Sive was on a straight path for the rides, and when Jolene whistled to him, he stopped and turned abruptly.

“Yo, food first bro, it’s the law of any black outing,” Jolene said, beckoning towards a food truck.

“Oh come on, that’s an old law, besides, our parents aren’t here,” Sive responded, coming back to her.

“I’m not listening to your smooth talk,” Jolene said, as she sat down on a bench embellished with a little flowerpot with lilies protruding out of it.

“Do you want to puke?” Sive said, starting to look nervous himself.

“It’s just food, man, relax,” Jolene said, then she raised her arm and the waitress noticed her.

At that moment, Sive started looking sick. It was like he was scared of something, and he wore the same look he had when he was about to have his appendix removed. Jolene had held his hand until they took him away, and she could still feel his warm, sweaty hands shaking under hers. In all her life, she had never seen him scared of food like that. Instead, it was the food that had to be afraid of him, because he was a destroyer.

The waitress reached the table and looked at Jolene robotically. “Welcome to Gary’s eatery, can I take your order?” she said.

“I’ll have a Meatball Sub with extra mayo, some fries, and an Orange juice,” Jolene said politely, and looked at Sive, who was looking pale.

The waitress turned slowly, shot a glimpse at Sive, and looked back at Jolene with her brow furrowed. “Is that all?” she asked, itching to walk away.

“No,” Jolene responded, but she was really talking to Sive.

Sive just nervously shook his head. Jolene could not believe the lengths he was willing to go to prevent puking at the rides. She rolled her eyes at him and looked at the waitress for a shared disbelief. The waitress looked at her with immense concern, and she was very close to being mortified by the situation. She looked at Sive again, but she was not looking at him directly. It was as though she was looking through him, and she then looked around and walked away nervously.

Jolene bent her head. “What’s up with her?” she said.

“I … I don’t know,” Sive responded, chuckling nervously.

“Do you know her or something?” Jolene asked with one eyebrow raised.

“What? No!” Sive said, looking even more pale.

“Well, whatever, she’s weird,” Jolene said, fixing her table. “And I’m not sharing my sub bro, you had your chance.”

“Trust me on this, I’m good,” Sive said with a profoundly content look on his pale face.

The food arrived after a while. The girl dropped it off like she was serving a mad Queen. She kept her head down, slid the platter on the table, and then shot a side look at Sive. She was still looking through him, but she then slipped away and disappeared into the kitchen.

Not willing to let the waitress ruin their evening, Jolene ate quickly, not sparing a bite for Sive because he had to be punished for playing around with food. After the food, they went to climb on the ferris wheel. The man in the control both gave her a weird look when she said two, but he shrugged it off and opened a booth for them.

The whole night was as fun as she imagined it would be, besides a couple of operators and people giving them weird looks. She did not mind their judgements because they had endured years of that in school, and at that point, they were hardened by it, and they were practically immune.

***

Tell us: What do you think could be the reason for the weird looks?