Certain Things || L.C.

Chapter One

December 18th, 2005

Traveling to Forks all the way from Phoenix was a long and boring trip. One that Conner had never driven before as he typically flew when traveling to visit his father. Unfortunately, seeing as he had about 20 moving boxes crammed in and strapped down under a tarp in the bed of his truck, he couldn't exactly travel by those means this time. He supposed could've shipped his belongings and truck up the country, but he didn't even want to think about how much money that would have cost. Being an accountant didn't exactly support a lavish lifestyle by any means. Moving was never fun, especially when it was almost 1,600 miles away. But he knew that when he agreed to his father's request to relocate north.

The twenty-one year old had been driving for about nineteen hours now, so doing a quick calculation in his head, he figured he had about four and a half hours left of the drive. He had refused to stop and pay for a hotel that he couldn't afford and tiredness had long started to eat away at his mind. Looking at the small fluorescent numbers on his dashboard, he saw it had reached dinner time. In almost comical timing, his stomach growled out a borderline demonic sound, demanding to be fed. Giving into hunger, he pulled the old dull blue chevy truck to the nearest exit, deciding he would stop at the first restaurant he drove past. Much to his dismay, the only signs of life were an old gas station that looked like it was straight out of the 1950's and a diner to match. Sure, 50's diners had their appeal, but let's just say, this one seemed a bit too authentic. He could get back on the interstate and drive further to see if there was anything else, but he knew for a fact that there wouldn't be another exit for miles and he wasn't about to backtrack south. He would just have to hope and pray that the food tasted better than the place looked.

Driving up to the almost empty parking lot, he pulled the transmission into park and un-clicked his seatbelt. Pausing for a moment he glanced again to the dirty windows and rusting railing of the building and grimaced. Did he really need food this bad? His stomach answered almost immediately with a low gurgling groan. Okay, that would be a yes then. Throwing his door open, he stepped out, stretching his long limbs for what felt like the first time in years. Reluctantly, he stepped back from the pick-up, manually locking the vehicle with the key, and began trudging stiffly to the dull chrome rimmed door. Once inside, his hopes for a decent meal demolished to ash as the odor of grease and burnt toast hit his sinuses. His nose wrinkled in disgust, as he choked out a cough in protest, earning the attention of a middle aged woman wearing a stained white apron who was sat directly in front of the doors, at the diner's bar. Looking almost shocked to see a customer, she slid off the stool to her feet. Stepping over to greet Conner at the "wait to be seated" sign.

"Well hello, how can I help you?" She asked confused, the crease between her brows deepening. This couldn't be a good sign, right? Surly it was bad that she was questioning why he would step into a diner around dinner time.

Taking a quick breath, trying not to breath through his nose too much, he answered. "Um yeah, table for one?" He needed food and a break from driving to wake up, he told himself. He could muster through this and get back to driving soon.

Quirking an eyebrow at the young man, the woman answered. "Are you sure about that? The only people we ever really serve are the farmers around here, and they clearly have incredibly low standards when it comes to the definition of food."

He grimaced as another strong wiff of something burning hit his nostrils, seeming to singe the hairs. "Yeah, I can see that, well... smell it I guess." He stated, wincing from the stench. "Unfortunately though, yes, I am afraid I do need to have something to eat as soon as possible or I think my stomach may start eating itself. Which I'm starting to wonder if that is the better of the two options here." He half joked, earning a small slanted grin from the waitress.