Chastity’s appearance, fully dressed and looking almost happy brought whatever conversation would have continued between him and Jean to a halt as Jack’s attention became focused on Chastity. She was still wearing the pink shirt but now she had on denim overalls, a pair of white socks and the sneakers she’d worn coming into the project. Jack thought she looked mighty cute, even though her hair was in a simple ponytail rather than the braids it had been in the night before. He also realized that he didn’t have shoes on and headed back to his room to put them on and grab his jacket. A few minutes later they were all heading towards the front door of the old school, properly dressed against the winter chill. They all got into a tan Ford Crown Victoria of very recent manufacture and headed off.
Jean waited until they were out of the parking lot and underway before speaking. “So, what do you two want to eat?”
Jack looked at Chastity who shrugged. “Oh you’re helpful,” he whispered to her. She gave off a small smile at his joking comment, but said nothing. “Um… I guess a good place that serves breakfast.”
“Denny’s?” Mary suggested to Jean, and then looked back at the teens.
Jack looked at Chastity again, who shook her head no, and then went about staring out the window at the snow-capped buildings and cars they were driving past. “Um, I think Denny’s is out; how about a classier place instead?”
“There’s that restaurant on Hawthorne… what is it called again?” Jean asked.
“Alexander’s, I think. They have good pancakes,” Mary said.
“That’s fine,” Jack said. He looked at Chastity for some sort of confirmation, but got nothing from her; she was still looking out the window. Jack gave off a little sigh, and then sat back to enjoy the ride. He’d had the foresight to bring along his iPod, and before too long, he had Megadeth playing in his ears. Oddly enough, the song he was playing was “Trust,” from the album Cryptic Writings. This irony was lost on him, though, as Jean drove along to Alexander’s.
They reached the restaurant soon enough, and Jack pocketed his iPod in his coat once the car pulled into the parking lot. As they were walking to the door Jack and Chastity lagged behind a few paces. “You all right?” he asked her quietly.
Chastity looked at him for a moment and then away from him and towards the restaurant’s entrance. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I guess.” She sighed. “I’ll be okay, Jack, really.”
He held the door open for her when they reached it. “I know, but you’ve been awfully quiet since we left.” He thought about it for a moment. “Not that I can blame you for it.”
Chastity smiled a little. “Yeah,” was all she said as they walked into the restaurant itself. A waitress grabbed four menus and led them to a quiet booth. The nurses slid into one side, Chastity took the inside seat of the other and Jack slid in next to her.
“Would you like anything to drink?” the waitress asked with a cheerful tone.
“Coffee, please,” Jean said.
“For me as well,” Mary piped up.
