RC paced about to and fro waiting for Jordan to appear. She was wondering if he had bailed out on her, finally, or if all this was one big pact to embarrass the life out of her.

Because if it was, she wouldn't be surprised; disappointment was currently her closest ally.

Tired of the pacing, RC sat down on the gravel, chin in her hand, watching a crow hop around in the shrubs looking for something.

RC was waiting at the old railway track that had been closed down years ago when the new one had been built. Soon, this place became forgotten and quiet, trying to stay alive but not fully accomplishing it.

Abandoned.

Gravel crunching behind her indicated that Jordan had arrived. RC quickly stood up and dusted herself, as she turned around.

Before she could say a word, a gasp made its way to her mouth and very conveniently flew out of it.

"Woah," she whispered, regarding him.

Jordan smiled widely, a cigarette dangling between his lips. "I look hot, ay?" He winked at her.

RC rolled her eyes and smiled. "What did you do to your hair?"

The previously longish locks were gone, and in their place was a stylishly neat cropped cut that suited him perfectly.

Jordan came closer, still smiling cockily. He stopped a few centimeters in front of her and shrugged, his hands in his jeans pockets. The fast food scent was even stronger.

Before she could stop her mouth, RC blurted, "Why do you always smell so good? Like burgers and fries." RC closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

To be honest, she was starving. All she'd had that morning was an oat bar and a telling off from her mother about not snacking in between, because, according to her mother, she could barely fit into her brides maid's dress as it is.

Jordan chuckled softly and put out his cigarette butt with a slight stomp of his foot. "How about we train for a while then I can show you why." He looked at her. "If you're still curious, I mean."

"Yeah," RC nodded, wondering what was happening in her stomach all of a sudden. That flapping was unnatural. "Sure."

They jumped right into it, starting with the basics, and as they worked, RC wondered where Jordan had learnt it all. Every move he showed her, RC felt as though Jordan was fighting an invisible enemy. His face remained secretive as ever, but his eyes were giving away more than they were supposed to.

Jordan started by teaching her​ the correct way to make a fist properly, with her thumb out, and how to centre herself so that she could stand solid in a fight.

Then he showed her the best way to pack a punch so that it would have the greatest effect. Within an hour, by the time they had even proceeded to kicking, RC was sweating like a pig at the butcher's.

Seeing her slowly getting fatigued, Jordan decided they​ stop for the day. They sat down beside each other on the gravel.

"So are you going to tell me what your deal with Brent is?" Jordan asked RC.

RC chuckled as she wiped her face with a face towel she had brought in her backpack. Her face was pink.

"Nothing, actually." She cleared her throat and smiled sadly at the gravel around her feet.

"RC?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm with you."

RC nodded. "Thanks," she whispered, afraid that if she were to talk, she would burst into tears.

"I know it's not nothing. The guy treats you worse than a freaking punching bag." He took her hand and traced concentric circles into the back of it.

"Remember what you said about secrets?"

"Yeah," Jordan replied.

"Well, i don't actually have many."

"I don't buy it."

"Why?"

"Because, look at you," he looked at her fondly, "you stay by yourself, torment yourself, and look," he brushed his thumb over her scars, "because of those asses you hurt yourself."

RC's breath caught in her throat as she found herself at a loss for words.

"I know you won't tell me now, and i don't blame you, but you just wait, I'll become your shadow, and soon, i will see into your head." Jordan continued, not letting go of her hand.

RC stood up and dusted herself. Jordan was wading in unchartered waters, no one ever talked to RC like she was a real human being, except perhaps Niomi.

"So, about the fast food smell, I'm still curious."

Jordan grinned at the ground, his seriousness replaced by a glint of mischief and... was that self conscious was RC could see?

He gently ran his hand though his hair. "Okay, but this is strictly between the two of us. If you ever dare breathe it to someone else, i will roast you on a skewer."

"Way to create an image, geez," RC rolled her eyes.

"Are you coming or not?" He called as he marched on ahead.

RC just chuckled, picked up her bag and followed him, taking big strides to catch up.

"Did you walk here?" RC asked him, as they crossed the road towards town.

"Yeah, there wasn't a need to to bring my bike."

"So where are we going?"

"Has anyone ever told you patience is a virtue?"

"You're the first person today, actually."

"I'm honoured."

RC rolled her eyes and followed him all the way to town, which was actually just a street away from the old railway station.

Soon, the familiar smell of fast food and cold coke hit RC hard in the stomach. It was only then that she realised how hungry she really was. The golden arches, if it is possible, looked more golden than they ever had as they glinted in the high noon sun.

"Welcome in," Jordan murmured as he held the door open for RC to step in.

"Why are we at McDonald's?" RC asked him as she settled into a booth close to the counter, looking at him like he had lost a few of his brain screws to the heat.

Jordan, impossibly, looked down. RC smirked. This was new. A shy new Jordan.

He sat in the chair across from her. "So what do you want to have?"

RC smiled. "What do you recommend?"

In the back of her mind, she could hear her mother screaming herself hoarse at RC's possible calorie intake. This was freaking McDonald's, not the Health Nut. Even the smell made RC feel like she had just in a matter of seconds gained about twenty pounds.

"It's your call," Jordan winked at RC, his twiddling thumbs giving away his nervousness.

"Okay then," RC ignored the screaming in the back of her head. If she was going to have McDonald's, then she would have it big. Go big or go home, RC's favourite phrase. "I'll have the Big Mac."

Jordan stood up. But instead of joining the queue at the cashier's, he slipped through a door marked 'employees only'.

RC quickly stood up and leaned as far as she could over the counter, looking for Jordan.

"Jordan!" RC hissed when she saw him, pulling on an apron and a cap. "What the hell are you doing?"

He ignored her and instead turned to high five the other chef behind him who was manning the fryer. Jordan pulled out some patties from the fridge and slapped them into the grill as he and his co-worker bantered.

Wordlessly, RC watched Jordan flip the patties over and over till they were done, and then begin to compose the burger. As slow as she could, RC leaned away and walked back to her seat.

This was why Jordan always smelled like RC's version of heaven. Because he was a burger flipper at McDonald's. A strange weird surrounded-by-rumours bad boy. Who flipped burgers. At freaking McDonald's.

RC was finding it a little hard to shut her shamelessly open telltale excuse of a mouth, especially since, about a second later, Jordan appeared in all his glory with RC's order.

"Who are you?" She asked Jordan, a little awed.

"Me."

"Wait. You're the school bad boy, people either like you or are scared into liking you, and here you are, flipping burgers at McDonald's like you were made for this, like you're a… a different person." RC's burger lay between them, conspicuous yet forgotten.

"You think so?" Jordan leaned towards her. "Why can't I be both in the same person?"

"Because you're not." RC half whispered.

Jordan almost smiled, the hint of a smile that made RC wonder what the full blown thing would look like if Jordan would ever grace her with its presence.

The hint of a smile that made something explode inside RC's stomach.

The hunt of a smile that spoke volumes, yet said nothing at all.

It was madness. But still very much there.

Jordan rubbed his chin and looked at RC with interest. "Get used to it."

"The bad boy you or the burger flipping you?" RC finally gave the burger the attention it deserved and took a bite, savouring every bit of the grease that she could.

"Both. That's just who I am, plain and simple. No masks."

But the glaze that came over his eyes at the words told RC otherwise. And with curiosity that could kill not only cats but also any manner of creature with a beating heart, RC found herself wondering what could possibly have broken this boy.

He had a secret, and she had to find it out.

***

Because it's Sunday and it's sunny.