Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
MARY DROPPED HER younger brother Dustin off at his friend's, Mike, house with his bike before going over to Benny's diner for work. She had a four-hour shift from six to ten before the dinner rush was nearly over, leaving her with two customers drinking milkshakes at the counter. She spent the rest of her shift doing homework, occasionally giving refills and conversing with Ben.
Two hands covered her eyes and Mary let out a surprised gasp, "Guess who."
She smiled and giggled, "Richard?"
He let her see and walked around her to the seat next to her, "What are you doing here? It's late." Mary stated, dropping her pencil on her book,
"Well, I knew you had the late shift and you have a chemistry test in the morning. I figured I could help you study." He smiled, showing off his pearly teeth before revealing note cards he made, "I hope you don't mind, I looked through your chemistry textbook to make these."
Mary smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips, "Thank you, that's so sweet."
"Anything for my favorite girl."
DUSTIN WAS GONE the next morning before Mary got ready. She never got to ask him how his game went. She said goodbye to her mother and gave Mews a quick pat on the head before leaving for school.
Mary walked into the chemistry classroom with confidence and sat in between her friends Barb and Nancy before the bell rang, signaling the start of class.
"Okay class, as you all know, today is the unit six test..."
Once the last bell rang, Mary immediately went to the diner. She was in the kitchen, making herself some waffles as an afternoon snack when some customers came in. Mary sighed, setting the waffles on a plate before going to greet them.
"Hey!"
Mary turned to see a child eating her waffles and Ben chased the child who was now running towards the back door. She hurried towards where the two ran off to and spotted Ben with his hands on the child's upper arms.
"What the-" The child was wearing a dirty, torn hospital gown with no shoes and dirt all over their skin. Looking at them, you would think the child was a boy with the shaved head, but their face was more feminine.
"Mary, why don't you clean her up?" Mary nodded to Ben's suggestion and held out her hand towards the child,
"I won't hurt you." She smiled. The girl took her hand and Mary led her to the break room. Mary took a dish towel and dampened it, cleaning the dirt from the child's face, "My name is Mary Henderson. What's yours?"
The girl never answered and Mary looked down and noticed the small tattoo on her wrist that read '011', "Eleven? What does that mean?" The girl's chocolate eyes met Mary's green ones and pointed to herself,
"So your name is Eleven?" Mary walked over to the dryer and grabbed a yellow burger t-shirt, "This is all we have here. Maybe later I can get you some pants and shoes." She smiled, handing the girl the shirt.
Mary turned around so the girl could change in private and she threw away the hospital gown before leading her out of the break room and to a table in the main area.
Benny sat with the girl as she ate a burger and fries while Mary made more waffles. All the customers had left so they didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her.
Her boss walked over, asking Mary to watch the kid while he called social services. As Mary walked over with the waffles, she spotted the girl glaring at the noisy fan before it stopped completely, leaving her to eat her meal peacefully.
"Hey, there." She smiled down at the girl, "I made some more waffles." Mary set the plate down and the girl began to devour them.
Mary sat with her, doing her homework while Benny continued working. Soon the diner closed and Benny discussed with her what they were going to do with the child, "I can take her for the night. I bet my mom wouldn't care." Mary stated, cleaning the kitchen while the girl sat on the table, eating ice cream, "You like that ice cream, huh?" Mary smiled at the girl and she smiled back, "That smile looks good on you."
There was a knock on the door and Benny went to go answer it. Mary went quiet so the two girls could listen to the conversation Benny was having,
When Mary heard it was Social Services, she began folding her towel to go speak with the woman also. When she turned to greet the woman, she had a gun and shot Benny in the head. Mary gasped and the girl tugged on her hand. The two began running towards the back door when two men in suits with guns intercepted them. Mary pushed the girl behind her, but her hand pushed past her and the two men crashed into the wall before they could get a shot out. Mary grabbed the girl and they ran out of the building.
Mary's keys were in her bag back in the diner, so the two had to sprint into the woods, "My house is near here!" Mary yelled before thunder rumbled above them, "Oh, no. El, come on!"
It began to rain as they made it to Mary's backyard. Mary rushed the girl inside and made sure her mom and brother didn't spot the young girl as they made their way to Mary's room.
"Mary? Is that you? I didn't hear the car!" Her mom exclaimed from the kitchen,
Her eyes widened as she shoved the girl into her bedroom and walked over to her mom, "The, uh, the car didn't start. Benny let me go early so I walked back."
"In the rain?! Oh, honey, go get a shower and get warmed up." Mary nodded going back into her room. Mary looked at the young girl who was shivering in her bedroom. She looked at the girl sympathetically, "How about a hot bath, huh?"
Mary quickly ran a hot bath and found some clothes that would fit Eleven. She then snuck the girl out and into her own bedroom before taking a bath for herself.
"I'm in so much shit." Mary whispered as she closed her eyes.
Billy won't be showing up till season 2, obviously. I decided to start from the beginning because I thought it would make more sense to get a back story on Mary and how she fits into the series. Till next time!
