THE BOY [ EDITING ]

iv. sunrise diner

007

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Going somewhere this late is considered dangerous.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎shinichiro knew that more than
anyone around and as seconds turned into minutes, he started regretting
taking more steps forward in hopes
of finding the diner keo suggested
him.

the big test was next month but
noticing how everyone at school
started studying before it all made
him want to do the same. he needed
good grades and a 80% would be
enough for him, but he remembers
the words his grandpa told him
which were ── "you are smart chiro!
you can do more than that if you
study hard."

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎at least that's how he remembers
the man's words.

he didn't exactly know where the
diner was and decided to stop walking, taking a look at his surroundings.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎shinichiro was currently wearing
a navy blue sweatshirt and under
that was a simple white tee he found
in the laundry bag. it looked clean to
him. he actually decided to wear baggy black pants instead of his usual
joggers which he had in many colors
such as white, brown, blue and even
pink ── surprisingly.

today was quite windy and that
bothered him a lot.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎however, his facial expression
changed from a scowl to a small
smile as he noticed the big sign of
dinner which was called "sunrise
diner."

"looks dead," said shinichiro but
quickly face-palmed himself and
then proceeded to mutter, "well no
shit, it's like 11 pm."

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎he finally reached the door of
the diner, trying to look at each
window for a sign saying "closed"
or something like that but noticing
that there wasn't any made him
smile like a kid. he pushed the
doors open and was welcomed
with a song that he didn't know the
name of, but had heard of thanks
to his grandpa who would dance
to songs while cleaning the house.

it was amusing seeing how much
energy the man had at this age,

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎"doesn't look dead anymore?" he muttered and was quickly greeted
by one of the employees sitting behind
the cash register.

"hello, welcome to sunrise diner!
how can i help you?"

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎shinichiro decided to put one of
his hands underneath his sweatshirt, some sort of a habit. "hi! uh, when
does this place close?"

"until sunrise, sir. um, just a bit
earlier than sunrise though. "

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎"so until 4 am?"

the nose piercing on the employee
seemed to be bothering them a bit
since they couldn't stop scrunching
their nose or maybe they just ──
didn't like the questions shinichiro
was asking.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎they nodded at his word though,
but yet seemed unsure.

"okay, thank you."

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎shinichiro didn't want to think
too much about it though and
started to look for a free seat which
was almost everywhere. he got to a
table and when he zipped down his
red backpack, he started regretting
every time he skipped class at the
sight of all the papers and big
books which he rarely even looked
at.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎── this was going to be long and
boring.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

008

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Belvie doesn't enjoy work as much
as her parents told her she would.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎an unfamiliar song, an unfamiliar
place and an unfamiliar customer
which made sense for them to be unfamiliar since the diner had recently
just opened.

"uh, well ── what do you recommend?"

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she hated that question more
than anything, but it was also a
way to get customers to buy the
most expensive thing on the menu
which was good for her and anyone working and also the manager. "i'd
say, the chicken hamburger. it's
like a new thing in our diner and
it's ── i mean, yeah, it's good." it
wasn't good.

not like she has ever tasted it but
from the way she would take a
small peek at how some of the
employees made this so called
chicken hamburger, belvie would
call the food a mess. at least the
diner looked nice and clean.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the sunrise diner may look like
the perfect place to get fast food
with friends after school on fridays
or after a boring and long monday,
but honestly, that place was just as
bad as ── well, anything considered
bad!

the number of rats she encountered
made her rethink her whole life.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the stupid and grumpy lady that
looked about her 40s who was
always siting on one of the outdoor
seats is something that belvie would
never leave out about the place.

that woman would always complain
about belvie's attitude.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she decided to look down from
the little black notebook she was
holding, wanting to get a look at
the person she was currently
helping. "what a surprise." belvie
said and this made the stranger
look up from the menu they were
reading very seriously.

"huh?" she could've sworn that
he looked familiar.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎either way, his face lit up after
getting a good look at bevlie. "oh!
uh, oh! pretty boy ── i mean,
pretty girl. sorry, that sounds
weird."

well now she regretted ever saying anything.
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎── good looking boys always ended
up being the weirdest around here.