Chapter 21: A Date?

Tristan held the door open to The Grub as I walked into and was greeted by a typical beach restaurant. There were wide windows, giving a faraway view of the beach which was quite nice actually. There was a hostess stand with a woman standing behind it, scribbling something down on a piece of paper.

The Grub wasn't too crowded but had its share of family and teenage customers. I noticed a fair-skinned girl carrying a tray of food over to a booth of hungry customers.

"Hey Dolly," Tristan greeted smoothly as we approached the hostess stand.

The woman looked up and I noticed that her red hair was piled on top of her head. I noticed that she had faint wrinkle lines around her eyes and the she was in her mid-forties. She immediately smiled, noticing Tristan.

"You're not working today," she stated at she noticed he wasn't wearing the same black collared work shirt with a logo of The Grub on the left side of her chest.

"No, just came from the beach," Tristan explained easily as he pointed towards his grey board shorts and a plain t-shirt.

"Nice day to spend at the beach," Dolly agreed with a nod. "And who is this?" She turned her eyes towards me.

"Dolly, meet Sienna. Sienna's thinking about taking that waitressing job; the one with the same hours as mine."

"Oh, I see," Dolly said with a grin. Obviously, she was the owner of this place. "We really do need a waitress at that hour. If you want the job, its here for the taking."

"You don't need my resume or anything?" I asked doubtfully. Dolly let out a laugh.

"Well, we usually do but since Tristan brought you here, I trust that he has good judgment to bring in a hardworking girl," Dolly explained. I didn't miss the wink she sent Tristan.

"So you want the job?" Tristan asked, turning his attention towards me.

"Yeah, why not?" I asked, with a smile.

"Okay, I'm sure that Tristan will explain everything to you then?" Dolly assumed. Tristan nodded in confirmation.

"Hopefully when you start working, you won't be distracting Tristan," she laughed, staring at me. I let out an embarrassed laugh.

"Between you and me, Tristan gets distracted when pretty girls are around," she made a show of trying to whisper to me though it was obvious he could hear.

"We're going to order something to eat if you don't mind," he stated, obviously noticing I was getting a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah, sure. Go pick a booth. We're definitely not busy right now." She smiled at me and I smiled politely back.

"Cool. Talk to you late Dolly," Tristan said.

"Oh, and give her a working shirt from upstairs. And your paycheck is waiting for you upstairs too," Dolly reminded him.

"Sure thing Dolly," Tristan smiled before he led me to an empty booth in the corner of the restaurant.

"She's funny," I stated when Tristan took a seat in the booth in front of me.

"Yeah, and talkative but she's nice."

"So I guess we'll be working with each other now," I stated.

But the only thing going through my mind was that this was bad. This just spelled disaster. I was going to be spending much more time with Tristan and I knew I was bound to be even more confused with my boy problems.

There was Tristan. We had a history together. We were close friends—practically my best friend. Things could have gotten farther in our relationship but then I moved. I didn't even know if I still had those feelings for Tristan…

There was Alex. I really didn't know what to think about him. He was a friend, not a close friend. But since I moved back for the summer, I've realized that he was easy to get along with. And I couldn't deny there was something there…or maybe it was just that he was very attractive?

And lastly, there was Brenton. I honestly didn't know what to do with him. We kissed the night before I left for California. We weren't together but then again we kissed. But then I found out he went on a date with Christine…but he's been trying to contact me and show that he cared by asking how I was in California…it was just all mixed signals.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," he noted, looking intrigued. He leaned back in the booth and looked at me expectantly. I stared at him.

"Um…not necessarily," I answered as I looked out the window. I could feel his eyes on me.

"Look, if it's what I said to you yesterday at that bonfire I'm sorry."

The earnest, apologetic tone in his voice caught my attention. His eyes weren't on me, instead at the empty table between us.

"Well…" my voice caused him to look up at me, "you said a lot of stuff."

"I think I was too forward yesterday and that may have freaked you out—"

"No, no," I protested, interrupting him now that I figured out what he was specifically talking about—his telling me that he still had feelings for me and for almost kissing me.

I was glad that I didn't blush at the recollection that he wanted to kiss me. Of course, any girl would be flattered to hear out loud that Tristan wanted to kiss them.

"It's just that I had some things on my mind and yesterday just overwhelmed me," I explained vaguely. I looked away from him, placing my palms on the cool tabletop.

"I was too forward," he insisted. "Something just came over me and I was still shocked to see that you were back and everything."

I nodded in understanding.

"I really shouldn't have been too forward and I'm sorry. I mean, you could be taken for all I know," Tristan ended with a light chuckle.

His blue-grey eyes looking at me questioningly. At that moment I smiled at him for many reasons. One reason was because I was sitting right across from my former best friend. Second reason was because Tristan was obviously still the same Tristan; my caring yet attractive best friend.

"I'm not taken," I confirmed, biting the corner of my lip.

Sure, my mind instantly flashed to Brenton but we weren't even together. And plus, he went on a date with Christine! All Brenton and I did was kiss, and it really didn't seal the deal that we were officially together. Some people kiss and it doesn't mean anything.

Just like how I kissed Alex the other night. Gosh, that was a mistake in the making but I couldn't help myself fall for Alex's green eyes. I guess I was just in the moment and I couldn't help but kiss him.

Now don't get the wrong idea. I don't just go around kissing guys! I'm not a what-do-you-call it? A s-l-u-t! Seriously, Aubrey hated me back then and called me that many times and since then I vowed to never turn into that type of person. And plus I knew that Aubrey was just calling me names. I knew I was just some innocent girl who was attacked by jealous Aubrey who had her sights on Tristan.

Hm…I wonder if she still likes Tristan…

Tristan scanned my face for a minute, as if waiting for me to say that I was joking and I really did have a boyfriend waiting for me back home. Well, I didn't.

"Really?" he finally asked, raising his eyebrows. I couldn't help but let out a light laugh.

"Yeah, really," I confirmed with a shrug. What was the big deal? "Why?"

Then Tristan did the most terrible thing at that moment. He smiled his heart-melting smile that I never could resist. His eyes brightened just a bit; probably hearing the fact that I wasn't with someone.

"Well, I am sorry about what happened last night but…I did mean what I said to you."

His hands appeared in my vision and he gently took my hands in his. I looked up at him confused. I tried to ignore how I felt with my hands in his strong yet soft ones.

His blue-grey eyes looked into mine, wanting me to understand.

"It's true that we haven't been in touch for two years but to have you in front of me right now…I can't deny that I'm attracted to you. I can't deny the fact that I'm reminded of our friendship we had back then."

I couldn't deny that I was feeling the same way…

"Hello. Welcome to The Grub. Would you guys like to order anything to drink?" the fair-skinned waitress I had seen earlier had approached the table with two menus in hand.

Seeing her up close, I assumed that she was in college; a few years older than Tristan and me.

"Oh, hey Tristan!" she greeted once she noticed one of her co-workers. Tristan smiled back, though not as enthusiastically, silently bummed that he was interrupted.

He let go of my hands, keeping his hands on his side of the table.

"Opps. Sorry, did I interrupt something?" the fair-skinned waitress asked with a grimace.

"Its fine Suzy," Tristan said with a smile. I was slightly perplexed at the sight that he wasn't even blushing…while I saw across from him, trying to cool my cheeks down from hearing what he was confessing to me just a second earlier. "Suzy, this is Sienna."

"Hi," I greeted, attempting a smile as my cheeks cooled down. "So do you like waitressing? Apparently I'm going to be the new waitress here."

"Hi, Sienna. I'm really sorry if I interrupted something. I always have bad timing," she apologized again, looking from me to Tristan. "But yeah. Waitressing is fun. Good tips. You're going to be working here?"

"Yeah, thanks to Tristan here," I smiled at her, quickly glancing at Tristan.

"That's awesome," Suzy smiled with an eager nod. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you before."

"Yeah, I'm staying for the summer. I've lived here before but then I moved away," I explained for what seemed to me for the umpteenth time.

"That's cool. Well I better get back to work before Dolly threatens to fire me," Suzy stated with a light-hearted laugh. She placed the two menus on the table and innocently looked me over—my denim shorts and tank top over my bikini.

"Nice meeting you Sienna. You'll do well as a waitress," she noted before leaving the table.

"Hopefully when I start, I don't spill drinks on me or something," I stated with a light laugh.

Obviously, our previous conversation was forgotten thanks to Suzy's accidental interruption.

"Oh, it's easy," Tristan reassured me, leaning back into the booth. "But if you have a lot to carry, I'll help."

"Well, we'll just see when I actually start. Hopefully I won't need your help," I stated with a smile. "But thanks for getting me this job. Seth would be especially proud of me."

"Why does he want you to get a job anyways?"

"Why don't you ask him?" I offered with a smile. "On second thought, you really should ask him. I'd like to know the answer to that question."

"Alright, I will," Tristan promised with an adorable smile. "So you want to order something or what?"

"What do they have?" I asked, opening up the menu and scanning the items.

"They have squid," Tristan offered. I looked up at him and smiled.

"Calamari. Yum," I said teasingly.

"I have no idea how you could eat squid," he said, crinkling his nose.

"Hey!" I protested. "Calamari is good."

"Again I say, I can't believe you could even eat squid."

"Calamari sounds more appetizing than squid."

"It's squid though," he argued, a smirk on his face. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll just have calamari then," I said, closing my menu.

"You're not hungry?" he asked, scanning over his menu.

"No, not really," I answered, looking out the window.

"Anything to drink?"

"Just water," I answered, watching people cross the streets and head over to the beach.

"Okay, I'll be right back."

I looked away from the window to see that he had gotten up from the booth, the two menus in hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked, slightly amused.

"I'll just get it right now. I work here, remember?"

"But you're off duty," I argued back.

"Doesn't matter," he stated, sticking his tongue playfully at me.

"Well, let me at least pay for my calamari."

"For your squid?" he asked. "No, it's on the house."

"Oh, so now you get free food just because you work here?" I asked unbelieving.

"Alright fine," Tristan sighed. "It's on me. Alright?"

"Tristan," I protested.

"And there you are again. The girl who insists to pay for everything herself. Well too bad."

"You suck," I retorted receiving a light-hearted chuckle from Tristan.

"I'll be back before you know it," he promised as he smoothly walked away, leaving me to sit there alone.

I didn't even get a minute alone before Dolly slid into the booth in front of me, taking Tristan's vacant seat.

"So, did Tristan tell you everything you need to know about working at The Grub?" she questioned with a knowing smile.

"Not yet," I answered sheepishly, joining her in a light laugh.

"He is a charmer isn't he?" Dolly asked, taking me by surprise.

"Um…" I stated flustered.

"Don't worry. I won't tell him," Dolly reassured me with a kind smile. "You good friends with him?"

"Um…yea," I nodded with a bit of hesitance. "We've known each other for a while."

"Yeah, I saw you guys holding hands just a while ago," Dolly stated with a knowing look but it immediately vanished at seeing my embarrassed and uncomfortable face.

"Oh, sorry," she quickly apologized.

"Its fine," I reassured her with a tight nod and hopefully a convincing smile.

"I'm a bit nosy. It's a bad habit of mine," Dolly said with a grimace. "But I've got to say that you guys would make a very cute couple."

"Well, Tristan and I have known each for a while and we were like best friends," I explained, trying to persuade her that she shouldn't be assuming things. "And we're going to stay friends."

"Oh but that's where you're wrong," she corrected me with a smile. "I only saw you guys together for five minutes but I could just tell by the way he looks at you. And the way you look at him."

"Yeah, like friends," I insisted with a tight smile.

I've just decided that this lady was crazy. Seriously, what person randomly goes around and starts telling people that they look good together?

Dolly's eyes shifted behind me and I was about to turn around but she suddenly spoke up.

"Well, I better get back to work before customers start leaving," Dolly announced with laugh.

I turned around to where she was looking at, seeing that her empty hostess stand was filing up with customers waiting for a booth at The Grub. I turned back around to see Dolly tucking a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

"I'll come back later and check up on you and Tristan," Dolly informed with a nod and smile.

I politely smiled back as she left to resume her job duties when Suzy came up to the booth.

"Oh, what happened to the menus?" Suzy asked as she blatantly stared at the empty table in front of me. She also had her order pad and pen out to take my order.

"Oh, actually Tristan took them and said he'll get us the food," I answered cautiously, not knowing what Suzy's reaction would be.

Suzy let out a light-hearted laugh, looked around the restaurant and after deciding that she could take a quick break, she took the seat across from me.

"Tristan always seems to do that whenever he comes in," she explained with a wave of her hand.

"Sienna, have you ever had a waitressing job before?" Suzy asked, turning the subject on me now.

"Actually I haven't," I answered truthfully with a sheepish smile. "The only job I've ever had was at this clothing store boutique in New York."

"Oh, that's nice," she nodded. "But I bet you'll get the hang of waitressing here at The Grub. So don't worry."

"Okay, that's good know," I smiled. "Do you work at the same hours as Tristan?"

"Yeah, so I could show you the ropes when you start working," she offered with an eager nod.

"Thanks. That'd be very helpful."

"Suzy? Aren't you supposed to be working and not chatting?" Tristan came up to our booth, a tray of food and drinks in his hand.

She glanced over at me and rolled her eyes.

"Well, I wasn't the one who left your friend sitting here by herself now was I?" she retorted back with a triumphant smirk on her fair-skinned face.

"Well, I'm here now," Tristan retorted back. He turned his gaze down on me. "With food."

I let out a laugh at his grin when he placed the food plates and drinks down on the table. Suzy smiled at me before getting up from the booth, ready to get back to waitressing. Tristan took the vacant seat back.

"I thought I asked for water," I spoke up, staring at the glass of strawberry lemonade that Tristan placed in front of me.

"You did but I thought you'd like this drink better," Tristan answered back. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I made it myself. Strawberry lemonade. It's my specialty," he explained with laughter in his eyes.

"You specialty huh?" I brought the glass towards me, stirring the lemonade with my straw.

"Try it."

I peered over at him with a suspicious look on my face. His grin grew wider and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You didn't do anything to it did you?" I asked fearfully, glancing from the glass back to him.

"No, why would I?" Tristan asked with an incredulous look on his tan face.

I let out a laugh before saying, "I remember that time you were experimenting drinks in your kitchen. You told me to try one and I trusted you. Next thing I knew, I was washing my tongue out with water because of your awful drink failure."

Tristan broke out into laughter after my story, a twinkle in his blue-grey eyes. I loved the sound of his laughter.

"You remember that?" he asked slightly surprised yet with appreciation in his voice.

"Of course I do," I answered back softly, looking away from his eyes. How can I not forget all the memories I shared back then with him?

I took a sip of the strawberry lemonade and my taste buds instantly tasted Tristan's specialty. I immediately made a sour face, pushing the glass away from me.

Tristan looked at me incredulous, his mouth hanging open.

I swallowed and I couldn't help but let out a laugh at the sight of him.

"It's too sour huh?" Tristan asked with a grimace on his face.

"I'm just kidding," I gasped after my laughter. "It was actually really good."

I made a show of taking a long, refreshing sip of his specialty. He glared at me from across the table and I couldn't help but grin wider. I ignored his glare as I took a piece of the calamari from the plate in front of me, dipping it in sauce and popping it in my mouth.

"Squid," he muttered.

I looked up at him, meeting my brown eyes with his blue-grey ones.

"Just try one," I offered, picking a calamari piece up and offering him one.

He naturally crinkled his nose at it.

"It's good!" I insisted, offering the piece closer to him.

He just stared at me. Due to past experiences we had together, we both knew that he was never going to eat it. No matter what.

"Fine," I sighed. "Your loss."

I popped it into my mouth a chewed. And just then my eyes noticed that there was a plate of pasta on our table. I would be lying if I said that it didn't smell delicious.

"I see you eyeing the pasta," Tristan stated, causing me to look away from the food and up at him.

"You could have some you know," he offered as he pushed the plate towards me. "That's why I brought it over. I thought you'd like it."

I couldn't help but smile up at him, feeling warmth seep into my chest. How thoughtful…

"Really?" I asked dubiously, trying to calm my heart beat. I couldn't help but just stare across at him.

"Yeah," Tristan confirmed with a smirk, obviously questioning my sudden "swoon" facial expression that appeared.

"What are you going to eat?" I asked, noticing that there was only my calamari plate, the pasta dish, and the two strawberry lemonades on our table.

"I was going to share the pasta with you."

I stared at him.

"Don't worry," Tristan laughed. "I have an extra plate right here so don't start freaking out that we'll be sharing the same food and germs."

I glared across at him, obviously getting the hint that he was mocking me. He was too busy ignoring me since he was splitting the pasta, putting some on an empty plate for himself.

He pushed my plate of pasta towards me but didn't wait for me to start eating as he started to eat his own pasta.

"I'm actually trying to get rid of that habit of mine," I stated casually, twirling some pasta onto my fork.

"Oh really?" Tristan asked unconvinced.

I stuck the forkful of pasta into my mouth and I couldn't help but really like this pasta.

"Yeah actually I am," I confirmed after swallowing. I looked up at him to see him staring at me amusingly.

"And why is that?"

"Well, because it is sort of stupid for me to have that habit."

"Well not really," he disagreed. "Prevents you from getting sick and germs and diseases."

"My original reason for having the habit," I explained. "But then for some reason I don't have a problem with…"

I abruptly stopped, shutting my mouth as I realized where the sentence was heading. Stupid me for bringing up the topic. I finished the rest of the sentence silently in my head: But then for some reason I don't have a problem with…kissing boys. And that certainly transferred germs didn't it? I mean, kissing meant lip to lip contact!

I cleared my throat as I ate some more pasta. I tried to ignore the silence between Tristan and me. I peeked up to see him staring at me, obviously puzzled.

"What?" Tristan finally asked confused, laughing. Obviously, he was entertained by the silence and my awkwardness.

"Never mind," I muttered, shaking my head. I looked away from his eyes and concentrated on eating some calamari.

Please don't bring it up. Just forget about it Tristan…

"No," Tristan spoke up, truly intrigued now. "What were you going to say?"

I looked up to see clear amusement playing in his blue-grey eyes and lips. I coughed.

"Nothing," I insisted, my eyes not breaking eye contact.

We stared at each other in silence, waiting for the other person to break. He was waiting for me to spill while I was waiting for him to drop it.

"Are you guys having a staring contest?" Dolly called as she passed by our booth.

Tristan and I immediately disconnected our eyes to see that Dolly was looking at us amusingly.

"I never knew that nowadays teenagers stare at each other on dates. Back in my day, we actually flirted," Dolly informed.

My cheeks instantly blushed and I let out a light laugh. Dolly caught my eye and winked at me. Crazy lady.

"Dolly!" Tristan playfully exclaimed. "And I was winning that staring contest too!"

"Opps. Sorry," Dolly apologized with a laugh. With that, she left Tristan and me alone as she walked towards the restaurant kitchen.

"She's got quite a personality," I stated.

Tristan chuckled and looked at me as he said, "You'll get used to it."

I couldn't help but smile at him. He was quite the guy…

"So…" he trailed off, staring at me.

"Yeah?" I asked hesitantly, giving him a look.

"I guess we're on a date?"

A date. I swallowed and took a breath. A date.

"According to Dolly," I answered.

Tristan smirked at me, a twinkle in his blue-grey eyes. It felt like he could read every one of my thoughts.

"Do you think we're on a date?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you want us to be on a date?" he answered back with a question.

I slightly narrowed my eyes at him. He knew that I was slightly nervous. Nervous about what? I had no idea.

I let out a sigh, glancing out the window and back at him. He was looking at me patiently. He took a sip of his own drink. I twirled the straw in my drink, hearing the clinking of the ice cubes.

"We're friends Tristan," I said finally. "And how can I not forget that we were best friends back then?"

"So are you saying that you also can't forget the fact that we were possibly going to be more than friends?"

"Were we though?" I asked, finally tearing my eyes away from his.

I looked out the window, watching a guy on a bicycle ride down the sidewalk. The sun was still up in the sky, burning down.

"Were we really going to be more than friends if I hadn't moved away?" I asked a bit softly, suddenly feeling nostalgic.

"I thought we were."

"But that was then Tristan," I insisted, finally turning my eyes to meet his. I let out a soft sigh before continuing in a gentle voice. "That was then, in the past. We're not there anymore."

Couldn't he understand that things were different now? I moved away and we grew, matured. Things were different and even though I had come back to California for the summer, things still weren't the same as where I left them.

I met my brown eyes with his and hoped that my sadness wasn't evident through my facial expression.

I didn't bother taking notice in his blue-grey eyes looking intensely in mine. I didn't bother taking in the straight line his lips were formed into. I didn't bother taking notice of the disagreement evident in his eyes.

"You're right," he confirmed after a long moment of silence and staring between us.

I tried desperately to push whatever emotions and thoughts that were threatening me from backing down from my argument. I couldn't fall for those blue-grey eyes of his. I couldn't fall for his amazing personality and his adorably good looks. I couldn't fall for the best friend I was going to fall for back then.

"But we're here now. I see you right in front me," he waved his hand across the table, motioning towards me. "You're still Sienna and I'm still Tristan. We're still friends and we'll always have that history and memories we shared together. We're still the same."

I let out a breath and was secretly happy that it wasn't a shaky one. I looked into Tristan's eyes and I couldn't help but be pulled back into memory lane…those many times I had his eyes on me and those times I stared into those caring and amazing eyes of his.

"Are you saying your feelings are still the same for me? After all these years?"

"Look," he stated, "all I'm saying is that we're both here now. We could see what happens now, since you say you're not taken. You just have to be open-minded about things and don't be so quick to shoot possibilities down."

If someone randomly passed by our booth at that moment and heard what Tristan was telling me, they would have no idea what was going on in that boy's mind.

But I, unfortunately, knew exactly what he meant. I should probably blame the fact that I just knew him too well…even after not talking to him for about two or three years now. Couldn't deny the stupid chemistry or amazingly close relationship/friendship I shared with Tristan.

"Fine," I agreed curtly, giving him a look before sipping some of my strawberry lemonade.

Obviously Tristan was telling me to give our relationship a chance and to not shoot him down or reject him or turn him down. Whatever way you wanted to call it. He just wanted to give what we had going back then a chance. He just wanted to see where things were going to go with us and let it happen naturally—without my stubbornness to stop it if things were going to go well with Tristan and me together. To test the waters as you could say…

"So, we'll just see what happens," he stated, ending that conversation.

I ignored the satisfied hint of a smile on his lips as he finally turned his attention away from me and back towards his pasta.

I could have been smirking right back at him at that moment. Even though we were best friends back then and the fact that sometimes he was the only one to know what I was thinking at certain times…he didn't know what my plan was just then.

He was going to find out sooner or later that I didn't agree with his logic; his logic that we could simply resume our relationship before I moved away.

Tristan wasn't dumb, I'll give you that. He'll figure out soon enough that I made my decision—I wasn't going to let our friendship turn into a relationship. I wasn't going to go any further with him than just friends.

Why? Well, I'll keep that reason to myself and make sure that Tristan would never find out…once he realized I wanted to be just friends and nothing else with him.

Author's Note:

WELL? What did you guys think?

I've got to be honest that I'm pleased on how this chapter turned out. It practically wrote itself but I'm really hoping that you guys aren't confused about anything. If you are, just ask the question and I'll answer and clarify it for you. :)

But please, I do really believe that this chapter deserves reviews.

Hopefully reviews that let me know how they think about the story and the direction its turning, what their opinion is on Tristan, their opinion concerning Sienna, which boy you are rooting for, and what you would like to happen. I'm not asking too much am I?

REVIEW AND TELL ME YOUR OPINIONS! THEY CERTAINLY HELP TO HAVE YOUR THOUGHTS/OPINIONS IN MIND WHEN I'M WRITING.