Do You Still Hate Me?

5. Tacos

(Ash's POV)

I woke up feeling exhausted from a long day of work and a late-night gaming session. As I opened my social media app, a notification caught my attention. I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was still dreaming. How did he find my social media account? I wondered to myself. After following back the account, I went back to sleep for another 30 minutes. When I woke up again, I knew I was probably late for school, but I didn't care. As I brushed my teeth, I debated whether to go to school at all. With heavy eyes and a weak body, I trudged to school, my gaze fixed on the ground.

When I entered my second-hour class, I felt eyes on me as I stared blankly at the floor. The teacher glanced at me but continued teaching. Charlie, sitting nearby, looked at me with concern. My friends, equally exhausted from our gaming marathon, remained silent. I rested my head on my desk and slept through the entire class. Charlie woke me up when the bell rang, signaling the end of the period. The same scenario repeated in the next class, until lunchtime arrived.

Feeling slightly more alert, I sat with Charlie in the cafeteria. He poked me gently and handed me an energy drink. "Here, I think this will help," he said, his voice laced with worry. As our fingers touched as I took the energy drink, I smiled at him and downed the drink in seconds. Charlie's expression remained concerned
"How much do I owe you?" I asked.

"You don't owe me anything; I know how it feels to be that sleepy," he replied.
"By the way, where are your friends? I was going to get them an energy drink too but didn't see them around." Charlie asked.
"They're sleeping." I replied.
Beto, Danny, and I often skipped classes to nap in an old, unused storage room.
Charlie's tone hinted at curiosity as an "Oh" came out of his mouth.

Charlie talked to me during lunch, but I was still sleepy and my answers were pretty short, making things a bit awkward. When the bell rang, we headed to our next class. The energy drink finally kicked in and made me feel really energetic. I noticed Beto and Danny were gone, which meant they'd gone home. I thought, "Wait, didn't we say 'if one suffers, we'll suffer together'?"

During the next class, I sat next to Charlie and we chatted a lot. He seemed happy to see me finally talking normally. We talked about random stuff until he asked if I like soccer. I raised an eyebrow and said, "How do you know I like soccer?" Charlie said, "I saw your posts and followed you. Have you checked?" Then I remembered  and asked if he likes soccer too. He rubbed his head and said, "I don't really play sports."

I offered to teach him how to play soccer and suggested we go to the park next to the Taco place down the street. As I mentioned Tacos, my stomach growled, remembering that I didn't eat lunch.
"Omg, now I'm craving Tacos!" I exclaimed.

Charlie looked at me curiously, "What are Tacos?"

I was taken aback, "You don't know what Tacos are?" He looked confused, and I couldn't help but laugh. Was he messing me?

(Charlie's POV)

I looked down, Ash could tell I was serious. He stopped laughing And drew closer, his eyes wide with surprise, and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Do you really not know?" he whispered, his voice laced with disbelief, his hand covering his mouth in shock. I felt my cheeks flush as I replied, "No," my voice barely above a whisper.

He said, "You know what. How about I invite you to some tacos after school? I'm sure you'll enjoy them! Take it like a pay for giving me an energy drink." I smiled and agree, feeling happy. I messaged and told my mom I had plans after school. When school ended, we headed to the Taco place. Ash kept talking about tacos on our way there, and I got more and more excited. But when we got to the road, I felt anxious. I didn't know how to cross roads. Especially this road, it was somehow bigger which made me even more anxious. Ash started looking around making sure there were no cars around. He was about to cross when I exclaimed,  "Wait!".
"What's wrong?" Ash asked sounding worried.
"I don't know how to cross the road!" I admitted, feeling embarrassed. Ash looked surprised but smiled and said, "How about you hold my arm and we speed walk together?" I nodded, my cheeks still pink from embarrassment. We quickly crossed the road and  made it to the other side where I let go of his arm.

We walked into the taco place and the cashier greeted us. Ash and the cashier started chatting, and it was clear they knew each other. They spoke in Spanish, I couldn't follow their conversation. I watched them, trying to make out what they were saying.

(Ash's POV)

The cashier, Juan, is my uncle's best friend, he's a nice guy to talk to.
"Y El guero, que va querer?" (What would your friend like?)He asked, pointing at Charlie with his pen and smiling. I've known Charlie for a few weeks now, and I'm sure he'll love carne asada tacos.
"El va querer 2 tacos de asada" (he'll have 2 asada tacos), I replied.
Juan wrote down our order and headed to the kitchen, calling out our order as he went. We sat down at a table by the window, waiting for our food.