Chapter 5 : Calm before the storm

He looked down at the read message. It was read for a good 10 minutes.

Sigh..

He shut it off, put it back into his pocket, and continued on his way to the meetup spot.

He was used to this already. His mother never truly loved him. He was used to this ever since he turned 5, when she started being cold to him. He would often try to do things to try and get her to notice him, but most things never worked. It was only when he started doing good in school she started paying minimal attention towards him. He thought it was an improvement. She thought it was her investment paying off.

Ever since he got the letter of acceptance from the University, his mother went from showing nothing to showing the absolute minimum. If she was in a good mood, maybe a bit more. Maybe she’d ask what he had for lunch, or if he needed some pocket money. But he had never heard an “I love you” from her. No matter how many times he said it, it was never reciprocated.

But that was alright, because he was already used to it.

As he continued walking, the place could be seen. A decently sized family diner. Brick walls that looked like that could crumble down at any minute. A red colored roof, tiles falling off, and windows that looked like a baby was smothering its saliva all over it. Next to it was a train station that was fairly large, most of it's customers coming from the bustling station. 

Sure, it was old, it was dirty, but it was their spot. The food was well priced, and was really good. It was affordable for high school students. And since they’ve been here for nearly 3 years, the owners also know them and often give freebies or discounts, sometimes even paying for the whole meal.

As Edward walked closer, he saw Jonathan and Marcus, joined by 2 girls. One had long, straight hair. A white hairband on top of her head. She wore a black dress with red highlights on it, followed by the school crest on the left pocket. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. That was Sandra.

Next to her was another girl, a bit shorter, her hair was long and wavy. It was a nice shade of brown, and she wore the same thing that Sandra was wearing. As Edward walked into the restaurant, Jonathan noticed.

“Hey! Edward, over here!”

He waved his arms around, trying to get Edward’s attention, although he was really getting everyone’s attention.

Edward walked over to their table, the table full of food. Pizza, pasta, burgers, smoothies, you name it. The boys scooched over a bit to make space for Edward, and he squeezed in just fine.

Clack

Clack

Clack

Footsteps could be heard, in a rhythmic pattern. Edward turned around to see the owner, a middle aged woman. She was 40 years old, but she looked no older than 30. She was tall, beautiful, and not to mention her body was the type that made men chase after her. It’s one of the main reasons why the diner is doing so well. It’s free advertising.

“I could go for that”, Jonathan muttered.

The girls both look at him, with disgust.

“That’s disgusting, she’s like 40!”, Sandra replied

“She could be your mother, you know?”, Jane continued

“Yeah, but that’s what makes it hot, y’know?”, Jonathan defended,

“She’s not crazy old to the point where it’s crazy, but she's old enough where she has experience and can spoil me and stuff…”

Both Edward and Marcus laughed at him, with Marcus dapping him up. They were all just joking, though Jonathan was half serious. The girls took it seriously, however, and they didn’t seem to like these jokes.

“Marcus! Why are you encouraging that?”, Sandra asked Marcus in a somewhat disappointed and annoyed tone.

“It’s just a joke, baby. We’re guys, we just like joking around” Marcus replied

“Yeah, he’s right, it’s really all just jokes. You don’t have to worry too much about it”, Edward added on.

Upon hearing Marcus’s reply, Sandra was about to get mad at him and scold him. But after hearing Edward defend him, she decided to back down. Edward was very neutral. Yes, they were his friends, but he was always fair. He didn’t really like to lie that much, unless he absolutely needed to. He could if he wanted to, but he never really enjoyed the feeling.

“Yeah, alright”, Jane whispered to herself, though nobody heard her.

They continued on, talking and eating. Edward had to break up a lot of tense situations, but slowly, the girls were understanding their kind of humour, and things got fun. Everyone was having a good time. It was nice and calm.