Tara and Dani didn't seem like the sort of pair to have much in common. And on the surface, they didn't.
Where Tara was more professional in her off-duty clothes, wearing button-ups and sweaters with new pairs of jeans and stylish wedges, Dani was still very much into the edgy, alternative style that had carried her through high school; just with a newfound emphasis on comfort that unfortunately emphasized her plump physique. Where Tara wore Levis, Dani wore leggings. Tara made sure that the rolls on her sleeves were perfectly symmetrical, and Dani was probably the only one in town still rocking a Black Veil Brides t-shirt.
"Jesus, we look like that meme." Dani chuckled, "You know, the one with the rainbow-haired chick and the goth girl with glasses?"
"...I have rainbow hair?"
"In this situation, yes." Dani held up an example of the My Sister and I Are Total Opposites meme on her phone across the booth, "Not that you should actually do it though. It'd probably be hella hard to keep up."
"As opposed to your black box dye."
"Professional hair dye is expensive!"
It had taken some time before Tara felt like it wouldn't be weird for her to ask Dani if she wanted to hang out outside of work, but she was glad that she did. Getting to joke around on the clock was fun, but this way they weren't constantly getting interrupted by customers placing orders or complaining or wanting to speak to the manager or just... being customers.
"What are you gonna have?"
"All-Star Breakfast platter. Duh." Dani snarked, "Like there's anything else worth getting at Waffle House."
She had a point. Tara was eating out here instead of eating at home with her mom for once. And a long day at work had left her feeling a little peckish. Somehow sneaking fries and onion rings every now and again didn't seem to mean much when it was time to sit down to dinner with your friend after work.
"Sounds good to me."
"Damn straight it does."
Despite the fact that they were so different, Tara and Dani actually had a lot in common. They'd both gone to Boiling Springs High School, they both used to have crushes on Ethan Haynes, and they even used to run in the same social circles despite the two-year age difference. Back when Tara was a senior, Dani would have been her sister's age. Honestly... she was kind of surprised that the two of them had never hung out.
"Honestly, I probably need to stop eating at work so much." Dani groused, though not looking back at the menu for a healthier option, "Or else they'll start calling me Doughy Dani at Big Daddy's like they did in high school."
"They called you Doughy Dani in high school?" Tara curled her nose to the side, "Assholes. You're not even that big."
"What, like you never heard it." the pale goth snorted in disbelief, "I heard about you."
"Dani, you were a freshman and I was a senior. Seniors didn't talk about Freshmen." Tara did a double-take, "Wait, what'd you hear about me?"
"Nothing baaaaaad..." Dani trailed off, "Just a little rumor about you and Josh Flanks—"
"Oh my god, this again—I never went out with him!"
The two of them caught up like old friends who had never known one another. Swapping stories about people that they knew from high school, or other kids that they had known through the grapevine that were all grown up and with problems of their own.
"Do you remember Mackenzie Hollifield? The little goody-goody in the Federation of Christian Athletes?"
"I think so?" Tara searched her memory while sifting through her breakfast plate, "She ran track, right? My sister's age, really skinny?
"Yeah, well, she's a cow now." Dani didn't seem at all upset with this revelation if the wicked little smile on her face was any indication, "She dropped out of college and got with some guy who's like... ten years older than her. Got pregnant and just blimped up."
"Oh no, that sucks." Tara frowned momentarily, "I mean, you're stupid for getting married straight out of high school anyway, but it still sucks."
"I call it karma." Dani sniffed, "Serves her right for starting that whole Doughy Dani thing."
"She started that?"
"Probably. It definitely came from her friend circle." Dani took a bite of her maple-syrup-covered kindling of bacon, "I wanna run up to her one day and call her Big Mac."
"Dani no." Tara laughed darkly, "You're such a bitch."
"But not as big of a bitch as Mackenzie~"
The two of them ate and talked and caught up and swapped stories... it was nice! Sort of like a little refresher course for the time that Tara had been away. In Charleston, much of her life had been dedicated to climbing the corporate ladder before it had been pulled out from under her. She hadn't been able to catch up like this with... well, anybody really. She didn't even have that many fun stories that she could tell Dani in return since most of her free time had been spent with her cat...
God, what a waste all that time was...
Tara took a sad little chomp of what remained of her waffle, soaked in syrup and butter. It was big enough that she finished it off.
"Jeez Tare, you hungry?"
"Nah, just... ugh... depressed." Tara frowned as she leaned back into her side of the booth, "I feel like my life's going downhill, you know?"
"I mean, Spartanburg tends to have that effect of people." Dani said noncommittally as she took her own bite of breakfast, "But it's not that bad."
"I guess." Tara frowned, "It's all just temporary anyway. Living with my mom, working this stupid waitressing job... it's just keeping me from dipping into my savings until I get a better job and can move back out of this hellhole."
"Sounds fun—take me with?"
"You got it." Tara chuckled, "You like cats?"
"Does my wardrobe look like someone that can afford to like cats?" Dani referred to her black t-shirt as it clung to her plump chest and arms, "I can barely afford to pay my mom rent, let alone enough lint rollers to keep me from looking like a crazy cat lady."
"Ooh, we were so close to a deal." Tara winced playfully before sliding out of the booth, "Come on, let's get outta here."
"Aw, come on, I don't wanna go home yet." Dani grunted as she stood to her full height, just a half a head shorter than Tara, "Wanna grab milkshakes? My treat?"
"So you can afford milkshakes, but not lint rollers." Tara scoffed, "Some hypothetical roommate you are."
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author
