I'm Being Kidnapped by a Demon. Lovely, huh? (Under Revision)

Chapter 1

"Gracie!" My head snapped up and slammed against the roof of my locker with a metallic thud. Ow. A glance over my shoulder revealed a small but very pushy blonde female, speeding down the hall towards me, cleverly dodging all the much taller students that were in her path. She skidded to a stop directly in front of me, flashing a smile. "Hi!"

I answered her enthusiasm with a grin. "Hey, Jessie what's up?"

"We're going to Sophie's to eat, so tell your parents okay?"

"Fine, fine. What's the occasion this time?" I didn't bat an eye at the command, instead pulling out my phone to text my mom where I was going. Her spastic plans barely ever caught me off guard anymore. Besides, the diner was my favorite place to eat and she knew it. It was cheap and it was hot so I didn't have a legitimate complaint.

"Not telling! Meet me at my car!" Her golden head was out of sight before I could bother to answer.

Ten minutes after the last bell, we piled into Jessie's old sedan and I tried not to make any terrified noises as she careened around corners on the way there. Needless to say she wasn't the best driver. Somehow she'd managed not to kill us both so far but I wasn't taking any chances; my seatbelt was tightened as far as it could go.

The door jangled when we entered the small brick building, the smell of fried potatoes and grilled meat filling the air. No one greeted us but we headed to our normal booth, knowing someone would be around shortly. "Are we thinking milkshakes or burgers?" I asked, idly scanning the menu even though we'd eaten here so many times the waitresses knew us by name. It was a small town and the old fifties style diner we sat in did nothing to persuade the assumption that everyone knew everyone.

"Both." She exclaimed happily, clapping both of her hands. "And some chili cheese fries!"

I groaned. "You know I don't bring my wallet to school."

"Which is exactly why I said we're going today! Happy Birthday!" she spread her arms wide, causing several older couples to look at us in annoyance. I did my best to hide my face, pink spreading across my cheeks.

"My birthday isn't until tomorrow, you know."

"Well duh, but you know I have my gymnastics meet tomorrow and I won't be home so this is the next best thing! Dinner on me!"

"You really don't have to-"

"Uh yes, I do! You only turn 18 once!"

"Unfortunately," I stuck my tongue out at her and turned my attention to the greying waitress who had finally appeared. "Hey, Mary, how are you?"

She smiled at me, blue eyes lighting up at once. "Just fine, Gracie. What are you girls up to?"

"We're having Gracie's Birthday dinner!"

"It's not quite late enough for dinner, dear, but we'll let it slide." She sent us a conspiring wink. "The usual today?"

"Plus Chili cheese fries!" The interjection made Mary raise her eyebrows but she jotted it down all the same and scurried off to fill other orders. "So how'd you do on the Calculus test? Did you pass?"

"Probably, I didn't really study so we'll see." We fell into our regular pattern of speech which mainly consisted of Jessie talking my ear off while I nodded and sipped soda, occasionally losing myself in the red and white pattern on the table. I was still listening but my mind often wandered these days; I was lucky Jessie didn't seem to mind much. I was so intent on the bubbles running through my soda that I didn't notice that she'd stopped talking entirely. She was staring at something over my shoulder and I craned my neck to look. A tall man had just walked through the door and was heading for a booth on the far side of the diner. From the angle I was at I couldn't see his face but I felt unease prickle in my stomach, though I wasn't sure why. Frowning, I glanced back at Jessie, whose eyes were still riveted on him. "Jess."