Milkshake for two

“What are your New Year's resolutions?” I ask my friend Tyler, between classes, “I have a couple,” Tyler bumps his shoulder into mine, tilting his head to look at me. 

“I only have one,” He says nonchalantly. 

“Really?” He nods, “Well, what is it?” Tyler slows down, avoiding my eyes. 

“I’ll tell you later,” I’m about to push for an answer when the bell rings, causing me to jump and grab Tyler’s arm.

“Wow, you really can’t get your hands off me, can you?” He teases, pulling me closer before seeing the flush on my cheeks and letting me go. “See you after class,” 

After listening to Mr. Francis drone on about U.S history for way too long, I find Tyler in the hall waiting for me. 

“To what do I owe you the pleasure?” I ask, falling into step next to him. 

“Well since it’s finally lunch time,” He makes a flourishing motion pointing up at a nearby clock, “I thought we could walk to the cafeteria together,” I give him a sceptical glance. 

“Tyler, What are you planning?” He gasps, drawing a hand to his heart as if my words cause him physical pain. 

“I didn’t know you thought so low of me, Vee,” I give him a flat look until he continues. “I thought we could get out and go somewhere, like a McDonalds or something,”  I scoff,

“And how do you propose we avoid getting caught,” I ask. Tyler links his arm with mine,

“You just watch, we’ll even be back in time for class,” I sigh but don’t argue any further letting Tyler guide me through the halls to wherever he intends in executing his master plan. 

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When Tyler said he had a plan, I didn’t expect it to be booking it into the school parking lot and into his car, and I least of all, expected it to work. Out of breath and full of new found excitement, Tyler and I sit in his beat up Toyota Corolla, a comfortable silence between us. 

“I can’t believe that worked,” I sigh. Tyler flashes me a smile like he knew it would but I can tell he had some doubts from the relief plastered all over his face. 

“To McDonalds!” He exclaims pumping his fist in the air before starting the car and peeling out of his parking space. 

Once we arrive Tyler opens my car door and hooks his arm in mine,

“M’lady,” He tips a fake hat before leading me through the door.  The McDonalds is surprisingly full, most of the tables are taken by families big and small with young children that couldn’t agree on anything but the cheap fast food burgers. 

We walk up to the counter, Tyler letting our arms drop as I examine the menu. They have some sort of couples discount, I begin to wonder how much it would take to convince the cashier that Tyler and I are dating and to give us a free milkshake, but it seems I’m not the only one who noticed, because Tyler grabs my hand and throws a quick wink in my direction. 

The cashier is an older woman with blonde hair cut into a bob and a no-nonsense look on her face. After we take our order I look at Tyler, fake-bashful and then back at the cashier, 

“Can we get the free couples shake?” I ask. Tyler shifts so that our clasped hands are in view. The cashier looks at us skeptically. 

“The couples shake is for actual couples not cheap teenagers who think they can get away with playing pretend,” She snaps. 

In a moment of panic and embarrassment, I pull Tyler towards me and plant a kiss on his cheek. He tries to hide the surprise from his face, which I can obviously see, but the cashier seems oblivious as she sighs and adds the free milkshake to our order. 

Tyler and I take our food and rush out to the car, laughing. 

“Victory!” I exclaim as I yank open the door and throw myself into the passenger seat. I look over and meet Tyler’s eyes, deep pools of blue. We stare silently before bursting into laughter a second time. 

I put the hard-earned milkshake in the cup holder.

“The true question is, who gets the milkshake?” Tyler raises a quizzical eyebrow. I quickly dip down and take a sip,

“We’ll share,” I decide. He shrugs and take a sip as well. 

“It tastes like victory,” He nods. 

We devour our cheap cheeseburgers sparing a few glances at the time to make sure we aren’t late, before stuffing all the trash into a plastic bag Tyler keeps in his car. 

We make fun of the cashier woman’s mean expression as we drive back to school when I look at the dashboard time again. 

“We’re gonna be late,” I sigh. Tyler shrugs.

“At least we share this class, Let’s just hope we don’t get locked out of the classroom,” I nod. 

It turns out hoping isn’t enough to prevent us from getting locked out in the hallway. Tyler and I sit outside the classroom, backs to the wall, not an ounce of remorse between the two of us. 

“I accomplished my New Year’s resolution today,” Tyler says. 

“Really? What was it, Sneaking out of school?” He actually looks nervous for once, which startles me, as he meets my eyes. 

“Going on a date with you,” 

My face flushes as I force myself to maintain eye contact. 

“McDonalds was a kind of crappy date location,” I say. Tyler visibly melts. “You’ll have to take me somewhere better next time,” I finally allow myself to turn away before I die from embarrassment. I take his hand in mine as we sit silently in the empty hallway, but the touch is enough to make up for a thousand words unspoken.

 I just can’t help but wonder what our classmates will think when they find us out here. Will they be surprised? Or maybe they’ve suspected it all along, but I couldn’t care less. All that matters right now is that I’m here, and Tyler is here next to me.