A Dark Plea

1

*Disclaimer - The characters in this story belong to Orson Scott Card who wrote the book "The Lost Boys" and Joel Schumacher who directed "The Lost Boys" Movie. I only own the storyline in this story. *

-This is dedicated to my best friend and beta reader, Ashley. -

15-year-old Ashley was sitting in a booth in the Chinese restaurant trying not to cry. She fiddled with her straw in her glass as she kept her eyes on the door.

If she looked to her right she would see the owners' glance at her with a pitying look on their faces and shaking their heads.

The wife, Mei Xing, walked over with a sad smile. "Do you want to order something or do you still want to wait on your date?"

Ashley glanced at her watch with a frown. She had been waiting for almost two hours and her date, James, was still not here.

A tear ran down the girls face as she shook her head. "Can I just have the bill for the soda?"

Mei Xing shook her head. "Don't worry about it. It's on the house. I know it hurts right now but you will overcome this. That boy was a fool."

Ashley nodded sadly and wiped the tears off her cheeks.

Mei Xing turned and walked back to her husband, Chao, shaking her head with a small frown.

Ashley grabbed her purse and started walking toward the door trying to save what dignity she had left. Nothing was more humiliating than being stood up for a date.

Chao walked over before she left the restaurant holding out a bag. "I'm sorry. Here, some yuèbǐng on the house."

Ashley took the bag with a frown. "yuèbǐng?"

Chao smiled. "The English name is mooncakes. They are flakey cakes with sweet paste fillings in the middle. On top are Chinese characters. They were Mei Xing's favorite as a child and made her smile when she was sad."

Ashley smiled sadly. "Thank you, Mr. Chao. I'm sure I will love them."

The fifteen-year-old left the restaurant with her heart battered but a warmness inside at the kindness of the owners of the restaurant.

Ashley was walking down the boardwalk wishing she could be somewhere else. It felt like everyone could see how pathetic she was.

Ashley had been hesitant of James when he first started talking to her months ago. He was popular and she was a wallflower. It had taken a month before Ashley would even great him with excitement. The next two months had been interesting as James would great Ashley and walk her to class. When he had asked her on a date, she had thought it had meant something.

'Maybe something happened. He got sick or something with his family. That's why he was late. He would not have stood me up for fun.' Ashley thought.

Ashley had just come across the funhouse when she glanced up and saw James.

Her heart shattered into a million pieces.

James was definitely not sick and something definitely did not happen to his family.

James had his tongue down the throat of the evilest girl in school, Tiffany McDuff. Tiffany was the one who would deliberately push someone down the stairs and laugh about it. Her dad donated thousands of dollars to the school and that gave Tiffany a free pass to do whatever she wanted without consequences.

James moved back and smiled at Tiffany. James's friend, Zack, nudged him and pointed at Ashley standing there.

James smirked and motioned to the group to follow him.