Mystery at the Diner

“Ethan! They're here!” I yelled. Our friends Jeremy and Ava were waiting outside with the car.

“Okay, Annie! I’ll be right down.” Ethan, my best friend, yelled back. Ava, Jeremy, Ethan and I were going to our favorite place; Eastside Diner. Even though we don’t live that close, we love to go there. We have been, since 7th grade.

“BEEP, BEEP” went the car. Jeremy gets really annoyed when people are late. He’s gotten used to it because of Ethan though. In the car, we talk about how we do not want to go to school. It was only three days until we started freshman year of high school. The only way that we were going to enjoy these days was by going to the diner.

“Wow, it seems really crowded today. There are way more cars the usual,” said Ava as we pulled up. When we walk in, it seems so different. The walls were the same color, the cushions were the same but it didn’t feel right. Also, it was not as crowded as we thought.

“That's weird, right? The place is almost empty!” I exclaimed. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a figure sitting alone drinking a milkshake and texting on his phone. All four of us had no idea who this boy was.

“Ethan, why don’t we go ask who he is. Maybe he’s nice or maybe not.” Jeremy declared. Ethan had worried eyes because this is not something he usually does.

“C’mon Annie, let's go to our booth,” said Ava. Every time the four of us come, we sit at the same booth. If someone’s sitting there, the owner, Joe, knows to move them. As the boys walk back, we notice that the boy who was sitting alone was giving us a dirty look.

“Geez, that boy is creepy. We walked over and he already knew our names. It was like he knew us or something.” Said, Ethan. Most of the people on this side of town do not know who we are, so this was definitely surprising.

“How about we just get our food, pay, and then ride back to Annie’s?” said Jeremy. As everyone nods, the waiters come over to our table.

On the way back, we are all fighting over who doesn’t want to go back to school the most. It was a four-way tie between everyone.

Three days later, all four of us piled into Ethan’s mom’scar at around 7:00. It was the morning we were all dreading.

“ Hello everyone! Are you all going to walk back to Jeremy’s and then bike to the diner after school?” said Ethan’s mom. All four of us nod our heads and then starts on to school. When we arrive, we look around for that strange boy we saw.

The strange boy was at the diner every single day after school. He was also always on the phone when we saw him.

“ I wonder who he’s talking to and if it's about us,” exclaimed Ethan. This was starting to get very weird.  The, one day, when we had off of school, we went to the diner. Things seemed to go back to normal. Also, the boy was gone.

“ Maybe he was the reason why things felt different. Maybe he was a zombie or something!” Jeremy said.

“ Weren't you the one who went and said hi to him? Did he have any strange tattoos or anything?” I asked. Both Ethan and Jeremy had to think about it for a second. After a while, they both answered no.

“How is it already the second week of school!” Said Ava’s mom. All of us were very surprised at this too.

“Ava, just so you know, cousin Jamie is here in town. His mom said that he saw you. Did you notice him?” said her mom.

“Who? I don’t think I’ve ever met a cousin named Jamie, maybe it was the kid we saw at the diner, “ she replied.
“Are you sure? Well if you are, then you’ll get to meet him this Sunday,” she said back. The days before this passed and then it was time to see him. They met, but she noticed something very strange. She told us that Jamie was not the boy that we saw. Later that day, we all met at the diner.

“I swear it was not him.” She blurted out. It was like she was sad to say this because we wanted to know so badly. Then we found it. Ethan had picked up his menu and started reading it. Then a piece of newspaper fell. I picked it up and read, “4 years ago on Sept. 13 was the passing of Sam Waston, a Northside resident.” We all looked at each other with a confused face.

“Wasn’t the 13th the time when we saw that weird kid?” asked Ethan. Ava, Jeremy and I all exchanged worried looks.

“What else does it say?” everyone asked.

“He died on the way back from the Eastside diner!” I screamed. This explained why it felt so weird and why was so strange to them. All four of us talked and explained what had just happened.  We witnessed a ghost at our favorite place.