Pippi's Diner

Chapter 1

Ok, I decided that you might need a little more than a prologue to tell if you liked the idea of my story or not, so here is chapter one.  PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT AT THE BOTTOM!!!  I ask this of you so I know whether or not to continue this story.  I have big plans and this might be a challenge to write so a little inspiration would be nice.  *Puppy dog face* PWEES!

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Chapter 1

I walked into Pippi’s Dinner, a cheery grin playing at my face.  Opening the door and hearing the faint ting-a-ling of the shiny silver bell at the top, I ignored the staring eyes of the creepy men sitting in stools at the bar counter and sauntered over to a small two person table tucked in the back corner.  Almost immediately, Ted, my usual server, shuffled over to my table, a similar smile to mine on his face.

“Well g’mornin Miss Crest, what can I get you this fine day?”  He began, as always, with the same chipper question.

“Oh, shut up Ted.  We’re best friends for crying out loud, so just call me Ray already!”  I growled playfully at him.  “I’ll have a cup of coffee, with milk and… two and a half spoons of sugar.”

“You know I like to keep my business transactions formal, Miss Crest.”  Ted replied mockingly.  “And I’ve told you every day for the past year, I won’t give you half a scoop of sugar!  My sugar is only served in wholes, take it or leave it.”

I grumbled again.  “Yes, Ted,” I said slowly.  “Every day I ask you for half a spoon of sugar, and every day, you say no.  Also, every day I report you to Boozer, your boss, and every day he clubs you in the head for disregarding your customer’s wishes.”  For a couple seconds, we stared each other down, waging our mental war.

A devilish grin spread across both our face and soon we were both laughing rather loudly from the corner.

“Okay Rach, if it’s that important to you I’ll get you your damn coffee; with two and a half servings of sugar.”

He started walking away when I called out after him, “And the milk, don’t forget the milk!”  Ted was already fairly close to the kitchen at the opposite end of the room, but I could still hear his light chuckle from my seat.  I grinned too.  Despite our constant arguments, Ted and I were like two peas in a pod; there was nothing closer to compare.  Fighting was our way of friendly banter.

Pippi’s was my usual diner for the past year or so, ever since Ted was hired to wait tables.  I never missed a day of the wonderful, half-brewed, semi edible, coffee they made here.

Usually, Aria would join us, and our little group would be heard shouting above the murmur of conversation wafting through out the diner.  This morning, Aria had ditched us yet again to run off who knows where to do who knows what.  This left the argumentation to me and Ted - a much bigger job than you would expect.

I wasn’t even sure why Aria was in our group.  She was a new addition, replacing my old friend Missy who had become the school bitch.  Aria had everything.  She was rich, thanks to her daddy who owned some big electrical engineering business.  She was absolutely beautiful, with a perfectly curvy figure, brown-red hair in lush curls around her face down to the tips of her shoulder blades, and baby blue colored eyes that drew everyone in.  She was kind and funny, but to top it all off, she was the most popular girl in school – that is, before she dropped the rest of the populars for our loser group.

We were nothing special.  In fact, we were a broken pair after Missy left.  Neither one of us were rich, popular, or extremely beautiful.  Ted was kind of cute, I guess, in a boy-next-door sort of way.  He had plain brown hair, in a shaggy cut, average height for a guy his age, and two hazel eyes set into his round face.  He had a tiny nose that I constantly teased him about and slightly fat lips that, again, I couldn’t help but use against him.  Hey, remember what I said, friendly fighting.

I, on the other hand, was a mess – but I didn’t care.  I’m mixed race, so my skin is a weird coffee-tan color.  Aria is always telling me that my skin color is beautiful, and sets off my wavy dark brown hair, and more crap like that but I know it’s not true.  I am only 5’2 so when I jab at Ted for his nose, he would always say, “At least it’s bigger than you.”  Where Aria is curvy, I’m as flat as a board.  She is beautiful, and Ted is kind of cute – that is coming from a sisterly point of view, nothing more – but I am absolutely ordinary, just the way I like it.

Aria and even sometimes Ted have guys and girls falling over them just because of the way they look.  If I ever meet someone that really likes me, at least I will know that I can trust them to stick by me.

“Is everything all right?”  Ted called to me as he began walking back to the table, my coffee and routine blueberry muffin in his hands.  I smiled up at him as he set them down in front of me and took the open seat across the table.

“Not really, just wondering where Aria ran off to this morning.  She’s always so secretive about it.”  I said, wishing that I had my other best friend with me.  When Aria first came up to us and asked if we could hang out, we were skeptical.  We thought she was tricking us or something.  Cautiously, we said sure and we all went out bowling. It was actually more fun than I would have thought.  Aria fit into our group perfectly, like the missing puzzle piece we needed after Missy.  We were practically inseparable after that.

“I’m sure she’s fine.  You know how her family is, keeping her under lock and key.  I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried sneaking out the window to get here.  She wouldn’t miss us on purpose for a whole week.”  Ted, the ever faithful, replied.  “Besides,” he continued.  “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”  He sounded unsure of himself, and now I was curious.  Ted always put up a strong front, no matter what the situation was.

“Well, spit it out already.”  I said, anxious to hear what he had to say.

I carefully picked up my coffee mug, blew away some steam wafting from the top, and took a hefty sip.

“My brother is back.”

Coffee spewed everywhere, drenching Ted.

And the last thing I thought was, “He forgot the milk.”

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Well there, a little bit of a cliff ending for you.  Vote, comment, whatever you want, I'll be happy to hear it.