บท 3: Everything Is So Expensive
Here is what happened last time on Chasing The Moment
I walk to the boss's office, only to find that he is sad to see me leave. He decided to give me a bonus and my paycheck in advance. He wants to thank me for my hard work. The boss only wants me to work half-day, as I have some packing and people to say goodbye to before leaving. I find my mom and dad in the kitchen talking. I get to take my mom's car for my date as my dad still hasn't called the mechanic to find out about my car.
My dad rifles through her handbag and chucks the keys to me, and replies;
"I got a little busy, okay."
Just as we want to take him on for not calling, he continues;
"I will make sure to call him first thing in the morning."
"Thanks, dad." I look at the time and say;
"Shit, I am going to be late."
I kiss my mom on the cheek and say;
"Thank you for the car."
"No problem. Be safe."
"I will."
I hold out my fist towards my dad. He punches my fist and says;
"I knew that that was still hip."
My mom says;
"Really, Brad. No one uses the word 'hip' anymore."
I look at the time again and say;
"Sorry, I would love to stay and chat, but I am late already as it is. Bye."
I run outside and get into my mom's car and drive off. I make a quick pit stop to buy Lexi some flowers for our date and drive to her house. As I stop in front of her house, I check the time and say;
"Wow, cutting it close."
I grab the flowers from the seat, walk to the front door and ring the bell. Her little brother opens the door, looks at me up and down, and asks;
"What are you doing here, nerd?"
With an apathetic tone, I greet him;
"Hello, someone's child."
Lexi is busy walking down the steps and tells him;
"Brandon, get away from the door." She pulls him on his shirt backwards, and he starts to scream;
"Mom...Lexi is pulling and shoving me."
I look at Lexi up and down and say;
"Wow. Look at you...and that black dress. You look stunning!"
She turns around all the way and says;
"Thank you. Kind sir. You look handsome yourself!"
I hold out the flowers and say;
"I got this for you. But now the flowers seem pale in comparison to your beauty."
She takes them from me and starts to blush. She tries to hide it with the flowers by putting them in front of her face. I see her eyes creasing at the sides as she starts to smile while looking at me through them and replies;
"Let me put these in water before we leave. We still have some time before we have to leave? Right?"
"We have a minute or two to spare."
She puts the flowers on the kitchen counter and screams;
"Mom, please can you put my flowers in a vase? We are a bit late."
Her mom walks around the corner and says;
"Wow, flowers. That's so nice. Sure I will, honey."
Her mom looks to her dad sitting watching TV and tells him;
"Did you hear that, honey. Lexi got flowers. I can't remember the last time that I got some flowers."
Lexi's brother replies;
"It is only because the nerd has plans to fuck her tonight."
Her dad laughs hysterically as he says;
"I told him what I will do with his nuts if he tries anything with my daughter."
Her mom tells her brother;
"Brandon! Where did you learn to say things like that?"
Lexi closes the door behind her while having a look of embarrassment on her face and says;
"I think it is time that we leave, don't you?"
I hold out my arm, she hooks in, and we walk to the car. I open the door for her, and she gets in. I run around to the other side, get in, and drive off. While I am driving, Lexi tells me;
"I am sorry about what you heard back there."
I give her a friendly smile and say;
"No need to apologize, really."
"So, are you going to tell me where we are going tonight?"
"Nope. You will just have to wait and see."
"Mm-hmm, suspense? I like it." She puts her hand on my thigh.
We arrive at the restaurant, and I park at the valley. I hand the car keys to him and walk around to get Lexi. She looks at the restaurant and asks me;
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Wow. Impressive."
"Shall we?" I hold out my arm again, and she hooks in, and we walk up to the hostess. She leads us to our table, and we both take a seat. We both look around the restaurant in surprisement, and Lexi says;
"I always wanted to know how this place looked on the inside."
"Me too. I must admit, it's beautiful. My mom knows the owner, so she made sure that we got the best seat in the house."
"That is nice of her."
I receive a text message. I take out my phone and see the text message is from Benjamin;
"Remember, party tonight at Christian's house. See you there."
I put my phone on the table as I see the waitress comes walking up to us. She hand us both a menu, and says;
"My name is Jade, and I will be your waiter for the rest of the evening. Would you like some time to go through the menu, or do you know what you want already?"
I look at Lexi's uncertainty on her face and then tell Jade;
"I think give us five minutes to decide."
Jade smiles at me and says;
"Sure thing. If you are ready to order, lift your hand, and I will be right over to assist."
As Jade walks away, I look back at Lexi and say;
"You know you can order what you want, and please don't look at the prices. It is my treat."
She looks at me surprized and say;
"But everything is so expensive."
I take her hand, smile at her and say;
"If I couldn't afford to come here, I wouldn't have. So, please order what you want to eat."
"Okay. What are you getting?"
"My mom said that I need to try the T-Bone with roasted veg. So I think that is what I am going to get."
Lexi thinks for a moment and says;
"I think I will also try it."
"You know that you don't have to if you don't want to. You can order what you want."
She smiles at me while saying;
"I am a meat-eater. Trust me when I say I am happy to try the T-Bone with you."
"Alright." I stick my hand in the air and tell her;
"Last chance."
"Nope. I am happy with my decision."
I order our food and drinks. While we sit and wait, we get talking. Lexi asks me;
"Who was that on the phone?"
"It's Benjamin. It seems that there is a party tonight at Christian's house."
"Oh, really. We should go."
"I don't know. I still have a few things left to do before I leave tomorrow."
Lexi sits up and looks me in the eyes as she suddenly realized what I just said and responds;
"Oh yes. That is right. You are leaving tomorrow. Wow, how time flies."
"Yeah, I know. I still have mixed feelings about it. But I must be honest that in some weird way, I am happy to get away from this place."
"Really? Was this place that bad for you?"
"Well, not really. It's hard to explain. I hate most of the jocks and the bullshit of the small town. I need to get out and start a new life."
I look at the reaction on her face. And suddenly, I remember that she didn't get into college. And even if she got accepted, her parents don't have the money to pay for college anyway. I try to change the subject;
"Listen to me talking about going away to college. I am sorry."
"No, no, you don't have to apologize. You worked hard to become the valedictorian of Chester High. I am happy for you, really."
"Thank you, but still. Let's rather change the subject."
"Okay."
Jade brings our food, and it at least gives us a chance of not talking about the awkwardness of me leaving. While we are eating, I look at Lexi and say;
"I heard your dad got a new job."
"Yes. He starts next month. He got a job on an oil rig off the coast somewhere. He will be away for a few months a year. But atleast he will be making a lot of money."
"That is great news, Lexi."
"Yeah. My mom is happy. And if she is happy, I am happy."
"That is great news."
She smiles at me and we continue to eat. Once we are done and have paid the bill. We are walking to the front to wait for the car. Lexi turns to look at me and asks;
"So, are we going to the party?"
"What time do you have to be home?"
"We have a few more hours left before my curfew."
"I don't know. I have some packing to do."
"Come on, Ethan. It will be fun."
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