says,
“you doing anything?”
Jael stares at him for a moment. “What, like right now?”
“Sure, right now.”
“Uh, no,” she says. “Not real y.”
“Oh yeah? Wel , you wanna . . . uh, hang out?”
“Hang out?” repeats Jael. “Like, you and me?”
“Yeah, you know,” says Rob. “A buddy of mine just started working the dinner shift at Denny’s. He can score us some free grub, as long as we don’t care what it is. Just, whatever’s easy for him to make extra of without people noticing.”
“Free dinner at Denny’s?” Why is she unable to say something even remotely intel igent right now?
“Wel , it’s not fancy or anything, but I thought, you know
. . .”
He tries to smile again but this time there’s a hint of nervousness to it. “I mean, if you don’t like Denny’s, we could do something else.”
“No,” says Jael. “Denny’s sounds just about perfect.”
She smiles, and that wipes the nervousness away from his smile.
“Excel ent,” he says.
The Denny’s is just like any other: thin green carpet, brown Formica tables, and bright fluorescent lighting that stil makes the place seem dim somehow. Jael and Rob sit in a corner booth and sip burnt coffee.
Even though they’ve talked a thousand times at school, it feels completely different to be off school grounds, sitting across from him in the cramped booth. A tingle of nervousness runs through her, and she’s glad she has the comforting weight of the necklace against her skin.
A guy with a buzz cut and dressed in a Denny’s apron comes over. Jael’s seen him climbing out of one of the many expensive SUVs in the school parking lot.
“Yo, Robbie!” says the guy as he leans across the table and clasps Rob’s hand.
“Chas!” says Rob. “I’m feelin’ that apron, bro!”
“I know, right?” says Chas. “It’s total y hot.”
“I’m gonna have to borrow it sometime,” says Rob.
“No way, man. This shit is Denny’s employees only.
We have to take a blood oath. Like the Masons.”
“Sounds serious,” says Rob.
“Total y. So, you final y decided to take me up on my offer, huh?”
“Final y? It’s only been two weeks.”
“For free grub? I would have jumped on that in, like, two days.”
“Yeah, wel . . . ,” says Rob. “Hey, do you know Jael?”
“I have not had the pleasure,” says Chas. He turns to her and grins in a weird way, like he knows something. “I’m Chas.”
“Thanks for the food hookup,” says Jael.
“Al right, folks,” says Chas. “You just chil and act like whatever I bring you is something you ordered. Let the feasting begin!”
Once Chas leaves, Rob turns to Jael.
“So, was that you splitting early from church?”
“Uh, yeah,” says Jael. “You saw that?”
“Everything okay?”
“Sure, I just . . . wasn’t feeling wel . Didn’t want to throw up in chapel, you know?” The lie tastes bitter in her mouth. Rob is just such an honest, open guy, it seems wrong somehow. But what else can she say?
Sorry, the demonic necklace I inherited from my mom was about to burn the chapel down? Even though Rob said a lot of open-minded things about magic this morning, the truth would be pushing it. But maybe someday she’l be able to talk about this stuff with him.
That thought sends a thril through her. To talk to someone.
To tel her secret. To have just one friend she can be one hundred percent real with. Before this moment, she hadn’t even considered that possibility.
“Hey,” Rob says, “at least you missed the Mons going on forever with the Petitions.”
“Oh, yeah,” says Jael, relieved to be back on familiar topics like complaining about teachers. “Sometimes I wonder if he actual y knows anyone who isn’t sick or dying.”
“He’s led a pretty crazy life, I guess. Some of his stories about being a missionary in Peru? That is just some messed-up shit.”
“He hasn’t real y said a lot about it to us,” says Jael.
“Just kind of hints at
“you doing anything?”
Jael stares at him for a moment. “What, like right now?”
“Sure, right now.”
“Uh, no,” she says. “Not real y.”
“Oh yeah? Wel , you wanna . . . uh, hang out?”
“Hang out?” repeats Jael. “Like, you and me?”
“Yeah, you know,” says Rob. “A buddy of mine just started working the dinner shift at Denny’s. He can score us some free grub, as long as we don’t care what it is. Just, whatever’s easy for him to make extra of without people noticing.”
“Free dinner at Denny’s?” Why is she unable to say something even remotely intel igent right now?
“Wel , it’s not fancy or anything, but I thought, you know
. . .”
He tries to smile again but this time there’s a hint of nervousness to it. “I mean, if you don’t like Denny’s, we could do something else.”
“No,” says Jael. “Denny’s sounds just about perfect.”
She smiles, and that wipes the nervousness away from his smile.
“Excel ent,” he says.
The Denny’s is just like any other: thin green carpet, brown Formica tables, and bright fluorescent lighting that stil makes the place seem dim somehow. Jael and Rob sit in a corner booth and sip burnt coffee.
Even though they’ve talked a thousand times at school, it feels completely different to be off school grounds, sitting across from him in the cramped booth. A tingle of nervousness runs through her, and she’s glad she has the comforting weight of the necklace against her skin.
A guy with a buzz cut and dressed in a Denny’s apron comes over. Jael’s seen him climbing out of one of the many expensive SUVs in the school parking lot.
“Yo, Robbie!” says the guy as he leans across the table and clasps Rob’s hand.
“Chas!” says Rob. “I’m feelin’ that apron, bro!”
“I know, right?” says Chas. “It’s total y hot.”
“I’m gonna have to borrow it sometime,” says Rob.
“No way, man. This shit is Denny’s employees only.
We have to take a blood oath. Like the Masons.”
“Sounds serious,” says Rob.
“Total y. So, you final y decided to take me up on my offer, huh?”
“Final y? It’s only been two weeks.”
“For free grub? I would have jumped on that in, like, two days.”
“Yeah, wel . . . ,” says Rob. “Hey, do you know Jael?”
“I have not had the pleasure,” says Chas. He turns to her and grins in a weird way, like he knows something. “I’m Chas.”
“Thanks for the food hookup,” says Jael.
“Al right, folks,” says Chas. “You just chil and act like whatever I bring you is something you ordered. Let the feasting begin!”
Once Chas leaves, Rob turns to Jael.
“So, was that you splitting early from church?”
“Uh, yeah,” says Jael. “You saw that?”
“Everything okay?”
“Sure, I just . . . wasn’t feeling wel . Didn’t want to throw up in chapel, you know?” The lie tastes bitter in her mouth. Rob is just such an honest, open guy, it seems wrong somehow. But what else can she say?
Sorry, the demonic necklace I inherited from my mom was about to burn the chapel down? Even though Rob said a lot of open-minded things about magic this morning, the truth would be pushing it. But maybe someday she’l be able to talk about this stuff with him.
That thought sends a thril through her. To talk to someone.
To tel her secret. To have just one friend she can be one hundred percent real with. Before this moment, she hadn’t even considered that possibility.
“Hey,” Rob says, “at least you missed the Mons going on forever with the Petitions.”
“Oh, yeah,” says Jael, relieved to be back on familiar topics like complaining about teachers. “Sometimes I wonder if he actual y knows anyone who isn’t sick or dying.”
“He’s led a pretty crazy life, I guess. Some of his stories about being a missionary in Peru? That is just some messed-up shit.”
“He hasn’t real y said a lot about it to us,” says Jael.
“Just kind of hints at
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