Alliyah

As they exited the restaurant, Alliyah joked:

“So, where are you taking me next on our date?”

“It’s a soup rise! Follow me!” Z exclaimed with a grin.

Alliyah couldn’t help feeling honored every time she thought of how different her friend was when they were alone.

The women skateboarded their way to the location, annoying pedestrians and drivers along the way, enjoying the chaos and mess.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Z threw her hands up before coming to a complete halt:

“Ta-da!”

“The MET museum… Awesome!” Alliyah smiled, picking up her skateboard.

“I like to think you’re not a real New Yorker if you’ve never been here. And you’ve never been here.”

“But I’ve stolen someone’s taxi, and I no longer think the city reeks!” She pouted.

“That’s just sad, pup. Get in the museum.”

When inside, Alliyah admired the design of the museum; that’s who she was, Alliyah, the interior designer, right?

“You know…” She pulled her friend to a more secluded corner. “I must say… This is not as great as I thought it would be.”

“You’re such an ungrateful date!”

As Z laughed, her eyes wandered, and she found:

“Ocean and Rayne?”

Alliyah followed her gaze:

“Oh… What is their deal? Are they dating?” She asked.

“Ocean didn’t say so. But They’d be a cute couple.”

Alliyah looked down at the ground, her body slumping.

“They saw us, they’re on their way.” Z whispered.

“Hey, guys. On a date?” Ocean smirked.

“Yes. Are you?” Z didn’t miss a beat, her nosiness stronger than her shyness.

“He’s not my type.” Rayne’s eyes wandered to a nearby piece of art.

Alliyah tried to hide a smile, masking it with a cough. Her head now tilted back, and her shoulders straightened. At the same time, Z’s phone rang, and she walked away to answer. A silence took over the remaining small group.

“So…” Alliyah started awkwardly. “What do you guys think of… The food?”

“We were going there now, actually. You ladies wanna join us?”

“Ocean!” Z shouted… Before realizing she was in a museum and lowering her voice. “Did you bring your bike?”

“Yeah..?”

“You have to take me to my brother’s school. I was just called there.”

“You wanna ride on my motorbike?”

“I don’t want to. I have to.”

“You guys just gonna leave us here?” Alliyah looked bewildered.

“Sorry, pup, I’ll call you afterward.”

With that, Ocean and Z hurried out, leaving Alliyah and Rayne standing in the middle of the museum, not quite knowing what to do.

“So… Wanna go eat?”

Rayne took her time answering:

“…Sure.”

They quietly made their way to the food section of the museum. Alliyah wasn’t hungry since she had eaten all that pizza not long ago, so she only ordered a ‘fresh-squeezed orange juice’. Rayne raised an eyebrow at the way she ordered it.

“What?” Alliyah looked down at her. “It’s written like that on the menu!”

“Okay, Smith.”

Rayne ordered the grilled salmon salad.

“Okay, Miss Fancy Pants.” It was Alliyah’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“What? This is quite a common dish back in Japan.”

“Okay… Whatever your last name is.”

“I don’t have one.”

“So it’s just Rayne? Like.. ‘Just Alice’?”

Rayne rolled her eyes:

“Sure.”

Alliyah felt like there was a story there. She wanted to ask why but didn’t. She presumed Rayne just wouldn’t answer.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure…”

“Are you like… Happy?”

Yes, instead, Alliyah asked something even more intimate.

“Ummh… I sure do love this salmon. Why do you ask that?”

“Never mind, you’re not the type of person to talk about this.”

Rayne looked like she was about to protest… But she didn’t.

After she was done eating, Alliyah walked Rayne home.

“See you tomorrow?” The Japanese girl asked.

“I have a meeting with a client, so I don’t know how tomorrow’s gonna go, but… I hope so.” Alliyah gripped the skateboard in her hands. They both lingered at the bottom of the stairs that lead to Rayne’s house.