Short Story

“Not bad,” replied Gabby, who had thrown her bag up on the counter and was trying to fish out a lighter, “just got off!” Both of her stockings had a run in them and flicks of discarded food stuck to the sides of her tennis shoes. Her dress was black and sparkling. Vernon could tell she worked at another diner the moment she got out of the cab. The waitress flipped over an empty cup and poured out what was leftover of the coffee. Gabby had lite her cigarette, inhaled a drag, took a sip, and exhaled out a thick cloud of smoke in one single breath. “Ended up pulling a double?” The swirls in the smoke seemed to actuate Gaby's words. “Don’t remind me!” replied the waitress, who had removed one of her flats and was rubbing her heel, “I’ve been on and off my feet since 9:30 this morning.” Gabby looked towards the front of the diner at the back of Vernon’s head and then back at the waitress. “Rough night?” “Nope,” replied the waitress, “he’s been coming in here late for the last month or so, keeps to himself.” They both could see that Vernon was moving his hands while he was talking to himself. “We still on for tonight,” asked Gabby. “Maybe,” said the waitress, “as long we can get a table.” The band aids on the back of her heels needed to be replaced with new ones. Gabby

When the time came Sammy had lucked out, they had decided to check out with him. In a daze, he carefully watched every movement they made as items were placed on the counter. At the peak of the moment Lengel, the manager and strict

Lila lay on her bed staring at the ceiling thinking over the events of the evening. The more she recalled, the more she was mortified for acting like a love sick, slobbering idiot in front of not only the most beautiful man she’d ever met, but he was her best friends cousin of all things! Lila groaned, burying her head into her pillow. She tried to console herself by thinking she would never see him again. She could avoid him by simply not going back there. It wouldn’t be too difficult to do. She would never have the guts to venture to a club like that on her own. This is exactly the reason that Rachael had taken her there. Lila was trying to convince herself he was charming to all the ladies. He worked at a night club. Of course he would

She'd have to clean it up and pay Nealie MacGowan, her mother's best friend, and owner of the bar for the glass, but she figured it was well worth it. "Get outta here." She screamed at him and pointed to the exist door. "Is this jerk giving you problems, Lannie?" Alannah looked up and saw her best guy friend, Finn Cassidy. The bar must have been so loud that she didn't hear him come in and walk up until he had spoken. Finn was thin with shoulder length dyed black hair, and dark brown eyes, covered in mascara and eyeliner and dressed in all black expect for his silver lip ring. He had been Alannah's best friend since 3rd grade, and had been the only kid to pay attention to her and play with her on the playground, and she was the only one who didn't judge him for his appearance or attitude. "No, he was just leaving," She said glaring at the man. He looked like he was going to challenge her request, until he looked up at Finn, who looked like he had stepped out of a horror film or a metal music video. Finn flashed him a big grin with sparking, straight, white teeth and the man scrambled out of his stool, and hurried

As we exited the highway onto Lindbergh road, Michael drove right past the Steak and Shake. None of us had been paying attention and didn’t realize that we had passed Steak and Shake until we were sitting in a Walmart parking lot.

After waiting an hour alone at the diner, Scarlett started to get worried. What if he forgot about me? Or what if he got caught up with someone else? she thought sipping on her milkshake.

Mia could smell the beer from cross the road. Mia followed absent-minded boy quietly. Mia stared at a bar that Jonny had gone in. “No, he can’t drink more.” Mia thought and followed him.

Fabiano was in telephone contact with Alex as the subject approached the general merchandise exit of the store. I then escorted the Fabiano to the exit and stood by with him outside the store. As the subject passed all points of payment with the selected merchandise Fabiano stepped into the foyer

“I’ll have 6 eggs, a big glass of orange juice, a banana, and some oatmeal please” said DeSean “ You’re one crazy kid” said the female bartender at IHop. “Yes ma’am, I might be crazy ,but ready for football this morning” DeSean responded swiftly. The bartender responded almost immediately saying “Damn right, hope you do well this morning, I’ll have that food out real quick honey”. DeSean waited for less than 5 minutes before chowing down on over 1000 calories. He exchanged some words with the bartender and he was off to football.

The doors flung open and silence over took the restaurant. Two men walked in, they were dressed in what looked to be newly bought suits. They made their way to the counter and asked for a quiet booth. People watched them as they moved menacingly with purpose and strength, they looked menacing. John had been sitting quietly alone in a booth and the waiter had completely forgotten about him, this led to the two men in suits being placed in a booth behind him. The men were settled

Amber was finally able to get Miranda out of the house Friday night. They went to the club to dance and be sociable. Many of the guys found Amber to their liking over Miranda. After a few drinks a group of guys joined Amber and Miranda. They all

“I fell,” Madge answers through gritted teeth, clutching her calf tightly as she blinks out tears from her eyes as quickly as she can. It was just her luck that she’d fall off the wall like a complete idiot right after being told to quit. Maybe the odds really weren’t in her favor.

Nancy was thinking that he was a little nosey, but she didn’t mind telling him the truth. She wasn’t ashamed of being a virgin, although she did want to fall in love one day. If her life would ever permit her to have time to actually meet a decent man she would definitely start dating. She thought that Matthew was cute, but he looked like a rich business man in his silk suit. She knew it had to be expensive and men who dressed like that didn’t ever go for women like her anyways. Nancy heard the chime of the cook’s bell from the kitchen window letting her know her order was ready. She grabbed the plate, placed it on a tray and brought it over to

I press my face against the icy cold window. I watch one by one the snowflakes fall in the moonlight. I can tell it’s Christmas time even though nobody here says anything about it. It’s as if the ward tries to drag us away from any traditions a normal person would do. I think about the Christmases I spent with my kids.

Driving back to my Grandma's had become the norm due to the lack of wi-fi at my house and minor, yet constant disagreements between my stepfather and I. Owning a gray Jetta that sparkled once it hit sunlight, had an aux cord to play music that changed as much as my mood, and worked perfectly fine filled me with gratitude every time I started up its engine. On May 11 my dismal playlist blared from the partially rolled down windows in the car as a few humble tears rolled down my cheeks. This day pressed hard on my chest knowing my biological father should have turned another year older, not stuck at a young 32. Life happens and you have to keep going; however, I could have never predicted singing "If I die young" by The Band Perry and having