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Emily sat at the waffle house counter, making popping noises with her mouth. Not just because she liked the way that it sounded, but also because she was bored. She had gotten quite good at that. Being bored, well, that and the popping noises. It’s amazing the skills you acquire after volunteering to work Christmas Day at the waffle house. Hell, at this point she was on track to become the top employee. She’d already worked both Halloween and Thanksgiving prior, and ignoring some minor property damage that may or may not have occurred during some of her shifts, she was rather optimistic about the prospects of a raise. Not that she really needed it given her… side business…
That said, even with the relatively positive thinking, she couldn’t help feeling more than a little under the weather. And it wasn’t just because it was a rainy Christmas. But surely it also wasn’t because she was working on said Christmas. She had volunteered after all. So why did she feel so… whatever the word was. Bored? Yeah, that was probably it, best stick with that one for now.
Popping her mouth a few more times in search of an answer, she eventually drawled into a full on groan, before collapsing onto the counter facefirst, her arms sprawled out in front of her. Tilting her head up just enough to peep at the nearby clock, she confirmed her shift was still only two hours in. It was going to be a long night.
That was, until she heard a ding! The signifier of a customer entering her abode. The signifier of...
“Karen?” Emily blurted out upon laying eyes on the customer. “What are you doing here?”
“What? I can’t just come to get some waffles?”
“On Christmas day?”
“Eh, slow Christmas.”
Emily paused, mostly in hopes that Karen would further elucidate her as to her real purpose in being here. Because unlike Emily, Karen actually had a reason to stay at home on Christmas. She actually had a family that was worth a damn, (with a gremlinoid younger sister to boot). So why would she leave them behind to waste her time here?
“I, uh,” Karen walked up to the counter, finally giving Emily her desired answers. “I wanted to see you.”
“Me?” Emily mouthed, as if the word was foreign to her.
“You.” Karen nodded, confirming the word was indeed plain English.
Emily appreciated the clarification. “What, was the Doctor Who special this year particularly shit or something?”
“Well, yeah, kinda,” Karen said, immediately getting caught up in her nerd tangent. “I mean they titled it ‘The Next Doctor’, but like David Tennant is still the doctor, and the guy they teased as the next one isn’t actually the next one at all but he was like this other dude who got his memories scrambled thanks to the cybermen and so...” Karen finally paused, her eyes widening. “Sorry, uh, no, my point is, that’s not why I’m here.”
Emily didn’t bother to hold back her smirk. It was always cute when Karen went on her little tangents, even if it meant her words became a nonstop slew of nerdbabble she could never keep up with.
Wait... ‘cute’? Where had that word come from?
“Uh, I just wanted to see you. Like I said.” Karen nodded her head again, this time with more confidence plastered across her features.
“I’m fine Karen, don’t go worrying yourself about me.”
“But I do worry,” Karen pressed, her brow creasing. “I care about you Em, you’re my... friend.”
Emily winced, and she wasn’t entirely sure why. “Relax, I volunteered for this gig today.”
“I know you did, that’s why I’m worried.”
“Why? Cuz I’d rather spend my time getting paid than I would wasting it around with my good for nothin’-” Emily caught herself, as if physically wrangling her tongue to prevent it from going any further. “The point is, I’m fine.”
Karen grumbled in that way she often did when she was annoyed. To be fair, Emily didn’t see that sight directed at her a whole lot. It was part of Karen’s charm. She usually put up with Emily’s bullshit. But clearly not today.
“Emily,” Karen placed her hands down on the counter, leaning forward towards the blonde, and instinctively, Emily leaned back. “It’s okay to want to be around people.”
“Yeah,” Emily said, remembering that she never leaned back to anyone, and making an effort to lean forward towards Karen this time. “But I don’t, do I?”
Karen did not move back to give Emily space, and so both girls sat there staring directly into each other's eyes. “Don’t say that,” she began, “of course you-”
“I said I don’t.” Emily barked, and she was surprised with the level of force she managed there. “I’m perfectly fine on my own, so drop it.”
Yet still, Karen did not back down. In fact, she only stood up taller, and then began to walk her way towards, and then along the edge of the counter, making her way to the flap that led to the back where Emily was.
“Uh, you’re not supposed to be back here-”
“Emily.” Karen cut in, coming to a stop in front of her.
“Karen?” Emily responded, now admittedly more than a little intimidated by the geek’s stare that was currently permeating her very soul.
“Come spend Christmas with me,” Karen outstretched her hand.
Emily paused, her eyes locked on Karen’s hand entirely unsure of how to react, so instead she didn’t. She opted to simply stare at Karen’s palm, her mouth sort of forming a strange ‘O’ shape as she tried and failed to form any words.
“Come, spend Christmas, with me.” Karen repeated, giving her hand a small shake for emphasis as the edges of her lips curled up into a small but reassuring smile.
“I- I can’t, I’m on the clock and-”
“Emily, you tell me nearly every day how much you actually hate this job, how you’ve already begun looking at other places.”
“Not true,” Emily lied.
“Very true, you texted me the other week ranting about it.”
Emily cursed her tendency to text Karen her spur of the moment thoughts whenever she got high. “But what if somebody comes in and-”
“Look around, this place is dead. You should prioritize yourself, not your work.”
Emily turned away, leaning over the counter again. “Maybe I am prioritizing myself.”
Karen followed suit, leaning over the counter beside Emily as well, leaning slightly into her shoulder. There was a moment where no words were exchanged. Just the silent buzzing of the lights overhead, mixing with the faint syrup-like smell that Emily knew damn well wasn’t actually syrup.
Then, slowly, Emily leaned onto Karen. It felt good to lean on each other.
“I get you have issues with your family,” Karen finally spoke up, slow enough that Emily could interject or stop her if she wanted. She didn’t. “But I promise I’m not gonna yell at you or anything. We can just relax and have a fun time.”
“I don’t… do this…” Emily mouthed out. For some reason, her mouth, which so often spouted words faster than her mind could proofread them, was stuttering now, with her brain actually taking the time to vet each syllable.
“What? Hanging out with people? We hang out all the time-”
“No, I mean like, I don’t do… this is just…” Emily sighed, giving up. “This is different.”
“Is it?”
“It feels different.”
Karen hummed slightly, something she did when she was deep in thought, and again, there was a silence only interrupted by Karen’s low hum. Eventually however, her humming formed itself into a sort of popping noise. One Emily knew all too well, and responded with her own popping noise in turn.
It wasn’t long before they were both making little mouth pops in unison, and then that continued on for a bit before the next, and final stage took over. The giggling, which did unfortunately prevent any further pops. All the same, it felt good to giggle with Karen. To lean on her, to be with her.
Emily liked being with Karen. Emily liked… Karen?
Why was this so confusing? She had always been so confident in herself before. Able to immediately open up and admit to whatever feelings she had to the world, because that was who she was. That was who she wanted to be. Tired of being small, or scared. No, she wanted to be big. She wanted to be the one others feared. But Karen didn’t fear her. Karen never feared her. If anyone else had dared not to fear her, that would have been akin to a slap to the blonde’s face, and yet…
She found that she appreciated Karen for going against everything that Emily had assumed she had wanted. Now, here she was, giggling, and popping, and just being dumb, and small, and as unthreatening as she could be, and all with Karen. And it felt good. It felt good, and she found that was the very most terrifying thing.
Emily’s thoughts swirled about in her brain, trying to make sense of this tangled web and before she knew it, she felt a slight tugging on her sleeve. Glancing to her side, she saw Karen had stood up again, and was trying to get her attention.
“What’s up?” Emily asked, also standing up tall.
“I, uh… brought you something.”
“You… brought me something? Why?”
“It’s Christmas dummy, I’m sure you can figure it out,” Karen giggled again, pulling out a small box from her surprisingly spacious jean pockets, and handing it to Emily.
Tentatively, Emily gingerly took the box as if in fear it might bite her. Then, equally as slow, she opened it revealing a Nickelback CD with ‘Dark Horse’ plastered just below the main band name. She pulled it out, and examined the case. Emily had never been fond of the band. She didn’t hate them, she just also didn’t like them. They were perfectly average in her brain, which typically made it all the worse than if they were flat out bad. At least if they were flat out bad, then Emily could muster enough emotion to rant about them, but these guys were just… bleh.
So why was Emily smiling? Why was she beaming? Why did it feel like her world was melting, but in a good way? Why did she feel so deeply connected to this stupid little CD in her hand, and why did she instantly feel the desire to memorize every song scratched into this stupid little disc?
But most importantly, why didn’t she struggle to get out the next two words she hadn’t even been planning to say? Two words she never said to anyone, ever. And yet, they just slipped out in the form of, “Thank you,” all the same.
“Yeah.” Karen smiled. “I, uh, actually wasn’t sure if they were any good, but the cover looked grungy so I thought it’d be up your alley. Sorry if it’s, uh, bad.”
“No,” Emily shook her head, “thanks, it’s uh, it’s cool. I like it.” She attempted to downplay the first word that came to her mind, opting for ‘cool’ instead. It felt like the less gushy option, and Emily hated gushy. Still, she realized she was holding the CD to herself, and she didn’t really want to stop.
“Hey, uh, you wanna skip?”
“Skip?”
“Yeah, uh, we can pop by my car. Good chance to test this out.” She waved the CD in the air as if it were a fan.
Karen beamed, her face perfectly managing to show every emotion Emily found she wished she could so easily share right now. “Yeah,” she smiled. “I’d like that.”