The Escapade
Chapter Three: Drama In The Dining Room

The next day, after I woke and cleaned up, I found LB and Iuka in the living room.

"I didn't even hear you come in last night, when did you come in?" asked LB. I was getting my keys and a quick meal before work.

"I'd say you couldn't hear anything in that soundproof room of yours," I muttered to myself as I brought out the milk. "I came in around eight-thirty."

"What I do of the night when you aren't here is none of your business," she chided. "I get lonely too, you know."

Iruka smiled at her, and I really did not want to know what happened while I was away for two hours. "So, what happened?" he asked. I sat down at the island in the kitchen, and gave them a look. Normally, I was never happy in the mornings, until I straightened myself out.

"We went to dinner. We went to a hotel. We did stuff. I am pregnant. He's moving away today. He doesn't know. I'm screwed." I said seriously, without a breath. It was quiet in the living room for the longest time.

"Really?" LB asked me.

"Yes."

"Are you serious?"

"No."

"That's what I thought. What really happened?"

"He took me to dinner. We went stargazing. I came home. Also, there was a game of twenty questions thrown in there." I said.

"That's so sweet!" she exclaimed, and gave a look to Iruka.

"That's Kakashi for you. He talks about you all the time when I'm with him."

I looked up over my bowl of cereal and raised an eyebrow. "What does he say?"

"That you can cook well," Iruka paused for effect. "And he thinks you're pretty. He thinks you're too good for him though."

I snorted. "Not according to him."

"Hm?"

"He said I was the 'All-American woman.'"

LB laughed, and I glared at her, then she shut up. "All-American woman?"

"Yes. He said, and I quote: 'You like football. You can cook. You can clean, from what I've seen from your house, and you're basically independent. You're the all-American woman.'"

"Reminds me of a burger I ate once," Iruka mused. LB slapped him.

"That wasn't nice." She whispered fiercely.

I sighed. "I'm off to work. I'll see you guys later. If I come home to a broken couch, or if anything in this apartment is broken, one of you is paying next month's rent to me in advance, paying for the broken object, and facing my wrath when I get home." I smiled at them as I stepped out the door. "Have a nice day!" I called.

I heard laughter, and then footsteps up the stairwell as I left. I started my car and drove to work. As soon as I arrived, I noticed a black Ford F150 was not there. I was kind of disappointed, but I knew he had a good time. I opened the door to the diner, walked to the back and clocked in.

"Good afternoon, Lexie." Elaine said as she saw me.

"Good afternoon. How are things today?"

"Slow, so far. But I think things will kick in around one or two. They always do." She replied.

I walked to the dining room and saw no one, so I walked back to the kitchen to talk to Stephen. Stephen was the main cook. Stephen was one of my best friends at the diner, besides Elaine and LB, and I've known him ever since I started working. We were the same age, and graduated together.

"LB said you had a date with that dude," he said while he jumped up on the counter beside of me.

"Kakashi?"

"Guess so. The dude with the gray hair."

"Yep."

"How'd it go?"

"It went pretty well. It's..well, he's actually more than meets the eye."

He punched my arm softly. "Well if you need a backup, I'm always here." He stated solemnly. I smiled at him.

"Thanks," I said, not knowing what to say. I heard a door slam and Stephen and I both looked at each other.

"Kate," we said in unison. Stephen accompanied me to the dining room to see what was going on. We saw Kate at the bar, drumming her fingers nervously and chatting away to one of her friends on her cell phone. She screamed loudly, and then hung up on her friend.

She was obviously annoyed.

"Kate? Honey, what's wrong?" Elaine asked, coming out of the manager's room. She rested a comforting hand on Kate's shoulder but Kate swatted it away.

"Get away from me." She said angrily. This really ticked me off, so I went toward her.

"Hey, don't talk to her like that. Just because you're in some type of 'teenage drama deal' doesn't mean you have to treat your grandmother with disrespect. This is a restaurant for people who want to eat here; this isn't Dr. Phil. You can't take your drama and bring it in here, Kate. If you want to go vent to someone, why don't you talk to your boyfriend? I'm sure he'd listen to you, since he's hanging on your every move." I said sternly. I heard Stephen laugh and Elaine looked at me. I knew she wasn't mad or angry with me; that is probably what she'd always wanted to tell Kate in the first place.

She turned her head toward me slowly, her eyes dark. I wasn't afraid of her, if she tried to fight me. I laughed at her; how could someone act that stupid and be so old? "I don't think you have any right to say anything, Lexie. You're twenty-one, live in an apartment with your best friend and her fiancée, and you work at a diner. You've never been to college, and you just went on a date with some guy with gray hair who is five years older than you are, and works at Wal-Mart. Me? I'm twenty, almost twenty-one, and I have a love life." She retorted.

I stared at her.

Best friend and fiancée? Never been to college? What?

I went over to her and grabbed her by the collar. "You don't know what it means to work all of your life. Your mom has given everything to you on a shiny, golden platter and you eat it all up. You probably don't even know what your grandmother's name is do you? Do you know who founded this diner, or why? No, you probably don't. I've had to work since I was sixteen. Maybe I didn't have to, but I wanted to. I wanted to prove myself to my parents that I could be like them and make it on my own. I work two jobs during the summer to pay rent on an apartment, plus what my friend makes. I'm saving up to go to college, and if I don't, that's certainly none of your business. If I want to date a guy who is successful and has gray hair and eats the same dinner everyday at this diner, I will. It isn't your place to screw around with me. I suggest you don't come here again if you want to start your crap. It isn't welcome here anymore."

Elaine looked at me, to Kate, to Stephen—who had his mouth hung open—and then back to Kate. Kate was staring at me like I was stupid, and I let go of her collar and walked back to Stephen.

"Kate, dear, no one said you ever had to come here of the morning in the first place." Elaine said gently. Kate simply stood up and walked out of the diner. She placed her phone up to her ear and began to yell into it. Stephen and I exchanged glances and figured that she was calling up her boyfriend. We walked back into the kitchen and Stephen patted me on the shoulder.

"I didn't think you'd ever do that." He said.

"Do what?"

"Stand up to Kate. She's given you crap all these years and you're just now giving it back."

"Yeah, well, it takes me a while." I said, giving him a slight smile.

I worked the rest of my shift, no sign from Kakashi. I didn't consider us a 'thing' now, because we've only been on one date. I wanted to be Kakashi's significant other—I couldn't get used to the word girlfriend yet—and I hoped he wanted the same with me.

I pulled into the driveway and glanced at the clock—it was six thirty. I glanced down to Kakashi's condo, and saw his truck. I shrugged it off, he probably felt bad or something. I opened the door to the apartment and found LB and Iruka. I felt a strange urge of anger, remembering what Kate said.

"Guys! I need to talk to you." I yelled as I entered.

I saw LB turn around. "What's up?"

I sighed, knowing this might be a touchy subject. "Uhm, actually, I think I might need to talk to Iruka for a moment."
Iruka turned around and cocked an eyebrow at me. I motioned him into the other room.

"You know Kate, from the diner, right?" I asked.

"The chick that's always giving everyone problems? Elaine's granddaughter?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's her."

"Yep. Sure do. Why?"

I inhaled sharply. "Well, she ticked me off today so I stood up to her and she said something about 'my best friend and her fiancée.' Are you and LB…?" I trailed off.

He smiled. "I haven't asked her yet. I went into the diner yesterday to ask Elaine about some things. I was going to ask you but you weren't here at the moment."

I exhaled, relieved. "Oh. Because I thought you had already asked her and she or you hadn't told me," I looked down. "Uhm, do you know where Kakashi is?"

He shook his head. "Haven't seen him. He didn't come by today?"

"Nope. Not even for breakfast."

"Hm. I don't know, then." He put his hand on me. "He isn't the type to date someone and leave them hanging, Lexie. He'll come around. Remember the three day rule?"

I gave him a look. "That's only for calling."

His smile faded and I giggled. "Same difference."

I sighed, going into the bathroom as Iruka went back to LB. I took a shower, put some pajamas on, and went to read. I picked up my copy of Romeo and Juliet.

And suddenly, I was jealous of Juliet.