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Sara was never a fan of fast food; the convenience was almost too good to be true. She would rather sit down with her family over a bowl of chicken and noodles, or pork with vegetables. To consume what would be considered "Western food" was.. strange. Nevertheless, it was something Sara wasn't going to refuse when Nao invited her to dinner at ... McDonald's. Her treat.
"I know it's not the nicest thing I could do, but you deserve to take a break from all the fancy food!" Nao looked around as she walked with Sara to leave the campus. The red-haired girl was used to cheaper food, and ended up enjoying it a lot more than she should have.
Sara found herself a little perplexed, but interested. "Alright. What do they have there to eat?" A small smile on Sara's face from Nao's enthusiasm could be seen.
"Well.. it's mostly just burgers and fries, but they do have some salads, and even chicken nuggets!! And sometimes, when you go to the really big Mcdonalds restaurants, they have playpens for the kids!"
"I wouldn't say I'm in the mood for a salad. Are the burgers okay?"
"Yeah!!! They come in all shapes and sizes too, and sometimes they have special sauces!" As excited Nao was, it was less about the food and more about spending time with Sara. The two met in high school, and soon realized they would be going to the same college. They would have roomed together, but Nao and Reko were dating. Sara didn't mind, and ended up with a pretty okay roommate named Ranmaru. They didn't talk that much because of his hands-on science major, but he was sweet. And kind of awkward.
"Okay. I could go for a burger, I suppose. What time do you want to meet there?"
"7:30 okay?" Nao paused. "And, Reko can't join us. She's got to finish something up for her test tomorrow."
"Hmm. See you then, Nao." Sara gave the shorter girl a pat on the head, chuckled, and left to go back to her dorm.
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"You're going OUT tonight?"
Sara looked at Ranmaru, who took his attention off his computer to give Sara a puzzled expression. "Yes, Ranmaru, I am leaving the house for non-professional purposes. But don't sweat it. I'll be back by 9:00." The boy seemed calmer after hearing about the curfew Sara gave herself; he obviously didn't want her getting into any trouble. He could use a treat for the friendship he gave her.
I suppose I could ask him this.. "Do you want anything from McDonalds?"
"Huh. I thought you were going to a party for a second! Just a couple burgers and a medium fry. With a Coke, maybe? Sorry if that's too much." He wasn't expecting Sara to buy him dinner, and while Sara wasn't actually buying dinner, she didn't mind paying for his food.
"Not at all. I just figured you could use something to snack on while you..." She glanced at his computer. "...calculate the velocity it would take to throw a piece of meat and heat it up to the point where it was cooked." Puzzled, she looked at the boy with white hair. "Is that even possible?!"
"Listen. It's the idea my partner named Joe made up, who somehow landed in our class. He is a swell boy to be around."
... Joe? No, it couldn't be... Sara stopped. "Is his... last name Tazuna?"
"As a matter of fact," Ranmaru lifted up his finger. "his last name is Tazuna. Why do you ask?"
Joe Tazuna was one of the more popular boys from Sonobeno Academy. He would always hang out with his equally goofy friends and do stupid things to make them laugh. It seemed to Sara that he had never changed, and was continuing to be a doofus in college. It almost made her feel proud that he made it into college, since he wasn't the type to do well in school. "I remember him from my high school. He was a good kid." But enough about Joe. Sara had to leave. "It's almost 7:30. I have to meet Nao, but I'll be back soon! Don't burn the dorm building down." She smiled at Ranmaru, and he waved to her as she walked out of the room. And with that, Sara headed out to go hang out with Nao, and consume food that was less than healthy.
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It was a nice evening outside; the sun was about to set, a breeze had come in, making the air cool, and the view of the city wasn't all that bad. Sara had figured that her and Nao could sit outside and enjoy their meal, pretending that they weren't eating McDonalds. Walking into the restaurant, she found the redheaded girl next to the counter where two young people were taking separate orders. In fact, the one on the left looked a lot like -
Is that... Joe? His hair was under a net and cap, but his gaudy voice was quite familiar. Almost. A lot of boys look like him.. I doubt that Joe would work here.
Shaking her head and walking over to where Nao was, she greeted her with a smile. "Hi there, Picasso." She looked around at the gaggle of people taking up almost all of the seats inside. "Do you mind the two of us sitting outside? I'm not a big fan of the crowd in here.
Nao looked up at her. "No probs, Sara! I brought my sketchbook in case the sunset looked alright to draw, and it turns out it does!" She turned a bit to the right to showcase her yellow backpack that she usually had on.
"How cute! I know you get nervous sometimes, so do you want me to order for you? Just tell me what you want, Nao." Nao blushed, and giggled at Sara.
"You can order if you reeeallly want to. I only want McNuggets with ketchup and a strawberry banana smoothie!!! I'll be outside!" Nao handed Sara the money and happily left the building to sit where she could see the sunset. Now Sara was alone, ordering food in a place she had never been in. But she was capable of pretty much anything, anyway. McDonalds wasn't supposed to be scary, but why was she nervous walking to the counter?
"What do you MEAN you can't make the McNuggets into dinosaurs!??" A voice could be hear from behind the machinery and workers. "It's TOTALLY a good business idea!" Whoever it was, they were probably Sara's age, and a boy. Definitely a boy.
Sara was sure right, and the boy who she first saw when she walked in was not only the doofus - doofus? - who complained about there not being dinosaur McNuggets, but it was the boy taking her order. And boy, was he happy to take it.
"Hi, welcome to McDonalds! What can I getcha?"
Oh my god.
That certainly was the voice of Joe Tazuna, and it was clear to Sara that he hadn't recognized her yet. His energy was almost overwhelming, to the point where Sara couldn't speak. She just .. stared at him for a moment, and eventually mustered up the words of what she wanted.
"Uh.. I'll have some McNuggets." Sara. You fucking idiot. How many did Nao want? Come to think of it, Nao didn't specify, and currently Sara had to guess the number of chicken nuggets Nao Egokoro wanted from fucking McDonalds. And now she looked like an idiot in front of her cashier.
Luckily for her, Joe was a patient guy, and had worked with a lot worse.
"Okay! How many? We got a lot of options for your nugget cravings, like the 6 piece, the 10 piece, the chicken tenders if you're feelin crazy, and then the double 6 piece and the double 10 piece, which are just the 12 piece and 20 piece-" the boy realized he was rambling. "Sorry for talkin' ya head off. You get the idea." He nervously chuckled, and let Sara have her turn at the talking.
And even though Joe felt he was rambling, Sara quite appreciated his little monologue about how many nuggets one could order. "No, it's okay. Thank you for the information. I've .. never been to McDonalds. I'm ordering for my friend, and they didn't specify the quantity of chicken nuggets." She paused, and thought for a moment. "I'll take a 10 piece, with ketchup if you don't mind?"
Joe looked flabbergasted. "You've never been to McDonalds??? What have you been doin' your whole life?!?!" He rung up the beginning of her order and grabbed some ketchup packets. Taking a moment to look up at her, a little lightbulb began to flicker in his head. "Wait.. can you tell me your name real quick? I gotta make sure the order has one."
"Oh. My name, of course! It's Sara." There was a little bit of a spark in Joe's eyes, and she noticed. The spark began to grow in her eyes as well.
"Sara Chidouin?!! GOSH, it's been so long, buddy pal!" Joe acted like they had been best friends all throughout high school, but that was because Joe acted like everyone was his friend. "You remember ol' Joe Tazuna, righty?"
"Oh, I remember. You were quite the class clown. Also, I have more to order, if that's okay. I don't want to keep anyone else waiting." Even though she meant to be quick with her conversation, Joe would talk her head off anyway, and she didn't mind.
"Alright, alright. Gotcha. Sorry if you couldn't notice me without my fashionable hair. I have to keep it under a net all day, which sucks! Do you know how cool I would look serving people with my hair?!"
Oh, how predictable you are, Joe Tazuna.
Sara smiled at him, and the twinkle in her eyes matched his. It was nice, this little blurb of conversation. "I think you would look... radical." Their energies seemed to match each others as Sara continued to order her food, and eventually Joe rang her up.
"You're getting it for here, right?"
"Not all of it, but you don't have to go out of your way to bag it. I'm just bringing some dinner home for my roommate. Come to think of it, you're working with him in Physics right now." Sara was hoping he would get the hint. "What's up with throwing chicken?"
Joe's head cocked to the side, much like a puppy, but soon it clicked. "Oh! Ranmaru! He's quite the catch, isn't he? Smart and hardworking. I can't compete."
"Don't beat yourself up. I'm proud of you for going to college," Sara remarked as she went to pay for everything with Nao's cash. I hope I'm not keeping Nao waiting..
"You are?! Well, thanks Sara! Maybe I'll see you around!" He winked, much like he always did to everyone. "Can you tell me where you're sitting so I can bring ya' your food?"
"Oh, my apologies for not telling you earlier. I'm outside, with the girl in yellow and blue. She has pink hair as well."
"No problem! See ya' then, Sara!"
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"What an odd boy," Nao giggled. "So you know him from school?"
Sitting across from Nao with her food recently placed in front of her, Sara thought again about what it was like to know such an 'odd boy.' "Yes, as a matter of fact. I'm glad I got to run into him again, I guess. I don't think we'll see each other around campus, but maybe we will. Only time will tell."
"Totally, Sara!" Nao took a bite of a nugget, grabbed her pencil, and continued to sketch. "So. Do you think he's cute?"
To say Sara was taken aback was an understatement. She didn't really think about people being.. cute. She didn't have the time, anyway. "I can't say. Losing my mind over a boy is the last thing I need to do. It'll.. distract me," Sara concluded.
"Don't be ridiculous! You're the one person who could actually USE a break around here, Sara. I'm not saying he's the one, but he's pretty nice. Maybe try visiting here again, and talk to him while he's on break!"
"Nao, if I WERE to interact with a boy, or anyone with romantic intrigue, I would put more thought into it than just running to McDonalds and asking for 'Joe.' But thank you for the help. I'll mention this to my roommate who happens to be working with him on a physics project."
She stopped for a moment, and let herself unwind. There was no need to get so stressed over a boy. They didn't know each other that well, and they probably wouldn't cross paths again. She would live.
"Let me ask you something, Nao."
"Yes, Sara?"
But he would visit her thoughts every now and then.
"Do you think if you catapult a raw chicken fast enough, and with enough force, that you could fully cook it?"
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