Sandy watched Ariel as the blond continued with her ice cream, wishing that she could have some as well. By then, everyone had finished their food and drinks and were watching Ariel eat.
"What?" Ariel asked.
"Hurry up so we can go," Paul urged.
Brad elbowed him. "Give Ariel some time. She's enjoying it."
"Yeah, but I've got to be home," Paul said.
"Why don't we pay the bill first?" Kamal suggested. "Then we can go."
Brad took a deep breath. "Okay," he agreed with a hint of reluctance. He turned and called for the bill.
A pink-uniformed brown-skinned waitress wearing a name tag that read 'Angela' came to deliver the bill.
"So, ah, how are we doing this?" Kamal asked.
"Everyone pays for what they ordered," Paul suggested, "And we divide Old Man Jake's beefburger among us."
And that was why Sandy ordered only a simple drink.
"Okay," Brad agreed.
The waitress took out a notepad and listed the orders. Then she quickly calculated how much each teenager had to pay and presented the figures.
"Wow, that was quick," Paul commented when the waitress was done.
"Mm-hmm." Angela the waitress indifferently accepted the compliment. "Do it all the time here with you kids."
"You didn't even use a calculator," Paul added.
"Every waitress here is a walking calculator," Angela said as she collected notes and coins from each of her customers, "It's in the job description."
Brad poked Paul. "Looks like you'll never qualify to be a waitress," he mocked.
"And you look bad in a pink skirt too," Kamal added.
Paul frowned. "Shut up, you guys."
Once the waitress was gone, Paul turned to the old man and the girls. "We've got to leave." He rose up with Brad and they stepped away from the seat. Then Paul selected his schoolbag from the pile next to the table.
"Nice meeting you girls, Ariel," Brad said. He looked to the old man. "Thanks for the story." He retrieved his bag, careful to replace Ariel's coat as he did so.
Kamal waved once before he picked up his bag and left with his friends.
Ariel got up and took her treat to the seat the boys had vacated. That allowed Sandy to slip aside and put some space between her and the old man.
"Makes me wish I asked for ice cream instead," Old Man Jake commented as they watched Ariel eat.
"Say, what's the address of that house in Henderson?" Sandy asked.
Ariel looked up. "You're not really thinking of going there are you?"
"You want to go there, girl?" the old man asked, "The place's haunted by the ghosts of the brothers!"
"If it's haunted by them, that means the jewelry really is still in that house," Sandy inferred.
"If you really want to go see..." Old Man Jake shrugged and gave Sandy the address, which the latter noted carefully on a scrap of paper from her schoolbag.
After Ariel had finished and they had left the diner, the blond girl asked Sandy, "You're really going to check the place out?"
"It's not far from here," Sandy said. She pulled her jacket tighter around her.
The girls started walking back towards school. "And the ghosts don't scare you?" Ariel asked as she slipped her hands into her coat pockets.
"Ghosts aren't real," Sandy said, "Besides, you're coming with me."
"Wait, you think I'm going with you?"
"Why not? We'll just have a look around. Who knows, we may actually find the jewelry!"
Laying a hand to steady her schoolbag, Ariel crossed the street along with Sandy at the pedestrian crossing. "I don't think so."
"Come on, it's not far from here," Sandy persuaded with her sweetest voice.
"Definitely not today," Ariel decided, "Mum's picking me up soon."
"We can go this weekend, okay?"
Ariel picked at the strap of her schoolbag. "I don't know."
"Just a quick look in. We'll see the place in the story, you know, see if it's really true."
Ariel looked into Sandy's brown eyes. "You know, in this day and age, we can actually check that on the Internet."
"Why don't you check it out on the Internet, then?" Sandy suggested, "If it really is true..."
"Then I'll think about it," Ariel finished for her.
***
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