Stone stretched lazily in her side of the booth she was sitting in. She glanced down at her cell phone and sighed. It was almost 4:30 and she had not heard from Cain. He had texted her earlier to say that he was well on his way and couldn't wait to finally meet her. She sighed again and reached for the Diet Coke in front of her, took a sip, and then let her head flop lightly against the wall.
"Maybe he's playing a sick joke on me. Maybe there is no Cain but this is a Candid Camera thing." Stone mumbled to herself. "Maybe I'm just a fool." If there was no Cain, then she did a lot of work for nothing. Her apartment was now clean, food was in her fridge, and the guest bedroom was now what it was meant to be and not her mini dance studio. That was one of the reasons she had bought that apartment; the guest bedroom. The floors where smooth and wooden. The closet covered one wall and was all mirrors. The bed folded into the wall so that she could use the whole space. The other reason she had bought it was because it was cheap and the owner did not question why a 16-year-old was moving in it by herself.
Her phone chirped jut then and she reached for it. She glanced down to see that she had received a text from Cain.
"Bout time." She growled angrily, reading it. Her anger dissipated slightly.
Sorry I'm late. I'm in the parking lot right now. There was traffic but that is no excuse. Where are you sitting?
Stone quickly typed her answer:
Yeah, yeah… sure. I'm in the furthest corner, sitting alone in a booth. You can't miss me. I'm the only teen here at the moment.
She hit send and glanced around. The only other people in the restaurant where an older couple sitting on the other side of the room and the workers. Stone placed her phone on the table and glanced over at the door. It opened slowly to reveal a boy about her age. His black hair hung around his face, his blue eyes peeking out from under his bangs. He wore a black Until the Day I Die t-shirt over jeans. Checkered vans where on his feet. He glanced around the room, a frown on his face, until he spotted her. His smile was slow and deliberate as he made his way over to her and the table. Stone nodded to him as he slid into the other side of the booth. He quickly made himself at home, stretching out and placing his own phone on the table. Finally, when he was situated, he looked at her. His blue eyes where intense as they stared into her own.
"It's great to finally meet you Stone." His voice was musical, like a harmony in a song. "Sorry I'm late. Traffic was brutal on the interstate. There was an accident. I meant to text you but it was crazy. There's no excuse for it though and I apologize." He lapsed into silence as his gaze racked over her. She moved slightly, not use to a cool, collective, and calculating gaze on her. "You're not what I expect you to be, sorry to say, but it does not really surprise me." Stone smiled, knowing what he meant.
From what her other friends had told her, she sounded like a scatter-brained slob. They expected her to be a dumb and ditzy blonde. In all actuality, she was a natural brunette who had dyed her hair black with bright purple tips. Instead of wearing clothes from Hollister and Abercrombie and Finch (Stores she detested), she made her own, only once in a while going to Hot Topic to buy a special item. Today she wore one of her originals: A black long dress that she had ripped to the knee in jagged edges. She wore black ballet slippers and a small crown in her tease hair. Her huge sunglasses sat on the table next to her phone. Since she was a dancer, she was willowy but not particularly tall.
"I know. I get that a lot. It's great to finally meet you too Cain. It was surprises to get you're text this morning, but it was pleasant one." Stone told him. "For a while there I had thought that you where playing a cruel joke on me, but here you are! I expected someone a little…." She thought for a moment. "Buffer I guess would be the right word." Robin chuckled as he checked his phone.
"I guess we where both fooled. I knew you were a dancer but I was picturing blonde and- pardon me for saying- dumb." He smirked, an evil glint in his eye. "Hopefully you're not trying to fool me. I can read people very well." Stone glared at him.
"Is that a threat?!" She questioned, leaning forward. Robin shook his head, an amused look on his face. "That's what I thought." The waitress came over just then and they both ordered. They stared at each other quietly for a moment before Robin spoke again.
"It's not a good idea to let strange people stay at your house with you." He told her. "You're lucky it's a guy like me and not some strange pervert who would kill you in your sleep." Stone gave him a weary glance.
"How do I know you're not going to kill me in my sleep?" She asked. He thought about it for a moment and mumbled "good point." Stone shrugged and smiled. "Besides, if I thought you were going to kill me in my sleep I wouldn't have said yes to you coming and staying with me." He stared at her again with that calculating stare, almost to the point of glowering. Their table was silent for a moment.
"Still, you should be careful. There are people out there who would love to hurt someone like you. You're way to trusting, I noticed that when we chatted. You gave away almost all the details of your life without a second thought. What if I had been the kind of person who was a stalker? I could have easily found you and killed you." Robin lectured. Stone rolled her eyes.
"Look, your concern is touching. But I didn't invite you to stay with me so you could lecture me. You said that you needed a place to stay while you were in town and I gave you one. I can also read people very well. It's a skill I use every day. Don't worry about me, Dad." She muttered sarcastically. The waitress came and set their food in front of them, smiling slyly at Robin. "Thank you Brittney but I think he would like some food with the drool you just delivered on his plate. Don't you have other people to serve!?" The waitress glared at Stone before sashaying over to another table that had filled up in the short time she and Robin had been arguing. Robin stared at Stone as she angrily salted her chicken strips. He sighed and placed one of his hands on the one not trying to give her a heart attack.
"I'm sorry Stone. I didn't mean to come on as strong as I did. It's just that you're my friend and, even though this is the first time we have met, I would hate for something bad to happen to you. So I was slightly worried when you agreed so eagerly to have me stay with you; a boy you had only know for a few months and have never met face to face. I thought that if you where this nice to me then you could be this nice to everyone and there are some sick people out there who would take advantage of that in a way that would ruin your life. I am sorry. Really." He squeezed her hand slightly and let go, picking up his burger. It was harder then he thought being Cain, a regular boy. Robin was use to playing the hero and having people listen to him. But then he was usually behind a mask and seen in almost out of proportional glory. This was new to him; having to explain that he was worried and she needed to use her head more in a situation like this when he wasn't Robin.
He watched her carefully from beneath his bangs. Her green eyes turn from steel to a soft emerald color. She put the salt on the table and sighed, looking at him.
"I know. I know. I should think more. It's just that I've always made decisions first and thought about them later. Look, if you stop lecturing me then I'll think more, okay?" Robin nodded and Stone smiled. They went back to their dinners and picked up a nice and casual conversation, the kind that they would have if they were both on the internet. Soon their food was gone but still they sat in the booth and talked, laughing occasionally, and smiling. It was closing time at the dinner when they finally walked out, arm in arm. Robin had found that Stone was a girl who was okay with physical contact throughout the course of their dinner, so when they stood up and she looped her arm through his, he hadn't been surprised. Uncomfortable, maybe. Surprised, no. He walked her to her vehicle; a battered black pickup truck, and made sure she was safe inside before climbing into his own car to follow her back to her apartment.