#dkstarter

WHERE: Patsy’s Diner

TIME: 7pm, 12th October

OPEN TO: anyone

Patsy’s was busier than usual. Apparently, the notion of getting a hot coffee after the hours of trekking and hunting was quite a popular one. As Stan stepped in, he was immediately confronted by huddles of bodies and excited chatter. Usually, the teacher would be all for it, there was nothing like times of crisis to connect and socialise, and considering he was near to nobody in the town if he wanted to find angles to work with the town’s history for a book he’d have to make some friends. However, the long hours in the forest had drained his patience, and all he wanted was a black coffee to think about his ideas.

Slipping between the crowds, he made his way to the counter to make his order, an audible sigh of relief, escaping his dry lips as his order was placed in front of him. The steam from the cup rose and hit his cheeks like the air from a sauna, making it go red from the warmth. It was like hot cocoa at Christmas, pure bliss and relaxation. However, as he withdrew it back and glanced around the diner, he could feel the temporary pleasure dissipate just like the steam.

Gingerly, he poked his head around for a free booth, looking like an awkward ostrich searching for food before he resigned himself to having to share. It took a little more glancing around before Stan stepped over to a table with only one other occupant. He offered a gentle smile that reached his eyes with a smatter of brightness.

"Hope you don't mind if I join you, do I? After all that walking, standing around seems like torture..."

His mom wasn’t home when Pete got back from school, but to be honest, he didn’t expect her to be. She was working later and later. The paranoid part of him wondered if she was deliberately avoiding him anyway, avoiding talking to him or asking him how he’s feeling after what happened (or might have happened) to Brian. Then the cynic in him realized she probably didn’t really care enough to avoid him. She was just busy working. It had been a couple of years since Pete had really bothered trying to get her attention.

“Hey boy,” he greeted in a soft tone as Billie padded over to him. He bent down, pulling back the padded headphones that played one of his Smashing Pumpkins cassettes to scratch the dog behind the ears. He left his backpack and jacket hanging on the back of the dining chair, and made sure the water and food bowl were full. A chewed up tennis ball was lying on the floor, and he gave a little whistle before picking it up and bouncing it down the hallway so Billie could chase it and bring it back to him, and then he let him out in the back yard.

God, he was so freaking glad it was a Friday. But he was equally apprehensive about it. Tomorrow would mark one week since Brian had disappeared. He recognized the looks in people’s eyes when they spoke to David or Beth. He’d been on the receiving end way too many times. How weird was it to feel like he was the one giving those looks out? He’d also seen that look creep back into people’s eyes when they looked at him over the course of the week. He knew what they were thinking, because he was thinking the same thing.

It’s happening again.

Pete told himself it had to be something else, something completely unrelated to his father or to Max Acosta or to him. It sucked, but sometimes kids disappeared. That didn’t mean they were all linked… right? He didn’t wanna think about this stuff, and he especially didn’t wanna have the nightmares again. They’d been back all week long. He kept insisting everything was fine, but damn, he must have looked even more pale and skinny and exhausted than usual.

The little light flashed red on the answering machine, and he pulled a bottle of Diet Coke out of the fridge as he hit play. A message from Karen Shah’s receptionist telling him they could fit him in tomorrow if he wanted, could he call them before 10 tomorrow morning to confirm? Pete sighed. The next message was for his mom.

He shook his head, almost pulling his headphones back up. Mostly out of habit, out of defence. He held off for a few minutes though, wandering into the garden to call Billie back over. The dog was always grateful for the attention, and Pete was always grateful for the distraction. After a few minutes playing with tennis balls and sticks, he took Billie back inside to grab his leash. He hovered by the phone again, just for a few moments, and then he dialled.

hello turkeys, i had your friends for lunch today.