Free Woman

Felix returns briefly to take El and Chloe's orders. Without even looking at the menu they boldly order everything they said they were going to in the car. The biggest burgers available, fries, milkshake, and a banana split for later. It is not long before El and Chloe each have a tall frosty milkshake in front of them, strawberry for El and vanilla for Chloe, whip cream and cherry on top.

"My second cherry today!" Chloe peeps as she eats the bright red maraschino. Elsie gives her a look and she remembers she is in mixed company. "He he he. I mean, normal cherries of course."

Casey cocks a brow. "Of course."

El shakes her head and laughs. Nothing was going to get her down tonight. She eats her cherry and is immediately pestered by Chloe.

"El, do the thing."

"Chloe, I don't think..."

"Pleaaaase." Chloe grins and blinks her humongous eyes.

El sighs. "Fine." Normally she wouldn't out in public but tonight she just didn't give a damn. Popping the stem in her mouth she closes her lips, shifts her jaw once, and in the blink of an eye produces the stem again but now tied in a perfect little knot. She gives it to Chloe.

"Ha ha!" Chloe cheers. "Elsie's the BEST with her mouth."

El blushes, rolls her eyes, and shakes her head yet again. Casey notices El's trick and Chloe's statement had gained the attention of some of the men who were already ogling the young woman. Some even making some rather crude comments judging by the jeering laughter of their friends. Again, El is oblivious.

"You seem in a good mood." Casey observes.

"We're celebrating." Chloe says.

"Oh? What's the occasion?"

Chloe stammers and looks to El nervously. She knew she couldn't say they were celebrating the fact that her cousin Jesse was now a part of the family way, Chloe didn't buy El's theory of Fiona and Jesse pairing off. As far as Chloe was concerned it was going to be family orgies every weekend and holiday from now on.

El doesn't hesitate. "We're celebrating new beginnings! Moving on! Forging my own path!"

The red head notes the shift from plural to singular. In an instant Casey gleans the general meaning, if not the specifics. Elsie was moving on from someone that had been special to her, a crush or a boyfriend Casey guessed. Chloe was probably here for moral support. This was a girl's night out for sure. Had El been over 21 they would likely be a bar right now instead of a diner.

Casey raises her 7-up in toast. "Well then, here's to moving on."

Chloe and El clink glasses to Casey's. "Moving on!"

The cousins each take a long slurp of thick delicious milkshake, Casey takes a small sip of her drink.

Having bottled up these feelings for so long Elsie keeps it rolling. Making her confession to this stranger she had just met. "I'm tired of waiting around."

"Understandable." Casey says.

"Some people don't even know what they've got right there at their fingertips."

"True."

"He didn't know what he had."

'Yeah, she's definitely moving on from a boy.' Casey thinks as she nods in full agreement.

"And some people need to stop waiting for something that might never happen." El says, plainly referencing herself.

"Also true. You are the master of your own destiny."

"Destiny?"

Casey nods. "Destiny. It's not something that happens to you, it is something you have to make happen."

"That's right!" Elsie straightens in her seat, positively buzzing with pent up emotion. This Casey seemed to know exactly where she was coming from. "I can do what I want. Say what I want. Talk to who I want. Be with who I want. Tell...secrets to who I want. I'm a free woman."

"Absolutely Elsie. You are your own woman."

"I-If I want to date other boys, why shouldn't I? Huh?"

Casey smiles encouragingly. "No reason at all. Any boy would be lucky." She notices every guy in earshot perk up at Elsie's bold declaration.

"Or girls. Why shouldn't I date a girl if I want?" El continues. "I can see whoever I want to!"

"It's a free world." Casey agrees.

"Heck yeah!" Chloe chimes in between slurps of her milkshake which she was drinking far too quickly.

El smiles brightly, caught up in the moment. "I could...I don't know...walk right up to Felix there and ask him out. Couldn't I?"

Casey laughs. "Yes, that would certainly make his day."

"Nothing is holding me back."

"No, nothing at all." Casey agrees. She was watching this stranger have this epiphany and loving every moment of it. This young woman was coming out of a shell of her own making and it was a beautiful thing to behold, an blossoming emancipation of the self that Casey was bearing witness to by pure happenstance. Given Casey's own uniqueness and her own struggles with identity this was a joyous moment for her to see in another.

"Or you!" El beams. "You and I could go out sometime. We could date. Why couldn't we? Why shouldn't we?"

Casey pauses at that. Elsie was clearly speaking in the hypothetical, but the sudden and pointed nature of her question was startling. Elsie's dark eyes widen and she blushes a lovely shade of pink as she realizes what she was saying.

"Oh! Uh...I'm sorry. I didn't actually...mean..." El stammers.

Casey keeps her calm smile. "No, you're right. There is no reason we couldn't. None at all. We...might even be on one right now."

El's blush darkens. "Oh! Oh my!"

Casey laughs and shakes her head, she pats Elsie's hand assuringly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come on to you. We just met for goodness sake!" She takes another small sip, her ruby lipstick leaving a smudge on the clear glass. Her clear green eyes study Elsie closely.

El, with Jesse out of her mind for the first time since puberty, can now see the unspoken intensity of another's interest in her. It was...flattering. While a small thing but she liked how Casey patted her hand, and she liked the way she was looking at her too.

Picking up on the suddenly flirtatious energy between her table mates Chloe starts to say. "Hey, is this like a singles night thing or..."

"Um...Casey..." El swallows, the lyrics of the song that started their sing-a-long still echoing in her ears. I used to hold my freak back, now I'm letting go. It was time to start taking risks. If it was a mistake so be it, it would be her mistake. There would be no more passively waiting around for Elsie Bailey. What's wrong with being confident? Gathering her confidence Elsie forges forward. Her soft voice trembling with nerves. "Would you...um...would you like this to be a date?"