1

I sat in a small, local diner. For a weekday, it was busier than I was used to seeing. It was a small town so I figured everyone here was familiar with one other. A tight knit community that reminded me of Stars Hollow.

I glanced around, sipping on my chocolate milkshake, I looked at the people who were surrounding me.

I found it interesting to take note of the people around me, to wonder who they were and make up stories about their lives. My life was such a disappointment and waste of space and time that I decided to pay more attention to other people so I didn't have to think about my own depressing life.

There was a mom sitting with her son, who looked around the age of nine. The mother looked happy and was smiling though her kid was getting his hamburger everywhere. His burger fell apart in his hands while his chocolate shake dripped down onto his white shirt but somehow, his mother was smiling as she helped him hold onto the burger instead of getting angry and annoyed that her kid was making such a mess.

A group of teenagers sat near the back in a booth. Two of them, a brown haired boy and blonde girl sat awfully close, laughing and making googley eyes at one other, making it obvious that they were in a relationship. Across from them sat two boys wearing tee's with school logo's on them. They all were laughing dreadfully loudly and pushing each other around. What a happy bundle.

At one table, a boy who also looked like he was in high school sat alone. His head was stuck in a book while he had a half eaten sandwich in front of him. He looked very focused on his book that must've been very interesting. I guess books could be though. Fictional characters were usually better than real people.

There was also an elderly couple sitting together with their hands intertwined. Wow, who would think relationships last that long? They seemed happy, smiling and laughing weakly.

"Can I get you anything else, dear?" I looked up to the man behind the counter where I was sitting. His head was balding and he wore glasses, looked like he was almost 60, at the most. He offered me a kind smile as he looked at me with his grey eyebrows raised.

I adjusted on the stool I sat on and shook my head, smiling out of politeness. "No, thank you, sir." I focused my attention back to my chocolate milkshake that wasn't very interesting to look at.

My life sucks. It really does but I'm making through.

The only reason I haven't killed myself just yet is because there must be a reason I'm still here. Here, on this planet.

I mean really, zero family, zero real friends, barley a home, shit daily routine, no reason to even want to wake up. It makes zero sense to me why I'm willing to continue to breathe but somehow I figure that if there is a God up there, he must be keeping me on my feet and living for some bizarre reason. Hopefully eventually, I'll find out what that reason is.

"Dean, you haven't stopped by in a while, son. Where have you been?" The old man who worked (and I'm guessing owned this place) was talking to someone who had just come in and was now standing beside me. I couldn't see the person because my hood was over my head.

"Just busy, Ben. You know the crazy schedules." The guy beside me had a deep and masculine voice. He let out a short chuckle that was most definitely forced. I knew because I was also expect with that.

This guy named Dean, according to the old man who was named Ben, pulled out a stool that was one away from mine and sat down.

"Would you like your usual?" Ben, the old man asked him with a sweet smile. Like I said, it seemed like a small, tight-knit town so it wasn't surprising these local people were familiar with one other.

"Ah, just a mug of Anne's hot cocoa tonight, please." This time the Dean guy's voice was more soft, less tense.

"Right up, son." The old man, Ben, smiled once again before walking off, behind into the kitchen.

I continued sipping on my milkshake slowly, letting my tastebuds devour each bit of the chocolaty goodness. It felt nice to take a minute to appreciate the sweetness of what I was consuming as sometimes days would go by without me eating a single proper meal.

My eyes stared holes into the counter though I had no idea why it seemed like this counter was the most intriguing thing to exist. It really wasn't.

"Here you go, boy. Let me know if you need anything else." Ben said to Dean as he handed him a mug. Just before Ben was about to walk away, he turned to look at me again, "Doing fine?"

I brought my head up and looked at the man, forcing a small smile, "Yes, sir. Thank you." He returned the smile before walking off again.

"Quiet... but polite." Dean's inviting voice spoke.

I finally looked over to him to see if it was me or someone else he was talking to. The guy next to me was quite young, maybe a year or two older than me. His brown hair was swept up towards the side, he had seducing blue/grey eyes and a small quirky looking smirk on his face. His ears were pierced, two small black rings in each ear. From what I could tell, he was well built as well, biceps and all.

I raised an eyebrow, my face straight. "Would you be talking to me?"

He tilted his head and looked to the side before looking back to me, "Is there anyone else sitting near me?"

I pulled my hood off my head and looked at him with narrowed eyes, "Then clearly I look more inviting than I thought because I didn't know I was talking to you."

His smirk grew back onto his face as if he were amused by my bluntness. "Polite but also sassy. How does that work?" His eyebrow quirked up.

"Is pegging down my personality your way of showing your IQ or are you just being creepy?" I asked, again with a straight face. Honestly, I was a very closed off person and something like this would intrigue me but for some reason, this guy and his smirk just weren't sticking to me.

"Ah, you are living proof that God knows how to create sense of humour." He retorted, his eyes burning daggers through me as if he thought he'd be able to scan my brain by looking at me like that. He seemed very amused.

I looked at this Dean guy for another three seconds before I pulled my hood back onto my head and turned back to the way I was sitting before, once again staring at the counter. I sipped the last of my chocolate shake and then pulled some bills out of my pocket before throwing them on the counter.

I was about to stand and leave when Dean spoke again, "So maybe you're only polite to elderlies, is that it?"

"You know, why don't you just cancel my subscription because I'm getting tired of your voice." I said while looking straight ahead to nothing in particular expect the kitchen door behind the counter.

Then, I hopped off the stool and headed out.