Page 18 of The Hampton Beach Café 3

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Reappearing with a huge butchers' block laden with mini-waffles, tiny pancakes, breakfast sausage muffins cut into quarters, and an entire pitcher of coffee, Frances gasped as Alex grinned.

"Yeah, I think I do," he replied, placing it down and busying himself with pouring her coffee.

“This is without a doubt the best breakfast you have ever made me––did you know that?" she said nearly 20 minutes later, popping the last of the tiny waffle in her mouth topped with half of a strawberry.

"Have I made you that many breakfasts that make that a compliment?" he asked.

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Frances put the fork down with a heavy thud. He must be joking.

"You must be joking," she said, deadpan voice engaged. "Come on, you made me breakfast every time I stayed here!"

Alex turned slowly from the stove and looked at her quizzically.

Slowly, he nodded. "You know what...I think it actually was every time."

He returned to the counter where his own half of the plate still had a few lingering bites left for him to finish.

"Yeah, I know that, but how can you not remember? Your breakfasts were the best!"

Alex smiled at her. "You're just saying that. Come on, it was like, pancakes and sometimes a waffle if the iron was clean."

Frances nodded vigorously. "Look, I'll be honest, I have no idea how any of it tasted––my memory isn't that good. But I do remember absolutely loving you in the kitchen––you'd ask me what I wanted, and within five minutes, you'd be zipping around like a cartoon character fixing it up. Those were some amazing mornings...the best mornings, actually."

He'd slowed his pace down now to a complete stop. A fork full of pancake hung in the air in front of his mouth, and Frances snapped her own shut as she realized he was staring.

"I can't believe you remember those mornings," he said. "Not like, in a ‘your memory is failing you’ way, just that I didn't think they were...I dunno, important."

She felt herself tinging red at this. "I mean, you never had breakfast at mine, right? It was usually me alone, cereal if I was lucky, and most of the time, it was those cardboard tasting bars. It was a real treat to come over here...plus, you've always made me laugh."

It was his turn to blush now, and as he realized he was doing so, he stood and turned away.

"We were an odd pair…you with the fraught family life and me with the pretty calm one," he said as he cleared the bench. "Yet it was me who was getting in trouble and lashing out while you were the golden girl of the whole school."

A snort of disbelief escaped her and she clapped her hand over her mouth to try and keep it in, but it didn't work, and a second burst of laughter followed.

"Look, I know, I know I was all good grades and all that, but I had to be," she said. "I didn't really have a choice. I was sad we weren't better friends, and when my parents thought you were trouble but I was helping you back on the straight and narrow––all the while we were spending half the night walking the streets and eating junk food––it was too perfect. I'm just glad we became so close. You really made my life so much better, you know."

She was speaking to his back but knew he was hearing her. Alex had gotten in with some pretty risky guys back in the day, but when they'd become friends, he had foregone hanging out with them in exchange for spending time with Frances and her other friends––even though they'd all thought he was a bit weird. Frances knew as well that he hated talking about it.