The T-bird stopped abruptly and Christine nearly went through the windshield. Seth wasn’t the safest driver, but she didn’t have the nerve to tell him to slow down. Instead she secretly clutched the edge of the seat and silently prayed that she would live. Looking out the window she saw they were stopped in front of the local Fuddruckers. Christine felt the stares of people milling about the parking lot as ACDC blared through the car’s open windows. Red tinted her cheeks as she felt the heat rise to her face. She didn’t like being the center of attention, but if she wanted to hang around with Seth she would have to get used to it.

The music was cut off as Seth pulled the key out of the ignition. Looking over at Christine, he mistook her terrified expression for a look of disgust.

“Please don’t tell me you’re not into burgers,” he said.

Christine jumped at the sound of his voice, “What?”

“You’re not one of those chics who are too busy watching their weight to enjoy a burger, are you?”

“Oh! No, no I love a totally greasy burger as much as the next fat chic.” An awkward silence filled the car, and just as Christine started to silently hate herself Seth began to laugh. Getting out of the car Christine was left feeling foolish. Suddenly, Seth’s face appeared at her open window, his arms resting on the car roof.

“You coming?”

As she reached over to unbuckle her seatbelt, Seth opened the door and she slipped out. Instead of going inside the restaurant, Seth led her around to the back of the building. The back was a dead end with trees and dirt facing the back wall and a few dumpsters blocking the other way out. One small light hung over an old iron door, barely lighting anything around it. At first Christine thought they were the only one’s back there until she hear someone call out “Seth!” Squinting she saw a few guys leaning against a dumpster farthest away from the back door. Walking toward them, Christine noticed that they were drinking. She tried to control her facial features so a frown of disapproval wouldn’t appear and make them think she was goodie-goodie.

“Who’s the chic?” asked the guy who shouted out the greeting.

“This is Christine Wheeler. I invited her to hang tonight.”

“Wheeler? She related to Benny Wheeler?”

“Yeah,” Christine chimed in, “that’s my brother.”

This sparked the interest of all the guys who started to shift and mutter. “Dude! You’re chillin’ with Wheeler’s little sis? That could get you in a lot of deep shit!”

Seth shot the kid a look. “Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s chill.” Turning to Christine he asked, “You wanna go get a burger?”

Christine nodded, happy that Seth finally asked if she was hungry. She didn’t like hanging in the back with these guys, it just didn’t feel safe. Turning around the two of them walked away from the guys and headed back to the front of the restaurant.