Surviving Depression

Chapter 7

"We're here!" Jeremy shouts as he pulls into the parking lot of a diner. We've been driving for hours and I think I fell asleep at one point.

"Where's here?" I ask.

"A diner that my family used to come to when I was little. I loved it here. All the employees are so friendly and nice. Trust me when I say you'll love it here." He says as he parks the truck. He gets out and rushes over to my side, opening the door for me. I get out and thank him as he locks the truck. He takes my hand and leads me to the diner's entrance. I look at the sign and read it. Cindy's Diner. Jeremy opens the door and we walk in side-by-side.

"Hi! Welcome to Cindy's Diner! Table for two?" An energetic girl walks up to us.

"Yes, please." Jeremy says. The girl who's our age stares at Jeremy. He clears his throat and the waitress snaps out of her daze.

"Sorry. Right this way." She says, glaring at me. What did I do? She leads us over to a table and stands by it.

"Will this do?" She asks, gesturing towards the table.

"Yeah, thanks." Jeremy thanks her.

"I'll be back in a minute with some menus." She says before skipping away. I take a minute to look at the inside of the diner. It looks homely and warm with the light illuminating each and every corner. Pastel colors paint the walls and show that this place is happy and friendly. I smile slightly to myself and look back at Jeremy. Jeremy stares at me dreamily, smiling widely. I smile back at him and he comes out of his daze.

"Willow-" he starts.

"I'm back! Here are your menus! I'll be back in a few minutes to take your orders!" The waitress says happily as she stares at Jeremy. Jeremy doesn't remove his eyes from me as she says this. She raises an eyebrow, then glares at me.

"Thanks." I thank her. She nods and walks away. I open my menu and look at the lunch section, even though it's 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

"Hmm, what would you recommend?" I ask Jeremy. He doesn't respond. I look up at him to see him staring at me.

"Jeremy?" I ask. Still, no response.

"Jeremy." I say as I put my hand on his. He looks down at our hands and stares at them. He carefully moves his hand to hold mine and intertwines our fingers.

"Jeremy-"

"Willow-"

"Have you finished looking at the menus?" The waitress asks, cutting us both off.

"Give us a fucking minute." Jeremy snaps, making the waitress and I widen our eyes in shock.

"Of c-course." The waitress stutters, walking away slowly.

"Jeremy, is something wrong?" I ask.

"No, I'm fine." He says, squeezing my hand.

"Are you sure? Cause you seem a little off." I say as he returns his gaze to my eyes.

"Yes. Uh, sorry, I'd recommend the chicken fried steak. It's really good." He says as he points to it on my menu.

"Oh, ok. Thanks. I'll get that then." I say. I look to my right to see the waitress hesitantly walking towards us.

"A-Are you ready to order?" She asks as she shifts on her heels.

"Yeah, sorry about before. We'll have two chicken fried steaks, please." Jeremy says, giving the waitress a small smile. The waitress regains confidence and smirks at me. She bats her eyelashes at Jeremy and flips her hair. I bite my lip, holding in my laugh. It's so funny when girls try so hard.