Jace handed Haley the helmet, though his eyes told her that he was still trying to decipher what was wrong with her. Ignoring his unspoken questions, Haley jammed the helmet on and climbed onto the bike. Without a word, Jace took the spot in front of her and started the engine.

Haley barely noticed anything around her, her arms crossed and her face a tight scowl. It was, for this reason, it shocked her when Jace tugged on one wrist. Yanking back her arm, she focused on him, trying to figure out what he was doing.

"Safety, Haley Day," he said, with just a hint of amusement at the reminder.

Still holding firmly to her scowl, she released her arms and put them around his waist. Jace slid on his helmet and took off. Even as the distance grew between Haley and the school she felt every word clinging to her, echoing in her head.

Ty and Josie had not only been unfazed by Haley's comment but with cool indifference they had cut away at her. A pit expanded in her stomach, as over and over again their statements hit her in the gut.

Too caught up in her tangled thoughts, she didn't notice where Jace was driving. It wasn't until they stopped that she pulled herself free of her daze. When she looked up they weren't at her house. Instead, they were outside the Mexican food restaurant that she used to go to with her parents. Before she could form a sentence, Jace was climbing off the bike and walking to the door.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He pulled off his helmet and ran a hand through his hair, giving it life again.

"I'm hungry. I'm getting a burrito." He waved his helmet at her. "You can sit out here until I'm done if you want."

Growling with annoyance as she already felt the incessant heat, Haley got off the motorcycle. Jace was grinning at her when she lifted the helmet off.

"Why here?" she asked, trying to stifle the memories that were rising to the surface.

He gave her a half amused, half puzzled look. "You understand my family owns every single La Cocina restaurant in Southern California, right?"

"Really?"

Jace laughed. Somehow that happy sound managed to loosen the hold of Haley's scowl.

"Yeah." He nodded his head back to the building. "My dad technically owns this one as well as the one in San Diego. So," he threw his arms out. "It means free food."

With that said, he continued to the door. Haley waited a beat before following him. He pulled the door open for her and stepped in behind her.

Soft cumbia music played through the speakers, the sound just loud enough to set the mood but not enough to distract from conversations. The air was layered with the smell of spices that stirred more images of past dinners eaten there. The decor was simple, neutral-toned walls matched the dark brown booths and tan table tops. The place was partly empty, the lunch rush over and the dinner rush still an hour away.

Behind the counter was a bored looking guy a few years older than Haley. He had tanned skin and thick black hair. When his gaze wandered to Jace, he gave a nod in recognition. Jace laughed.

"Javi! ¿Qué pasa, mi amigo?" he said, "What did you do now to get put on cashier duty?"

Javier gave Jace a frustrated shake of his head.

"I made a mistake of cussing in front of Abuelo," he said.

Haley was proficient enough in Spanish to know he was talking about his grandfather.

"Dude, that's rough. I had the same thing happen to me last summer. Now I just cuss in French if need be."

"I'll keep that in mind. What are you doing here?" He nodded to Haley. "Who is your date?"

Jace twisted around and smiled at Haley, already knowing she was frowning at being called his date.

"We're not dating," she said.

Javier shrugged like he couldn't care less.

"This is Haley Day. Haley Day this is Javi, my cousin," Jace said. "Now that that's settled I'm here to get a carne asada burrito as for what she wants, I have no clue."

Javier looked at Haley expectantly. When Jace added his own look to the mix, she spoke.

"I'll have the same, with spicy carrots."

Jace gave her an approving nod. "Sure you don't want a side of jalapenos as well?"

"Only my dad is strong enough to eat those. I tried once and almost burned my throat."

The memory was encased in a bubble of laughter, a glass of milk and her family's mocking claps. For a second, the edge of her mouth lifted but it didn't last. When she banished the images, Jace was staring at her. Javier had gone to deliver their order. Under Jace's curious expression, she felt the need to explain.

"I used to come here a lot with my family when we didn't feel like cooking."

There was something in Jace's silence that made Haley feel he was resting on two words, 'used to'. Before he could repeat them back to her with a question mark attached to the end, she spun away, searching for a place to sit. Jace walked passed her and took one of the booths along the wall.

"This is my family's booth," he said.

"Really?"

Nodding, he pointed to the wall. She followed his direction but didn't see anything other than the top of the wood paneling.

"On top, we carved our initials," he said.

Haley slid over and peered at the narrow edge. Barely noticeably were letters, cut into the wood.

"This was the second restaurant my Abuelo gave my father. He gave it to him on the day I was born."

"So..." she gestured around her. "This is going to be your restaurant?"

"Technically, no. Untechnically, yes."

"That's not a word."

Jace just smiled like he didn't care.

"Is that what you'll do in life, you'll just own a restaurant and hang around living off the money it makes?"

Something passed through Jace's expression but he simply shrugged.

"It's one future."

Something in the way he said it made Haley pause as if she could sense a whole world behind that one statement. But she never found a way to explore that world, Javier appearing at their booth. He set down a basket of chips and a ceramic dish filled with salsa.

"I figure you freeloaders would want this as well," he said.

"Muchas gracias, Javi," Jace said, sliding the basket between Haley and himself. "I'm sure Abuelo is likely to keep you on as  server with your cheery personality."

Javier mumbled something in Spanish that sent Jace laughing as he walked away. From the scowl on Javier's face, Haley figured she didn't want a translation. She grabbed a chip and dipped it on the salsa. The taste was like a burst of memories.

She reached for another and ate it, shoving the images away. She hated how this place brought so many things she didn't want to focus on to light. Part of her could easily picture her family circled around one of the tables sharing laughs and stories. It wasn't hard, the memories weren't that old.

"You want to talk about today?" Jace asked.

Haley snapped her attention to him, realizing she had been staring off into nothing for a while. She wondered what her expression had revealed if he had glimpsed where her thoughts had taken her.

"What's there even to talk about?" she asked.

She looked to the chip basket and found she had absentmindedly broken a chip into a hundred tiny pieces. Brushing off her fingers, she took another.

"Well, I think there is something to talk about because you were working with Ty and Josie and when I walked over you looked like you wanted to hit someone. Is there a connection?"

"Why would you even care if there was one?"

Jace shrugged and leaned back in the booth.

"Call it boredom, call it general curiosity. Unless you prefer to sit in silence?"

He cocked his head at her as if knowing that not speaking was worse than speaking. Haley dropped her gaze from his and gave her shoulders a slight lift.

"I don't know," she said. "It's stupid."

"And stupidity is some of the most entertaining things to hear about." 

Raising her head, she gave him a flat look.

"Fine, they were talking about some famous person or other and I called them out on how stupid it was that they are always fangirling over people they don't even know." Haley fidgeted. "They kind of went off on me after that."

Jace blinked as if he wasn't sure he completely understood.

"Wait, you called them out for fangirling?"

"Yeah."

To Haley's surprise, Jace started laughing.

"I can only imagine what JoJo's face looked like!" he said, his whole face lighting up.

The frown Haley gave him helped him regain control.

"You seriously called them fangirls?" he said, still smiling.

Haley tossed up her hands in annoyance. "Yes, why is this so amusing to you?"

Jace leaned forward, his arms resting on the table. "Because you insulted the two smartest girls in this school."

"What?"

His smile widened as if mocking her.

"Haley, are you not aware of the fact that last summer Ty was involved in a month-long program with UCLA's psychology department? JoJo's dad is one of the leading psychologists in the U.S. They are the reason I know as much as I do about psychology. Without them, my game would not be the same. They helped me understand how to analyze the opposite team and adjust what I do based on that. Once they get their degrees in psychology they will change the world."

Haley shook her head as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What? That makes no sense whatsoever. Have you even heard them talk? They are always going off about famous people like they know them personally."

"In a way they probably do. They focus on social media because what people post and say speaks volumes to their personalities. They've already gotten bored analyzing  their classmates it's the best place to always find new people to figure out."

Dazed, Haley just stared at Jace. There was no teasing glint in his eyes or joking twist to his lips.

"You're serious?" He nodded. "Really serious? They aren't a bunch of idiot fangirls?"

"I am but you could always talk to them and see this for yourself."

Arms crossed, Haley sank back against the cushioned booth, her mouth quirked to the side in puzzlement. As Jace ate more chips, he watched her. The interaction from an hour ago played in Haley's mind.

With the new information, Ty and Josie's reactions to her outburst made more sense. They seemed more calculating than hurt. They hadn't seemed hurt at all. In fact, they were more struck by how Haley viewed them as a reflection of herself then what it meant about them.

Groaning, Haley covered her face in her hands. A chuckle escaped Jace's lips.

"You coming to the realization of how much of an idiot you made of yourself," he asked.

Haley dropped her hands, giving him the full force of her glare.

"Don't worry, they aren't likely to hold it against you. I'm just surprised you didn't know this about them? Everyone does."

"Well, clearly not everyone."

Javier appeared at their table again, this time he was bearing two plates with burritos on them. He set them down and left, not bothering to say anything. Haley slid her plate over, steam curling up from the hot tortilla, with it was trapped the scents of something spicy. After they had gotten into the rhythm of eating, Jace spoke.

"How come you didn't know that about Ty and Josie? We've all been together since middle school."

Swallowing, Haley shrugged.

"That doesn't mean much. I was never part of your crowd. It was always Lettie and me. She was always the one to know everything. When she left that didn't really change, I was left watching from a distance."

Something in Jace's expression changed, turning serious.

"She's in Seattle, right?"

"Yup, advanced mathematics program. Apparently, it's going really well."

"She tell you that?"

"Nope, I just assumed it's that way since I haven't heard from her in over a month."

Haley returned to eating, hating that she had let that information slip out. People left, that's just how life went. She didn't want to seem pathetic for holding onto something that was dead.

"Well, I can understand how much it sucks having a friend leave. At least there are always more to make."

Haley remained focused on her burrito.

"Easy for you to say, you smile and a hundred people want to be your friend."

"There's a lot to be said for smiling."

She looked up. "So if I smiled I would magically have friends."

"No, but it wouldn't be as hard as you imagine it to be."

"Well, what if I don't want friends? All they do is leave you in the end so what's the point of having them in the first place?"

Setting down his food, Jace crossed his arms and leaned on the table. There was a quirk on the edge of his mouth that spoke his skepticism.

"Haley Day," he said, "if that is your view on life, it is a sad one indeed."

A frown formed between Haley's eyebrows.

"What? Am I suppose to believe that life is candy and sunshine?"

Chuckling, Jace shook his head.

"No, but Haley, you understand that people, like Lettie, come and go. It's the way things are. What is sad is not taking the chance to get to know as many people as you can."

"But I'm not outgoing or overly cheery. It doesn't work the same way for you as it would for me."

Jace gave a slow nod. "True, but if you smile it actually might be easier than you think."

Haley didn't respond. To Jace she knew it was simple, he smiled and people came over to him, wanting to know him. His life was one easy string of events. Haley wasn't delusional enough to know that she could have that.

Even as she thought this, a part of her argued that she had smiled at Isaac that first day and he had stuck around. Well, until today. Along with the thought of him came the hurt of feeling invisible. Though she knew she shouldn't care, she did.

"What in the world are you thinking about, Haley Day?" Jace asked, the smile in his voice.

"Who says I'm thinking about anything?"

He pointed to her. "Your face just went through five different expressions in a matter of minutes. I'm curious to know what caused it."

Fighting to keep more things from showing, she gave a noncommittal shrug.

"It's nothing."

Jace didn't reply for a moment, then picked up his burrito. "All right."

The doors to the restaurant opened and a group of adults walked in, their chatter filling the place. As Haley stared at her food, Jace ate, seemingly fine to let her thoughts remain trapped. Head still bowed, Haley glanced up at him. His face was calm and there seemed to be a teasing spark in his eyes. Before she could stop it, the words crashed from her lips.

"Why do guys talk to you and then stop all of a sudden and act like nothing happened?"

A smile peeked out of the corner of Jace's lips. Annoyed with his amusement, Haley dropped her head.

"Forget it, it's not important."

After a moment where Haley actually thought Jace might let it go, he spoke.

"It all depends on the girl," he said.

"But I didn't do anything!"

Blushing, Haley hid her face in her hands.

"That might be the problem," Jace said. "Guys aren't going to continue to show interest if the girl is not responding or is worse, blatantly rejecting him."

Haley's cheeks flamed even more as she remembered how distant she had been to Isaac the day before. Though she knew she shouldn't want to get close, some part of her still wanted to see his goofy grin again. Sighing, she let her hands fall away. Jace was looking at her with flat out amusement written across his face.

"So..." she said, focusing on the table, unable to bear his gaze. "If a girl was to...smile at a guy, would that help?"

Her eyes flickered up to him.

"It definitely would help."

Haley twisted her lips to the side, trying to contain a budding smile. Jace nodded to her half-finished burrito.

"You going to finish that?" he asked.

In response, she slid it over to him. As he dug into it, she ate her spicy carrots, her head buzzing with Jace's words. Done, Jace balled of the plastic wrapping and dropped it on the plate.

"You ready to head home?"

Haley nodded and slid out of the booth, Jace stacking the dishes. On their way out he deposited them on the counter and saluted farewell to Javier. He got a bored nod in answer. Outside the sun was turning the tops of the trees golden. The air was crowded with the sound of cars zipping by on the road. Birds darted overhead, swooping down to find bits of trash left behind. 

Jace climbed onto the motorcycle but paused as Haley stopped in front of him. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Thanks for the burrito," she said, fiddling with her helmet.

"What are friends for, Haley Day."

With a small smile, she got onto the bike wondering if he really meant it, feeling a flicker of hope that he did.

**********************************************************************

வணக்கம், Nick Wilde
(Tamil)

What the what! Ty and Josie aren't Fangirls?! This is cray! What are you thoughts on all of this, I know you have to have some? Did you see this coming? 👉🕳👈

Now Story Time! 📖

Back when my family lived in Southern California - right before we moved to Boston - we were obsessed with In-n-Out (an amazing burger place, the best in my mind). Because of this if you were ever stopping to get something to eat you had to text everyone else and see if they wanted some.

So, one day my sister (murphnturf) and I stop by and get In-N-Out. Just as we are pulling away  from the window with our food, we get a text back from my mom with her order. Not able to say no, we literally pulled out of the drive through and get right back in line. Knowing we would be recognized, we came up with a line for me to say (since I was driving).

When I stopped at the window and the guy made comment about just being there, I said this (with a completely genuine expression I might add) 'You were just so cute I had to come back for seconds.' 😁

Yup! Totally crushed! My sister in the seat beside me was dying but I managed to keep it together. One of the funniest moments I've had. I know right, who knew I was a player? 😉

Okay, tell me what it the most embarrassing, wonderful, courageous, or daring thing you've ever done to get someone's attention, flirt with someone, or just to be funny? Go!

What is the worst pick up line you've ever heard or been given?

Vote, comment, follow or go do something to make someone smile!

They are so cool I don't think they would even give me the time of day