Partners?

As I walk to the spot where Rachel and I agreed to meet at, everything went in a blur. Out of nowhere I feel a heavy weight on my back and I loose my balance, life focuses again and I see the golden sun rays of Rachels lushes blond hair fly past my face. I hear her laugh and I regain my balance as she moves into view. " So how was the first portion of the day?" She asks all smiley and cheerful. I think to myself if I should tell her about the autumn hair boy about, Cole. " Um, it was fine, I guess." I say quietly. "Fine, just fine?" She says in surprise. " Yeah, well you know that guy that took our parking spot this morning?" Rachel stares at me expressionless so I continue. " Well he's in my art class, and we're kind of partners for the rest of the year, and..." Rachel cuts me off practically yelling in the hallway. " You're his what!" I look at her in surprised, Rachel never acts like this, I don't exactly know what is going on but she doesn't usually act like this. " He's my partner in art. " She stares at me with that same expressionless face. When we walk into the school café, I look up and see the same autumn hair that has been chasing me all day. Rachel and I turn right and decide to sit at a table next to the window. Rachel, not knowing that Cole is in line, tells me what she wants expecting me to take the hint. I get up from the table and walk towards the line of students, and stand behind Cole. I glance over the display of food behind the recently cleaned glass, my eyes hang on the lemon cake pops then move over to some ice cream sandwich desserts. Cole is talking to the guy in front of him, probably one of his friends. When Cole and his friend are at the register I over hear Cole order three double chocolate cookies, and two lemon cake pops, and a vanilla frap chino. Cole and his friend move to the side to wait for their order as I move up to the register and the barista asks me. "What would you like?" I look at the menu hanging behind her and say. " can I have the ice cream sandwich desert, the pumpkin cupcake, a Vienna, and a caramel frap chino with no coffee, please." After I finish telling her my order I swipe my card and go stand to the side where Cole and his friend were standing a few minutes ago. Once I receive the order I walk carefully back to the table Rachel and I have claimed, once I set down all the items and sit in my seat, Rachel looks up from the stapled papers she has in her hands. " You know, it's a good thing you're not a waitress, you would suck!" She says with a laugh and smile at the end. I give her the death stair and start laughing right after, everyone turns their heads and look at us with raised eyebrows and confused expressions, even Cole.

Once I catch my breath I am finally able to ask Rachel about her day. "How is your day so far?" She takes a sip of her Vienna, making a whip cream mustache on her top lip, she smiles. "It was great, we got our first script of the year!" she says excitingly lifting up the stapled papers she was examining when I brought back the food. I flip through the script reading a few lines here and there, I hand her back the script and give her a great grin. " That looks amazing! what part are you playing?" I ask her as she sets her mug down. "You'll see when you watch it!" She tease's me. "Fine, when is it?" I ask her while lifting the warm mug to my lips. " She pulls her pumpkin cupcake from her lushes red lips before she answers. " November 18, so you better be there!" I laugh and take the last bite of my ice cream sandwich dessert as Cole and his anonymous friend walk by our table. Cole pauses a second next to my chair, and he places a Lemon Cake pop on an only recently unoccupied plate. Rachel watches silently slumped in her chair while she sips on her Vienna. Cole looks up at me and gives me gentle smirk as he says. " I noticed you saw something you liked." And he's gone, just like that, the café door opens and close and I look down at my plate. I notice that Cole must have slipped a note with the cake pop when I was staring at him in surprise. Rachel sits up once the café doors close and leans in reaching for the note. "Hey!" I yell at her as I try to grab the note back. Rachel is already unfolding it." Oh, well that's boring!" Rachel whines as she throws back the piece of paper. I grab the small square paper before it falls off the table, it reads. "See you later, partner." I feel myself smile and try to quickly hide it as I look up at Rachel. She has an expression I just can't read, eye's murky and in a daze as she sips on her Vienna some more. She feels distant, and far away, like there is this concrete wall in-between us. "Hey, are you okay?" I ask before taking a bite of the cake pop Cole gave me. "Yeah, just tired. Ready to be done with the day, ya know." She says as she starts to pull away from the table. "I better start heading to my class." she says without looking up at me. I watch her get further away from the table, and closer to the door of the café. I sit there at the table alone before I get up and start to head to my next class.

The rest of the day goes by fast. I go to the rest of my classes, and wait in all the spots that Rachel and I are supposed to meet. I wait in those spots for minutes, alone, then I leave. At the end of the day I head to Rachels car, not expecting to see her sun ray hair flying in the wind dancing with every strand of hair. She's leaning against her car with her sunglasses on, she turns her head towards me and waves as a huge smile appears. I then can't help but to smile at her perfectly straight teeth as I walk to her car. I start to shrink into the car when I see Cole looking down at his phone leaning against his car the same way Rachel was leaning. Rachel starts the car, and I pull myself into the passengers seat, closing the door. I look out the window as Rachel pulls out of the parking lot and onto the side road. "What do you want to eat?" She asks me as we pass through the shopping center. "I'm kind of in the mood for Japanese or Chinese." Rachel turns right at the light as she says, "Oh, I know the perfect place. I heard from a girl in my theatre class that the new Asian restaurant was top of the line, probably because an ancient old man runs the place. Apparently he only hires Chinese and Japanese people because they make their food the traditional way, or at least try to most of the time, what was it called, umm." I look up out the window and see the restaurant name, Rachel is about to drive past as I yell out, "Tausug's Shishiou Restaurant!" Rachel's face lights up " Oh yeah that's the name!" I point at the restaurant and I yell, "No, there, it's right there, you idiot!" Rachel looks over to the her right and does a sharp turn almost hitting the car beside us. while in the moment of feeling like I'm about to die I look at the other car, and realize that it is the same black Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with the same driver that has the same autumn leaf hair looking at me.

Time resumes and we are in the parking lot of Tausug's Shishiou Restaurant. Rachel parks the car in a spot that is close to the door and swings her head towards me and smiles, "That was awesome!" I crane my head to her giant white smile and I say, very uncalmly, "You almost killed us!" Rachel turns off the car and and says, "yes, but we are still alive now, aren't we?" I laugh as I say, "Barley!" We get out of the car and she locks it when we are about three feet away from the car so we don't get our eardrums blown out.

The first thing I notice when I walk into Tausug's Shishiou Restaurant is the smell. "It smells like-like" Rachel finishes the sentence for me. "Like amazing traditional Japanese and Chinese food!" Rachel takes a deep inhale of the smell of the foreign spices as I look around the waiting room. It has two big red poles up to the ceiling and a Buddha behind the stand making it look like a temple, a lady waits and shows a group of people where to sit leading them in a room behind the Buddha statue. We wait in the dimmed lit room with the buddha looking at us with his brass eyes. The lady comes back and leads us through the double doors that look like foldable wall as we step into a new world. There are different levels like in a opera theater with waterfalls coming down from the levels into more pools of water with little lily pads, and greenery. I look into another room as a waitress walks through the doors, and I see black furniture with some red on the tabletops, a dragon breathing it's magnificent flames painted on the walls. As we walk farther into the restaurant going deeper into a new foreign world. The lady sits us at a two person table in a room that has the great wall of china painted on the walls all around the room, it also has lantern's hanging from the ceiling at different levels to add a floating affect. As Rachel and I sit across from each other the lady says. "Your waiter will be with you shortly." Rachel and I say thank you as the lady walks away to greet another party to a table.

"Did you see all the different paintings on the walls?!" Rachel looks up from her menu eyes wide and says. "I know! This place is so, speaking to me, it looks so much like sets in a play!" We both laugh as a petite skinny pale girl with thick black hair walks over to our table. "Hi my name is Mio I will be your waiter today. Do you know what you want?" Rachel looks back down at her menu and says "I would like to try your Green Tea" Mio writes down Rachels order and I say " I would just like water please" Mio nods and walks away leaving Rachel and I alone at the table. Rachel sets down her menu and looks up at me. "Really, we come to an authentic Asian restaurant and all you order is plain old water." I look at her "I guess you're best friends with a plain person then" I say with a smirk on my face. "Plain is far from what you are" she smiles looking at me as she says "you are extortionary!"