, and says; "Only joking. Indoor, please."

Would you like a table?" Irene inquires.

I smile; "This better be a rhetorical question. No. Not at all. We came here to eat on the floor. Carpet for seven please."

My mom laughs and Irene hides a smile.

"Sure!" Irene exclaims, in this super high, fake voice, and I no longer like this waitress.

"Honey!?" she calls towards the kitchens and out comes a man who I'd assume to be her husband, and is confirmed by her husband when they kiss for 500 hours, and he says, "Come, Aladdian and friends, we'll give you all the carpets you want!"

He goes back to the kitchens. Fuck you, bitches.

Irene gives us a quick look up and down and swiftly nods and leads us to a large booth that fits all seven of us. 

She leaves us with menus and the "best booth in the house" to see the old people jamming out to the music they listened to when they were teenagers like me and Kathy.

This is what the booth setting looks like:

I am at the end (closest to the entrance of the diner). Kathy is sitting next to me, and her mom sits on her other side followed by her dad, the two nurses (who have introduced themselves as Rebecca and Jennifer), and my mom is at the other end of the booth next to Jennifer.

With a quick glance at the menu in front me, I decide on ordering a $6.00 meal consisting of a burger with everything on it except for the cheese. (With a side of french fries). I'm about to ask Kathy what she is going to order when someone coming through the entrance door catches my eye.

Wait, why is he here?

My dentist. Doctor Jamie Stevens.

And, in the less formal version; Doctor Bite Me.

Only I call him that name because I bit him once.

The dental clinic is called "The Minnesota Smiles Dental Clinic".

More like; "The Minnesota Lower--Lower East Side Dump Dental Clinic".

Yes. All the way on the Eastside of Minnesota.

He catches my eye as well. He gives me a giant, gleaming grin and marches over to our booth.

He sees the empty spot next to my mom and asks us; "Is this seat available?"

"NO!" I yell.

Then I notice that everyone in the diner is staring at me, slack jawed.

"Yes. Take a seat," I spit out, glumly.

He smiles at me as if I had never yelled at him at all.

Kathy nudges me with her left elbow and asks me; ''What was that all about?"

"Nothing much," I say in response.

Everyone else has already ordered their waters and food when Irene asks me; "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Nope. I'm gonna eat my fries with no drink. Ya know? It's not like I came to a diner to actually drink something."

Everyone stares at me.

I blink; "I'll take a water."

"Nina! Where are your manners?" my mom hisses.

"Sorry," I mutter sarcastically. I'm in a MOOD.

We all order our food when the waitress comes back with our waters and food.

My fries are cold.

"Excuse me? I make a point of looking pointedly at her name tag; "Irene? I wanted warm fries. These fries are cold."

My mom gasps at my snarkiness.

"I'm sorry, they just came out of the fryer. I don't know how they could already be cold."

I slam my palm down on the table; "That's it! We're going to McDonalds!"

I launch out of the booth, but Kathy yanks me back down.

"You. Need. To. Calm. The. Hell. Down."

I huff; "Fine."

I sip my water loudly and watch my mom glare at me. Her lips are pursed so tightly that they have turned white. 

I almost choke on an ice cube when I see Doctor Stevens staring at me from his side of the table.

Except, his water glass is still halfway full, and he has it right against his left eye, so it enlarges the eyeball,and makes him look somewhat monstrous, (as if he wasn't already monstrous enough).

He laughs and turns to my mom who is now picking at a hangnail on her left thumb and starts a conversation with her. Something about my next appointment, I'm not really sure because they are speaking in low voices.

"What'd you order?" I ask Kathy.

"Pizza."

"I got the pizza too," Jennifer says, from the other end of the booth, eavesdropping in on our conversation.

"She's going for the pizza, that's not for you bitch!" I mutter under my breath to Kathy, calling Jennifer the bitch.

That's when it happens.

The waitress is coming back with our food, and I start shaking.

Kathy notices this immediately and brings this to the attention of everyone at the booth.

I can sense my eyes rapidly dilating and my mom quickly whispers something into the ear of my dentist.

He nods, gets out of the booth, and gives one look of concern to me from across the diner, and leaves through the door.

Then, I feel my teeth beginning to fall out.

I try to tell myself that it's all just a hallucination, but my brain doesn't want to listen.

I start screaming that my teeth are falling out and that there is blood dripping from my lips.

Everyone is staring at me now, and the seniors have stopped dancing. Someone has turned off the jukebox.

The only person making any noise right now is me, and now the two nurses are literally climbing over the table to reach me.

Jennifer grabs my arms and Rebecca pulls out the Midazolam from her nurse bag.

She injects it into my arm, and by now everyone in the diner is freaking out.

Jennifer makes sure to inform them of what is going on; "She is having a hallucination. She is fine. You will all be fine, she won't hurt any of you".

I instantly feel the liquids taking control over my writhing body.

My pupils dilate back to their normal size, and I feel my body stop shaking.

Kathy takes my hand, and rests it in her lap with her own.

I guess that half of my brain was working, and the other half must have not been aware of my surroundings, because I see food splattered everywhere.

Ketchup, mustard, and other condiments are plastered onto the floor and the walls.

Entire meals cover people's faces and clothes.

I have never been so full of mixed emotions in my entire life.

I could be doing any number of things at this moment. Cursing, screaming, crying, or all of the above.

But instead, I do the only thing that will take me someplace away from everyone. Just for a moment, I need the space alone.

So I run.

I run out of the diner, and turn sharply to the right, past the windows of the diner, where I see everyone in my booth training their eyes on me with shocked expressions on their faces.

That's when I see Kathy jump out of the booth and start chasing after me. This only makes me run faster.

I run behind the diner, and through an alley.

From the alley, I turn left, and cut through a patch of mulberry bushes.

I find myself in a small field of sunflowers.

My mother's favorite flowers.

I figure that I've got a few minutes of time before anyone finds me, so I start picking a small bunch of the yellow flowers as a forgiveness offering to my mother.

I've picked about twenty of the sunflowers when I hear a pair of feet coming from behind me.

"Nina!" Kathy. Here she comes to wreck the day!

I turn slightly and see her coming from the corner of the alley.

Once she is a few feet away from me, she stops running and holds up her right index finger to signal that she needs a few minutes to catch her breath.

I shrug mindlessly and whip back around.

I pick five more sunflowers before she taps me on my right shoulder to signal my attention.

I turn slowly so that none of the flowers fall out of my hands, and also so I can figure out what to say to her.

I open my mouth to probably say something stupid like; "Want a flower?", but she intervenes with her own voice before I can even begin to talk.

"You don't have to say anything Nina, I know how you must have been feeling... Hallucination-wise, but I can't imagine how you must have felt, going through that with those people staring at you."

I look down at my flowers and nod slightly.

Then, we just stand there and feel super out of place until I pluck a flower from my collection and shove it into her french braids without saying anything.

I don't need to. We both know it's an act of understanding each other.

She walks over to a patch of lone orange roses and gently picks one by its silky green, slightly thorny stem.

She takes great care to remove the remaining thorns from the stem and weaves the delicate flower through my ponytail holder after she takes off the lavender blue scrunchie. Then she replaces the lavender blue scrunchie over the ponytail holder, concealing it once again, as well as the silky green stem.

I give her a smile and she smiles back, right as the five adults round the corner of the alley.

I walk over to my mom and hand her the remaining four sunflowers. I see her eyes fill with tears, because a sunflower was the flower my dad gave to her for her corsage on the day of their twelfth grade prom.

She embraces me in a bone-crushing hug. And because I really need it; I hug her back.

Kathy goes back over to the lone patch of orange roses and gently picks four more for the other four remaining adults.

She once again starts the process of removing the remaining thorns off the rose stems.

Each of the four adults graciously accepts the rose that is given to them.

"I'm sorry," I say, meekly.

"It's okay, Nina," my mom says.

"No. It's not. I was a complete "Karen" to Irene and we didn't even pay for the food and drinks."

Jennifer pipes up; "I will go pay the diner right now."

My mom dismisses her; "No! No, no, no, no! You don't even worry about that! I will pay for the damage and bill."

"Don't be silly, I'll cover it," Jennifer assures.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Of course! The hospital will cover most of it," she says, waving it off.

"Can the hospital do that?" I ask.

"Yes! Didn't anyone know that?"

We all stand there, Jennifer with her arms up in the air.

She lowers her arms; "I'll go do that, and see you all the hospital!" she runs back down the alley around the corner.

I suggest to Rebecca that we head back to the hospital, and she agrees that Kathy and I should get some well deserved rest. 

I hold out my arm to Kathy, and she loops hers through mine.

Arm in arm, we start making our way back to the marbled bridge and the giant field of now trampled flowers.

The first thing me and Kathy decide to do is change out of our dirty clothing.

Then, we actually eat something.

Specifically; hospital salad and tomato soup. Not the best, but satisfying enough to feel like the day is brightening.

I invited Kathy to my hospital room, and we watched Dumb and Dumber.

When the movie is over, we sit side by side.

Two friends. Together.

"Kathy?"

"Yeah?"

"What if I never find a boy to love me. You have Raymond, what if I'm alone forever?"

"You won't be alone forever. You'll find someone."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

We sat in silence for a few moments.

She rolls over and takes my hand in hers; "When you find a guy and you love him deeply, don't write his name in a heart. Hearts can break. Write his name in a circle. Circles go on forever. You gotta make your heart the prettiest thing about you."

"Is Raymond's name in a circle?"

"No, a triangle."

I look at her, quizzically.

"I'm kidding. Yes, his name is in a circle."

I pull my hand gently from hers.

She speaks; "Also don't break someone's heart. They only have one. Break their bones. They have 206."

I giggle. 

We sit in silence for another moment.

"Kathy?"

"Yeah?" 

"If you could go to one place in the world, where would it be?"

A few moments of silence. Then; "Somewhere tropical and warm. Like Los Angeles."

"I could take you there, once we're better."

"Where would you get the money to do that?"

"A job. We could both work at a restaurant or something for a few summers."

"A restaurant? Do you have any job experience for that?"

"No. Do you?"

"No."

"Well then, maybe just an ice cream shop."

"That's no better, Nina."

"I know, I know. Just give me some time to think about it, okay?"

"Deal."

She sighs; "I'd love to know the feeling of the wind in my hair driving down an avenue into a sunset in a convertible. Or when you reach the top of a roller coaster. And you can see everything. The sunset itself. And you feel the breath of the wind."

I turn my head to look at her.

Her head is resting against a pillow, her hair splayed out like a halo. Looking at the ceiling, daydreaming of sunsets, oceans, amusement parks, and coconut trees.

"Me too. And we will. I'll take you there someday. I promise."

"Okay," she whispers.

She slept next to me that night.

In the morning, after Kathy returns to her room I notice that my red roses are wilted and dying.

I'll have to get a fresh bouquet tomorrow.

Take it easy reader, there's more to come.