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The Diner

It is dark outside, it's raining, and I'm stuck in the diner lazily chipping away at my third plate of pancakes. I love pancakes, but I'm starting to get sick of these. Mac is back in the kitchen whipping up his last customer's meal. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here bored off my ass waiting to take it out to the guy! Oh, well. It shouldn't be that much longer of a wait, right? Maybe I should check up on his order before he comes to me and whines about it.

"Hey, Mac," I shouted to him from my seat at the counter, "That last guy is starting to look like he's losing his patience. Is it closing time yet?”

"Just give me a few more minutes, hon," Mac yelled back to me in his gravelly voice, "I'll have his order out in a jiffy."

"You said the same thing fifteen minutes ago!" I whined.

"Quit your complaining! Just hang tight; It's almost done."

I looked behind myself and scanned the whole diner. The hungry customer was leaning against a booth table in the far back of the restaurant. I made eye contact with him and quickly glanced away, trying not to make myself look weird. What was taking Mac so long? Whatever, I supposed I could wait a bit longer for Mac to get that guy's order out.

And, as if on cue, the man's order was ready. Mac slid the meal onto the pickup counter, and I brought it to the customer all wrapped up in a to-go box.

"It's about damn time," The man said angrily, "But hey, at least I got to see a cute face during that wait."

After that compliment, he gave me a wink and made his way out the door. It's finally time to leave, but . . .

'Ew, why did he have to call me cute? That guy's a real creep,' I thought to myself, 'Why couldn't he have just taken the food and left? And what was with that wink? What a freaking weirdo.'

Mac came out of the kitchen, wiping the sweat off his wrinkled brow with a white towel. His light blue apron was spotted with grease stains and little bits of food. He let out a sigh of relief after a hard day's work.

"Alright," he said to me, "It's closing time, hon. Once you grab the bag and I get my coat, we'll start our walk back home."

"Ugh, finally," I replied to him a bit rudely, but he didn't seem to mind.

I grabbed a hold of Mac's black duffle bag and slung it over my shoulder. Mac slipped on his dark green raincoat and boots before exiting the diner with me following after him. He took out a key card from his back pocket and tapped the bottom of it against the door, automatically locking it up tightly.

"Let's go," Mac said, and we began walking.

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My name is Sachiko. I’'m 17 years old, and I am a Flawless - That means I have some kind of special pink blood. Mac tells me it's super rare to be born a Flawless, and he also says that the government is after my blood. Just the very thought of being hauled away by men in suits terrifies me, but when I'm with Mac, all my worries wash away. It's nice of him to act as my bodyguard, but sometimes he can get a little overprotective. I still love Mac unconditionally, though; He's practically my dad.

He and I made our way down the dimly lit sidewalk of Boskil street. A small number of cars speed by us every couple of seconds and light up our path for a brief moment. The rain is coming down on us harder now and we quicken our pace. A narrow alley appears on our left and we enter, looking back every so often to make sure no one is following us; It's been a tradition since I met Mac.

"Alright," He breaks the silence of our long and quiet walk home, "We're here, Hon."

Mac unlocks the door to the garage and gives the bottom of it a little kick until it jolts open. He crams his large self through the door and I enter after him. I drop his heavy duffle bag next to the door, causing a loud thump.

"Hey, hey!" he yells at me, "Easy with the bag, Sachiko; Those parts I was just given are fragile!"

"Awww, really?" I say, holding my head in regret, "Shit. I'm sorry about that, Mac."

He sighs, "It's fine, hon. You should watch your mouth, though."

"You're right. Sorry."

"Alright now," he says as he hangs his raincoat on the rack, "It's been a long day, so how about you get some shuteye, eh?"

"I fell asleep a couple of times at the diner. I don't need any more sleep."

He sighs again, "Sachi, you seriously need to get yourself on some kinda routine sleep schedule or something."

"I know, I know! You don't have to keep reminding me, okay?"

Mac turns around and makes his way into the room, grumbling something under his breath. I followed after I slid off my shiny wet boots and sat them next to his. The warmth of Mac's make-shift central heating washes over my cold damp body, and I plop myself onto the edge of my bed. I pull off my soaking wet hoodie and toss it into our laundry box placed at the other end of the room. My hands reach behind my head to let my hair down. My black hairband is slipped around my wrist and I fall backward onto the rest of my comfy bed. I stare at the old blue ceiling for a brief moment until my ears pick up the sound of Mac cracking his knuckles. I sit up and sigh.

"Still tinkering with that toaster?" I ask him.

"Sachiko, I've told you a hundred times, it's not a damn toaster," Mac groans, "It's a neural wave receptor."

"Eh, whatever. You've been messing around with that thing for weeks, Mac. When are you gonna finish it anyway?"

"Just a few more days, hon. The parts I got today are exactly what I need to help me finish it."

Mac plops himself into a small office chair situated in front of a big wooden workbench and reaches over his neural-whatever-machine for his toolbox. I yawn, turn around, and crawl towards my soft grey pillow before pulling the matching comforter over me. My body curls up under my warm blanket and I hug my pillow tightly.

'I never want to leave you, bed,' I think to myself while my legs squirm under the covers out of joy, 'You're so comfy and soft and warm and... Oh my god. I'm being weird again, aren't I?'

I uncurl myself, lay flat on my back, and start staring up at the ceiling again. My mind begins to drift as I lay there motionless and comfortable. I start thinking about obscure things like what the people from the moon colony are like and how the planet and the moons were created. Before I know it, my eyes begin to close. The sound of Mac tightening bolts on his machine begins to fade, and I fall into a deep sleep for the fourth time today.