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it was early in the morning when mike left chloe's house. the sun had just rose from the sky and was now tinting the earth with light, for he had somewhere to be and wasting time wasn't on his agenda. he got into his car and started the engine, he drove in down the streets in silence. for some reason he felt as if he had to talk to el, right this moment or he would burst inside his own body.
talking to el really helped mike organize all of his thoughts. he could've written it all down in a journal but that felt like bottling things up inside him. he had to actually talk to someone about it. the drive was about 15 minutes from chloe's house to the diner and the time was now 6:50.
by the time he got to the diner it was 7:00 and there was no one in the parking lot nothing but one car. inside the diner he saw the soft glow of the red neon lights and he could see el walking around by the tables, setting down menus and straightening out the salt and pepper shakers. he parked his car and got out of the driver's seat quickly. his feet moved quickly along the pavement and when he reached the door and tried to pull it open, it refused to swing open. he knocked softly on the door and watched el swivel her head over in his direction.
when she realized it was mike standing there, she walked over to the door and unlocked it. "hey...what are you doing here so early?" she asked, "i don't really know, i wanted to talk to you yesterday but you weren't here um... so, here i am."
"oh.. want to come in and talk then?" mike nodded and walked inside and sat down at a booth. "you want coffee or something to eat?" she asked as she wiped her hands off with a towel. "uh.. no, thank you." el shrugged and sat in the seat next to him. "so what's up?"
"well, i guess i just really wanted to talk to you yesterday about everything. i don't know, really." a small smile appeared onto her face, "well, tell me about it!"
"i took your advice, and it worked. she had some home stuff going on, and i know it's not her fault."
"what type of stuff does she have going on, if i may ask?" mike sighed, "her parents, they leave her alone for days, weeks, and sometimes months at a time, and she just feels so lonely that she wants to have someone with her all the time. most of the time it's me, or her friends. and she just gets so wrapped up in the thought that she's going to be alone permanently that she forgets things that are going on around her."
el frowned, "that's awful." mike nodded, "but hey, i know something that you could do to get her mind off of things." said el. mike raised his eyebrows as if telling her to continue. "every other friday night i host a thing where people can come and dance and you get 20% off whatever you order. it's basically a way for me to get more customers, but they're always super fun. you guys should come tonight."
mike thought about the idea. he knew chloe wanted to meet dustin and el, this would be a good chance for her to do that. on the other hand, mike didn't want chloe to find out about the diner just yet. it was like his little secret and he wasn't ready to let her know about it yet.
