A Bite to Eat (open)

[Ben Hall]

Ben didn't have a hard time finding somewhere to park in downtown Blue Ridge. He'd finally decided to try eating there after months of being at the school. He was generally pretty skeptical about food around there, and missed his New York fare terribly. He parked within walking distance from Tastee's the most casual looking of the places, enjoying the feeling of freedom his car gave him. He'd gotten it fairly recently from his parents as a sort of appeasement. Still, they would have a lot to face when Ben got home from Kentucky. Blue Ridge was boring and tiny, and he felt as if he was slowly going insane.

In New York, he could do anything he wanted, practically within walking distance. He was basically counting down the days until he could return. He'd already been assured that he'd be staying at the school for his senior year, and this fate was sealed with the tuition which had already been sent in. Ben had been holding on to a hope that they would let him back to New York to spend his last year of high school where he was happy, but his punishment was lasting.

Stepping out of the air conditioning of his car, he sighed, grabbing his keys, phone and wallet. The heat here was absolutely oppressive. Walking as quickly as he could to the eatery, he swung open the door and closed it past behind him, grateful to be back in the air conditioning, even if he'd only been out of it for a few moments. After a waitress gestured to a booth for him to sit at, he slid into it, sitting on the side from which he could see the window. It was then when he realized how absolutely pathetic this was. He should have a girl across from him, or some friends, but he didn't. This wasn't home, where he had a swarm of friends around him at all times.

When his waitress came back, he barely paused before ordering an ice water, a chocolate milkshake, and french fries.

[Deleted]

Exploring the area wasn’t really going the way the young teenager wanted it to, but hell, who was he to judge…? Already, he’d looked over the campus so much that, aside from the trails, he could probably locate any area within just a few moments, and he’d completely memorized the map of those as well… ‘Bored’ could possibly describe what he was feeling, but William honestly thought that he’d surpassed ‘bored’ a long time ago. There was just nothing for him to do, it seemed. For the hyperactive almost-fifteen-year-old, Blue Ridge just didn’t have that feel that Chicago did. It just wasn’t the city. He was beginning to wonder if his parents had done their research correctly, when they had looked up the school. Surely they would have seen that it was very much not a big city, like he thrived in… surely they wouldn’t have sentenced him to four years of misery…

“I’ll get used to it… Charles said it would be fun… ha, yeah right!” The teen grumbled while walking down the sidewalk, through the small town. He wasn’t yet old enough to drive, so he’d gotten a ride into town from one of the other residents at the academy, he wasn’t sure who, and after stating that he’d find his own way back to the school, he’d set off, hoping to find the town exciting, thrilling even… and coming up extremely short. A frown marred his visage and he reached for his cellphone, flipping it open and connecting it to his web browser. It took him only a moment to type in a new facebook status ‘help me… about to die of boredom… txt 290-338-7676’, then flipped the phone closed and replaced it inside his pocket as his stomach made itself known. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and that felt like it had been hours ago.

Gazing around, his eyes alighted on the small café a few shops down. “Looks good ‘nuff.” He muttered, knowing that the café wasn’t going to be anything like the fast food restaurants he was used to, but hey, it was better than nothing. He made his way down and pushed the door open, feeling the cool air hit him immediately. At least it’s nice and cool in here…

William was directed to a booth and waved the waitress off after informing her that he’d need a few moments to look through the menu. When she came back a few minutes later, he gave her a small smile, “I’ll have a large sprite and the chicken sub sandwich, with all the toppings. Fries, too… large. Oh, and the salad... that looks good…” William hadn’t quite realized how hungry he was, and when the waitress gave him an odd look, he knew she was probably thinking something along the lines of ‘where’s that kid going to put all that food’, but he just gave her another grin before twisting around to glance around at the people inside the café.

[Ben Hall]

Ben fiddled his fingers on the table before him. The worst part of eating out was definitely the waiting. One thing that he liked about Blue Ridge was how he could get food from the cafeteria basically whenever he wanted it with little to no wait. He had no patience at all. Soon, his foot was tapping as well. He just could never sit still, and was contemplating getting up to take a walk around the place when a water was placed down in front of him, followed by his chocolate milkshake. "Thanks!" He grinned at the waitress, who gave a brief smile back before leaving once more. He'd been about to strike up a conversation, but apparently she wasn't interested.

Taking a sip of his ice water, he looked around the little place and his eyes settled on a boy walking in the door who looked a bit skeptical, just as Ben must have. He ended up sitting in a booth near Ben's and Ben could hear when he ended up ordering. The boy grinned when the other kid listed off a long order of food, and poked his head out of the booth to speak to the other customer once the waitress left. He was probably a Blue Ridge student as well, but Ben didn't recognize him, so he could have just lived close. "Hungry?" he asked, grinning at the other boy.

[Deleted]

William frowned as he tugged his wallet out from his jeans pocket and opened it. He had his ID (a simple picture ID, since he wasn’t yet old enough to drive and therefore didn’t have a license), his insurance cards, a few cards that he was sure could be thrown away, and a credit card that belonged to his step-father (and that he knew had no money on it) and a few dollar bills. He hoped that his order didn’t go over two fives and a one, because all he had moneywise, at the moment at least, aside from three pennies, was eleven dollars.

William tugged the money out from the wallet and slipped it inside his front pocket, so he could get to it easier when it came time to pay later, and settled back to wait for his order. Five minutes later, he was a little annoyed. Seriously, how long did it take to get food around here? To pass the time, he pulled out his cellphone once more and connected his web browser, logging back into his facebook account. He didn’t have any new messages, and while a few people had liked his status update, no one had responded to it nor had anyone texted him aside from his step-dad, who had simply wrote ‘give it a chance, willie’.

He was extremely thankful when another voice spoke up, seemingly talking to him, and William twisted around to look before twisting his body on around too. A small smile appeared on his face upon sighting that the other boy was indeed talking to him. “Heck yeah!” He replied, “I’m about to die if I don’t get my foo- thanks!” Right in the middle of his talking, his food was set down in front of him, and William, without even hesitating, changed tracks. “Looks great!” He told the waitress, though she merely gave him a bored look and walked off. Apparently not in the greatest of moods.

“Name’s William. D’you go to Blue Ridge?” William asked as he picked up his sub sandwich and prepared to take a bite. It was complicated by the fact that it was so overfilled with toppings that they were falling out, but he managed.