Mr. Halloway's Pet

Chapter Fifteen

The car ride was occupied with horrible dad jokes I didn't even realize I missed. And along with the source of amusement, we also played a variety of road trip games. It was the kind of car ride that made me feel like a little kid again.

There was also the realization that I'd totalled my car and have no money to finance a new one. Dad pointed out that he works from home and rarely gets out of the house anyway, giving me a good window of time to use his car.

The very thought of driving makes me feel uncomfortable.

I'm not sure if I even want to get behind any wheel for a while anyway. All it takes is 2 seconds of wiping tears from your eyes to spend a pretty penny in hospital bills. God, I'm glad I'm covered through moms shitty insurance, though.

For now, I'm content being a passenger princess and not in control of the car at all. My trust in dad's driving does calm my anxiety as much as it can, but my poor shredded lip is a victim of said anxiety and takes one for the team.

The familiar ghetto-looking neighborhood is what catches my attention, followed by a lit up sign that reads 'Joe's' and a familiar car parked illegally and crooked in the handicapped spot.

The diner is small and cute, with a rusty red theme and vintage vibe. The outside isn't in any way glamorous—quite the opposite actually—just run down and old. The inside, however, is where the charm is, I can already see the low hanging ceiling lamps and red booths in contrast to dark wooden tables.

My seatbelt is unbuckled before dad can even put the car in park. It hasn't even been but 3 days since I've seen dumb and dumber but I want nothing more than to bask in the gossip and familiarity that comes with their presence.

"Just text me and keep me updated, sweetheart. I'll pick you up in 2 hours and we'll head to the school to pick up a chromebook and talk to your principal." Dad informs, to which I nod. After giving him the tightest hug I can manage across the middle console, I fling the door open and hurriedly walk into the older fashioned diner.

Their eyes light up as soon as they see me and stand from their booth, encouraging my mini sprint to them. We all hug group-styled, and I ignore David's hands making contact with a painful patch on the small of my back.

Instead, I scoff as we break the hug and sit down, "You guys totally got manicures without me."

They both give eachother the side eye, quick to hide their fingernails from view, despite the fact that I'd obviously seen them already.

"We didn't." David says nervously, looking to Drea for backup. She only rolls her eyes.

"Yea, that was real slick." She comments sarcastically, slapping his arm lightly.

"What? At least I had something to say." He defends lamely, sighing, "Okay, we got our nails done. But only because Drea is suffering from a broken heart and we didn't want to stress you out."

Drea elbows him in the side, followed by a grunt on his end.

"Oh my god, you really can't keep your mouth shut." She all but growls at him, "I'm not broken hearted, nothing even happened. You took that out of context."

This makes me stop what I'm doing and gape at the two.

"Hold on, hold on. Holy shit. First of all, never keep something like this from me," I say, blinking quickly and resting my head between my palms. "Second...Drea, the chick who has literally never shown interest in anyone, managed to like someone enough to get hurt?"

Out of the three of us, she's the only one who has never been in a relationship. She's always been uncomfortable with the thought of romance. I should've had my suspicions when I discovered her watching those cheesy movies on the Hallmark channel.