“A-Actually, Ethan, I think we need to get go-OW! Haley, what the hell?”
It was Tara’s turn to yelp in surprise as Haley dug her elbow into Tara’s plush middle, interrupting her mid-sentence.
“S-sure, why n-not?” In the moment, Haley wasn’t really sure why she’d cut Tara off and committed them to an awkward lunch with Dani, but it was too late now.
Plus, they’d already been walking for sooooo long, and it’d probably be pretty awkward to eat separately now, so…
Ethan smiled. “Great! Lemme grab a table and some chairs…”
As he walked off to do so, Tara whispered, “What the hell, Haley? Why’d you do that? Christ, I just hope she didn’t hear me back there…”
Haley hadn’t moved an inch, still somewhat paralyzed in shock at herself. “I…I don’t know, I guess…”
She might not admit it, but a large part of her was just more peeved than scared. Haley, as embarrassed as she had been running into her now-hunky ex, was now more than a little spiteful at the idea of Doughy Dani shacking up with her man…even if Haley had been the one to end it way back when.
Tara went to follow Ethan to help him move an empty table over, but not before whispering once again. “Just don’t hit on him, okay? If it wasn’t gonna work with me, well…” Tara poked Haley’s blubbery gut before she walked away, leaving it wobbling in place. Haley, stroked the spot where Tara’s index finger had sunk into her belly, before realizing she wasn’t really alone. Dani continued munching on her fries, while glowering at Haley. Her smirk had been replaced with a grimace of annoyance, and Haley felt like she’d just offered herself up to an angry, goth Jabba the Hutt.
Haley tried to break the awkward silence. “Uh, h-hey, Dani…h-how’ve you been?”
Dani said nothing, instead choosing to grab a handful of her fries and mush them into her maw, and continuing to loudly chew, all the while continuing to glare at Haley.
Haley didn’t bother to try again, she’d gotten the message loud and clear. She stood there awkwardly for a good thirty seconds, looking about to avoid eye contact with Dani, but even in her peripheral she could tell Dani wasn’t letting her off that easy, her gaze boring into Haley’s skull.
Ethan and Tara finally dragged an empty table from the other side of the court over and pushed it against the one currently supporting Dani’s upper gut and her tray of fries. The sudden impact jostled Dani, momentarily distracting her as she yelped and spoke for the first time.
“God damn it, Ethan, that fucking hurt! Be more careful!” Dani grabbed at her gut and attempted to massage the point where the table was digging into it.
“I’m so sorry, honey!” Ethan dragged his chair over so he was sitting next to Dani instead of across, and reached him arm around as much of her as he could. “Don’t worry, your food should be out any second now…”
While Ethan consoled his whiny girlfriend, the West sisters put in their orders, using up every penny (and a little more) of the remaining fifty dollars to grab as many goodies as they could, splitting it (relatively) equally between them.
After picking up their orders and dropping them off at the table, the sisters each grabbed empty chairs (well, two for Haley) and slid them over in front of their side of the tables, with Tara sitting across from Ethan, which meant Haley was now face-to-face with the dour doughy goth, who was currently feasting on the small mountain of burgers and fries Ethan had picked up. Ethan himself was content with his single Big Mac and side of fries.
Conversation-wise, this was turning into a real bust. There wasn’t a lot to say between the three of them; both Haley and Tara were too embarrassed to continue chatting up Ethan, for different reasons, and Dani was clearly in no mood to talk. Rather than force conversation, the three girls busied themselves with their bounties.
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