"Yuming! Over here!" Alissa waved from across the mall. She was wearing her unmistakable wool sweater. I just don't know if I would be jumping and waving my hand in the air. I don't want to be rude, but walking to her is embarrassing when she's jumping like that.
Alissa stopped jumping as soon as I walked towards her. She seems to be so cheerful all the time; I wish I could be like that too.
"Finally we got time to go out. It's hard when your professors give you so much homework," Alissa grabbed my hand.
"I know right? Its like I can't even take a break."
"How's your boyfriend?"
Honestly I got slightly annoyed by her question. Why would she be bringing him up in the middle of our conversation?
"Yuming?"
"Hm? Oh. He's fine."
I'm just lying at this point. I don't even know if he's fine. The thoughts of him had been buried under my homework for the longest time. We don't talk a lot anymore and even if we do, I doesn't feel like we're close at all.
"Oh? That's good to hear."
"Did you hear about Amy's boyfriend? He broke up with her out of nowhere."
Woah woah woah. Calm down Alissa, I am not in the mood for your gossiping shenanigans. Negative gossip ruins my mood. You know what, I'll help you by turning my ears off.
Me and Alissa slowly made our way to the bubble tea shop. You can learn a lot about a person by what milk tea they order; if they like taro - they definitely have some introverted tendencies. Anything with Warm milk tea, they're definitely a traditionalist. Me? I like mine down to a science of simplicity. Sweetened red beans with lightly sweetened cold milk tea. Together they make half sugar milk tea.
Its simple but the most enjoyable milk tea in the world. I've to appreciate simplicity because of him. When were in high school, he caught me designing a mechanical machine designed to be an addition calculator. He sat down next to me and watched me work. The pencil scratching against the paper and him with his questioning noises were the only things I could remember hear.
Explaining concepts to him made me more confident in mechanical engineering. Heat transfer, hydraulics, turbine engines. I didn't have much friends at the time, so his presence was warming. When I was sick, he was one of the people who got worried. Overtime, he watched me make machines; he asked questions that made me rethink about how I designed my machines.
It pains me to remember those times. When he sat down beside me after school in the library asking me all sorts of questions. His frustrated math face looking at my writing while I blew his mind explaining him the physics. The graphite with my designs engraved on them then had a pleasant smell. The paper had a fresh scent. Now it feels so different, it isn't the same as it used to be anymore.
"You're drink is ready ma'am."
I took a sip, its squishy bean flavor enter my mouth. This is what educational relief feels like, all the struggles and stress of education leave my body like steam from a washroom rushing out of the door.
"This is the place that I was talking about," Alissa spoke up
"A burger spot?"
"Yep. This is their second location. I've heard they're really, really, really good."
We took a look at the menu. Their burgers looked really complex: one that had a lot of cheese, one with lobster infused beef, plant based meat. However, all of these are hiding the fact that the most basic burger dictates their skill. All things are based on basics. Just because you used some fancy ingredients to make something taste good doesn't meant hat you're good at cooking.
So I ordered their cheeseburger.
"Really? A cheeseburger? You could have gotten all the flavors in this burger joint but you decided on a cheeseburger?"
"Well, Alissa," I coughed. "Instead of judging me, you should start ordering."
"I'll get the baconburger then, thank you!"
Alright buddy so you said that my taste was trash, but you decided to get a bacon burger. Actually, that's a good choice, it is basic enough to spot flaws, but tasty enough to enjoy; even if it's a letdown
Its fine though, I'm going to spend my time enjoying this cheeseburger that I ordered. There's no need to got cattywampus over a slightly worser decision choice.
I got my order and unwrapped my burger. The cheeseburger's presentation seems quite convincing - there seems to be some juice, the cheese is melted properly, the lettuce catching the juice, the onions are colored and the tomato had some salt on it. I took a large bite of faith, and what happened next was shocking.
It was average. The meat wasn't juicy, it wasn't particularly standing out. It was just your average beef. Nothing felt right, the burger felt like a lonely world. It was like having someone around, but comfort is not increasing. The burger itself has taste; but was bland. The cheese while aged; tasted like water. The tomato while salted - was sloppy.
It's like trying to fix a cracked diamond. Everything about it was average. Don't get me wrong I would get this burger over a McDonalds burger, but your average southern states dad could make something better.
I look over at Alissa, kicking her feet to the taste of her burger. What is she tasting in this joint's burger that I can't taste? I look at my burger, it looks like grey. I look at her burger: its grey. What color can she see from such a gray burger?
I take a sip from my milk tea. I was afraid to say that even though the taste was the same as it was a few sips ago, I've been noticing its greyness over the weeks.
"This burger is pretty good," Alissa says.
I look at my burger with a touch of regret. The taste didn't make sense. It felt, bland even with flavor. I didn't want to ruin Alissa's day, she likes the burger she ordered. So I'm not going to interject with my depressing commentary.
"Well lets finish this, cause I got to go home soon."
"Sure," I responded.
I wiped my face down lightly and headed back to the bus station. Holding my bland burger, I watch Alissa cross the street, waving goodbye. University sucks, I can't hang out with Alissa anymore.
The past is such a horrible drug, but I just can't seem to sober away from it.
I take another bite of the burger, it tastes different. Much different - it still was bland, but other tastes are starting to come through. The salty tomato, the pungent onion flavor, the lettuce diluting the flavor perfectly.
I take another bite, making sure to let all the flavor settle into my tongue. This time it was the cheese. The cheese had a distinct taste to it that I couldn't take my focus away from. A cheeseburger will always be a cheeseburger, no matter where its made from. This one was different. It is still a cheeseburger, but its attributes are starting to shine.