-points down- Just read.
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Engaging Nightmare
Chapter 11
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Ferb's POV
As soon as we walked through the restaurant doors, the thick and strong scent of tomato sauce hit my face.
It wasn't anything like I imagined it to be. In my mind I pictured an average place with multiple waiters rushing this way and that, people dressed in casual wear, and random music playing somewhere off in the distance.
It was the exact opposite of that: everyone was dressed in formal, the waiters and waitresses looked as calm as could be, and the only sounds were laughter and deep conversation.
My self-esteem dropped quickly. I hoped nobody would note my choice of clothing. It was bad enough looking like that in front of Carmen, now I was being compared to everyone.
She held tight to my arm as we waited to be seated. "It's pretty easy to get lost in this place."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Have you?"
"Yeah, when I was little," she explained, laughing. "I was trying to find the bathroom, and I was gone from the table for about twenty minutes."
"What did you do?" I asked her. A man in a burgundy suit trudged by us with several black menus in his arms.
"Daddy told the manager, and he had every waiter in the place looking for me." She rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly. "Talk about overreacting…"
Before I could even try and make myself say something, the same man who passed us seconds ago was back, this time empty handed.
"It's the 'Alexander' reservations." Carmen told him quickly. He smiled, and threw her a 'yes ma'am' before leading us to the left of the entrance.
My feet made a clacking noise against the tile floor, but not as bad as Carmen's high heels. Everything in the place looked like it was worth thousands of dollars. The walls were plastered with gray print and the lighting was poor, but the overall atmosphere was quiet lively.
It was going to be fun looking at the menu prices; all I had in my wallet were a couple of tens and a driver's license.
Finally, after walking practically across the entire restaurant, we were brought to an area in the corner of the large room. Beside the table was a window that stretched from the ceiling to the wall. At least, I thought it was a window.
When I sat down in the seat closest to it, I reached out and touched bumpy canvas. Not cold glass like I had deducted.
Our waiter pulled out a pen and a pad of paper from his back pocket and then cleared his throat. "My names Antonio and I'll be your waiter tonight. So, what'll it be to drink?"
He positioned his pen close to the paper, like he already had the idea of what we would say.
Carmen spoke up. "Diet Pepsi, no ice."
He scribbled that down in seconds and turned his attention to me. His eyes were dark and somewhat terrifying. "And for the gentleman?"
"A glass of tea." I told him quietly.
"Would you like a slice of lemon?" he asked after swiftly moving his hand on the paper.
"No, thank you." I hated lemon. The sour taste was just too strong.
"Alright, then." He chirped happily, then placed his pen and paper back in its resting place. I'll be back in a moment with those and your menus."
Then, he scampered off in the same direction we had followed him from. He seemed much more on edge than the other people.
I looked back at Carmen when I heard her buttery giggle. She had her hand covering her mouth and eyes clutched shut like she were about to burst.
"You're not one to skip out on the stereotypes, are you?"
I gave her a confused look as she stopped herself from snickering. "What do you mean?"
"Seriously, tea? I mean, you're British…right?"
For a few more seconds I stared her down, not too sure what to say. "It's not really because of that," I finally told her. "I'm just not too into sodas."
She shrugged. "Eh, well, I still think it's interesting."
The waiter came back with two tall glasses in his hands and the menus stuck beneath his arm. He carefully sat the items down in front of us. Then, without a word, he scurried off again.
Carmen grabbed the top menu and handed the other to me. "Pick whatever you want." She explained smiling. "It's all on Daddy tonight!"
"How generous of him." I chuckled, taking it from her. I flipped it open, revealing a blinding reflection of bright yellow and green. The categories were arranged just like every other menu: soups, salads, entrées, hors d'œurve, and desserts. Unlike every other place I had been, they didn't show small pictures next to the Italian words, which were difficult to pronounce.
With a SNAP, I looked to Carmen and noticed that she had already closed her menu and tossed it aside.
She outstretched her hand, pulled it down to where she could read the menu, and pointed her finger next to a long word beneath the bold heading that read, Entrée.
"That's one of the best things they serve here! Seriously."
I trailed my eyes next to her slim finger. The description made it sound like a simple lasagna recipe. Then, my eyes caught the price.
"Thirty dollars!?" I exclaimed, yet quietly.
Carmen waved it off and rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it! It's worth every penny."
"But, isn't that a bit much for one dish?" I asked, feeling somewhat bad for having to pay so much.
Again, she shrugged. "Just think of it as helping out a small business.
"So," Carmen began. She pursed her ruby lips together tightly before taking a small sip from her Pepsi. "I guess the two of us don't really know that much about each other, huh?"
"I don't suppose so." I had to agree with her. I may have known quite a bit about her, but she practically only knew my name, age, and that I went to school with her.
"Well, how about we play a little game while we're waiting?" she asked. Her eyes flickered mysteriously, and I wondered what exactly she had in mind. The long nail that protruded from her finger drew small circles on the glass table top. I could faintly hear a scratching noise.
"What did you have in mind?"
She stopped abruptly foldeing her delicate fingers beneath her chin and rested her elbows next the glass. "Something for the two of us to get to know one another." With a quick movement, she took another swig of Pepsi. "First, I'll ask you something about you. Then you answer, and then ask me something." Instead of putting the glass back down, she chewed on the straw for a few seconds. "How's that sound?"
I could tell by her eyes that she wasn't exactly expecting me to answer 'no.' So, I nodded and folded my arms across my chest while leaning back in a more comfortable position.
"All right. But, ladies first."
Carmen giggled, and I had to as well. "Okay, let me think." She nibbled on the plastic for a moment or two more as her eyes darted all around the room.
Finally, she removed the straw from her mouth. "What's your first childhood memory?"
That question somewhat struck me. I was expecting something along the lines of 'what's your favorite color?' or 'who's your favorite teacher at school?'
I dug my nails into my shirt as I pondered her question.
"It took you that long to think of one question?"
She shrugged. "Well, I have a lot more."
I chuckled. "Well, then, I guess it would have to have been the day I moved to America."
A few seconds of silence passed that felt like minutes as she stared me down with her emerald eyes. "Moved to America? Where did you used to live?"
I stared at her for a little while longer before pulling my eyes away from hers to stare at a lost crouton on the floor. "In England, about fifteen years ago."
"When you were two years old?"
I nodded.
"Wow…How do you remember that?" she asked blinking wildly at me.
"I suppose it was the first time in my life I ever really had a family."
She tilted her head to the left a bit. "You had your mom and dad, didn't you?"
I tried my best to look like the conversation didn't bother me, but I could tell I was miserably failing.
"Well, not exactly…" I trailed off. I could definitely feel here eyes drilling into the side of my head.
Carmen then gasped, making me took back to her swiftly. "Oh! I'm sorry! I don't mean to be nosey."
I shook my head. "No, it's not that." I explained to her. She brought a hand to her chest and massaged her collarbone, still looking worried about what she had asked. "I just don't really know what to say."
"Are your parents divorced, too?"
I stared back down at the floor, trying to form the words to say and not make myself sound like a fool. There wasn't that much to tell her.
"No. I'm not exactly sure what happened. I live with my dad and step-mum, but I never really knew much about my biological mother."
"Did you ever ask your dad?" she asked, taking another drink of soda after. I could tell she was getting worried about asking too many questions again, but it didn't matter to me. Talking to her like this was amazing…
"I tried when I was younger. But he always said the same thing: I'll tell you when you're older. And, so, pretty much after that I just gave up…"
Carmen stared at me after that. Her large green eyes looked like they were on the brink of tears, but they quickly disappeared when she looked down to the menu before her.
We sat there, listening only to the sound of the people surrounding us, until finally she spoke up.
"Alright. It's your turn."
I brought my eyes back up to meet hers, showing off that she was desperately trying to brighten up the conversation. "Now you have to ask me something."
A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. My middle finger traced the edge of my glass, leaving small trails and cold water on the tip. "Would it be cheating if I just asked you the same question?"
She thought for a moment. "Not unless you really want to know."
"I really do." I told her while nodding.
"Then, nah. No cheating."
Without even batting an eye, and totally surprising me, she leaned back in her chair and spouted the answer in seconds.
"My first day at Danville's private school."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah," she began, then took her glass in hand. "I've only been to about three schools my whole life, and that one is the best hands down."
For a second, I continued to trace my finger along the glass, unaware if she was finished or not. "Why is that? There aren't many people there."
She took a large sup through the straw, then explained through an exhale, "Exactly." The glass made a 'tink' noise when she sat it down. "The less people in an area, the less there are to worry about."
I sat there, staring at her as she examined the menu's corner (which had begun to peel from the cheap cardboard.) What she said didn't make much sense to me, but I decided to ignore it as she began again.
"Okay, here's another one: do you have any other siblings?"
"You mean besides my brother?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Phineas is his name, right? The little redheaded boy?"
"That's right." I told her. I picked up the glass and took a small sup from the side, seeing as I wasn't given a straw. It was bitter at first, soon followed by a sweet sensation in the back of my tongue. "How did you know he had red hair?"
"I remember seeing you pick him up one day after school. I guess before you took an extra class."
She was right. I even had to pick up Phineas when I was a junior, also a sophomore. It was going to be nice when my brother got his own car. That or nerve racking.
"I don't have any brothers or sisters," Carmen told me, keeping her head down and fiddling with her menu. "In case you were wondering."
I thought for a moment and took another drink of tea. "What's your favorite color?"
She tilted her head. "That's original. Could you not think of anything else?"
With a laugh, I shrugged. "That too, but you can tell a lot about a person by their favorite color."
"Okay then." She began, then leaned closer to me against the table. "Green."
A man with a woman clinging to his arm scurried by us. I had to look up at the two of the as they passed, noticing how their cheeks were tinted red and eyes diluted. The restaurant must have served wine.
"Green, that's an easy one." I noted how her smile grew and eyes glimmered. "It can mean two things. Either you're and envious and deceitful, or you're calm and in touch with the earth."
"Oh?" Carmen giggled while leaning far back in her chair and crossing her arms. "And which one of those do you think suits me best?"
It didn't take me to long to answer. "Most likely the second." She giggled again. "But, then again, I could be wrong."
This time, it was a sarcastic laugh. "Well, I guess you'll find out soon, huh?" she teased as I watched her hand search for something to playfully throw at me. Unfortunately, there was nothing that would be considered 'playfully'.
"I'll guess with you then." She told me. "What's your favorite?"
"Purple." I told her quickly.
She squished her lips together, and a 'hmm' noise vibrated in her throat. "I'm going to guess it means you're smart."
I couldn't help but laugh. "You get that from my favorite color?"
"Well, I have seen you answer questions in class." she said as she folded her hands under her chin. "I'm almost certain I'm right, or at least close."
She wasn't even close. I didn't care; I couldn't keep my eyes off her face, her eyes, her lips. Everything about her looked perfect at that very moment.
I didn't want it to ever end...
--TO BE CONTINUED-----
Sorry about the long...long wait. I thought I'd get a chance to do a lot of writing during my summer. Unfortunately, I got a job and that took up a lot of my time. Yeah, the moneys great, but it sure disappears quick.
And, yes, the ending was rushed...
I think it might be a while before chapter 12. I have to research this fanfic and get back into the flow before I go and screw it all up...:/
Appreciate the patience!
