Her eyes felt heavy and swollen. She felt a strong breeze coming from the ocean that was less than half a mile away. As she crossed the street to walk towards a Wendy’s, a car hit its brakes and missed her by only a few inches. Naturally she would have jumped and shrieked, but instead she looked at the headlights and slowly moved her head to meet the eyes of the driver. At first she couldn’t make out what his mouth was saying, but it was obvious that he was in a frenzy. He shook his hands in the air and the only thing she was able to read from his moving mouth was “Fuckin idiot!” She stared at him as he continued to curse at her and wave his hands in rage. As he moved his hands in the air, she couldn’t help but to picture him in a chef’s costume with an oversized cook’s hat; his hand in the air with his thumb sealed to his middle and index finger like an Italian chef in the movies.
She only smiled at him, the kind of smile that says, “Sorry” and proceeded to cross the street. Her entire vision and all of her thoughts were captivated by the car that almost hit her. When she looked up, she was surprised to see the crowd on the opposite side of the street walking towards her. When she got to the other side of the street she looked back at the same spot she was standing seconds ago and wondered how she was now on the other side. With every step she took, she felt every muscle move in her legs. The closer she got to Wendy’s, the slower she walked. She made a complete stop once she got to the front of it. All she could think about was the crispy french fries and the sizzling Dr. Pepper she was about to buy. As she got in line to order, she remembered that she needed to use the restroom. She had been looking down at her phone since she entered because she had ran out of eyedrops. Her eyes still felt heavy and swollen, and now in line with a crowd around her, she felt as if everyone was staring at her. She made a quick glance up in hopes of finding the restroom door on her first look. She didn’t want to look up or have people look at her, so as soon as she recognized the small triangle with sticks coming out of it with a circle on top, she quickly made her way there.
She made her way into the first available stall and was surprised to see a large woman with her black jeans on the floor looking at her phone.
“Oh my god I am so sorry! I thought no one was in here!” she frantically said followed by a huge burst of laughter. She immediately closed the door and went to the stall farthest from the one she had just open. This time she knocked and when she heard no response she proceeded to walk in. She let out a sigh of relief as her bladder seemed to deflate. As she stood in front of the mirror while washing her hands, she realized she was wearing sunglasses. That whole time she was worried and paranoid that people would notice her eyes, but had forgotten that she was wearing sunglasses.
She stood in front of the mirror and stared at herself without the glasses. Her face was a lighter tan than usual. It was almost pale. Her hair was dark and straight. Her shirt was completely covered by a picture of 2pac and her shorts went down halfway between her knee and hip. The shirt hugged her body and was tucked underneath her shorts. She lifted her hand to touch her face, but was startled when someone walked in. She let out a small chuckle and walked out before the door was able to close. Her nose took a huge sniff of the aroma coming from the fried food. Her body swayed to the cashier when she saw there was no line. She still had those french fries and Dr. Pepper in mind, but as she took a long look at the menu she wanted more.
“Hello, welcome to Wendy’s, how can I help you?” The young cashier asked. He looked at her, and when he realized her eyes and the indecisive look on her face, he smirked and nodded his head. With the same smirk on her face she slowly responded,
“Can I get a medium order of french fries with a large Dr. Pepper, two chicken sandwiches from the value menu, two cheese burgers and uhh… a large Oreo shake.”
“Did you want to get the cheese burger combo? It comes with fries and a drink and it’s a lot cheaper.”
“Okay, let’s do that. Also add a medium number 9. She laughed and shrugged her shoulders at the cashier. He grabbed her debit card, handed her a receipt and told her to wait for her order number to be called.
She took the high wooden stool closest to her and waited. Her eyes were staring out of the huge glass window, but her thoughts were elsewhere. She felt like she was forgetting something. When she took her phone out of her pocket, she looked at the time as if it would remind her. The phone read 2:13 p.m. She got distracted by the Twitter notification that was underneath the time. She went through her entire Twitter feed before realizing her number was being called.
“Order number 36! Order number 36!” shouted the other cashier who seemed a lot older than the guy who took her order. She hopped off the stool and leaned over to get her food.
Carrying a huge paper bag, she walked out. The walk from Wendy’s to the beach wasn’t a long walk at all, but to her it felt like she was walking miles. When her feet felt the hot silky sand, she looked around to find her friends. They all sat underneath the green umbrella that had pictures of what seemed to be palm trees from far way. She held the paper bag in one hand and her slippers in the other. She had to make high and long strides because the sand felt heavy on her feet. When she reached her friends, she dropped the paper bag on the towel and let herself fall on the beach chair that was underneath the umbrella.
“That took you so long dude,” one of her friends said to her. She looked at her and realized that she had the same pale, heavy and swollen eye look as she did.
“I almost got hit by a car” she laughed.
When the friend who greeted her realized the paper bag read Wendy’s, she blurted while simultaneously laughing, “What the fuck is this? We told you to go to McDonald’s, not Wendy’s!” •
