Becky sat on the cracked red plastic of the coffee shop’s last booth and glumly stared into her cup. Her whole life seemed, at that moment, to stretch out as an unending source of boredom. Two weeks out of High School, two weeks for the excitement of graduation to wear off, and she had to face the reality that High School was going to be the absolute best time of her life.
It made her want to cry. “Damn it! It wasn’t even that good!” She told the salt and pepper shakers, “I don’t want that to be the best there is.” Angry tears, the same angry tears she’d been fighting for days, welled up and threatened to drop. One day she’d let them fall. She hadn’t already because she’d a good idea it wouldn’t help.
“Um, Hi, Becky.”
It was Christie, the most popular girl in the school. The head cheerleader. The Homecoming Queen. The Prom Queen. Becky had always been torn between hating Christie’s guts and envying her everything.
“Hi, Christie.” What does she want? Becky wondered.
“Can I, uh, can I join you?” Christie was nervous about something, it was plain from the hesitancy and the way she shifted from one foot to another. Her big, cornflower colored eyes stared anxiously into Becky’s. Intrigued, Becky nodded and motioned to the bench opposite.
“Go ahead.”
Christie slid into the booth and smiled brilliantly at Becky. “Thanks. So what have you been doing since graduation?” Becky knew she was staring, knew she should stop, but it was so strange to have Christie even talking to her, let alone making conversation.