The Education of Hailey Kendrick - Eileen Cook [43]
The waitress looked me over, noting my uniform skirt. She raised an eyebrow at Drew. I was impressed she could lift it, given the amount of foundation that was on her face.
“We’re going to need a range of things here. I’m not sure we can choose. We’ll have the All-American Slam, a Lumberjack Slam, a side of biscuits and sausage gravy, the smothered hash browns . . . oh, and some pancakes. Are you still doing that stuffed French toast, too? The one with the strawberries?” Drew ran his finger down the menu to make sure there wasn’t anything he had forgotten.
“You got it, Drew. You need cream for the coffee, sweetheart?”
I looked down at the coffee. “Do you make lattes?”
“Does this look like Starbucks?” She asked with a snap of her gum.
“Right. I’ll have the cream.” I considered asking her if they could warm the cream up in the back, but I decided it wouldn’t go over well, and with my luck she would spit in my eggs. Drew gave a nod to the busboy as he passed with his tub of dirty dishes.
“Do you know every Denny’s employee, or just the ones that work at this location?” I asked him.
“I used to work here in the kitchen, and I still help out once in a while if they’re short staffed.”
“Can’t resist the allure of the food, huh?”
“Can’t resist the extra cash. Somehow I managed to misplace my trust fund, so I’ve got to stockpile as much as I can for Yale.”
I wasn’t sure exactly how much Yale cost, but I knew it wasn’t cheap. I was worried enough about getting in. I couldn’t imagine worrying about how to pay for it too.
“Maybe you can get a scholarship,” I suggested. “There’s all kinds of information about that stuff online.”
Drew cocked his head and looked at me. “Careful, or I’m going to start thinking you care. Don’t you worry about me. I’ve applied for loans and grants, and that fancy school of yours pays pretty good to clean desks. I’ll come up with the money.” He rubbed his hands together. “Now we have to decide what to do with the day.”
“Why do we have to do anything?”
“Because this is found time. It’s a gift. Where should you be right now?”
I looked over at the yellowing plastic clock that hung on the wall. “Math.”
“Now, isn’t this better than math?” Drew motioned around the room.
“I’m withholding judgment at this point.”
“Now you’re just being a snot. If you’re going to skip, then you have to do something worthwhile. Otherwise the trouble won’t be worth it.” Drew snapped his fingers. “We could go skiing.”
I looked at him. Was he nuts? “I don’t know how to ski.”
“You look like you have the capacity to learn. I can spot talent. You look like a natural. Didn’t your mom and dad ever take you to Aspen? Maybe doing a bit of snow time with the royal family in the Alps?”
“No.” I sipped the coffee. It wasn’t bad. “I can’t say the queen and I have done a lot of snowboarding.”
The waitress was back. She filled the table with plates. “The French toast is still coming.”
I poked the gray object on the plate in front of me with my fork. It looked like it might fight back.
“Biscuits with sausage gravy. Looks disgusting, tastes great.” Drew jabbed his fork in and held a clump of it out in front of my face. He waved it back and forth in front of my lips. “Open up, or I’m going to start making choo-choo noises.”
I opened my mouth, and he popped the food in. I was prepared for it to taste like dryer lint covered in Elmer’s glue, but it was actually sort of tasty.
“Ah, not bad, huh?” Drew stuck the fork back in and ate some. “Try the hash browns. Give that Four Seasons palate a good grease wash.”
I wasn’t crazy