Destiny Takes Its Toll, Rebooted

Chapter 2

This isn't too bad at all, what better way to celebrate being alive than the open road and a six hour drive to SanFran? Tyler made his way through the interstate, watching as cars passed him by, honking their horns at him in irritation. Of course he couldn't have a successful road trip without the music. He decided not to tell his family he was coming back, for one he didn't want the twenty to one hundred questions he'd be hounded with through the phone, and second, he wasn't really sure how they'd react to his coming home to begin with. Would they be happy? Confused? Upset? Pissed off? Who knew? What Tyler did know was that he had a few hours to come up with a very believable story to tell everyone. 

As the hours passed by, Tyler began to finally see the sign welcoming everyone to San Francisco. Wow, this was really happening, wasn't it? He drew in a heavy breath and slowly released it. It's fine, everything is gonna be fine. He was going to go home, see his parents, his brothers, and nobody had to find out about his money problems. Plus it wasn't like he was gonna stay for long anyway, in fact Tyler was thinking about going to Las Vegas or hell maybe somewhere on the east coast? Like Virginia Beach or Hilton Head, NC? 

As he drove through the city limits, he immediately felt a rush of adrenaline rush through him. Or maybe it was something like lack of food? He didn't really know, but right now that wasn't his priority. Right now, his focus was being able to see his two brothers for the first time in several years. 

Since he was hungry, Tyler decided to make a quick stop to one of the nearby diners not far from the city exit. This would be a very quick bite and he'd be back in his car, on the way home to the big, beautiful pink Victorian. 

Once he entered the diner, Tyler found himself a seat at the bar looking into the kitchen. He took a menu and started to figure out exactly what he wanted to eat. 

“Good day to ya, sir. What can I get to drink for you?” A worker from behind the bar asked.

“Oh, um, a soda please. Mmm, cherry.” Tyler smiled and winked at the woman.

“Coming right up, sugar.” The woman walked over to the fountain machine and after a few moments came back with Tyler's beverage. 
“Did you figure out what you're gonna have to eat?”

“How about… A double jalapeño pepperjack cheese burger and onion rings, please?” Tyler smiled up from the menu and the woman jotted down the order and gave it to the grill cook. 

Tyler sat lost in thought when a couple of younger guys walked past the young witch. They sat down at one of the empty booths and began to talk amongst themselves when Tyler picked up some of the things they were saying. 

He turned his head and gave them a look, who looked right back. “Got a problem there, Buddy?” 

“Oh, um, no. Sorry,” Tyler turned back to his drink but the two guys got up from their booth and made their way towards Tyler..

“Whatcha doing here all by your lonesome, boy?” One of the guys sarcastically asked.

Jesus Christ, was this really happening again? He got rid of the two morons he owed money to and now these two kids basically, were harassing him. What did he do to deserve this? 

“First of all, you look around my age, so don't call me ‘boy’,” Tyler was now completely facing the pair, “second of all, I've been on the road for six hours and I'm starving so please let me eat in peace?”