Preview Chapter 1
This story will eventually be in comic form ^_^
Josh looked around the crowded bustling Mcdonalds, piping hot fries singing his hand. It was no surprise it was so crowded, it was after all, the only place in town to get food for a decent price. He walked around the booths a few times, looking around for a place to sit, sighing in annoyance. He hated those disgusting tables, not that booths were any better, but at least you didn't have fifteen screaming children running behind your back. He loved children, save when they had their insane moments of course. He spotted movement in a corner booth then, an old man was standing, painfully slowly, to get up and leave. Josh hurried over, standing a few feet away as the man scooted out at half a mile per hour. Once finally up, he turned to grab his tray at just as lightning fast a speed. Josh furrowed his brows and watched him intensely, stomach grumbling as he caught a whiff of his fries. Normally, maybe this would not have bothered him in the least, but now his stomach was involved. The second the man had vacated, Josh sat down with a triumphant grin on his face, relieving his hands of the burning grease sensation. He plopped down some napkins and a cup of mustard for his fries, and leaned back against the seat. He surveyed the crowd for a few moments, jumping a little as a little girl ran by screaming excitedly from the playroom, a little boy following close behind. Then he leaned forward, grabbed some fries, dipped and had just put them in his mouth when he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked sideways, fries still in his mouth, and heard a tiny flick as a bunched up straw wrapper bounced off the side of his table. He stared at the boy next to him, a little surprised to find he looked about Josh's age, and yet he was flicking straw wrappers at strangers. Josh had definitely expected he'd sat next to a rather bothersome child, as the place was full of them. They both just watched each other silently for a few moments, when Josh looked down to find the other boy's straw was hanging out of his mouth clean away from his cup, about to drip soda. He shoved the fries in his mouth quickly.
"Er...your straw..."
The boy didn't even look down as he shifted his soda cup and shoved the straw right back in. Josh raised his eyebrows, a little shocked into silence. The other boy blinked at him a few times with his ice green eyes, wiggling his freckled nose as a strand of his dark wavy hair fell over it. He put his cup down, looking away for a moment, then turned back to Josh.
"I'm Aiden." he said smiling.
Josh was once again shocked into silence with the very innocent and uplifting nature of his smile. Who had a smile like that? It was completely penetrating...
"I-I'm Josh..." he stuttered, finding himself smiling involuntarily.
Aiden nodded, boyish grin widening.
"You like mustard."
Josh furrowed his brows in confusion for a moment before Aiden motioned towards the little cup of mustard he'd dipped his fries in.
"Oh-er yea...with my fries..."
"Nothing else?"
"Well, I guess it's alright on hotdogs."
"Yea, as long as it's got some ketchup on it."
Josh snickered, realizing just how stupid a conversation this was.
"No ketchup?" Aiden said with a half grin.
"Heh, no I agree-it does need ketchup."
Aiden nodded, looking at the opposite wall with a thoughtful expression on his face as he sipped at his soda again.
"Ketchup is only good on hotdogs..." he said, chewing on the straw a little, still seeming to think very hard on this.
Josh just stared at him for a few moments, laughing a little, "Yea, ketchup and hotdogs...they're made for each other..."
"Relish-hmph, I dunno about that. Pickles are already pretty gross, why make relish out of them?"
Josh shrugged, deciding, despite this weirdness, he might as well just humor this boy, "Some people like pickles."
"Do you like pickles?" Aiden said turning to him, eyebrows raised.
Josh shook his head, "Not really no..."
"So you just have ketchup and mustard on your hot dog?" Aiden continued, sipping at his soda again.
"Yea," Josh replied, grinning again, "not one for chili on a hotdog either."
"Or cheese?"
"No cheese..."
Aiden nodded, as if satisfied with something. Josh merely raised his eyebrow slightly, completely and utterly confused. He turned back to his french fries, mourning the fact that he'd forgotten about them and now they were only lukewarm.
"Do you eat it on the bun or off?"
Josh turned back to Aiden, a little surprised this conversation was still going to continue.
"On, although-they are pretty tasty in spaghettios..."
"Agreed." Aiden said with another nod.
Josh returned to his french fries, hurriedly dipping and shoving them in his mouth before they were completely cold. Aiden had pulled out a pen, ripping off a piece of a napkin and scribbling quickly. What now? Josh thought amusedly, chewing with a little difficulty at the multitude of french fries now occupying his mouth. Aiden crumpled it up and sat it on the table, putting away his pen, and sipping at his soda again. Then, quite unexpectedly, he flicked it over to Josh's table quite smoothly, then stood to leave.
"Would you like to go out sometime?" Aiden said turning back to face him, standing, straw in mouth, hand in pocket to watch him with a thoroughly innocent gaze.
Josh raised his eyebrows in complete and utter shock. He would have said something if it weren't for the fact that his mouth was completely occupied.
Aiden snickered, "Just give me a call."
Josh finally swallowed, though rather painfully, and called to him as he left, "Hey wait-"
"It's on your table!" Aiden replied, with a grin and a wave as he walked out the door.
Josh blinked a few times at the closed door, then looked down at his table. The only thing there was the crumpled up napkin...He picked it up curiously, to find Aiden's name and phone numbered scribbled on it. He couldn't help but chuckle, what a weird way to pick someone up. He crumpled the paper back up and was about to chuck it, but stopped for some reason. He opened his palm and stared at it for a few seconds, grinning, then folded it back up and shoved it in his pocket. He glanced at the seat Aiden had been sitting in, as if it would tell him something that would explain all this, then stood, gathered his trash, and threw it away. He shoved his hand in his pocket, fingering the paper as he walked out the door.