"You're stalking me now?"

I scoffed. "You think if I knew that you work here, I would have ever come?"

Aimee smirked. "That's what stalkers do, so yes!"

Looking up at her, I rose my brow. "You never fail to surprise me with the depths of your stupidity."

She brandished the plastic tray in her hand like it was a club. "Careful now, unless I'll arrange a meeting between this tray and your face!"

I smirked. "If you want to lose your job, you're most welcome to try. Hitting a customer doesn't reflect well on your work performance. Which reminds me-" My eyes ran over the white apron on the little pink dress she wore, "-why are you working here?"

"Not that it concerns you, but I need it to take care of my child."

"You have a child?"

She snickered. "Wow, you're even more gullible than you seem!"

My cheeks burned. "That's the last time I ever take an interest in your personal life!"

Annie observed both of us for a while. Then, after clearing her throat, she said to Aimee, "Hi, I'm Annie, Angelo's guardian."

Aimee plastered a smile onto her face. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry for not introducing myself! I'm Aimee."

Annie smiled back. "That's a beautiful name. It fits you."

"Oh stop it, I'm nowhere as pretty as you are! It's a surprise that Angelo has such a sexy sister because he looks so ogre-ish!"

My jaw dropped. "H-how dare you! I'll have you know that there are legions of girls who drool over-"

Glancing at me, Annie sighed. "Be quiet, Shrek, human beings are talking!"

Shooting them both dark looks, I grabbed the things I had ordered and stood. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to you both insult me!"

"Angelo, sit. Where do you want to go anyways?"

"Home!"

I began walking out of the room. But, before I left, Annie said, "He's forgotten that I'm the one who drove him here! Don't worry, he'll be back!"

I hissed, "If that's what she thinks, she must be crazy! I'll order myself an uber."

. . .

Five minutes later, I was back in the booth because it turned out that my phone battery was dead.

When I sat down, Annie said, "Oh, Angelo, what a surprise! I thought you'd have flown home by now!"

Although I gritted my teeth, I didn't reply. Instead, I turned to Aimee, who was still standing beside the table. "As much as I'm sure Annie enjoys your presence, I need to remind you that while we're customers, you work here."

"Angelo!"

"No, it's fine." Aimee smiled at Annie. "I should get back to work anyways."

"But-"

"That's for the best." Smirking, I held out my empty pizza box to her. "By the way, be a dear and help me trash this."

Eyes blazing, Aimee snatched the box from me and then stomped away.

I continued staring after her until a hand twisted my ear.

Wincing, I shot Annie a frown. "What now?"

She leaned back into her seat. "Don't 'what now' me! Why were you so rude to her?"

"Oh, so it's okay when you're both rude to me, but it's wrong when I do the same thing?"

"Our case is different, it was a joke!"

"Well then, so was mine. Both of you just don't seem to have much taste for my humor."

Annie closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before reopening them again. "You know what, never mind. How come you never told me you decided to do the play?"

I furrowed my brow. "Why are you pretending like Prickleberry didn't call and inform you?"

"Well... it'll still have been nice if you had told me!"

"Fine, noted."

"Thank you." She took a sip of her Sprite, then asked, "Who's playing your Juliet?"

"Aimee. Are there any other questions you want to pretend you don't know the answer to as you ask?"

"Hmm, lemme think. Are you both dating each other?"

I frowned.

She chuckled. "Right. Would you like to date her?"

"About as much as I'll like to eat a live porcupine."

"Why? She's pretty, isn't she?"

"Well, I suppose her looks aren't that bad."

That's an understatement.

"Then what's the problem?"

"She has a boyfriend. Also, more importantly, she's too wild for me."

"Too wild for you?"

I nodded. "I like a girl who knows how to drop suggestions, not try to enforce commands."

Her brow furrowed. "Interesting. What's working with her-"

"Can you hold off on the questions until we're back in the car? There's only so much time I can spend in this place before I feel like barfing."

Annie nodded. "Sure, but first, there's something I'll like to discuss with you. See, I didn't call you out here just so we could have lunch together."

"Oh?" I stopped closing my last almost full box of pizza. "Why else did you call me out here?"

Is she leaving town? Engaged? Maybe she wants to confess to an affair with Prickleberry-

"I booked you an appointment with Doctor Rebecca."

"Oh."

Annie and I stared at each other for an eternity.

Finally, I asked, "Why?"

"Well-"

I laughed. "Wait, I know! You think I'm crazy!"

Her eyes widened. "Angelo-"

"At least not mentally sound. Why else would you first attempt to distract me with this outing before giving me this news?"

"Angelo, I don't think you're crazy, and I genuinely wanted to spend time with you. I'm telling you now because I thought you'll be more accepting of the idea-"

My fists slammed into the table. "Well, you thought wrong!"

Annie glanced around us, hissing, "Angelo, stop. You're making a scene!'

Standing up, I hissed, "You might as well cancel that appointment because I am not seeing that quack doctor t. Sorry, 'family therapist.' 'My' family therapist. I'll be in the car."

Annie's expression matched that of a kicked puppy's. Satisfaction trickled through me as I stomped away, making sure to grab my last box of pizza before I left.

. . .

"I only booked it because of the play-"

Sighing, I raised my head off the car's window, glancing at her. "I don't want to hear about this again. I just want to get home, lock myself in my room, eat pizza, and fantasize about how I'm going to get you back for what you've done."

"Angelo-"

Leaning my head against the window once more, I put earbuds in my ear and closed my ears.

Oh fuck, my phone battery is dead.

Thankfully, Annie didn't say anything, so silence once again embraced us as she drove.

A few minutes later, yet, I asked, "Why didn't you ask me before you did so?"

"Because I knew you'd say no."

I chuckled. "Ah, so you do know me well."

"I should hope so, considering I've known you since you were a kid."

We both fell silent again, until Annie asked, "Angelo, be honest. Does the appointment... frighten you?"

Frighten me? Angelo Smith, heir to a billion-dollar fortune, scared by a simple doctor's appointment?

"More than you know."

Annie placed her hand on my shoulder. "This isn't like the other times. No one is going to make you go-"

"But what if I have to?" Turning my head, I let my eyes meet hers. "The first time I tried the play, I saw them. If I tell Rebecca, she's going to want to send me back-"

"I'm not going to let that card be on the table. The only reason I agreed to have you placed under supervised care that summer is because you were... becoming a danger to yourself. Other than the time you just mentioned, have you seen them again?"

I shook my head.

"Then she can't send you back. So please, go see her. The truth is, I booked this appointment because I was the one who convinced you to do this play. If your condition reverted to how it was before, I don't... I don't think I can live with myself."

Some images sprang out of my mind's chest, depicting scenes from a dark time. Periods when even eating, drinking, and sleeping were stressful tasks.

When the ghosts of Angela and John Smith held domain over my life.

I shook my head, placing those memories back where they belonged.

Annie said, "The appointment is in two weeks."

I took a deep breath. You're Angelo Smith, king of Bloomsby High, master of witty comebacks and arguments. You aren't that frightened kid anymore. You're not going to let the memory of who you once were destroy everything you've built over the years.

I forced a sigh out. "Great, and I had so much planned for that day!"

Annie grinned. "Then you better get to adjusting your schedule, Mr. Smith. Now come on, I don't want to leave the engine running any longer than I have to."

I groaned. "Please don't tell me you've brought me to some horrible location!"

Raising an eyebrow, she unbuckled her seat belt. "I thought you were begging to go home?"

My eyes widened. "B-but how? I didn't even notice when we got here!"

She stepped out of the car. "I employed a special skill of mine called driving while you applied one of yours. Want to know what it is?"

"No-"

"Absentmindedness!"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, haha. Wait till I start dropping jokes of my own!"