Hal’s Diner’s parking lot wasn’t as busy as I had expected. I had only been here once or twice over the years. My parents liked to stay in West End, but when it was needed, Andrea’s family would have parties or get togethers here.
Hal’s had a strange aesthetic. The room was split into multiple decades and the wait staff had to dress up for their decade as their uniform. I preferred our bakery or Rosie’s, but at least it had decent food. If I would be subjected to a night with Andrea, then at least I could shove food in my mouth every time she tried to ask me a question I didn’t want to answer.
Actually, that might be the best plan I had. There was five minutes until five, having no other options, I pushed out of my car and closed the door, locked it, and headed toward the hostess stand.
A girl with a blue wig greeted me. “Hello, how many?”
“Actually, I’m supposed to meet someone. I’m not sure if I’m here first or not.”
“Sure, no problem. Name?”
“Mine is Marley Wix. Hers is Andrea Wix.”
“Marley, yes. Right this way.”
I nodded and followed her toward a table. Her uniform was like a bad costume for an eighties metal concert. I shivered at the thought of having to dress up like that. There was no way I could dress up in such a ridiculous outfit for my job. I would have been so uncomfortable.
I was led into the part of the diner for the seventies. How groovy.
A few of the tables were taken, but I couldn’t see Andrea anywhere. And she wasn’t hard to miss. Her voice alone was enough to alert her presence.
We stopped at a booth, with multi-colored flowers all over the upholstery. Someone sat facing the opposite direction, but it clearly wasn’t Andrea. It was …
“Wyatt?” I looked from him to the hostess and back again.
“I’ll make sure Andrea comes over once she arrives.” Then she left me standing there, gaping at Wyatt.
Was it even real?
He wore his typical beanie and a salmon-colored shirt. On the table sat the adventure book. He had brought it and showed up even though we hadn’t talked in a few days.
I hated how much I wanted to touch him. To hold his hand or kiss his lips. He had shown up even though he had no obligation to do so.
“I’m surprised to see you.”
“I figured you would need the book.”
“But—”
An all too familiar squeal interrupted me.
“Marley! Congratulations on graduation.”
I stood to greet Andrea. She crushed me into a fake hug then a pretend kiss to each cheek. “Thanks.”
She gasped. “Who is this handsome man?” She leaned toward my ear. “Seriously, who is he? He’s delicious.”
I grimaced. Who talked about someone like that? Delicious? I mean he wasn’t food.
“I’m her boyfriend,” Wyatt said as he stood.
My stomach dropped clear to my feet. His … His what?
Did he still plan to fake it? After everything, he was going to stick with the plan? What did that mean for after?
“Boyfriend?” Andrea squealed. “You know, Marley, I didn’t think you were serious about that. But look at this.” She gestured toward the table. “Shall we sit?”
I rolled my eyes but sat on the booth seat Wyatt had been sitting on. He sat next to me.
Andrea sat across from us, wearing a light pink crop top and what had to be uncomfortable jean shorts. Why she had dressed for a party when she was coming to see me, I had no idea.
“So, you’ve seen that he’s real, can we move on from this now?”
Andrea laughed, although it was more of a cackle, like some evil witch from the Wizard of Oz. “Of course not, silly.”
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Andrea.” Wyatt moved his arm around my shoulders, resting it over my skin like we did that all the time. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
Andrea smiled at him … and was she batting her eyelashes? Really?
“I’m afraid I don’t really know anything about you …?”
“Wyatt. My name is Wyatt.”
“I see, Wyatt. So how did you two meet?”
“At school,” he said easily. “We ran into each other in the parking lot. We …” he chuckled. “We had a little misunderstanding, which turned into a date.”
How could he still joke when this felt so awful? I wanted Andrea to get up and go away so I could talk to him. Anything instead of this.
A waitress came to the table wearing bellbottom jeans, a huge afro, and dangling earrings. Another who looked the part. “What can I start you all off with?”
“I’ll have a Pepsi,” Wyatt said.
Andrea ordered a sweet tea.
“Pepsi, please,” I said.
She nodded and walked toward the drink station.
My stomach growled and dropped all at once. How could I still be so hungry with all that was happening right now?
Andrea was watching Wyatt like he was a piece of meat and sizing him up for how best to cut him up and eat him for dinner. It was disturbing.
He sat there like nothing was wrong. His fingers trailed up and down my arm as his arm rested there.
It felt so normal and yet so wrong at the same time. I couldn’t keep this up for long.
Andrea squinted her eyes at me. “So how come you didn’t come to her birthday party? Seems a little rude not to show up.”
“I was busy. I had band practice.”
“You’re in a band?”
“Lead singer and I play the guitar. We actually have a meeting with a producer tomorrow.”
She gasped. “This can’t be real.” She stared me down. “You’re dating someone in a band?”
I nodded because words would betray me.
Wyatt pushed the book toward her. “We filled out the book and did your silly dates, but you know, I don’t enjoy being called a liar.”
Andrea’s eyes widened. “I’m not …”
“This is real between us, which isn’t the point. Andrea, it’s not really up to you on how and who Marley dates. I would hope her cousin would know that.”
“Why … of-of course.”
He smiled, one of the infectious ones he reserved for the stage. “Good, because it seemed like you might have hoped to embarrass my girlfriend and I don’t really like that.”
She audibly gulped.
Was she nervous? I had never seen her anything but confident in my entire life. Was it possible she was like this with others and just used this as a mask with me? Goody-two shoes Marley wouldn’t stand up to her, so she could push me around all she wanted.
“I wouldn’t.”
I coughed as the waitress set down our drinks. “Can we move on?” I pleaded with them both. This was awkward on so many levels.
“Of course.” Andrea flipped through the adventure book, glancing at the pictures, though she never lingered on any page long enough in my opinion. Then she set it aside and pushed it toward us.
“So, what’s the name of your band?” Andrea asked.
“Broken Axles.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s you?”
Of course Andrea knew his band, why wouldn’t that happen?
Our conversation devolved into her talking nonstop about his band and what he liked to do. It was as if she was writing a documentary and wanted all the specifics before anyone.
Wyatt glanced toward me here and there, but it never shifted back to me, which on some level I was fine with. When the food arrived, I ate my food and listened. It wasn’t even close to how I pictured my night.
* * *
I watched as Andrea got into her car and Wyatt walked back to where I stood. My cheeks were flushed. So far, the only positive out of the night was that Andrea backed down. The downside? I think she was in love with Wyatt and secretly hoping I would just disappear.
Despite all that had happened between us in the last few days and tonight, I so badly wanted to reach out and hug him for what he did for me.
I glanced at my feet, unable to focus on his expression for too long. “Thank you for tonight. I don’t deserve all the help you gave me.”
His hand reached toward my chin and lifted my head to peer into his gaze. “You still don’t get it, do you? You deserve that and more.”
My eyes welled. Even after focusing on myself, he treated me with such care. “But I don’t. I should have given us wait time. I should have calmed down and waited it out before just saying goodbye. I pulled the rip cord.”
He shook his head. “Maybe, but I also didn’t give you a chance to react to my life before I assumed how you would be. I took my past experiences with girls finding out about my parents and put that on you. You’re a different person. I should have known that you wouldn’t judge me for what happened.”
“It’s only been four weeks, Wyatt. Not even. I shouldn’t have expected to know your whole life story. I’m sorry. I-I … I was scared. You were right.”
His brow arched. “Of?”
I blew all the air from my lungs in a huff. “Of everything. Would you decide I was too unlike you? Would I be boring once I wasn’t doing those dates anymore? Would you still like me? How could you like me when no one else had?”
He pulled me toward his chest and wrapped his arms around me.
My face settled against him, and I listened to the beat of his heart.
“I know who you are, Marley. I knew that from the first day you stopped me in that parking lot. And I know that standing here with you now. I told you, if other people can’t recognize what you would bring to a relationship, that’s their loss.”
My lips twisted to the side. “But we only got to know each other because of a stupid gift. This whole month might not have happened without it.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe it was the catalyst, but I still noticed you. I did know your name, yanno? I just didn’t think I was in the position to bring someone else into my messed up life. But when you showed up, persistent, and willing to drag my sorry self out of a hole I had created with school, then why not?”
“Why are you so amazing? I mean I seriously walked away, and you still showed up for me tonight.”
“Because Marley June Wix there is no one else out there like you. You give all of yourself over to people and that is so incredible. You wanted to help me, and I will never forget that. I needed you not just to remember I could and should do better in school, but to remember who I was. I felt like myself around you again. And sure, you said goodbye, but you needed time to process what happened. I owed you that.”
“I didn’t handle it well and not because I was judging, but because I worried about myself in all of that. It felt like it was too good to be true. There was this amazingly sweet and thoughtful, hot musician and he was telling me that he liked me. Instead, I should have focused on how hard it must have been to be in your position and tell me when your dad showed up.”
His fingers brushed my cheek. “It’s okay. I’ll forgive you if you can forgive me.”
I nodded.
“Good, because I’ve been wanting to do this all night.” He leaned closer to my face as his head tilted to the side.
I smiled knowing what came next as I closed my eyes and found those perfect lips against mine. He didn’t push or deepen the kiss as first. Just kept our lips together as if they could say everything else that needed to be said.
And then his hands found their way into my hair and on my waist as he pulled me closer. When we finally pulled away, our breath was ragged.
“I missed you,” I said.
He leaned his forehead against mine. “Me too. The band has been furious with me for not texting you.”
I giggled. “Sage yelled at me too.”
He laughed as his arms snaked around me in a hug. “So, do you still want to be my girlfriend, Marley?”
“More than anything.”
“Good, because your presence is mandatory tomorrow.”
“Oh, so now I get it. You were almost exiled from the band because I wouldn’t have arrived.”
“Simple semantics.”
I shoved his arm and pretended to be outraged, but I broke as soon as he gazed into my eyes again, because I could tell it had nothing to do with the band.