Memory Lane

Chapter Nineteen

To make up for being a little late on updates, I made sure to give you a long chapter :) Enjoy! 

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"Thinking is not to agree or disagree. That's voting." -Robert Frost

Memory Lane: Chapter Nineteen

At the end of the hour, our team had already put the other team away and won the competition. Allen came back and answered his next question correctly, to which we all cheered appropriately for. To celebrate their win, we all went to The Oven Bird for dinner.

Once Allen, Quinn, Kendall, and myself arrived earlier, we easily found an open booth since it's not the typical Sunday crowd. Instead of being packed with our classmates, The Oven Bird is filled with a few families in search of an early, cheap dinner, and plenty of regulars already lining the bar and taking over the pool tables. There are a handful of our classmates roaming around, too.

Steven came with us, but as soon as he saw a couple of guys from the baseball team, he made a beeline for the pool tables. The rest of us found a booth and ordered food.

Probably a little too early for dinner, but oh well. Time is an illusion anyway, at least that's what Quinn told us.

Jesse is the only one who decided not to come. Despite the offer, he chose to head home once school ended. Considering what he admitted after our support group last week, I can't say I'm too surprised. Actually, it makes me more surprised I've ever seen him at The Oven Bird in the first place.

It makes sense why he would want to avoid it. If I could avoid every place that reminds me of the bad times with my parents, I would.

Which is why I'm so shocked when I catch sight of his little red pickup truck pulling into one of the few open parking spots lined in front of the restaurant. Jesse puts his truck in park and steps out, running a hand through his hair as he stares ahead at the restaurant. His jaw clenches momentarily, the conflicted look in his eye disappearing as he throws the truck door shut and comes inside.

Since it's not a Sunday and The Oven Bird isn't overrun with students, the chatter doesn't awkwardly stop when Jesse pushes past the main doors. He scans the restaurant, his scowl slipping away when he spots me.

"What are you smiling at?" Kendall asks me, breaking out of her conversation with Allen and Quinn about the math competition. She whips her head around to follow my line of sight, nearly bouncing in her seat from glee. "Jesse came!"

He starts to make his way over, a flannel now resting over his t-shirt from earlier with the sleeves partially rolled up to his forearms.

"Hey man, glad you could make it!" Allen says.

Jesse squeezes into the booth next to Allen and Kendall as he greets all of us. His eyes travel around the different baskets of food until he lands on the empty spot in front of me.

"No chili fries this time?" He asks.

"Fortunately, no one is hungover this Thursday evening," I say, referring to when the girls called them a proper hangover remedy.

"Laura, you sure you don't want anything?" Allen asks as he shovels the final bite of his cheeseburger into his mouth. Grease drips over his fingers, drizzling down his pinkie and towards his wrist where it drips back into the basket.