The Breakfast Club

The Debate

   Denny's and WaffleHouse sat in the dimly lit debate room. Things were getting intense and the argument was half and half. Denny's slammed his hand against table " Waffle house doesn't even mix cheese into the hashbrowns, they just throw it on top of hashbrowns. Not us! We make sure our hashbrowns are perfect." Everyone in the debate room gasped. Wafflehouse started to sweat nervously. Denny's was winning them over. Wafflehouse had to think quick, he glanced over at Denny's and saw his devilish smirk. He shifted his eyes towards the people watching the debate. All eyes were on him. His response will start to win them over or not at all. He gulped and took a deep breath in.

   "Grits at Denny's? Ha, more like shits at Denny's! Our grits are way more superior!" Wafflehouse sighed in relief, he crossed his arms. He saw Denny's taken back by his honest response. There was chatter amoung the crowd, things were starting to turn around in wafflehouse's favor. Wafflehouse smirked the same smirk Denny's gave him. Denny's noticed his mocking, there was an obvious look of annoyance on his face.

    Denny's made direct eye contact with Wafflehouse. The look of anger on Denny's face intimidated Wafflehouse. Wafflehouse didn't know if Denny's couldn't think of any more ideas. Wafflehouse scratched the back of his head in nervousness. Denny's continued his intense eye contact with Wafflehouse as the crowd started to grow silent. If his looks could kill, Wafflehouse would be dead on the floor. Wafflehouse gave a small smile at Denny's hoping that Denny's would break the eye contact. He knew that if he broke eye contact, Denny's would probably become more mad. Denny's noticed the smile Wafflehouse gave him, he rolled his eyes and turned his head away from Wafflehouse. He faced foward toward the crowd once more and spoke. " We have more of a selection. While Wafflehouse doesn't change their menu or add anything, we make sure to have a wide diversity of choices for people's taste and preferences. Not only that, we also add special menu options for seasons and holidays." Denny's smiled at the crowd, his anger totally gone from Wafflehouse's response, he seemed more than content with his response. He thought he had Wafflehouse beat.

   Wafflehouse noticed Denny's instant confidence. Denny's had always been a confident man, very charismatic. He always seemed to win the people over in every situation. That was a strength he had that Wafflehouse lacked. Wafflehouse had always been more shy and observant. But, that gave him more time to think of what he needed to say.

    Wafflehouse started to sweat, he wasn't sure which point to bring up next. Most of his points were pretty strong and relatable. But, if one of Denny's points are stronger than his, his once strong argument will become weak. He had to think of something quick. He looked down at his notes, none of them topped what Denny's said. He started to sweat more, he needed to calm down. He couldn't accept defeat this easily. Denny's noticed Wafflehouse's panicked looked and scoffed. Wafflehouse closed his eyes and thought.

   The crowd was silent, Denny's was silent, he felt alone with his eyes closed. He didn't feel pressured, he didn't see anyone looking at him. Therefore, in his mind at least, he wasn't needing to hurry, he wasn't needing to top anyone. His argument was valid no matter if Denny's was better. He slowly opened his eyes, he took a deep breath and looked over at Denny's. "Okay!" He spoke to the audience "With a show of hands, who has gotten hungry while drunk before!" Wafflehouse waited for a response. The crowd was kinda confused but some of them started to raise their hands. Denny's furrowed his eyebrows, he didn't know what wafflehouse was going to say next. "That's okay if you do! We are all human, that's what Denny's and most restaurants don't understand that we do!" Wafflehouse cracked his knuckles and continued to talk " You can walk into Wafflehouse drunk out of your mind we will still serve you." Denny's rolled his eyes at Wafflehouse's response. Wafflehouse leaned back and waited for Denny's response. Though, the argument wasn't the strongest, he tried Denny's tatic and tried to involve the people and they seemed to enjoy that.

   Now, it was back to Denny's turn. He seemed to still be winning. He looked at Wafflehouse and shook his head. It was now the last round and Denny's basically had it in the bag, at least he thought. " Denny's is a larger restaurant. We have more tables, more room and more staff than wafflehouse. We are more of a sit down restaurant while Wafflehouse is a restaurant where dirty truckers and old men go." Denny's placed a hand on his hip and smiled "I finish my argument there." He looked at Wafflehouse and chuckled. Some people in the crowd started to talk. They seemed to agree with Denny's comment.

   Wafflehouse took a deep breath in, then out. This was it, he was either going to somehow come up with a better argument or face defeat. He straightened his tie and started to speak. "Wafflehouse may not be as big as Denny's I will admit. He's also right about us not having much on our menu! But, there's one thing we have that Denny's doesn't." Wafflehouse glanced over a Denny's. " We have bar seating that allows you to see what is cooking." Wafflehouse took a pause, he heard whispers escalate over the crowd. He waited for them to dial down and he began talking once more. "You must think that this isn't such a big deal. But, I beg to differ! Hepatitis outbreak has been everywhere recently and can effect you!" He pointed out to the crowd " You never know what they're doing behind that wall to your food! They could be dropping it, spitting in it, who knows!" Denny's had a look of shock on his face. He wasn't expecting that response. "But, at Wafflehouse we make certain that your food is able for you to see at all times! We assure you that we are cooking it correctly with perfect hygiene and care! So, if you want sickness or diseases, go to Denny's, be my guest. But, if you want quality and guaranteed 100% health and good care, come to Wafflehouse! I conclude my argument!" Wafflehouse smiled and stepped back. People began to clap, as the clapping continued everyone stood up. Wafflehouse won the debate. He knew that argument would win them over, it always does. Anyone who would still let Denny's win after that argument would only make them look bad and no one wants to look bad in front of a crowd.

    Wafflehouse glanced over at Denny's and saw how infuriated he was. He shook his head and stomped off stage. No one even noticed Denny's, the man they were set on winning the entire time, it seemed crazy to Wafflehouse how quickly people can change their minds. But, he left the thought about Denny's, this was his moment, he knew Denny's wouldn't think about him if he won.

      Wafflehouse awaited his prize brought up by an unrealistically attractive woman. Ironically, his prize he recieved from the woman was a 200$ Ihop gift card. He grabbed the card and showed it off, everyone was cheering and taking pictures of him. After the crowd started to leave, he placed the card in his pocket and rushed off stage. His heart was pounding, he was so surprised he did that. All those people looking at him and all that debating was overwhelming to him. He was happy he had won but all that pressure was very nerve wracking.

   As he went backstage he grabbed his dufflebag full of his stuff he brought along. He unzipped it, he had a Coca-Cola bottle waiting for him in the dufflebag for his tastebuds to endure. As he reached into the bag he noticed a peice of paper sitting upon all his items.  He picked up the note slowly, he looked around him to see if there was anyone he could have pinned that wrote it. But, no one, that he knew at least, was back stage. On the note it wrote...

    Wafflehouse, you won. I can't believe you did it, I didn't see it coming. I wouldn't have guessed a loser like you would have something up his sleeve. I was angry earlier at my defeat. But, to congratulate you properly, meet me backstage at 6 p.m. .
                                         -Denny's

-----
Thanks to my sister Dystany for creating such an amazing cover for my story. She does commissions and posts of her own art on her instagram and tumblr: @namyksart