Border, KS

Robby Rocket’s Rocket Burger Bar (with Rocket Fries and Rocket Sauce) was an exercise in branding gone awry. The whole place was covered in NASA and Sci-Fi paraphernalia, and Antigone thought the menu desperately needed a thesaurus for synonyms of ‘Rocket’ and ‘Lift Off’; it was bad to the point where ordering things could be difficult because so many menu items were named so similarly.

Still, it was popular wit both high school and college students for its part retro, part hipster ironic vibe. Apparently it was the standard pre-movie watering hole for the group of cool kids that Antigone and Siobhan inexplicably found themselves falling in with.

They were crowded around a table with burgers and fries and voluminous soda jugs, eating and talking and laughing. Antigone and Siobhan had ended up somewhere near the middle, near Lacey. And, as Annie found out, near the odds on favorite for the next year’s Homecoming King and Kansas Backyard Wrestler of the Year.

World Class Hottie Scotty “The Body” Ravotti, verbatim from the way he intoduced himself and his business card, leaned across Annie to grab some fries. “So.” He began after swallowing the deeply fried food and ‘rocket sauce’, which Annie thought was just ketchup with pretensions of taste. “Why goth?” He asked Siobhan.

“I was beaten as a child by my priest and drown my pain in the darkness of my satanic master, Baphomet.” Siobhan rattled off boredly as she nibbled on a Chirocket Lift-Off Sandwich with Spicy Rocket Sauce (Which was a chicken sandwich covered in ketchup with pretensions of both taste and spiciness).

“Bullshit.” Scotty answered simply, but amicably. “Too practiced.”

“She does it like mad-libs. Last time it was that she had been molested by a ballet teacher who wanted to sell her in to white slavery.” Antigone supplied with a grin as Siobhan stuck out her tongue.

Scotty turned turned his gaze, light blue and probing beyond what his idiotic nickname would suggest, on to her. “And you. That’s the longest sentence I’ve heard you say in public.” Antigone flushed a bit sheepishly at that, her own gaze flitting down to her ridiculously named and fried food for a moment. “Not much of a talker?”

Antigone shrugged self-consciously. “Maybe I don’t want to say something stupid.” She responded, still a bit flushed—although she did raise her eyes to meet his. “Easier when you don’t say anything at all.”

“Doesn’t seem very likely.” Scotty responded. “I like people who think about what they say. Normally means what they do say is worth listening to.” He smiled, and Antigone blushed even more so, a pretty pink.

The other girls looked between Scotty and Antigone, which didn’t help her blush at all. After a moment Scotty spoke again, an almost philosophical tone in his voice. “But then again I like punk girls too. So who knows? Maybe I can live the American Dream of sleeping with twins.” He offered with a broadly lascivious grin. Even as Lacey punched him in the arm and the conversation moved on, Antigone saw a satisfied look in his eyes. Spotting her looking, he winked, and she knew he had done it on purpose so she could stop being embarrassed.

She sipped her milkshake as she watched the conversation continue on its twisting path. They were talking about the movie now, and she drowned it out. Scotty was…interesting, and she saw that Siobhan had noted his motives too. They shared a cryptic glance as they set their drinks down, and rose to pile back in to the van.