Page 35 of A Vicious Rumor

"Yeah, okay," I replied. I watched him as he made his way to the restroom at the back of the somewhat run down diner. The dinner location had been his pick, but he'd assured me they had fries on the menu and that fries were vegan (he claimed he'd Googled it).

I couldn't help but think back to the conversation I'd had with my mother earlier that evening before Tyson picked me up.

"I'm just worried that he's going to break your heart, my dear," my mother said.

"Mom, he's just a friend," I replied.

My mother gave me a knowing look. "For now. But, I can tell by looking at you that you don't want it to stay that way."

"I don't know what I want," I admitted.

"That's even more concerning."

"Everything's concerning to you, Mom," I replied. "I'm a seventeen year old girl. I'm not supposed to have it fully worked out, am I?"

"I had you at seventeen," she admitted.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "But I don't think you had it entirely worked out then, either."

She sighed. "Yes, but I wish I'd learned from some of my mistakes. I'm just trying to save you the pain that I experienced."

"There's no guarantee that one, anything's going to happen, and two, even if it does, that he breaks my heart."

"A boy like that is going to break your heart," my mother said.

I gave her a sad smile. "That's not entirely fair to say of him, is it?"

"You're from two different worlds, my dear."

"That's a very antiquated way of thinking, Mom. I imagine people said that about interracial marriages at some point, too. Race, wealth, class, upbringing, all of these things are just labels we create to exclude one another. All it does is deny one another happiness for no reason.

"Besides," I continued. "I don't think Tyson is from a different world than I am. Considering his upbringing, I'm not entirely certain he's from a world at all."

"Even worse," my mother remarked. "Then he has nothing to ground him."

That was the last thing my mother had said before the lights of Tyson's Jeep flashed in the driveway, and we ended the conversation. I loved my mother dearly, and I respected her opinion on things. Which was why her opinion of Tyson was a bit hard for me to swallow.

Because, she was right.

I did like him.

I liked him a lot.

And he had proven himself capable of hurting me already. Ghosting me for a majority of the summer hadn't been ideal. But then, him and I weren't dating. We weren't anything at that point. There was no expectation for him to contact me, so I couldn't hold it against him that he hadn't.

"You look deep in thought," Tyson said as he slid back into the booth.

I scrunched my eyes shut, forcing the negative thoughts from my head. Right now I was with him, and I wanted to enjoy my time with him. I opened my eyes to meet his gaze and smiled. "All good."

"Well, good," he said. "I already took care of the check."

I started to protest, but he just held up his hand. "Don't argue."

I gave him a mischievous look, but nodded my head. "I really don't want the evening to end," he said, "but I've got somewhere I have to go."

"Oh," I said, letting a bit of sadness coat my voice.

He reached his hand across the table and tentatively brushed his fingers against mine. "But, I'd actually really like it if you came with me? It won't be that long. I just need to stop in and then we can hang out some more."

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