The challenger

       I almost forgot that I had planned to go out today after school. My friend Alan caught me near the main school entrance, giving me a hard time about why I tried to ditch him when we had plans. 

       I tried to tell him that I had genuinely forgotten about it, but I don't think he is satisfied with my explanation. Thankfully, he did not make a fuss about it so we just laugh it off and moved on.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked. 

"Did you know there is a new burger bar in the town?" 

       I said no because I don't really care about things like that. He was clearly happy when he heard that. It was quite a convenient decision from his side because I haven't eaten today. 

       Before I could notice, he explained to me that the others couldn't make it for reasons unknown. It doesn't really bother me because I always have a good talk with him. Well, often he talks and I listen to him and that's what I like.

       I am not really a person who likes to open up about what you can call sensitive subjects. He told me that it's not very far away from school, which makes it such a good place to go after school but I was a little worried about something else. 

       He was more quiet than usual. Besides that, he did not say a single thing, which is alarming when it comes to him. But he doesn't seem nervous or anything like that. I wonder what's on his mind, Maybe the new classmate? Or is he scared of me not liking the new restaurant where we are heading? Only one way to find out.

       After walking for a bit, we finally arrived at the place. It really looked new. There were no signs of usage and it was giving a nice, friendly vibe. We stepped in, and I immediately realized that is more of a fast food than an actual restaurant. I don't know why was I expecting that. 

       Maybe I assumed it from how he described it. Well, I am not angry by any means. Now the real challenge has appeared. We approached the kiosk and started browsing the available items. There were tons of burgers and other food I have never seen before. 

       It was tough to decide, but I wasn't in the mood to try something weird so I went with a classic cheeseburger. Meanwhile, Alan ordered a red burger. The bun was vivid red and the meat seemed also from the picture. It looked so chemical, I don't understand why someone would buy it.  Let's hope that the color won't affect the taste. Why should I care though, I haven't ordered anything weird.

       After waiting for a bit, My friend finally brought our food. We decided to eat outside because the weather was nice and there were fewer people. We were both interested in how the red burger will actually look like. 

       Surprisingly, it looked exactly the same as in the picture. That's a sign of quality when the colors are the same because most of the time, companies make their products look better in the picture, but in reality, the colors aren't as pretty as showcased. He took a decent bite of the burger.

 "I don't think the color adds anything special to it," he said with his mouth still full. 

You could hear the disappointment in his voice. "Isn't that a good thing that it doesn't taste weird? Besides, they surely used food coloring, and that doesn't add any taste." 

       He agreed to what I was saying, but he obviously hoped for something more special. 

"So like umm... What do you think about the new girl in our class?" 

       he asked me with the same expression and tone like when your grandparents ask you if you have a girlfriend. 

"I don't know. It's been like only one day since she joined so I don't have a definite opinion. But she seems fine. But what about you? Was that embarrassment I noticed when you asked me? Don't worry if it was love at first sight, I won't try to like her" 

       I teased him a bit because the way he was acting the entire day was suspicious. But it would be funny if he did all of this just to be sure I won't go in his way. 

"What are you talking about? I was just asking what you think about our new classmate." 

       I did not continue this conversation because I don't care that much and I don't want to ruin our friendship thanks to something stupid like this. I said that I was just joking and that seemed to calm him down and after that, we were like nothing happened. 

       But if I am right, I would watch his battle with great interest.