I’m actually surprised that we were able to get seats. It doesn’t seem like the place that’d let us get seats at all.

Well, mostly me. I'm not super bruised anymore but the side of my face's still a bit yellow. Which makes people look at me, but I don't care.

I mean, it’s still a cafe, and as nice as the museum is, it’s still an outing for Adrian and Murph. So Steve and I try to keep our mouths shut about how daft this is because it’s not for us.

“It’s that language program, yeah?” Steve asks.

Adrian snorts. “N-no. Wh – yeah, but not what we're talking about.” He's blunt and honest. I appreciate that.

“The Rosetta Stone? So I was right,” he says.

“No, it’s not.” Murph unfolds one of the five leaflets he collected around the museum and begins reading it. “It’s from 196BC, and it was written in two different types of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and then in Ancient Greek.”

“It’s an old-ass rock. Ace,” I say. I’m knackered. Murph babbling on about rocks isn’t interesting anymore.

“No, like...it was the thing to help decipher Ancient Egyptian literature and civilization.” He looks at the map of the museum and finds the Stone. His eyes look at me from behind it. “Isn’t that something?”

“It’s a bunch of old-ass pictures from a million years ago,” I snap back, glancing around the café. “Where’s our food?” We just ordered, but I don’t know why I’m this irritated.

Adrian looks at me. “It’s coming, calm down.”

Steve pats my shoulder. “Jeez, Tommy, I didn’t think you’d be so angry. You walk more than this for work.”

I think I’m just peckish, though.

Murph puts down the map and stares at me. “You liked the Ancient Greek stuff, right?”

I did. I don’t want to admit it, but. I feel like I have to. Because Murph’s looking at me with these big sad eyes. I sigh and say, “Yes.”

“The Chinese stuff was neat,” Adrian adds.

“This place's just big. Imagine getting lost in it,” Steve points out. He grins.

I look at Adrian. “There wasn’t a lot of American stuff,” I say.

“We have to step up our museum game, Murph.” He looks at Murph and they both nod.

Murph turns, pauses, then asks, "...how? We've kind of ruined most of our history already."

Nobody knows how to answer that.

“Okay, I got a question,” puts in Adrian, who wipes the table with his hands like he’s clearing the field for battle. And probably to change the topic of whatever the hell Murph just unloaded. “What do you think would go in museums a thousand years from now, besides what's already here?”

“A Nokia,” I say.

Murph laughs at that.

Adrian frowns and points to me. It’s exaggerated and the most American thing I’ve ever seen him do. “That’s cheating, and you know it.”

“Oh,” says Steve, snapping his fingers. “Trick question. The apocalypse comes.”

Adrian's trying to glare, but the corner of his mouth's turning up into a smile. "Okay, let me rephrase." He pauses. "In a reality where the world doesn't end, what should go in museums a thousand years from now? You know, besides what's already here?"

“My point stands. A Nokia.”

Murph laughs again.

Adrian frowns and glares at me. “You can leave now.”

Murph gasps and shouts, “Oh my God, I think I like you.”

Naturally, he’s said it loud enough for half the cafe to hear, so it’s gone quiet. But I’m not entirely sure who or what he’s talking about, so I just ignore it. “Okay, but, why wouldn’t a Nokia count?”

Adrian isn't looking at me. “Tommy? Y-you like Tommy?”

“Oh my God, you like him, too?!” he asks, horrified.

“No. I’m just amazed that you figured it out at all.”

Murph blinks, looks at me, and then back to Adrian. “What?”

Adrian wipes his face with his hands and then looks at me. “Tommy, this dummy's liked you for the past month. Month and a half, maybe.”

He flinches, but I don't know when. But Murph leans forward and shouts, “No I haven’t!”

I cringe. It’s too loud.

“Uh-yeah you have.”

“Even I’ve seen it,” Steve says, taking a sip of his drink. “You got it baaaaaaad for him.”

I glare at him. “Couldn't you've made this less awkward?”

Steve blinks. “I...you didn't know?”

“You definitely saw it, right?” Adrian asks me. “He's always up to invite you to come with us on outings. Or what about the googly eyes around you? The big goofy smile all the time, that stuff?”

But Murph’s gone beet red. Either from being embarrassed or because he doesn't know what to do. Both works, actually. “H-how did you know before me?”

“A-are you serious? You’re not very subtle, Murph,” Adrian points out. He looks back to me and asks, “You saw it, right?”

I blink. “You mean to tell me that wasn’t just him being...him?”

Adrian stares, mouth open, at us for a while before asking, “Oh my God. What is happening right now?”

Steve stands up. “Adrian, these guys got some talkin' to do.”

“Wh – you're just leavin'?” I ask.

Murph's looking at his hands. Or the table. Just not me. Or them.

“You’re both oblivious. Sorry, but it's true.” Adrian stands up. “I’ll be somewhere where Mesopotamia and Babylon meet up.” He pushes in his chair.

“Wh – why?” I ask.

“Because it's interesting!” he hoarsely whispers, and then leaves the cafe.

Steve pushes in his chair. “Murph – He gestures to the tomato sitting across from me. Who still isn't looking at anything. “ – you're a pretty cool guy. Tommy, you...” Steve doesn’t finish the thought. He just leaves.

So now I'm planning to smother him in his sleep.

But it's more so just me and Murph sitting at a table, alone.