Young Writers Society

The Diner

They had shared a few months together last year. They had developed their skills alongside each other, and as they had grown more powerful and confident in their abilities, they grew closer together. They had an unexpected synergy of talents.

Her movements were like music as she walked into the diner, no motion wasted, everything serving a perfect purpose. It had been almost a year since Malik had seen Jessica, but he could still recall every feature, and she was as beautiful as ever. Except her face held a grim expression, not quite distressed, but determined. Malik knew her well enough to recognize that look. Nothing was wrong, yet, but it might be.

She was looking for him. She hadn't found him yet. The diner was busy. She wasn't even sure if he was there. She reached out with her mind, not anything too drastic, just enough that someone familiar with her mental touch would notice, but not any one else. A ping of sorts.

Malik felt the ping. He knew that she was expecting him to send a pong, some sort of response. He noticed she was staring at the something on the wall. Following her gaze. Malik noticed a lighted clock on the wall. He considered changing the time, but decided against something so noticeable. With the slightest effort, he restricted the voltage to the light momentarily. A flicker. A rough signal, but serviceable. No one else noticed. But now she knew he was here

She smiled, and then looked more closely at the room, scanning the little diner's occupants. Once she spotted him, she reached out, greeting him with her mind. Long time no see, Malik.

He sipped his coffee, looking down, trying to hide his smile, pretending to ignore her for a moment. He felt a mental poke and glanced back up; she looked impatient. He decided she wasn't in a playful mood today, and decided to drop the game. He couldn't actually put the words in her mind, like she could his, but if he thought loud enough, she would hear it. And you, Jessica. Would you like to join me for breakfast? She smirked as she walked over to his table, sliding into the seat opposite him.

“Morning,” she said out loud. I have no money for food, with her mind.

“Nice to see you,” Malik smiled back at her. I can cover you. He felt her begin to protest, and countered her. No, I insist. None of this 'you feel bad' crap. Really, its no problem. She glared at him for a moment. She had never been comfortable with him paying for things for her.

Fine. Be that way. She had learned in their months together he wouldn't take no for an answer. And she was hungry. The waitress came by and asked for her order. “Pancakes and eggs, please. With some bacon.” Malik smiled.

“So whats up? I don't see you for a year then you come interrupting my breakfast out of the blue?” He sounded scathing, but they both knew he was only half serious. It's good to see you again, but I recognize that look you have. The privacy of the mind talk was convenient at times, and other times just fun to have a secret.

“Oh, not much, just passing through town, thought I might find you here.” Jessica wasn't from out of town. Derrik sent me. He is actually waiting back at your place with Cassy. He says that something big is going on, but wouldn't tell me what till we get everyone together.

“Well, you found me. How has school been going for you?” We have enough time for breakfast, I hope? Another advantage of the mind talk was double the bandwidth. They had learned to be able to talk on both channels at once during their time. No one else could follow most of the conversation, but they could communicate much more to each other.

“You know, same old same old, I've learned some new things, but mostly just rehashing what I already know.” Ya, we have that much time, at least. Oh, and I learned a new trick. She grinned devilishly.

Malik felt his mouth move, and his hand reached out and took hers, almost as if they had minds of their own. “I really have missed you,” I didn't do that, I didn't say that. Malik had an edge of panic to his thoughts.

Her grin grew bigger “Me too.” I know. I did. Cool trick huh? I can't do it very well if you try to resist - which I notice you didn't - but I'm working on that. He shot her a glare, but kept his hand where it was.

The waitress came by with their food and they awkwardly pulled their hands back. Jessica laughed as she saw the food on the plates the waitress handed them. Malik had ordered the same thing as her. There was a reason they worked so well together. They ate their food, quietly chatting about the past year, and silently chatting about the skills they had developed the last year and a half. Those were secrets, so they had to make sure not to put those in the vocal channel of conversation.

As they walked up to the register to pay for their shared meal, Malik took Jessica's hand in his. You know, I've learned a few new tricks of my own he said, as he payed for the food. Watch the screen on the cash machine. The readout on their side flickered and changed. It was a smiley face, like the kind people used in text messages. It flickered and showed the total again. He fished some money out of his pocket. It was more than enough to cover the meal. “Keep the change.” That brought a smile to the waitress' face. Malik liked to make people happy.

As they walked down the street towards his house, Jessica paused for a moment, pulling him into a narrow alleyway. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips in concentration. Malik felt the familiar, although still uncomfortable, gut jerk that meant Derrick was pulling them. He closed his eyes momentarily, the visual sensation of the teleport made him queasy. Squeezing Jessica's hand tightly, he braced himself for the sickening jolt. After the feeling had passed, he opened his eyes, to see Derrick and Cassy standing against the backdrop of the Seattle skyline.

----

I actually have written out the first 4 parts of this story, but I am going to delay the posting of them, partially due to the suggestion of the stickies here, and partially to have time to keep the recommended 2:1 review ratio. I just wanted some opinions from people who have more experience than my real-life reviewers, who to be honest don't give the most useful comments. Hopefully I didn't miss any formatting in the italics.

I should also mention that in a perfect world this would actually be the start of a sequel in a series. As you can probably tell, there is some interesting history between the characters, but that, as they say, is another story.

-Mike

Edit: Fixed some thing things that clograbby pointed out.