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Slow and setty-uppy, so bear with me. Hopefully it doesn't suck. ._.''
“Frylight”
definitely not a Twilight fanfic
by Apple B.
Bella, a new waitress at a greasy spoon, meets an eccentric yet oddly attractive truck driver named Ed. Sparks fly in this AU that almost takes itself seriously.
Just So You Know: Title came from Helen Killer @ Regretsy.com. Fic came from my realization that I don't hate the basic concept of Twilight, just the execution. So I shall take the most basic, stripped down version of the series and rewrite it, setting it in the real world.
The summer sun was dipping below the horizon, and the evening was cooling fast. The soft cinnamon scent of dry grass filled the air. Down the empty highway outside of town came Bella in her old pickup, who pulled up into the parking area behind the Golden Fork Diner outside of town. She parked and tied her wavy hair up in a ponytail that almost disguised the frizz that comes with oppressive July humidity. She looked in the rear view mirror to fuss with her makeup, then took a deep breath, got out of the car, and walked around to the front of the diner, tying her cheery yellow apron on as she went. A few stars peeked out in the growing darkness. Bella looked up and smiled at the sparkling points of light before entering the diner.
“Hi, Bella!” A lady with thick glasses, bleached hair and bright pink lipstick came around the corner with a tray of burgers. It was Ruby, the head waitress who had hired her and would be training her tonight. “You're here early.”
“Yeah, I wanted a cup of coffee.” She smiled nervously. “May I?”
“Sure, honey. Go sit down at the counter and I'll get you a cup in just a minute.” She went off to deliver the food, and Bella sat down on a red vinyl stool and swiveled back and forth, staring at the black and white floor tiles. In a moment, Ruby arrived with a coffee pot in one manicured hand and poured her a cup. Bella poured in three creamers and lots of sugar.
“Easy on the sugar there, hon!”
“Sorry, I'm used to drinking it really sweet and milky. Though back home, I'd get it on ice.”
“You and your fancy city coffee,” Ruby said with a teasing smile.
Bella gave her a shy smile back and sipped at the light brown brew. Still bitter, but it was tolerable, and she wanted the caffeine for what would be a long night for her.
“After you finish that,” said Ruby, “go get your name badge from the office and come out ready to work.”
“Yes, ma'am.” Bella drank the rest of her coffee and went to the office. Stewart, the owner of the diner, was there, with a pile of papers on his desk and a chewed-on pencil in his hand. He didn't even look up when Bella opened the door, just held the name badge out. She took it with a “Thank you.”
Stewart said “You're welcome” vaguely while not looking up from what appeared to be a pile of bills.
Bella affixed the badge to her apron, but not without sticking herself in the finger twice. She sucked on her pricked finger as she walked back into the dining room. One big hairy trucker at a booth saw her sucking on her finger and winked at her. She blushed, quickly pulled the finger out of her mouth, wiped it on her apron and walked past him without making further eye contact.
Ruby came out from the kitchen. “Okay, let's get to work!”
An hour and a half later, Bella's brain was buzzing and her hands smelled of grease. She was pleased, though, with how quickly she was learning her new job, and so was Ruby. She had learned how to take orders (though in the slow evening hours, she hadn't had an opportunity to take one on her own), how to give the orders to the chef, whose name was Jimmy, and had memorized a good bit of the menu and met the busboy, whose name she missed but who seemed like a nice guy. He had a long ponytail and a really nice smile. They chatted a bit while he wiped down the tables and she stood attentively waiting for new customers.
Bella slipped into the bathroom to wash her hands, and when she came back, a man was just sitting down in a booth. Ruby came up to Bella and handed her an order pad of her own and a pencil.
“Why don't you take his order? I think you're ready.”
“All right,” said Bella. She looked over Ruby's shoulder at the customer. He was youthful, pale and his hair looked like he hadn't properly showered in a few days; it was messy and stuck up randomly. He was wearing sunglasses despite it being almost 11 pm, and his arms were covered in faded black tattoos. Bella hesitated.
“Now, don't be nervous,” whispered Ruby. “He's a little... strange, but he's harmless. Just give him whatever he asks for.”
“Are you sure that--”
“You can do it,” Ruby smiled encouragingly.
Bella took a deep breath and walked over to the strange customer who appeared to sniff the air when she walked over.
“Hello, welcome to the Golden Fork. My name is Bella, and I'll be your waitress this evening.”
She offered him a menu, but he put up his hand and said softly “I don't need a menu, I know just what I want.” Despite the sunglasses, he seemed to be staring intensely at her. Bella noticed that what she thought were tattoos on his arms were done in what appeared to be Sharpie.
“W-What would you like?”
“One steak, raw, no side dishes, and a Coke.”
“Did you say...”
“Yes, raw, please.”
“...Sure.” She scribbled down “one raw steak, no sides” along with “WTF” on the order pad and said “It'll be right out.”
“Thank you.” He had a nice voice; it was smooth and seemed much more sane than the rest of him. He smiled at her and she could see her reflection in his little round sunglasses. She was blushing again. She strode over to the order counter and stuck the order on the spokes.
Jimmy turned the wheel and said to himself, “Oh, he's here again.” While Bella went to fill a glass with Coke, a glistening red raw steak on a plate appeared in the kitchen window. Bella put it on a tray, her hands shaking a little, and brought it over to the customer's table.
“Here you are.”
“Thank you... Bella,” he said, taking the drink and meat. His lips seemed to curl around her name, like he was taking it into his mouth. Bella picked up the unused coffee cup and the other table setting, put them on the tray, walked just a couple steps and dropped the whole tray. Bella fell towards the floor and was suddenly stopped before she hit it. Two strong hands had caught her and were setting her upright again. It was the customer.
“Thank you,” she said shyly.
“You're welcome.”
“How did you--?”
“I have good reflexes.”
“I... I see.” She dusted herself off and said, “Thanks again.”
“You're welcome, again.”
A giggle slipped from her mouth before she quieted herself. They both stooped to pick up the silverware and the coffee cup, which somehow the customer must've caught too. She stood, smiled at him, dropped the tray off in the kitchen to be washed, and dashed into the bathroom to calm down.
She stood in front of the sink; her hands were shaking and her hair was wild. “Ohhhh, my God, what just happened?” She went back to the deep cleansing breaths.
Ruby came in and said “You all right, honey?”
“Yeah, I'm fine, just....”
“Don't worry, Bella, he makes me uneasy too. Like I said though, he's harmless and he doesn't come around that often anyway. You did a fine job for your first time.” She put a hand around Bella's shoulder. “Just be careful with yourself, okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself.”
“Yeah, I'll be careful. Thanks.” She looked at Ruby in the mirror and smiled.
“Okay, now pat your hair down and come out soon, okay?”
“Yes, Ruby.”
After she came out, the customer's steak was already polished off and he was sipping his Coke, looking out the lace curtained window at the starry sky. Bella came over and took his empty plate.
“Can I get you anything else?”
He didn't look at her, just stared through the window and said, “No thanks, I'll take my check.” He picked up a napkin and wiped his face. When he put it back on the table, it was streaked with bloody juices. Her hands trembling again, she picked up his plate and put it in the sink. She came back, gave him his check and went to go look busy while he paid the bill and hopefully didn't skip the tip due to her clumsiness.
When she came back from dusting the pictures hanging on the wall, he was gone, the glass was empty, and he'd left the money and a rather generous tip. She pocketed it and noticed that on the bill, he'd written in clear, old-fashioned cursive, “My name is Edward. It was nice to meet you, Bella.”
The rest of her shift passed uneventfully, and she only had a couple more customers who ordered more standard fare and didn't make her trembly. When Josephine the overnight waitress came in, she said that Bella could go home. Bella thanked her and skittered out of the diner and into the cold night. She undid her hair, pulled off her apron and got into the truck.
She sat there a while, thinking about Edward's smile. She didn't know what to make of it. She drove home and let herself in without waking her father, who had fallen asleep in the living room waiting for her, newspaper draped over his chest, snoring lightly. She kicked off her shoes when she got into her bedroom and fell onto the bed, still clothed, and thought about her night until she fell asleep, sprawled across the bed.
 Chili Cheese Danish · Sun Mar 28, 2010 @ 05:58am · 2 Comments |
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