The 8 kids were regulars at the diner. "hey kids!" said Valerie, a full time waitress at the diner. "I expect y'all want the same thing as usual" she said with a welcoming smile. "that would be great thanks" Maisy went to the counter and payed the money they had split in advance then shuffled into the booth at the back of the building. She was sat next to Ben, opposite Stan. Once they all had their usual orders the conversations started. "Mai?" Mike called her name from end of the booth closest to the wall. "whats up? She replied, leaning forward to see past Ben and Eddie. "I was thinking. Why did you move here in the first place?" Maisy's heart dropped down to her toes. She had been avoiding that question for 10 months and she was doing it well. "well that's a conversation for another time." she smiled, trying to play it off as if she was fine with it. "you say that every time. What's wrong?" Bev chimed in. "um. Ok fine." she gave in "so uh... Obviously I'm adopted. My now-mom was married to a guy who would've been my dad. He was just a really bad man and we could only get away by moving here. I mean- we were planning on moving anyway but that was just the cherry on top of the cake.. I don't know, I just don't like getting into it." she forced out a small smile but it was clear the felt uncomfortable. "Mai.. You're shaking." Stan said, referring to her hands on the table. "I just need some air. It's kinda hot in here" Maisy quickly stood up without another word and left the diner. She sat on a bench outside. She couldn't decide whether she regretted opening up about that or if it was a weight off of her shoulders, even though she barely got into it.
Not long after she went outside she was joined by Stan. He carefully sat on the bench next to her and it was silent. "hey. I get that it's probably not an easy thing for you to talk about...but I'm proud of you, ok?" he said softly. Those words were all she needed to hear. She immediately wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her tighter and just stayed like that for as long as she needed. " I'm so sorry." she finally spoke up "don't be." he whispered, trying his best to calm her down "I've never really been open with you guys. I just don't want to talk about it. I feel like what happened is my fault and I didn't fucking do anything to stop it." "it's ok. You don't have to talk about anything that you don't want to talk about but if you do, I'm here. I promise." they both pulled away from each other's grip. "can you not tell the others about this?" "I promise. You were just getting some air." they smiled at each other and joined the others back in the diner as if nothing had happened.
As the evening went on, the group decided it was time to leave. They weren't ready to go home yet though. They just walked down the streets and talked about dumb teenager shit. For the rest of the night Maisy stuck with Stanley. After their chat, they were particularly close.
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Once again, home time came way too soon. Everyone walked home together and separated as they walked by their streets. Stan and Maisy stood outside their houses, waiting as long as possible to go inside. "are you feeling better now." he asked before he had to leave "yeah. Thanks for everything" she looked up at him before being pulled into another tight hug. Her head could barely reach his shoulder as he was much taller than she was. "see you tomorrow Mai" Stan said as he slowly stepped towards his front door. "bye" she waved as she did the same. They both got inside and carried on with their usual nightly routines.
