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The Diner



Peter skipped down the street, pausing outside this diner the guys had repeatedly told her about. "Right here." Summer slowly followed, staring at the building. He opens the door, letting her in. There's a young woman standing at the counter with her hand tucked under her chin, watching them come through the door. Her eyes are glazed over, most likely daydreaming. As soon as the bell rings, the woman with curly blonde hair jumps up. "Hey, Peter!" She calls out waving to him with an enormous grin, her nose scrunched up. "Who's your friend?"

She drops her eyes onto Summer, who gives her a smallish wave. "This is Summer. She's new to Paradise Hill." Peter turns halfway to Summer. "This is Grace." Curling her hair around her finger, Grace moves both her arms down onto the counter. "Nice to meet you. Hope Paradise Hill treats you wellown here for dinner sometimes. This is our table." She squeezes herself into a booth. Peter sits across from her. "Grace seemed interested in you. I've never seen her smile like that."

"She's interesting."

Peter looked out the large window at the street, then back at her. "So how's life going?" Summer leaned back against the window. "It's pretty good. I like Paradise Hill. It's much bigger than what I expected."

"Paradise Hill is actually pretty small," Peter laughs. "Down in Cleveland, there are thousands of people. It makes sense, you know. More to see there."

"It's very social. People have been telling me good morning all morning."

"Everyone knows each other, they can tell your new." Peter shrugs, "it will blow over soon."

Another woman stepped up to them. "Abe, this is Summer." Abe sizes her up in a glance. She's got black curly hair being held back by a pink and blue clip. "She runs the place."

Abe smiles at her. She must've determined Summer was a good person. "How about I grab you two drinks?" Abe inquires, grabbing a menu from behind the napkin holder. "Anything, it's on the house." Summer studied the menu. Abe was still watching her like a hawk, so she decided to be simple. "Just a water, please."

She smiled, not worried about writing it down. She doesn't ask for Peter's then moves her head over to the person cleaning tables across from them. "Avery, come here."

They look up out of confusion coming over to the table, "what's up?"

Abe knocks her head toward Summer. "This is Summer. The new girl. I don't know. Entertain her while I go get their drinks."

Avery looked at Summer. "What shade of purple is your hair?"

She pulls on it, "uh... purple?" Were there that many shades of purple? She knew lavender and maroon... was maroon considered purple?

"Where do you get yours done? It's done really well. I can't even see your roots." Her cheeks glow and Peter just clears his throat. "It's like Johns." Avery grins. "Totally cool."

"What's it like? I've always wanted to know what it was like to have naturally awesome hair." Summer moves her hair around between her fingers. "I guess it's alright."

"You've got an accent. Where are you from?"

"Oh, uh, Beendigung." They lower their eyebrows. "Where is that?"

"Oh, it's in-," Abe come back with their drinks on a platter. She sets down the platter in front of them. "Thank you."

Abe leans against the booth, "so, I've got to ask. Why here?"

Summer touched her cup. "My sister thought it was good for me. She would travel to different states and found little Paradise Hill. She said it was quiet enough for me to settle down." The ice in her cup bounces.

Another woman emerges from behind the counter. Following Gracaround. "I've been reclused for the past few years." The group looks down at Summer with a worried expression. She just smiles at them. "You guys must really like me." She laughs, "I've never had this many people listen to me."

"Well, we don't get many new folks," Grace responds, biting her lip. "Especially someone who's got to have some important stories."

"Exactly," the new girl who had come out said. Her hair was pulled into two buns with bright lipstick. "One small town to another. Got to have some secrets, right?"

She knocks her head to the side. "I'm not big on telling my secrets."

Looking out the window, Summer turns around. "Sorry! I've got to go! John wanted to show me how to use the lawn mower."

She squeezes past the group as Peter calls out, "don't die!"