Part XXIV

“Please?”

Xander shook his head.  “I’d really rather go to a drive-thru.”

“Oh, come on, wouldn’t it be nice to have a sit-down meal where somebody else takes care of you?” Cee pleaded as they walked to Xander’s car in the packed parking lot.

“I don’t like going to restaurants,” he admitted as he unlocked his car.  “I don’t like people watching me eat.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” she told him.  “We could go to Rookie’s and get wings and salads and stuff.  You can’t get wings at a drive-thru.”

“That does sound really good…” he said wistfully.  “But…”

“Then it’s settled,” she interrupted happily as she scooted into the passenger seat.  “And Rookie’s is only like five minutes away.”

Xander sighed heavily as he wriggled into his car, trying to keep his big belly from bumping the horn as he got situated.  “Do we really have to?”

“Yes,” Cee said firmly.  “You’ll be glad we did.”

He wordlessly started up the car and pulled out of the parking space, and headed for the restaurant.  They were soon pulling into Rookie’s parking lot, having to circle a few times because it was so crowded.  Xander parked, and just sat there for a few minutes.

“What’s wrong?” Cee finally piped up.

“I don’t know about this, Cee.”

“You’ll be fine,” she reassured him.  “Now let’s go.  I’m starving.”

So was Xander, but he figured that that went without saying.  He heaved himself out of the car, and they went inside.  The delicious smells assaulted his senses as soon as the door opened, and Xander was too dazed to do anything but look around hungrily.

“Two for Rockwood,” he heard Cee tell the pretty blonde hostess.  “A table, please, not a booth.”

“We actually have one open right now,” she responded.  “Follow me.”

They wove through the maze of tables, chairs, and wait staff, Xander trying his best to keep from bumping into the patrons with his paunch and mostly failing.  Finally, they were seated at a minuscule table for two in the back corner of the restaurant.  Xander stared at the table in dismay.  He was wider than it was.  At least it wasn’t a booth, though.

“Boy, this table sure is tiny, isn’t it?” Cee remarked.

“Um, yeah.”

“So what are you going to get, Pudge?” she asked as she opened her menu.

“I…I don’t know,” he replied as he perused his own.  “Everything looks good.”  He cringed, wishing he wouldn’t have said that.

But Cee just smiled at him.  “Yeah, it does.  I love this place.  Even with the cheesy décor.”

Xander looked around at the walls, which were covered in random kitschy objects and vintage posters.  “Yeah, I guess it is a little cheesy.”

“Do you want to share the wings sampler as an appetizer?” she asked him.

“Uh, sure.”

“Good.”  She smiled at him again.

After going back and forth between three or four items, Xander decided upon an entrée – under the “hearty appetites” heading – and his sides.  Then, the waiter was there, an athletic-looking guy in his early 30’s.

“Good evening, folks, my name’s Finn.  How are you tonight?”

“We’re great,” Cee replied, “how are you?”

He responded that he was just fine, and went over the drink specials.  “And for the dieters among us, we’ve partnered with QuickThin to create a special low-cal menu that you’ll find on your menu insert.  Lots of tasty stuff on there.  Can I get you guys some drinks?  Appetizers?”  He turned to Xander expectantly, his face a neutral mask.

“I’d like an orange cream soda, please,” Xander said quietly.

“Alright.  And for you?”  He turned to Cee.

“Just a water with lemon, please, and we’d like the wings sampler as an appetizer.  With blue cheese and ranch.  We’re also ready with our entrée orders, I think, aren’t we, Xander?”

“Um, yeah,” he said, somewhat flustered.  “I’d like the double cheeseburger entrée, medium rare, with garlic cheddar mashed potatoes and the mozzarella salad on the side, please.  With a side Caesar salad.”

The waiter’s face didn’t move as he wrote down Xander’s order.  “And for you, dear?”

“I’d like the chicken Caesar wrap with curly fries.”

“Okay, I’ll put that right in for you and be back in a sec with your drinks.”

Xander let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding as the waiter walked away.

“You need to stop worrying,” Cee told him.

“I shouldn’t have ordered that,” he muttered.

“Why not?  You’re hungry.  You should eat what you want.”

He didn’t tell her that he was currently so hungry, he could have eaten double what he just ordered and still have room for dessert.

“So,” Cee was saying, “you have a sister?”

“Yeah, she’s four years younger than me.  Her name is Alexis.  She’s a senior in high school.”

“What’s she like?  Do you guys get along?”

“Yeah, we get along.  She’s a really sweet girl, very smart.  She doesn’t give me shit about…” he trailed off, looking down at himself.

Cee just nodded.  “I have three older brothers,” she told him.  “The two oldest are pains in the ass, but I get along with the youngest one the best.  We’re really close in age, so we’re kind of like twins.  His name is Kai.”

“So where are your brothers?  And your parents, you said they were in the city?”

“They’re all in the city.  My brothers all wanted to go to college right there where we grew up.  I’m the only one who wanted to go somewhere else.  Kai is in college for psychology, like me, though.”

“Psychology?  So you actually are a part-time student?”

“Yeah,” she told him.  “I wanted to be able to better understand the things that I hear from people’s heads.  I figured psych was the way to go.”

“What…talents…do your brothers have?”

“They’re all mainly energy workers, like Ling.  Kai specializes in healing, like she does.”

“But don’t all demon hunters work with energy?”

Just then Finn came back with their drinks, the wing platter, and Xander’s salad.  He set them down on the table and said, “Enjoy, you guys,” and was gone as quickly as he came.

Cee took a long sip of her water as Xander happily gulped his soda.  “Yes, technically we all work with energy, but it’s like being in college.  Everybody has to take gen eds, but only some people specialize in some of the gen ed topics.  Energy work is just a gen ed for me, and for you, whereas my major is telepathy or clairaudience and yours is…well, smelling and seeing.  I don’t know what the special word for smelling is.”

“Makes sense,” Xander said in between bites of the wings and his salad, which were both delicious.  They chatted some more about Cee’s family as he mowed through the food and drained his soda.  Finn came back a while later with their entrées, and Xander was saddened but not surprised to see that the plate of wings and bowl of salad were empty.  But his sadness dissipated when he saw the burgers that Finn set in front of him.  They were huge and delicious-looking, piled high with condiments and cheese.  The garlic cheddar mashed potatoes were even sprinkled with shredded cheese and garlic.

“You like cheese, don’t you?” Cee remarked.  Her wrap looked like a kid’s meal in comparison to his dinner.

“Uh, y-yeah…”  Xander felt himself blushing as he looked down at his plate.

“Oh, calm down,” she told him.  “I wasn’t making fun of you.  I just noticed that you liked cheese, is all.”

“Can I get you a refill on your soda?” Finn asked.

“Um, yes, please.”

Finn snatched the cup and went off to get him a refill.  Xander immediately began chowing down on his burgers, relishing the way he felt his stomach begin to fill up.  Bite after bite disappeared into his maw before he realized he was making a complete pig of himself.  He glanced over at Cee’s plate and saw that she was barely halfway finished by the time he was almost done.  He immediately dropped his last forkful of mashed potatoes and looked around.  It didn’t seem like anyone was staring at him, but he still felt like the whole room was glaring.

“How’s your food?” Cee asked him.

“Um, it’s really good,” he replied, hushed.

“Nobody’s watching you, y’know.  Except me.”

He stared at her, his brow furrowed.

She grinned at him.  “You’re cute when you eat.  You can tell that you’re really enjoying it.”

Still he stared.  “Thanks…I think.”

“So, are you still hungry?  Wanna get dessert?” she asked him simply.

He gave her a strange look.  “I just inhaled enough food for two people.  And besides, you’re not done yet.”

“But you’re still hungry.  And I don’t think I’m going to finish; I’ll take this back to the dorm and have it tomorrow.  C’mon, let’s get something to share.  Do you like key lime pie?”

Xander more than liked it, so with that, they ordered two slices of key lime pie, at Cee’s command.  But, of course, after three bites, Cee insisted that Xander finish hers, for she “couldn’t eat another bite.”

“Then why did we get two slices?” he asked her as she pushed her plate across the table towards him.

“So you could have a whole piece to yourself, silly.”

Xander just sighed and shoved a hunk of pie into his mouth. 

It wasn’t long before that, too, was gone, and Finn brought their bill, and Xander pulled out his wallet to pay.

“You don’t have to pay for me, y’know.  You paid for the movie.”

Xander blushed.  “It’s alright.  I feel bad.”

“Why do you feel bad?”

“For…for making you be seen in public with me when I devoured all that food.”

She let out a little gasp, staring at him with wide eyes.  “Xander Lucas.  I would never, ever be ashamed to be seen with you, no matter what you were doing.  You’re being downright silly.”  She continued, her eyes shining wetly, “I don’t know how else to make you understand – you’re sweet, and good-looking, and you’re a good person.”

“I’m also the size of a house.”

“And I told you that that doesn’t bother me.”

“It should.”  He took out his bank card and hefted himself up from the seat to go pay.  Cee followed close behind, and soon they were getting into his car in the darkness.

“Xander…”

“What?” he looked over at her as he fiddled with his seatbelt, sucking his gut in.  I think I’m going to have to get extenders soon, he thought in dismay as he fought to get the nylon belt under his overhanging belly.

She was silent for a moment.  “Have you…ever had a girlfriend?”

“Why do you want to know that?”

“I was just curious.”

“I…”  He paused, ashamed.  “No, I’ve never had a girlfriend.  What girl would want all this?” he said bitterly.

Cee was silent.

After a few minutes of driving, he asked, “How many boyfriends have you had?”

“None.”  She stared out the window as they pulled up at a red light.

He looked over at her, shocked.  “What?”

“None,” she said calmly as she returned his gaze.

“Why not?”

She sighed.  “The kinds of guys I like usually don’t know I exist.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.  A hot girl like you?”

“I’m not making it up,” she insisted.  Then, “You think I’m…hot?”

Xander blushed in the light from the streetlamps.  “Well, yeah.  You’re gorgeous.”  He glanced at her.

She was smiling warmly.  “Thank you, Xander.”

“Uh, no problem.  I was just stating the obvious.”