1 Chapter One

Her blue eyes, though bright, were calculating. Her body was slender and her walk refined. Her blond hair pulled back in a business-like bun. She was beautiful. How did I become so lucky to gain her acceptance as a potential partner. She placed her elbows delicately on the table and crossed her fingers before placing her chin on her hands. She looked at me through her thick eyelashes.

"What's your name?" She asked. Voice was as thick and sweet as fresh honey warmed by the sun. A brisk breeze whipped her fly-aways around her head light small rays of sunlight.

"Jasper. Jasper Folds." I said crossing my arms and laying them on the table. My mussed up brown hair almost fell into my eyes. Her mouth twitched.

"What do you do for work, Jasper?" She blinked once, twice, three times. Was this a green light? Before I could speak the waitress came.

"Good afternoon, my name is Amber. I'll be your waitress today." Glanced up. A college age girl with brown hair, brown eyes, brown... everything. Brown. What a dull color compared to the sunlight goddess sitting right across from me. "Are you two ready to order?"

I looked over at Vanessa. She already had her menu open.

"Ah, not yet." I said.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes then." She turned and walked to another table beyond my line of sight. I opened my menu and began to look through it. All of these mexican menus were confusing. Why did I pick mexican? Did Vanessa even like mexican food? I got dizzy trying to think.

"Jasper," I looked up at Vanessa. "did you find anything you like yet?" She had sweet, innocent smile on her face.

"Yes, the chicken enchilada with salsa verde." She wrinkled her nose for a brief second. "Did you find something you like?"

"Yes, I noticed that they have a vegan menu on the back. Good catch." She grinned at me with her perfectly straight, white teeth.

"I'm glad." I said smiling. I can live with a vegan. Right?

We talked a little about ourselves while we waited for Amber to come back. Vanessa was a physical therapist, she liked going on runs and walks through the forest, she liked going clubbing on the weekends, and she was the only child in her family.

"Jasper, you didn't tell me what you do?" She gasped.

"Oh, right. I'm a computer programer." I said adding a slight bit of pride into my voice. She chuckled a little

"Really? You don't look like a nerd." She said. That threw me off for a second. I hoped that she was joking.

"Yeah, I work for the government." Her smiled faded slightly.

"Oh, that's interesting." She took a small sip of water. Amber walked up to us.

"Sorry for the wait. Are you ready to order." I looked up.

"Ah, yes. I'd like a chicken enchilada with salsa verde." She wrote it down.

"Anything to drink?"

"Root beer." I looked at Vanessa.

"And for you?"

"A vegan salad with no dressings, no tomatoes, no radishes, and no cucumbers." I blinked, that only left the croutons and leaves. Amber jotted it down.

"Anything to drink?"

"Yeah, I heard you served this drink called diet water?" I froze. Was she serious. I looked at her. She totally was. Amber froze.

"Oh, yeah. Um... I'll have to check with the chef." Vanessa huffed.

"How could a waitress not know what's on the menu?" She said. "Isn't it like part of the job? Should I call your manager?" Amber bowed slightly.

"I'm sorry ma'am. It must be new on the menu. I'll go right now and talk to the chef." Vanessa smiled.

"Thank you." She looked back at me when Amber had gone back into the kitchen. "Sorry for that. You know how black girls are, don't know heads from tails." I blinked in surprise. She was attacking that girl for her race. She laughed. "I can't believe she fell for diet water." I was mortified. How could I tell her that I was half black and that my adoptive parents were black. If she treated a random black girl like this, what would she do to me and my family?

Amber quickly came back with our food and my drink.

"I'm sorry ma'am, your drink will take a little longer to prepare." I could hear a glimmer of sarcasm in her voice.

"As long as it's diet it's fine." Vanessa said. Amber went back into the kitchen. "That black girl. She isn't respectful to white people at all." Food dropped from my fork.

"I'm sorry what?" I asked.

"She is an inferior black girl and she doesn't respect me in the slightest. Did you hear the sarcasm in her voice?" Vanessa huffed. Amber came by a second later.

"Here you go ma'am." She placed a glass of water on the table. Vanessa took a large sip of it. Her eyes grew wide and she sprayed it all over me.

"You wretch!" She screamed. "You put salt in my water!" Amber stood there.

"Ma'am," she said sternly. "I only bring to food and drinks out, I don't have anything to do with the prep." She said it in such a matter of fact way that I couldn't help but laugh while the water dripped off my face.

"Don't talk back to me!" She screeched. She rounded on me. "Why are you laughing? Aren't you supposed to help me?" I shook my head.

"Vanessa," I said. "I'm black." I stood and walked out of the resturant.