Chapter 9

The blond teenager was sitting at a table by himself in the diner, busy studying the menu as he debated what to have. He was rather hungry, so it really shouldn't have taken that long to determine what to eat. It didn't really matter, as long as there was something in his stomach. The waitress walked up to him just as he made his decision.

"Hello. What can I get you today?" she asked politely as she held her pen in hand ready to take the customer's order.

"A hero steak-roll, fries and a cold cola, please," he said slowly as he read off the menu. Looking up he prepared to hand the waitress the menu, but his arm froze in mid air. He stared at her openly.

When she finished jotting down his order, she moved her gaze from the little writing pad to his face. "Coming right up," she said with a warm smile, but it wavered slightly as she recognized the young man before her. "Sandy?" she asked, slightly unsure of herself.

Now he smiled. "Yeah. Wow, you're still the prettiest girl I ever did see, Kuki." There was a moment of silence during which they both just looked at each other. "Um…" he continued, "…h-how are you doing? It's been a long time."

"Yeah, it's been a while. You…uh…you look…good," she said honestly. He really had become quite something in his teenage years. "Anyway, I'll just go place your order." She began to walk away toward the kitchen when he stopped her.

"Wait!" he said, "Can I get you something to eat?" Then he added before she could say anything, "You look pretty famished, no offence."

"No," she said rather reluctantly. "My shift ends any minute now, so I'll just be leaving."

Sandy wasn't ready to quit. He pressed, "Come on. Just a little bite, ok?" He looked up at her, his eyes pleading. "Look, why don't you place both our orders, then when your shift ends we can enjoy our lunch together."

Kuki only considered Sandy's hospitality because she really was hungry, and she was a bit on the broke side, so the free meal would be a very welcome deal. "Alright, I'll be with you in fifteen minutes, if that's ok."

"Sure. For you, I'd wait a lifetime."

She turned away from him and rolled her eyes so severely she might as well have had rollers behind her eyeballs.

xxx

Nigel and Pauline were hanging out at the school cafeteria. He was taking his time eating the ice-cream that she had bought him earlier. It was in celebration of his 'coming out'. According to Pauline, Nigel had 'come out' of his dark and broody phase. He did acknowledge that he was definitely feeling a lot happier ever since he had shared his baby-mama issues with Abby.

"You were right," he had said, "about sharing my load with someone. It feels good-ish now I've talked about it with someone; lesser burden."

"It's why I'm here," Pauline replied proudly. "To make the world a better place," she said as she spread her arms out wide before her.

He rubbed his stubble as he said, "Well, in that case, I'm glad you're here." He gave her a genuine smile and scooped up ice-cream in his little spoon to feed her. She had propped her elbows on the table, and was supporting her head in her hands as she accepted the ice-cream. "Mmm, nice," she cooed. "Thanks."

As soon as her gratitude left her lips, they heard a loud, high-pitched drawl. "Nigie!" They turned in the direction of the voice just as its owner reached their table. Pauline watched in awe as a slightly chubby bespectacled redhead dropped herself in Nigel's lap, and, interlocking her arms behind his neck, went in for a hot deep kiss. Pauline was no fool. She immediately realized that that kiss was a sign of ownership. She could not help but smile to herself. Really, she was dying to laugh, but out of respect for Nigel she struggled to hold it in. A few times she had to bring her hand up to her mouth so as to stifle laughter that threatened to escape.

When Lizzie finally came up for air, she asked her boyfriend, "Who's this?" she was now looking at Pauline as she awaited the answer, a little smile playing on her lips. Nigel introduced them. The African gave a courteous nod, as Lizzie said it was nice to meet her. She then added, "I hope I wasn't interrupting you two. It's just I've missed my Nigie so much, I just had to come by and say hi."

"It's not a problem. I was just leaving actually." Pauline stood up before addressing Nigel with a smile on her face, "I'll see you later. I've gotta see my employer about…my employment." Then turning to Lizzie she said, "See ya. Pleasure meeting you."

After she was gone, Lizzie spoke. "You know what? I think that girl likes you. And she better think twice before trying to get between us, coz I don't play nice."

"Babe, you're seeing what's not actually there," Nigel reassured her as he gently tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, as she often did.

"Am I, really?" she asked. "Seems to me these people you brought back with you from Africa are just here to make our lives miserable. Abby has already poached Hoagie from right under your cousin's nose. Who's to say this one," Lizzie lazily pointed in the last known direction of Pauline as she said this, "isn't tempted to do the same with you, huh? Tell me that!"

Nigel sighed very audibly to express his exasperation, "Come with me," he said as he pushed her gently to her feet, and led her outside by the hand. "You, my girl, need some fresh air to get you thinking straight. Then using his free hand, he released her hair from the ribbon that held a ponytail and added jokingly, "That's better. I think you'd held it too tight. It must have been cutting off the circulation to your brain." He chuckled at that.

"You're mighty happy. Is it because of her?" she asked as she screwed her face in disgust, arms akimbo.

"Oh, brother."

xxx

Kuki and Abby were in their room watching some daytime movie on TV. It was Kuki's TV which she'd brought from home a couple of days ago. Abby could not have been happier. The TV was the most important piece of electronics ever made, as far as she was concerned. She then called Pauline on her phone to invite her over, but the latter could not make it since she was at work. Kuki on the other hand ought to have been on her way to class, but she kept on adding 'just one more minute' as she watched the movie.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it," Abby said as she bounced off her bed. "And you better get to class Kuks," she added seriously. Upon opening the door, she couldn't help but smile when she saw who their visitor was. "Hi," she said happily.

"Hey," Hoagie responded with a sexy lopsided smile. "So, I'm a single man. I believe you're a single gal," he said as he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"Mhmm, I am single. You did your homework," she said with an attempt at looking serious. Sticking her hand out to him, she added, "You must be Hoagie." He accepted her hand, giving it a gentle handshake. She continued, "And I'm…"

"…beautiful," he completed, looking her in the eye. He drew her closer to him, holding her by the waist and added as he lightly licked his lips, "And I think it's about time," he run his finger along her hairline, then brushed his thumb across her lips, "Ken and Barbie here, met." He cupped her cheek and brought his lips to hers, as they locked in a deep, passionate kiss. It evoked so many emotions: desire and longing to mention but a few. Abby stroked the little hairs at the nape of his neck as she was lost in his kiss, while his hold on her waist became even more possessive. Hoagie could feel the frantic pace of her beating heart. It felt so right to have her in his arms; to kiss her. But alas, he had to withdraw himself from her addictive lips, for he needed to breathe if he was to have hope of kissing her again in future.

As they came up for air, Abby realized just how weak in the knees she felt. "Dear Lord Almighty," she said breathlessly, as her eyes fluttered open.

"Yes sister, testi-fy!" Hoagie said, waving his arms animatedly as he tried to imitate a preacher man. They both burst into fits of laughter at that.

Kuki, who had been sitting on her bed watching the couple, was grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat. "Well," she spoke up, "if nothing else, at least you've got your weird sense of humour in common." That's when Hoagie realized there was someone else in the room. He and Abby were still laughing as he said, "Oh man, I didn't know you were here." Then addressing Abby, he chuckled as he said, "She heard my crappy pick up lines."

"Don't you worry about it," Kuki said as she got off her bed and picked up her books. "They might be crappy, but you got the girl, didn't you?" she said with a smile still plastered on her face. Walking out the door, she told Abby, "This is all that needed to happen for me to go to class on time. Now, was that too much to ask?"

After another half minute or so, their laughter slowly subsided. "So," Hoagie said, giving Abby a very flirtatious look, "can I come in?"

"Please!" she demanded as she pulled him into the room by the collar, kissing him again as he kicked the door shut.