Vestigial: (ajd) forming a very small remnant of something that was once much larger or more noticeable.

Chris

I've been living in my flat for a few months now. Alex and I had hung out nearly every day since I first went to that tutoring session with her. We invite each other everywhere, so much that some of my friends have started to ask where she is if I show up without her.

Hey, I wrote in a message to Phil. As soon as he responded, I asked if both he and Dan would like to go to the cinema with me. I don't hang out with people like I do with Alex, so I figured I'd take a day off and just have a day with the guys. As I anticipated, they agreed and arrived shortly after.

"You alright?" I asked as I locked my door. Once I made sure that it was, the three of us were on our way to the cinema. After the film had concluded, we decided to get something to eat. Dan picked out a little diner on a tiny street a friend recommended to him.

"Hello," the waitress said as she set down menus in front of us. I was still staring at the drink menu when she walked up. "I'm Alex and I'll be your serv- Chris?" I looked up from the menu to see Alex hovering above me. Our eyes locked for just a moment too long. Before I could, Alex was already introducing herself to my friends.

"So," Dan began, "this is the infamous Alex."

"You been talkin' shit about me?" Alex said, dropping her peppy waitress act and waiting an eyebrow while kissing her teeth. She quickly dropped that act and returned to herself. "I'm just kidding, bud. Can I get y'all something to drink?" She took out her notepad as she spoke to write down our orders.

"So," Dan said as soon as Alex was out of earshot, "what's the deal between you two?" I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head. "Do you loooove her?" The stressed vowel was accompanied by Phil making a kissing face.

Do I think of her as more of a friend? Of course, I like her; what isn't to like about her? She's a great person to be around. It doesn't mean anything that I feel like my heart is going to burst through my chest when I talk to her because I get nervous around everyone. We're friends and I'm okay with that.

I relayed the final part to Dan and Phil, but they just gave each other a look that implied they don't believe me.

"Yeah, sure mate. You tell yourself that," Dan said. "When are you going to ask her out?"

"Um, never."

"C'mon. You can't seriously think we think you don't fancy her. You haven't taken your eyes off her!" Phil added in.

After we had finished eating and walking around for a bit, though not without mishap as Dan had lost his wallet and phone inside the diner, I was walking up the stairs to my flat and I saw a black blob run down the stairs. A few seconds later, Alex and Chloe shadowed. Chloe, however, was just walking slightly faster than average whereas Alex was full on running.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Charlie got out so we're chasing after her," Chloe said while she leaned against the wall to catch her breath. The pure black cat snuck out in the opposite way followed by Chloe slightly jogging down the hall. Alex was already half way down the stairs when a loud thump and a string of swears followed. I ran down the stairs to find Alex sitting at the bottom with Charlie in her arms.

"I tripped," she said with a laugh. Once she was up and started to walk, she lost her balance and leaned on me for support. While she braced herself on me, we slowly walked up the stairs and back to her flat.

"Are you alright?" I asked her as I set her down on her chair.

"Yeah," she said as I put a bag of frozen peas on her ankle. "I'm fine really. I've had worse."

Alex

It was my dad's birthday. That much is clear about him in his absence. My mom was always worse on this day, which, in turn, made me worse.

My dad lives in England. Brighton, to be specific. He went to a university in Manchester years before he even met my mom. While he was in Manchester, he met a woman and decided to stay. Because they got married, he was able to obtain British citizenship. I'm not sure of the technicalities, but even after the divorce, he remained a citizen. After his first wife divorced him, my dad returned home to Canada, met my mom, and had me. Since he was a British citizen, he passed that down to me. The only good thing my father has done is give me his British citizenship because I'd still be in Yellowknife if it wasn't for that.

But, before I was even born, he left. The only reason I know he lives in Brighton is that he sent me a birthday card when I turned 18. However, the card was for a sweet 16. He doesn't even know how old I am.

Shortly after I moved to London, I went down to Brighton to see if he still lived at the address he gave on the envelope. I caught a glimpse of him through the living room window and booked it. I only know what he looks like because I pretty much stalked his Facebook beforehand.

Pushing the thought of my estranged father out of my head, I started to get ready for work once again.

Waitressing should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. I take orders and bring food and drinks. It seems simple, right? If I'm a second late or the food, of which I have no control over, isn't prepared properly, I'm told I'm an incompetent idiot. It's not my fault you didn't want onions but failed to tell me that. It's not my fault it's dinner rush and you want a table immediately. Yeah, let me just pull that extra table out of my ass for you, master.

Tonight's shift started out as any other shift. Annoying costumers demanding things from me, my coworkers asking me to finish waiting on their table because they don't want to, and the chef hitting on me even though he's nearly thrice my age. However, the typical shift changed when someone unexpected showed up.

"Hello," I said as usual, without looking up as I placed down the napkins and small glass of water. I smiled at the two guys on one side of the booth, and then at the man sitting by his lonesome on the other. "I'm Alex and I'll be your serv-." I looked up for the first time and saw Chris studying the drinks menu. "Chris?"

The four of us made small chitchat before I realized that that isn't my job. Whenever I brought them their orders, I would stay at their table just a bit longer, which earned me disapproving looks from my supervisor.

"Hey," said the brown-haired boy Chris was with. "I'm Dan, Chris's friend. Uh, I lost my stuff. Did anyone turn it in?"

"I dunno," I said with a shrug. He followed me while I took plates to my next table. "I'll help you in a second."

After finishing up taking orders, he followed me back to the booth they sat at. We searched high and low for his "stuff" (he hadn't told me what he lost), but to no avail.

"He likes you, you know?" he said as he shoved his hand in between the seats.

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious," I told him back while I did the other side of the booth. Finally, my hand touched something metal. I latched onto it and pulled out a phone. "Is this yours?"

"Yes!" he enthused. "He told us he doesn't, but I can tell. Also, I lost my wallet too."

"Come with me," I told him. He shadowed behind me while I went up to the hostess, Marissa.

"Do you fancy him too?" Dan asked. I gave him a sideways look while we weaved our way in between the tables. In all honesty, I hadn't really thought about it. I love spending my days with him. I actually look forward to coming home now because I know he'll be waiting there for me. And he smells nice, which is good. A lot of boys don't smell nice but he does.

"Listen, bud, I kind of have other things to worry about." I turned my attention to Marissa. "Did someone turn in a wallet?"

"Um…hold on," she said as she searched around her podium. Seriously? How could you forget if someone turned it in? After a few seconds, she pulled out a cracked black leather wallet. "Is this it?"

"Oh my god, yes! Thanks, Alex. Well, do you?" he asked after we left Marissa. I rolled my eyes. "C'mon, you can't just not know if you fancy him or not."

"I can and I will continue to not know. I have to get back to work. I'll see you later," I told him. He gave me a pat on the back before giving me a fist bump and leaving.

Finally, my shift ended and I was back at my apartment to snuggle with my kitties. Chris wasn't back from his playdate yet. My alone time was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hey," Chloe said as I opened the door. "Bad news, I can't make it this weekend."

A few months ago, Chloe and her rich friends planned a weekend getaway, because, apparently, they don't vacation enough. Basically, the plan is to go to a party on Friday night with all their other rich friends and their rich boyfriends and then just chill for the rest of the weekend.

"My cousin is getting married so I have to go to Venice for the weekend," she said with a pout. Who the hell gets upset because they have to go to Venice? Rich people, am I right?

As she was leaving, Charlie dashed out the door and ran down the stairs. I instantly followed behind, passing Chris as I ran. Unfortunately, I tripped on the last step, forcing my ankle to bend how it shouldn't, and toppled to the floor.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Chris asked as I struggled to balance myself on my bad ankle.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need to rest it for a bit," I said. He sat me down in my usual spot while Chris stood there. To ease the awkwardness, I invited him to stay. "Ok, so. I know it's kind of last minute, but this weekend Chloe and I were supposed to go away this weekend but now she can't. Would you want to come with me? Her sisters were gonna go to too, so you can invite a friend, if you'd like. Dan and the other dude seemed cool. Invite them."

Chris sat there for a second while he pondered my invitation. He pulled out his phone to, presumably, check his schedule. After a few seconds, he put down his phone.

"Yeah, sounds fun," he said. "I'll ask them"