|
Post by Amaya Crowley on May 26, 2008 15:05:42 GMT -5
Amaya walked inside the small McDonalds of Hastings and took a look around. It was much different that the one she was use to back in Sydney and in Melbourne. She guessed that was something she was going to have to get use to while being in America, atleast when it came to fast food places. She stood in the back of a short line and peered up at the menu. Immediately she noticed that it was lacking her favorite section. No Deli?! Her mouth had been craving a Chicken Tandoori Deli sandwhich with the berrynice yoghurt crunch and orange juice. In fact she noticed the majority of the menu was completely new to her and everything that she usually ordered was not on the menu. She frowned. Now she was going to have to try something new...which she didn't quite want to do today. She had walked all this way to get some food so she wasn't leaving empty handed. The line moved just a big more allowing her to step closer the to the menu. What exactly did she want to eat now?
Reaching the counter the waitress greeted a confused Amaya. She took another long look at the menu and shook her head. "Can I try a big mac mean with a sweet tea?" she asked revealing her australian accent. Sweet tea was something she didn't have that often. Actually she couldn't think if she had really drank sweet tea. Black tea was usually her thing. She paid for her meal and stepped out of the way to wait for her order. She was still wanting that deli sandwhich though and she knew that later her craving would be much worse. She took her cup and went to the drink dispenser and poured half a cup of sweet tea and sipped it. It wasn't that bad but she didn't care for it much. It would have to do. She filled the rest of the cup up and placed a lid on it before heading back to the counter to retrieve her tray. She was not about to walk back to campus without eating first. That walk, was much longer than she thought it would be. She needed a break. Alittle company also didn't hurt. She had yet to really meet anyone and she was beginning to get a bit lonely.
|
|
|
Post by Alec Hawthorne on Jun 3, 2008 0:43:30 GMT -5
Alec lifted up his hand to check the time on his watch. He still had time before his class started. Heck he was even sure that after having his meal he could drop to the library to do some reading. Letting his hand fall to his side, his gaze settled on the back of the head of a girl in front of him. Then he let his eyes wander over towards the menu. He wondered if he should just order something else other than his usual. A big mac meal. He silently mulled upon it. It wasn’t like the world would end if he decided not to go with his usual right?
"Can I try a big mac mean with a sweet tea?"
Blinking, he shifted his gaze on the girl that was in front of him. Huh. A girl with an Australian accent. Now that doesn’t happen everyday. At least not to him.
Alec tried not to grimace at the mention of sweet tea. No. He didn’t find anything wrong with it. He just wasn’t a fan. He was more of a water kind of guy. And if he felt like splurging, he’d either have coffee down at Starbucks or in this case have a soda. Yeah, that was splurging to him.
When the girl in front of him finally moved out of the way, Alec threw a smile at the waitress.
“Hey Carmen.”
“Hey Alec. Let me guess, the usual.”
A soft chuckle tore from his lips as he nod his head in agreement. “Yeah. Don’t worry one of these days I’ll actually keep my promise and order another meal.”
With a shake of her head, the waitress began to prepare his order.
Still smiling, Alec pulled his wallet out from his back pocket and paid for his order.
|
|
|
Post by Amaya Crowley on Jun 5, 2008 14:11:17 GMT -5
She felt like she had been waiting for quite some time for her meal. These people were much more than at home. She would have been in and out already in a timely fashion. Maybe they weren't slow though. Maybe it only seemed that way because she was still slightly nervious, hungry, and tired. She still couldn't pinpoint the reason she was nervious though. It may have been because she felt like an outcast. She was not getting this whole great American experience everyone always talked about. Was she missing something?
She glanced over at another guy who was in line behind her. He had ordered the usual from the same lady she had ordered from. she could now identify her as "Carmen." Cute name. She took a quick look over at him and had to admit to herself that he was kind of attractive. She turned away and clicked her tongue. Where was her food? She wished she could have been like him and ordered the usual but they didnt even have the usual on the menu. Foreigners should be able to order their favorites from back home and they know what they were asking about...or atleast that was how Amaya was feeling at the moment. She was crazing that deli sandwich and shake. She sighed again and frowned.
When it came to going home she wasn't sure if she would even make her way back to Hastings. Then again there was nothing in Australia for her except her grandparents that are completely old and crazy and her adulterous stepfather who drove her mother to kill herself on pills and alcohol. People like him should get arrested if their spouse did something like that. It was there fault after all! Just thinking about that moment she entered her mother's room and....it brought a quick tear to Amaya's eye that she quickly wiped away. "Good grief!" she said out of frustration.
|
|
|
Post by Alec Hawthorne on Jun 5, 2008 20:36:46 GMT -5
As soon as he done paying, he stuffed his wallet back to his back pocket and stepped aside for the next customer. Pressing his lips he lightly drummed his fingers on the counter as he waited for his order to be given to him. The place was unusually filled with people. Maybe a lot of them had no time to prepare food and eat at home that was why they hit the nearest food establishment. And lucky Mickey D was the nearest one. Creasing his brows he let his eyes wander around to find a vacant place for him to settle on once he got his order.
"Good grief!"
Alec creased his brows and turned at the general direction of where the frustrated voice came from. His eyes landed on the girl that was from the line in front of him earlier. He tilted his head slightly.
“Is there a problem?”
The question left his lips before he could even think about it. Ugh. There he goes again minding someone else’s business. He really should stop this habit of his. Other wise he was going to get shouted at someday. Something along the lines of mind your own.
|
|
|
Post by Amaya Crowley on Jun 7, 2008 12:39:54 GMT -5
Amaya turned her head to the guy beside her and sighed heavily before nodding her head and wrinking her brow. Was there a problem?! Of course there was a problem! This McDonalds was taking all day with her food and she was hungry...very hungry...so hungry that she could taste it on her tongue. Trying not to answer this guy with an attitude she had to focus on what she was about to say. "Yea there's a problem. These people are slow! I've been here for god knows how long and im starving...still waiting. Are all American fast food places this slow?!" she asked discovering that she said that entire statement at rapid pace. Oh well. Whatever he missed, he missed.
Just as she was about to add on some more a tray was placed in front of her by a very frustrated looking girl. The way she was looking at Amaya suggested that she had heard her little rant and was not pleased. Amaya gave her a sarcastic smile and took her tray. She felt no way sorry for fussing. It was called a fast food restaurant for a reason. She glanced back over at the guy and put on a genuine smirk. "Im better now." she chuckled at how silly he may have thought her to be.
|
|
|
Post by Alec Hawthorne on Jun 9, 2008 20:28:29 GMT -5
"Yea there's a problem. These people are slow! I've been here for god knows how long and im starving...still waiting. Are all American fast food places this slow?!"
Alec pressed his lips at the rant she had just done. Well he could totally understand her. The service was rather slow but that was only because the place was crowded which was unusual. This place didn’t fill up usually around this time and it was possible that the people who worked there didn’t expect this.
When a tray was placed in front of her, his eyes darted down then up at the girl who had just served the tray. A very frustrated looking girl he might add. Yep. It was a hectic day for some of them and Alec was sure that if he was on that girl’s place, he would be downright frustrated too. Especially if you were trying your best to be fast.
"Im better now."
Alec couldn’t help but chuckle with her. “If it helps it’s not always this crowded in here nor slow at this time.” He said to her. Not that he was picking sides of anything. He was going to give this place the benefit of the doubt. He was after all a regular customer here and he haven’t had any bad experiences. Well not yet anyway.
|
|
|
Post by Amaya Crowley on Jun 9, 2008 21:41:45 GMT -5
Now that her food was there she had the task of finding a place to sit which looked like that was not going to be a fast process either. She sighed under her breath and shook her head slowly. She was feeling bad, kind of, for being a bitch about having to wait. She guessed she could have been a bit more patient. Perhaps not. Oh well. She was about to get equally as annoyed now but a couple removed themselves from the far table by the back window and was now removing their things from it. She smirked. So maybe that would be a little better than having to wait forever and a day.
Her eyes darted to the guy standing next to her and she wrinkled her brow. This place wasnt really that crowded on a normal basis at this time? So what the big deal now? "Is it because its November and you all celebrate..." she paused for a moment to think of what it was the americans celebrated in november. She knew this...glancing over she happened to see a sign that said "thanksgiving" and she chuckled. "Right, thats it. Thanksgiving?" she was curious to how that whole holiday worked. It was her first time ever outside of the southern pacific so she knew nothing about anything except what she was told in class or by the few foreigners she came in contact with.
"What is that about anyway?" she had to throw that in before realizing that that seat would not be vacant for long. She again had to ask, "would you like me to save you a seat? I could use the company." Amaya was nowhere near shy.
|
|
|
Post by Alec Hawthorne on Jun 9, 2008 22:28:02 GMT -5
"Is it because its November and you all celebrate... thanksgiving.”
Alec couldn’t help but chuckle at her query. He was sure that it had nothing to do with the said holiday. Although he wasn’t sure entirely what had caused the place to be busy at that moment. The teen shrugged.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the holiday…” He replied to her. At least that was what he thought.
“What is that about anyway?"
Huh. No one had asked him that question before. And quite frankly, he wasn’t sure how to answer her. He haven’t lived a normal life for the past years of his life so he hasn’t really experienced anything that was normal like celebrating thanksgiving. Sure he had experienced celebrating it during his time at a rehabilitation center but not at home. For the longest time, Alec hadn’t felt the need to come home. At least if his father was there. Now everything was really different. But at least now he didn’t live in fear. He opened his mouth to say something when she threw him another question.
"would you like me to save you a seat? I could use the company."
Just as that moment, Carmen called his attention and caught her just in time as she placed his tray on the counter. “Thanks.” He replied offering the girl a smile before he turned to face the girl.
“Lead the way…”
Having said that, he moved to grab hold of his tray and followed the girl. Ugh where were his manners? He would have slapped his forehead if he could when he realized he doesn’t even know her name yet and vice versa.
“I’m Alec by the way…”
|
|
|
Post by Amaya Crowley on Jun 10, 2008 13:40:16 GMT -5
Grabbing her tray she headed over in the direction of the table in the back of the place. It was by a window so she could look out and watch people or cars drive by if this guy wasn't good with conversation. She hadn't really waited long for him to get his food since he got his right behind her. How lame! He got his so much fast than she got hers. oh well now. She pushed past a few people trying not to spill her food on the ground. She could be a bit clumsy at times when she wasn't paying that good of attention. She heard the guy behind her mention that his name was Alex. Oh right. They didn't introduce each other yet had they?
Reaching the table she sat her tray down and took a seat. She watched as Alex sat in front of her. "Nice to meet you Alex. Im Amaya. Sorry for not doing that earlier. I guess I was just all wrapped up in complaining." she took the first sip of her sweet tea and frowned. It was not at all how she thought it was going to be. She was really contemplating on just pouring it out and getting water. That may have to do for right now. She focused back on the whole holiday issue.
"Ok so in school back in Sydney I heard that Thanksgiving was like your founding day or something like that. I mean not really founders day since that is obviously the fourth of July but...well...I really cant say I know what to call it." she chuckled to herself as she ate a fry. "I do know that supposeably there is a lot of good food. My grandmother told me that."
|
|
|
Post by Alec Hawthorne on Jun 11, 2008 1:34:34 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you Alex. Im Amaya. Sorry for not doing that earlier. I guess I was just all wrapped up in complaining."
Alec offered her a smile as he placed his tray down across from her. “Don’t worry about it. I can totally understand it. When you’re frustrated you tend to get single minded. That and a little bit out of focus on a lot of things.”
As he sat down, he grabbed a piece of the fries and popped it into his mouth. If there was anything that he considered his pet peeve, it would have to be crispy French fries. And this one happened to hit the spot for him.
"Ok so in school back in Sydney I heard that Thanksgiving was like your founding day or something like that. I mean not really founders day since that is obviously the fourth of July but...well...I really cant say I know what to call it."
The other teen turned to settle his gaze back to her. A soft smile adorning his lips. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I’m goin’ to give you a pop quiz on it or somethin’ but yeah you can say it that. I think the holiday is mainly celebrated because supposedly people have a lot to be thankful about. At least that’s my opinion.”
Licking his lips, Alec made a move to grab his soda and took a sip from the straw.
"I do know that supposeably there is a lot of good food. My grandmother told me that."
He chuckled softly and nodded as he placed his soda back down on his tray. “Yeah there is. I think it’s also an excuse for people to spend loads of money to acquire good food and stuff themselves with it. But that’s just me I guess.“
|
|
|
Post by Amaya Crowley on Jun 11, 2008 15:29:40 GMT -5
Its seemed as if Alex couldn't really explain it any better than she could. She guessed that it was just some random holiday. She couldn't say nothing about those kind because she as sure some of the australian holidays were random as well. She was too hungry to try and figure out which ones were at the moment. She gave up on the fries since they were only teasing her appetite and took a bite of the burger. It tasted different than those back home but she expected that much considering the menu was different and that she was in an entirely different country where while the culture was close to the same it was still somewhat different. She inhaled and savored the moment. Alex probably thought she was a fatty.
"I dont see nothing wrong with spending a little money to aquire great food. I personally love food. Im surprised im not two hundred pounds!" she said once she had swallowed her first bite. She didnt want to talk with her cheeks full and make him think she had little manners. She did have some. She took another sip of the sweet tea which was followed by her initial reaction the first time. Ew. She wanted to strike up a new conversation, one that was not built around holidays and food. She took yet another huge bite and racked her brain. It was hard considering she was in a food thinking kind of mindframe. Randomly something popped in her head.
"So, I find you Americans interesting. Like school for yall is so different than back home. Here its like everyone has to go to Uni to get a decent job and then once they are they party and do more things than study." It was true. So far she had seen more people party than study. It was like it was Club Hastings. "I mean dont get me wrong they are fun but back home after you leave secondary some can go get a decent job without having to go to Uni. Maybe she wrong about the american school system. Why did she choose to go to a University then if she could have went out and got a job? She wanted to travel, learn more, and plus escape that place she called home. "That all sounded funny to me since I am a party animal..."
|
|
|
Post by Alec Hawthorne on Jun 11, 2008 19:34:01 GMT -5
"I dont see nothing wrong with spending a little money to aquire great food. I personally love food. Im surprised im not two hundred pounds!"
Alec couldn’t help but chuckle at that. And with the way she was somewhat inhaling her burger, he was surprised as well. “Maybe that’s because you have a high metabolism or somethin’…” He said before taking his own burger and took a bite off it.
Now normally, the other teen wasn’t too keen into making new friends this way. Although he didn’t have any problems with it, he just wasn’t used to the idea. Back at the center, he had very few friends. Actually there had been just two of them. Alyssa and Shawn. Admittedly, Alec has this little problem with letting people in. All his so-called friends now didn’t really know him that well. He maybe this laid back kind of guy to them but none of them really knew him. The real him. And he preferred it that way. Then he realized how much he missed his old friends. They may not be the most perfect people in the world but they knew him.
"So, I find you Americans interesting. Like school for yall is so different than back home. Here its like everyone has to go to Uni to get a decent job and then once they are they party and do more things than study."
Alec blinked upon hearing her voice. Great. Now was so not the time to be zoning out on the new company. The other couldn’t help but smirk at the observation. But then again, not all college students were like that. At least he knew he wasn’t like that. He’d already had his fair share of partying and what not during his younger years. Of course that meant in a totally different context. But she didn’t have to know that.
"That all sounded funny to me since I am a party animal..."
Pressing his lips, he set his burger down and took a sip from his soda before he broke his silence. “It’s okay. I won’t hold it against you. I mean it’s your opinion. But I think it’s different for everybody. Personally I didn’t enroll in college just to party an’ get wasted. God knows I’ve done plenty of that when I was younger. ‘Sides, my mom would totally kick my sorry ass if I so much forget to do my projects let alone attend a party.”
|
|
|
Post by Amaya Crowley on Jun 12, 2008 14:51:12 GMT -5
Amaya had taken into notice that during half of her spill Alex seemed to be a bit off in his own little world but she guessed maybe he was taking it all in. If not then she would be kind of hurt. Not really. She had the tendensy to do that to people...often...so she couldn't get mad him for doing to her. Ok well she could but she wasn't, atleast not now. She finished off her burger and worked her way back to the fries that she still had a lot of. She was almost full so she doubted that she would even finish them all. She glanced at her cup and made a face. Her mouth was dry and she was too lazy to get up to get some water so that large cup of sweet tea was going to have to make due. She took a giant sip and set down pushing it away from her.
"So you use to live it up huh?" she asked when he mentioned he use to party in his younger days. Younger days? Just how old was this guy? Being only nineteen she had a lot of more time to party but right now she needed to get to studying. She had things she wanted to do with herself. When he mentioned his mom being upset for him going to a party she chuckled. That was the kind of mother that she never had. Of course her mother would say no she couldn't go out but Amaya was rebellious so when she said no she went anyway and her mother never really complained. She tried a few times but they all ended with "Amaya you drive me crazy you know that?! Go to your room, go outside, go somewhere!" Majority of the time she just left and would stay out all night with her mother too drunk to reaalize she was missing and hung over the next day to pay attention to when she came home. She guessed she probably shouldn't speak too ill of the dead. Her stepfather...he didn't count. He was never around enough anyway.
Now she envied Alex. She had always wanted a firm parent in her life to just tell her no. Maybe some of the things she got herself caught up on she wouldnt have gotten into. She sighed when she realized that she had zoned off. They were even. She plastered another smirk on her face hiding her disappointment "Well I can to any party and I usually do...when im not study I guess. Strong mom, by the way." added the last part with a chuckle.
|
|
|
Post by Alec Hawthorne on Jun 12, 2008 20:58:50 GMT -5
"So you use to live it up huh?"
Oh she had no idea. He had lived it up alright. And he was sure that it wasn’t the way she was thinking it. Saying that it had been that bad for him was an understatement. Actually it was way understated. Alec could only press his lips and nod slightly.
“Yeah. You could say that.”
He was only nineteen and he already had been through a lot. He had been through things he was sure none of the teens around Hastings have had the “pleasure” of experiencing it. Sarcastically speaking of course. Alec was sure that a lot of them knew about it as something that could happen only on television series or some movie or something. But not in real life. If they were that sheltered and or optimistic or something.
“ Strong mom, by the way."
Alec had to raise his brows to that. He couldn’t say that he would agree because at some point, his mom wasn’t. Hell she wasn’t able to stand up form herself for quite a good time. It wasn’t until he almost died that she found her courage. It made him sad to think that it took a life and death situation to help them get out of that rather hellish of a situation. Up until now he was still gauging his mother’s capability and strength. Of course that didn’t mean he didn’t trust his mom. He did. After all she was the one who had managed to get some help in reforming him in a way. For that he was thankful.
The nineteen year old offered her a small smile.
“That she is.”
He took a generous bite off his burger and made sure he had chewed and swallowed before he broke the short silence between them.
“Okay, so I have to ask. Why in the world are you here in America? I mean not that I have anything against it or anything. I’m just curious.”
|
|
|
Post by Amaya Crowley on Jun 13, 2008 13:41:06 GMT -5
The million dollar question. Why on earth did Amaya move all the way across the earth to America? She could give him the bs version of the reason why or she could give him the real reason why. She thought on it as she crammed another fry in her mouth and shrugged nonchalantly. She guess she would just talk and however it came out was the answer. "Well, I like to travel anyway and did alot of that when I was in australia." She only did it because she had to do a balancing act between her granparents in Melbourne and her mother in Sydney getting to make a few stops along the way. "So when I got close to graduating from secondary I thought that it would be nice to go somewhere completely new."
"I had the option of New Zealand, England, Ireland, or the States." So with those options why did she choose the states again?! "But I had heard so much about America that I wanted to come see it for myself....that and it is pretty far away from Sydney....." her sentence trailed off as once again she was reminded of the true reason she made it all the way to Hastings. She wondered if things would have turned out different if she would have stayed in Australia.
"There was a lot of things that, in a way, Im running from, you know?" she was making this part of the conversation sound as if to her it was no big deal. That what she did at times. She would make certain things seem as if they were completely unimportant and smaler than what they really were. That way people wouldn't try and feel sorry for her or anything in that nature. "I mean what better way than to move far far away and start over?" Starting over didn't exactly work for her mother but she wasn't her mother.
|
|