Dinner Part 2

"Woah, these smells amazing!" Giselle exclaimed, a bit too loud due to the excitement she was feeling. Her voice earned the attention of everyone that was in the bakery. The customers eyed her as she suddenly became the center of attention there.

"Oi, Elle! What's gotten into you? Are you really that hungry?" Hana chortled, slapping Giselle's shoulder in the process. Evelyn and Rebecca laughed while watching Giselle's peculiar behaviour. Giselle immediately realized what she just did after Hana questioned about her behaviour. Her face reddened as she quickly brought her head low, her fingers scratching the back of her not-itchy-neck as she hid herself in her own embarrassment. She quietly laughed at herself.

"Haha you look cute when you're shy," Jayden quietly murmured under his breath as he placed the food on his hands onto the table. He thought he was talking to himself but Giselle actually heard him. His words had only worsen the blush that was all over her face as she felt her face warmed up. Weng, Brian, Harry and Charlie that had just arrived, brought all of the food to the table and displayed it for them all to witness. Weng, Brian and Harry then sat back to their original seat after they had finished helping Charlie with the food. However Charlie on the other hand, stood still at the edge of the table.

"This is our bakery's very own apple pie. It's one of the most best selling pies here," Charlie introduced, cutting the pie into 8 for his friends to enjoy equally. They all looked at him cutting the pie in anticipation.

"These are chocolate chip muffins. And these are egg tarts," he continued as he handed them to all of his friends proudly.

"Wow Charlie," Weng trailed off, staring at Charlie without blinking once.

"What's wrong, Weng?" Charlie asked, feeling concerned, causing Weng to smile at him genuinely. Charlie was in deep confusion as he watched Weng that was still staring a hole straight through him.

"I can't believe that you're actually this talkative. I've always thought that you were the quiet kid. But it turns out that you're quite the chatterbox," Weng laughed, never taking his eyes off of Charlie. The others joined Weng as they laughed at his small comment.

Charlie's face went red as a tomato as he tried to hold in his embarrassment. A chuckle slipped out of Charlie's lips as he sat down in front of Evelyn. He then told them to start on eating the food. Meanwhile, Granny Nancy that had overheard Weng's words joined their laughter. She carefully took a seat that was close to her grandchild. She eyed each and one of Charlie's friends as they were all laughing together.

"I hope you enjoy the variety of foods. I know that all of you kids are probably very tired from managing the stall for the whole day," Granny Nancy said with a heartwarming smile plastered on her face, making them all feel warm inside.

"Thank you so much for giving us the free food!" Brian thanked the old woman sincerely. Granny Nancy looked at him as chocolates were all over his mouth from the chocolate chip muffin that he had just devoured. His adorable behaviour had successfully made Granny Nancy laughed in joy.

"You're welcome. I also wanna thank you all for being friends with Charlie. It was very rare for me to see Charlie with a friend back at his old school," Granny Nancy confessed her worry towards Charlie when he was still at his previous school. Granny Nancy's words had planted curiosity to them as they were wondering what had happened with Charlie throughout his life at his old school.

"what happened to Charlie before?" this question appeared in everyone's mind after Granny Nancy had said that. Suddenly, Rebecca asked about Charlie's past. Everyone seemed to be also curious about Charlie's past.

"Granny, if you don't mind, can you please tell us what happened to Charlie before?" Rebecca asked politely for Granny Nancy to explain.

"Yes..." The woman's word was immediately cut off by Charlie.

"No. You can't," he simply said out of the sudden. His expression had turned serious as if he was telling her that he didn't want them to know his old story. His action had made his friends and Granny Nancy went silent as the situation became a bit intense. The woman looked over at her grandchild with sorrowful eyes.

"I apologize. I don't think I can tell you the story because Charlie don't want me to," she explained herself, feeling the guiltiness grew inside of her.

"It's okay, Granny. It's my fault for suddenly asking about it," Rebecca reassured, trying not to make Granny Nancy feel guilty of the things that she didn't do. She realized that her question was the cause for the whole atmosphere to turn intense. Giselle was not a fan of how the once joyful situation had turned into a serious one all of the sudden. She then came up with the solution to change the topic so that it wouldn't be awkward anymore.

"Granny, can you believe that we managed to sell so much in just one day?" She asked, smiling proudly at thr achievement.

"Wow, your menus must be so good that everyone wanted to try it out," Granny Nancy complimented them for their hardwork as she gave them a delighted smile.

"It really was! All thanks to Charlie because the waffle batter was his recipe and not to mention, he also taught us how to make the waffles!" Weng stated, feeding himself with a spoon of apple pie. A smile slowly appeared onto Charlie's face after receiving the compliment from Weng. They all became joyful again and it was relieving for Giselle to know that her strategy had worked successfully. Throughout the whole dinner, they all enjoyed the food together while also talking to Granny Nancy.

~

Time had passed quickly and it was already time for Charlie's friends to go home. The chilling breeze of the night was enough to tell them that it was late at night by the time they were done eating.

"Again, thank you so much for feeding us tonight,its so delicious" They all thanked Granny Nancy while smiling at her for her kindness.

"No problem, kids. It's already late, make sure you all go straight back home and not wandering around on your own," the old woman adviced them, worried for their own well being.

"Okay granny! Bye Charlie! " All of them said before walking off to their own home, obeying what Granny Nancy had told them. Charlie could see them waving their hands at him so he returned it by waving back at them. After they had disappeared from his sight, he immediately walked back to the kitchen to wash the dirty dishes that were used by the customers and his friends.

"Granny," he called, his voice sounding soft. Granny Nancy wasted no time and walked towards her grandchild while looking at him lovingly.

"What is it?" She asked, looking at him as she waited for him to say something.

"Please don't ever bring up the past to my friends again after this. What if I lose my friends because of my past? What if the same thing happened again?" He said while washing the dishes that was in the sink, his head hung low as he remembered of the things that had happened to him before and how he couldn't afford to lose his new friends.

"You know, I'm just very worried for you Charlie," Granny Nancy said, her voice filled with sorrow as she looked at her grandchild in sadness. Charlie felt happy at how caring his grandmother was towards him. He then quickly finished the last plate and washed his hands to dry it off with a clean cloth. He put the cloth back onto the counter and went towards his grandmother. He held both of his grandmother's hands gently.

"Trust me, Granny. I'm fine. I don't have problems like in my old school anymore. You don't need to worry about me," Charlie said quietly, trying to reassure Granny Nancy that he was not going through the same thing like he did last time. Granny Nancy admired the boy that was in front of her lovingly. She caressed Charlie's head gently.

"You and your father are just the same. You both never want to burden other people," Granny Nancy smiled, hugging her beloved grandchild. Charlie felt happy as he then hugged her back.

~

Evelyn finally arrived at her house. She realized that she had went home late that day. She sighed before walking to the door.

"I'm home," Evelyn said after opening the door and took a step inside. As she was arranging her shoes, she suddenly received a hard slap on her face.