Darkest City

Chapter 13

Diner Dates.

By Wednesday Milan had gone the whole morning without finding a piece of glass in the carpet; the vacuum did a really good job. Her mother had yet to make an appearance, but a text here and there let Milan and her brother know she wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere. She had just left a mess for them to clean up and for her to avoid. She usually shows up when all the damage has been repaired. Not particularly something to look forward to.

One thing she was looking forward to was milkshakes and burgers after school with Jade and Sarah! Somehow they had manages to convince Sarah not to go to the gym and go eat the calories instead, but before that, she needed to survive trig.

"So listen to this one that's just come through;

'There are going to be days,

Where you're undone,

Stressed out, tired, spent.

And I'll still love you just as much

In those moments as I ever have

Maybe even a little more,

Because it'll mean you let me get close enough to know the real you

That's all I want.'"

"Leo Christopher," Jade said, not even looking up from her school work.

Sarah had been getting at least one text like this a day since Monday. Milly and Jade had been playing a game to guess who the quote was written by, Jade was winning, 0-2.

"Ding, ding, ding! We have our winner." Sarah confirmed, searching the quote online.

"I don't like this game anymore." Poetry just wasn't Milan's thing. In fact, she wasn't too sure what her thing was; Jade was brains, beauty and a badass; Sarah was beauty, glamour and confidence. Milan only thought she was good at causing trouble and not the fun kind; the walking on glass kind of trouble.

"I'm really disappointed my admirer isn't more original. Does he or she think I wouldn't know they were other people's quotes?" Milan looked over at Jade who just shook her head at Sarah still with her head down. If it wasn't for Jade pointing it out from the text before, Sarah probably wouldn't know.

"Girls! Please focus on the lesson!" Sarah spun back in her seat to meet the cold glare of their trig teacher.

The diner they went to after school was by far one of the best in the city; definitely a top favourite for the girls. It was 60s themed and most famous for their milkshakes; Make 'em Shake hit all the stops. The prices weren't extortionate either unlike most places in the city.

Taking their usual booth near the back, the three of them started making plans for the weekend as the waiter took their orders.

Sarah was mid-sentence when she lost her train of thought, or more like it took a completely different direction. Her eyes were focused on something or someone behind Milan at the front of the dinner. Jade was the first to follow her gaze and seemed to pale a little shrinking further into her seat. Turning in her own, Milan first saw a very tall, very muscular man, covered head to toe in tattoos, but most impressive was that jawline, sharp and ready to cut on touch.

"Sweet, holy mother of handsome!" Sarah says, breathless.

Behind him was a tall blonde Jade recognized immediately but Milan recognized him as well but couldn't put her finger on how or where she had seen him before. He was the first to slide into the booth only a few down from their own. He banged twice on the window, making motions to someone outside and out of view of the girls.