Dearest of Hope

Chapter 1

I get off the bus and head towards the entrance of the diner I work at.
'The Diner'. A small smile appears across my lips. How creative.
As soon as I am inside the diner, the smell of meat mixed with beer comes up my nose. When you go a few steps further, it smells like coffee and pancakes. Somehow it fascinates me how many different types of people come to this little diner. No matter how poor or rich, how old or how young.
During the day, little kids run around with their parents and are happy that they get a medium sized chocolate milkshake this week instead of just a small one. In the evenings, you're more likely to meet bikers getting drunk with their friends while having fun or other people just looking for a little downtime after their hard day at work. And then there are times like this, more precisely 4:34pm, where the small children with their families gradually become less and less but still meet the bikers.
They are so different, at least from the outside, but I have rarely noticed that they did not go along well.
I find it cute when the bikers bend down to the children to tell them a joke, or how the children ask to be allowed to sit on the motorcycle.
A smile forms on my lips and I make my way to my locker to put on my waist apron and then I put my hair up. Although it is quite warm in the diner, since it is currently summer, I wear a black long sleeve shirt with black tights and with a matching short black skirt. Black is pretty much in our dress-code as a waitress.
Before I start my shift I take a look at myself in the mirror which I keep in my locker.
My blonde hair is in a loose ponytail and my brown eyes look tired.
My co-worker Abby, a lovely, slightly old lady who has worked at the diner for several years, tells me from day to day that I look thinner and more tired each day. And she is right.
I run my hand over my cheek and think about how my mother used to call me squirrel when I was younger because I always had cute cheeks with a bit of more fat on them then others.
By now, you can't spot the anymore. Instead of full cheeks, you only see cheekbones.
I exhale briefly and think about the fact that I just don't have time to care about stuff like eating three meals a day, or getting my eight hours of sleep. When I'm not at college, I'm at the library studying or here at the diner.
Somehow I have to pay for college and my little appartement.
I reach for my notepad and a pen and finally get to work.
It's not too crowded at the moment, so I chat a bit with Kylie. Kylie also works at the diner, but unlike me, she's a bartender. Kylie doesn't look like a typical bartender in my opinion. She has beautiful and long red hair, is a bit pale and quite petite. But believe me when I tell you that she's still not afraid to go up against others if she has to. Sometimes I admire her. She is just so confident and you can tell how easy she has it with expressing herself. Practically every guy in here wouldn't turn her down if she would flirt with him. While I'm busying comparing myself to her as she tells me how she was at the 'hottest party ever' this weekend, I hear the bell ringing at the door and this is my sign to get to work because someone just entered. But when I see who has come into the diner, I can only swallow with difficulty.
I am so used to either adults twenty years older than me or children that it rarely happens that people my age come into the diner. And instead of it being just two or three people, it's a big group right away. I count seven people.
Kylie seems to notice that I've slightly tensed up.
"Is everything okay?", she asks me in wonder. As she follows my gaze, she laughs briefly. I turn to her in response.
"Is it because of the group there? Come on sweetie, you don't need to be scared. If I was as good looking as you, I'd be making more moves on hot guys your age.", she says as she winks at me. I give a short laugh and have to admit that I have relaxed a little. Kylie could still get those dudes, considering the fact that she is twenty five, so six years older than me.
She smiles encouragingly at me and I know there's no way around it, so I muster up all my courage and make my way towards the group.
The group consists of three girls and four boys. The girls are unbelievably pretty and the guys are hot, although they are all muscular, which is not really my type. Until the fourth guy catches my gaze. He is rather lean but even sitting down he looks at least a head taller than the other dudes. I'm guessing he's about 6'5 which is way taller than me with my 5'4. Also, his arms are full of tattoos, just like his neck. Although there are a lot of tattoos, somehow it doesn't look like too much. His dark brown hair is laying perfectly messy on his forehead. His face looks like perfectly sculpted art. As soon as I reach the table, his eyes fall onto me. I look away as quickly as I can and clear my throat.
"H-Hello, welcome to 'The Diner'. What can I get for you guys today?". As if standing here like this isn't embarrassing enough, I have to stutter. Of course.
The group looks at me and a tanned girl with flawless blonde hair starts talking.
I have my notepad and pen ready and wait for her to name her order.
"I-I, I-I want fries.", she says and the groups bursts out laughing again. Of course, they make fun of me. I turn my face toward Kylie, hoping she'll help me, but she's deep in a conversation with a customer at the bar.
"How about we just order our fucking food now?", I hear a deep, raspy voice say and I immediately turn back to the table.
Everyone is looking at the hot guy with tattoos so I'm guessing he's the one who said it. He looks pissed. Maybe he works as a waiter and knows the struggle. But when I realize that all of them look like they're swimming in money, I think about the fact that he's maybe just hungry.
The blonde girl groans in annoyance.
"You really can't take a joke Ryder. You do understand that it was just a little joke, right?", she asks, while turning her face to me.
Not feeling like discussing it, I just nod and start writing down the group's order and make my way towards the counter to pin it up. While I wait for the food to be ready, I think about what just happened. Or about the guy, Ryder, as the girl called him.
I dare a look back at the group and notice that Ryder is not really participating in the conversation, but rather sitting at his cell phone. Every now and then he nods or says something short, but he doesn't really seem to fit into the group.
As the food is ready, I bring it to the table one by one and end up having to serve some more people as the diner slowly starts to fill up.
The group around Ryder and the blonde girl head out around 6:15pm without thanking me or saying goodbye.
I sighed softly and clear the dishes of the table. While clearing I notice that the leather jacket around Ryder's chair is still hanging there. For a moment I look towards the entrance of the diner to see if any of them enters it to get the jacket, but no one comes. I decide to take the jacket with me behind the counter and tell Kylie that one of them forgot it here. Just now I notice the fresh and bold smell that is coming from the jacket, fitting perfectly to the image of Ryder.