Panorama

Milkshakes. Retro radios. The smell of strong black coffee. Singing in the background. They all mix together, stuck to the bottom of rollerskates sliding on rainbow tile floors. Bells chime. Someone’s having a baby. Someone’s getting dumped. 

“People change, May. They move on,” Henry Thatcher explains in the corner booth. His hair is puffed to the side, and his eyes look too pretty. They sparkle like golden jewels in twilight. Too bad when most girls find out they’re a knockoff. 

“But last week you said…”May cries, grabbing the napkin box from the counter. Mascara runs down her eyes and she dabs them away with 99 cent napkins. You’d imagine that the make-up still must stain. 

“Well I’ve changed. Can’t stay in the same place forever,” Henry breathes, taking a sip of his thick strawberry milkshake. May drops her jaw in horror. She looks like she could be taken right out of a horror movie. 

“Can’t stay with me forever” May corrects him. Henry opens his mouth, a smirk creeping its way up his neck. If he’s not careful, May will spot it. 

“Now I don’t-”

“How interesting are these two, really? Guy looks like he’s jumping out his seat, waiting to get up,” Ty whispers in my ear. I jump, turning around to see him staring at me. He gives me his signature laugh, the one that’s rooted deep inside of him. He caught me again. My eyes are like sores, soaping up everything. Ty reads me like an open book. 

“These two are really more fascinating than work?” He chuckles, leaning against the counter. I shift, my roller skates cutting against my ankles. The wheels squeak against the plastic tile. The song changes in the background. 

“I guess,” I finally say, staring back over at them. Henry’s got anger written all over his face. I cup my check in my hand, watching quietly as they talk. I can’t get much in as Ty slides up beside me, winking as he begins to stare too.

“Let me guess, okay? Tell me if I’ve got it right,” He says, pulling up a cigarette and fidgeting with it in his fingers. He finally tucks it behind his ear, his long chocolate strands strolling down his neck. I nod. 

“Babe, I just can’t be with you anymore. It’s not you, it’s really me. I gotta live a little, I gotta learn,” Ty says, nudging my shoulder with his. Laughter falls out through my lips.

“You’ve got it all figured out,” I explain, brushing my almond hair behind my ears. I shift my position again, almost falling on my skates. The song changes again. People dance to the music. A chocolate milkshake is thrown out the window. Ty smirks.

“People are too predictable,” He exclaims, his eyes still entrance with Henry and May. He laughs watching as May begins to get up, her face full of fury as well. Her heels click like paper cuts on an old man’s heart. Henry watches in awe. 

“That’s not true,” I respond.

“Well I can read you like my favorite book.”

“I…”

“Everyone’s their own panorama. You see everything.”

“Almost everything,” I exclaim. Ty looks at me again. Windows burst open. The music turns steady. Roller skates glide. May finally leaves. And now we are alone.