Small Town Fairytale

For any other resident of Dalton, South Carolina, yesterday was just a day like any other. And for seventeen-year-old Sadie Evans, “ordinary,” is exactly how her day started out. But all it took to make this small town girl’s ordinary day extraordinary was a boy who proved to her that “Once upon a time,” can happen any time.

***

No matter how hard she tried, Sadie just couldn’t bring herself to tear her gaze from the large analog clock on the wall. The second hand ticked by at its steady mechanical pace just the same as any other day, but she could have sworn that today it was running slower than usual. Then again, in the small town of Dalton, time in general always seemed to move slower than the rest of the world. So it was with a heavy sigh that she slumped back on the wide countertop and propped her elbow up to rest her chin in the palm of her hand.

“I told you to quit lookin’ at that clock, Evans,” Rudy scolded her from inside the kitchen behind her. She glanced back at the portly middle-aged man through the window and saw that he was pointing his spatula warningly at her. “Haven’t you got work to be doing right now?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sadie sighed and reached for the washrag she had been wiping down the counter with. For lack of anything else to do, she’d washed the long diner countertop three times since coming in after school today. Small time town meant that the diner got small town business. Most of the regulars didn’t start coming in for another hour.

“You wash that counter one more time and the finish is gonna come off. ’Sides, that’s not the kind of work I was talking about,” he went on, speaking up over the bubbling grease of the burgers he was flipping. “Have you been studying for that big history test? It’s tomorrow, isn’t it?”

How Rudy always managed to know when she had a big test or paper due she’d never know for sure, but perhaps being the next closest thing she had to a father had something to do with it.

“Maybe,” she fibbed, concentrating harder on the nonexistent spot on the counter than was necessary. She didn’t need to turn around to know that Rudy was burning holes in the back of her head glaring at her. “Okay, no,” she admitted while turning around to look at him. “But I pay attention in class and I know what I’m doing! I’ll pass it. I promise.”

“Put that rag down right now young lady, and get out your history book.”

This time it wasn’t Rudy ordering her about, but one of the only three customers in the diner at that time. Joe Henderson was a regular who’d known her since she was in diapers and was so old that he probably went to grade school with Jesus.

“But I have to—”

“Sadie!”

Maybe it was just her, but it seemed everyone in the room, including herself, flinched at the sound of the screeching female voice. Reluctantly, Sadie turned her head to see the wife of the diner’s owner, Marsha, standing just inside the door with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. With as much botox as Marsha had injected into her face, Sadie was surprised the scowl was even possible.

Marsha Calloway had been Sadie’s boss and the resident bitch of the town since before she could remember. She was nearing the end of her thirties, but had more plastic surgery done to her than Joan Rivers. With the orange fake-tanned complexion to boot, Marsha had the appearance of an Oompa Loompa that looked like its face had gotten stuck in a pool drain.

“What are you just standing around for?” she demanded in a voice that was entirely too high to be real. Nails on a chalkboard was Sadie’s closet comparison. “It’s six o’clock and you haven’t even started on your side work. And for Heaven’s sake, would you look at this floor? It’s filthy!”

“But Ms. Calloway, I washed it yester—”

“Don’t you back sass me, missy!” she snapped. Her stiletto heels clicked noisily across the floor as she went to open the cash register and Sadie, like the rest of the diner’s occupants, was just waiting for them to snap under her weight. Or rather, the weight that her implants gave her. To put it simply, she had knockers that could give Pamela Anderson a run for her money.

She went on scolding Sadie as she started stuffing bills from the register into her sequined clutch purse. “I told you to do something, now do it!”

As much as Sadie wanted to defend yesterday’s mopping job, she bit her tongue and ducked under the pass-through to go get the mop and bucket from the back. Arguing with the diner owner’s wife was never a good way to keep on the payroll, so Sadie did as she was told. Thankfully, by the time she returned with a fresh bucket of soapy water and the mop, Marsha was on her way out the door after collecting her “paycheck,” nearly knocking some poor person over as she did so.

Sadie did a double take at the boy who quickly stepped back for Marsha to pass. Then she looked up at the clock. “Right on time,” she murmured.

In every teenage girl’s life, there’s always that one boy. That one she’d liked before she even knew what liking a boy meant. That one with the killer smile, and eyes that could melt her heart with a single gaze. For Sadie, Brian Haner was that boy. He also happened to be the star quarterback of the football team, which meant she didn’t have a shot in hell. , But she wasn’t going to kid herself and get her hopes up anyway. He was Brian Haner for Pete’s sake! Guys like him didn’t go with girls like her. It just wasn’t done. But despite this knowledge, Sadie was still hopelessly in love with him.

Just as he did every night at this time, Brian grabbed the end barstool closest to the door and ran a hand through his unruly brown hair that’d been mussed by the wind. Rudy cleared his throat to get Sadie’s attention and jerked it in Brian’s direction. She shook her head vigorously and pointed to her mop bucket as an excuse not to go over to take Brian’s order. Rudy rolled his eyes dramatically and looked over to Brian.

“Hey, Haner! The usual, right?” he called loudly through the kitchen window.

“Sure, Rudy. Thanks.”

“You all right, kid? You’re lookin’ kinda’ down today.”

“I’m fine.”

The tone in Brian’s voice suggested the complete opposite, Sadie noticed, and Rudy picked up on it too. While Brian propped his elbow on the counter and rested his head against his fist, Rudy shot Sadie another look that clearly said, “Talk to him.”

“No!” Sadie mouthed back and picked up the mop.

In the kitchen, Rudy threw his hands up irritably and went back to cooking. “Girls,” he muttered under his breath.

Every now and then Sadie would steal a quick glance at Brian while she mopped and wonder what could possibly be bothering him. Passing him in the hallways at school today—or any day for that matter, she never saw his signature smile leave his face. It was just who he was. Always laughing with friends, telling the latest joke he’d heard or arguing over who should have really won the latest football game. So why was the Senior Class-voted Most-Popular-Guy-in-School all down in the dumps?

Sadie didn’t have any more time to linger on that thought as a group of giggling girls came in the diner and took the booth nearest to the bar. The four of them, all looking to be about fifteen, noticed Brian sitting at the end of the bar, pointed at him and then broke into another fit of giggles. Sadie shook her head. At least she was subtle about checking Brian out.

Brian noticed the giggling and upon looking briefly over his shoulder, realized he was the one causing it. He rolled his eyes at the freshmen girls, but caught Sadie’s gaze while turning his head back. She gave him a sympathetic look as if to say, “I’m sorry,” and he shrugged. But before he faced the right way around again, she could have sworn she saw a half smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

“C’mon, Sades, give the moppin’ a rest for a bit,” Rudy called to her.

Sadie complied and set the mop against the far side of the bar before walking over to the girls’ booth. “What can I do ya for, girls?” she asked pleasantly while taking her order pad from the front pocket of her apron.

None of them looked at her, being too busy staring at Brian’s back. Sadie sighed heavily. “Hello? Can you girls hear me?” She snapped her fingers loudly several times and then finally the brunette on the left end looked up.

“What?” she demanded in a very Marsha-ish tone. Sadie disliked her already.

“I said, what can I get you guys?” Sadie repeated, gesturing to the pad in her hands. “You did want something to eat, didn’t you?”

“What makes you think we wanted to eat anything?” The way the freckled blonde on the far right said the word ‘eat’ as if it was some vulgar swear word.

Sadie decided she didn’t like this girl very much either. She tapped her pen on the pad impatiently and looked around the diner. “Well, generally when people come in here, it’s because they want somethin’ to eat. Now are you gonna order anythin’, or not?”

The first girl clucked her tongue noisily, and huffed after a minute. “Fine,” she snapped, speaking it seemed for the whole group. “We’ll all have a Caesar salad and a glass of water.”

Sadie sighed and made a sarcastic little salute to show that she understood the order before walking over to duck beneath the pass-through at the bar. “How did I know,” she grumbled lazily and scratched the short order down on her pad. It didn’t really serve a purpose, writing it down; she was just going to repeat it back to Rudy in a minute. But she felt it at least gave her something to do.

Rudy caught the annoyed expression on her face as she walked up to the window and laughed. “Let me guess,” he drawled sarcastically. “They each want half a grapefruit?”

“Close,” she laughed. “Four Caesars and waters.”

Rudy scowled as he was plating food. “Ridiculous,” he muttered. “Whatever happened to eatin’ real food, huh? Ah, well, here. Give that to Brian for me, would ya? Gotta go make them Barbie’s their rabbit food.”

Rudy passed a plate with a cheeseburger and French fries through the window at her and she stiffened. He’d done that on purpose, she was sure of it. Sadie did her best to put on a confident smile before turning to deliver Brian’s plate of food. “One Rudy Burger,” she said and set the plate in front of him.

Brian actually smiled at her this time. “No one makes ’em like the Rudester,” he laughed while grabbing the bottle of ketchup to his right. He lowered his voice a bit and beckoned her to lean forward a bit. “ ’S a shame those girls wouldn’t know real food if it smacked them in the face. They’re missin’ out.”

Sadie had to agree with him on that. Rudy’s burgers were what made everyone come back to the diner. “That they are,” she agreed and then sighed. “Speaking of which, I probably should go get their waters.”

“Hock a loogie in them for me, would ya?”

Sadie couldn’t keep her laugher in at that, and she glanced up at the Barbie table. “Wish I could,” she joked and went to fill the drink orders.

Ten minutes later, the drink and salad orders were filled—spit free, mind you—and Sadie was back at her original post, finishing up her mopping. Just as she put the mop back in the bucket for the last time, Marsha strolled back into the diner.

Unfortunately for Marsha, but to the other diner occupant’s amusements, her shiny red stiletto slipped on the recently mopped floor and she fell with a resounding crash right on her backside. Had Sadie not been so completely horrified at that moment, she would have been fighting back spasms of laughter like everyone else was doing at that minute. As it was, it was Sadie who had recently mopped that floor, and it was Sadie who Marsha glared at venomously.

“YOU!” she accused and pointed a stubby finger at Sadie. Everyone—including to Sadie’s dismay, Brian—adverted their eyes in the direction Marsha was pointing and Sadie flushed scarlet where she stood with the mop still in her hands.

Marsha rolled herself sideways so she could pick herself back up—an impressive feat, considering she was in the tightest skirt Sadie had ever seen—and started stomping over to where helpless Sadie stood. Marsha bent lower so she was right in Sadie’s face. “Sadie?” she asked in a low snarl. “Why, may I ask, is the floor SOAKING WET?”

Sadie jumped backwards at Marsha’s sudden scream and barely managed to hang onto the mop in her trembling hands. “I-I’m so sorry, Ms. Calloway, but you told me to re-mop the floor.”

“So you decided to slop water all over the place and wait for someone to break their necks?” Marsha demanded viciously. “Are you really that careless, or did you do it just to—THAT’S IT! I know exactly what you’re up to young lady. You’re doing this just to spite me!”

“No, ma’am,” Sadie tried to reason. “I was only—”

But Marsha was hearing no excuses. “Oh, you just wait until Rodger hears about this, young lady! This is the last straw! You’ve been causing trouble since you started working here! Mark my words; this will be the last time you ever work in this diner, and in this town ever again! Then poor little orphaned Sadie is going to have to become a ward of the state again! Oh, how tragic.”

Perhaps now would be as good of time as ever to mention that not only was Marsha Sadie’s boss, she was her foster mother as well.
Life is just super-dee-duper for Sadie.

“I knew you were going to be trouble the minute I laid eyes on you,” Marsha sneered. “You are exactly like your pathetic excuse for a mother was when she was still alive; careless and stupid. Out of the goodness of our hearts, Rodger and I took you in, and this is how you show your gratitude? Well, no more. I won’t stand for it anymore. Better start saying your goodbyes, Sadie.”

Without another word, Marsha flashed her a wicked smirk and turned on her heels to leave. What she’d returned for in the first place was forgotten about with the new prospect of her being able to be rid of her foster child. The big glass door closed shut behind her with an echoing bang and then the diner was completely silent.

All eyes that had been staring at Sadie immediately looked away. Rudy hurriedly flipped a burger; Mr. Henderson pretended to be completely engrossed in his newspaper, and Brian was now staring intently at the bar’s countertop. The group of girls seemed to mature up a bit by the looks of them, but now they all were giving Sadie the most horribly fake sympathy smiles.

But even at the very peak of her embarrassment, Sadie did not flee the main room to seek refuge outside or in the back room. While silent tears escaped the corners of her eyes, she resumed mopping. Thankfully, enough of her dusty blonde hair had fallen from the sloppy ponytail it’d been in to hide her face.

She knew that Marsha didn’t deserve her tears, which was why she’d held them in until she left. But now Sadie just couldn’t hold them in. What Marsha had said hurt her deeper than she’d ever want to admit. Being a teenager was hard enough. Being a teenager without real parents was even harder.

To Sadie’s relief, no one stayed in the diner for very much longer after that. Quickly finishing with any meals they had, they paid and left in the same somber silence. After Joe Henderson, Brian was the last one to leave.

Sadie was giving him his change over the register when he suddenly looked as if he wanted to say something. He opened his mouth, but then closed it again, settling on giving her a sad sort of smile before he turned to leave. Even though this had to have been one of the worst Thursday nights ever, Sadie managed to find a silver lining. She’d talked to Brian more today than she had in the entire twelve years they spent in the same school, and he smiled at her.

This wasn’t pathetic, she told herself as she watched him go, even though she knew it wasn’t true. But it didn’t matter much anymore. If Marsha was true to her word, she’d probably never see Brian again anyway. That thought left a sinking feeling in her stomach. Not the never-seeing-Brian-again thought, but that she’d be leaving Dalton. It hadn’t really sunk in until now. This was her home. Could Marsha really send her away just like that?

The answer to that was a big yes. Sadie was still underage, a minor for another six months. There was nothing she could do to overrule Marsha. She’d have to leave. But again, Sadie tried to think of a silver lining. Rudy had always told her the old saying that every cloud has a silver lining, so she tried her best to always find one. Maybe, she thought as she was finishing up closing down for the night, maybe next time she’ll start differently. When she gets put in a new foster family, and goes to a new school, and meets someone like Brian, maybe she won’t be afraid. She’ll be more confident. She’ll smile more, laugh more. Maybe.

“I’m heading out for the night, Rudy,” she called loudly and lifted the big garbage bad sitting by the door. “And I got the trash this time. Goodnight!”

“Night, kiddo!” Rudy called back from where he was finishing scrubbing down his grill. “Keep your chin up.”

“Right,” she sighed sarcastically to herself as she was tossing the garbage in the big dumpster out back. “Keep my chin up. That’ll stop Marsha.”

Just the thought of going back to her foster home right now was enough to make Sadie consider camping out in one of the booths tonight. Dollars to doughnuts said Marsha had already thrown all of Sadie’s belonging in the front yard by now. Sighing again, she pulled up an overturned plastic crate and sat down with her elbows on her knees.

A bitter laugh made its way past her lips as she sat in the back alley under the light of a lone street lamp. If she wasn’t the saddest excuse of a teenage Cinderella, she didn’t know who was. Except—yeah, she was going to quote the latest Taylor Swift song she’d heard on the radio—she wasn’t a princess, and this wasn’t a fairytale. There were far more girls far worse off than she was. Starving people in Africa and all that.

But she could dream. What small town girl didn’t dream of something bigger? What girl didn’t dream of being rescued by some handsome prince that could make everything all better? No one, that’s who. But Sadie knew that stories of fair maidens being rescued by handsome princes existed only in fairy—

Sadie was dragged abruptly from her thoughts at the sound of loud barking. A dog, no doubt, but it wasn’t vicious sounding barking, it sounded friendly. Looking up, she came nose to nose with a lopsided-grinning yellow Labrador. The look on his face with his big pink tongue hanging out made her laugh out loud.

“Well hi there,” she chuckled and rubbed the top of his head. “Where’d you come from?”

Of course the dog said nothing in return, but wagged his tail happily instead. He nudged her other hand as she was petting him and licked it playfully. “You’re cute,” she told him. “But if you don’t scat soon, Marsha’ll send you to some sausage factory. She’ll be here lookin’ for me anytime now.”

The dog didn’t heed the warning, nor did he seem to understand her at all because he stayed right where he was. “Oh well. You can stay if you want, I guess. I should probably get you back to your owner at sometime, though. Who do you belong to anyways?” She knew he wasn’t a stray because of the red collar around his neck, but the name on the tag only said ‘Bella’ on it. “Poor guy,” she laughed while scratching behind the dog’s ears. “What kind of dope names a boy Bella, huh?”

“That’d be me.”

Sadie gasped and looked up quickly to see none other than Brian Haner standing there at the end of the alley with a red leash matching Bella’s collar in his hand. He stepped forward and she saw he was smiling ruefully. “Sorry about him,” he apologized and nodded at Bella—who’d just drooled in her lap.

She looked down and laughed. “I don’t mind dog drool,” she told Bella and rubbed his head affectionately. “I’ve had way worse, trust me.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brian step closer and that the leash in his hand was broken at the clasp part. This was undoubtedly why they both were there now. Well, Bella’d probably originally come because he smelled Rudy’s burgers, but whatever.

“Thanks for the company, but I think your owner wants to take you home now,” she said quietly, addressing Bella.

“Thanks for not letting him get too far,” Brian said as he knelt down to her level to tie Bella’s leash to his collar.

Sadie laughed and shook her head. “Nah, thank Rudy,” she answered while nodding at the diner. “It seems your dog came for the burgers too.”

“No, it seems he came for you, too.”

Sadie stopped petting Bella for a moment and finally looked Brian in the eye. “Me?”

He chuckled. “You,” he repeated. “I never came around here just for the burgers, you know.”

“Really?” Sadie frowned and then looked thoughtfully at the door. “Boy, is Rudy sure going to be disappointed.”

Brian looked at her blankly and then saw the smile she’d been trying to hold back. “Nice,” he laughed as he pulled up another overturned plastic crate to sit down beside her. “Very nice.”

“I’m serious,” Sadie insisted even though she knew he’d gotten that she was kidding. “If Rudy’s stuff isn’t up to scratch, you’re going to have to tell him.”

“Oh yeah?” he played along. “And why’s that?”

“Well, people certainly don’t come around here for Marsha’s sparkling personality. Rudy is the only one this place’s got.”

“Aside from you.”

Sadie looked up at him serious for a moment and then laughed quietly as she stood up from the crate and brushed herself off. “Yeah, sure. They come to watch me fall on my butt while I mop the floor.”

“Which you did quite gracefully.” She could tell he was trying to keep a straight face with his quip, but he couldn’t.

“Why thank you,” she laughed and made a short little mock curtsy. “I try.”

He laughed along but then quieted after a minute. “You know, I didn’t think I’d get to see you ever again after what happened today,” he said quietly. “Did that woman really mean what she said? Would she really send you away?”

Sadie glanced at the diner’s backdoor and sighed. “Knowing her, yeah,” she admitted. “But I could always go get the mop bucket if you wanted one last show.”

Instead of laughing at her this time, Brian stood up and smiled sideways at her. “How do you do that?” he asked her. Knowing she was about to respond with another one of her smart answers, he stopped her. “You never see the down side about anything, do you? I think that’s what I’m going to miss most about you.”

“Miss me?” she asked, finally talking this seriously. “Why would you miss me? You don’t even know who I am.”

“I think I know you better than you may think,” he admitted quietly and for some reason looked nervous.

Strange, Sadie thought, Brian Haner, nervous? And what did he mean, he knew her? This was hands-down the longest conversation she’d ever had with him in her life. How does someone get to know someone if they’ve never spoken to them before?

“R-really?” she managed to get out shakily. “And how’s that?”

He gazed at her for a moment saying nothing, and then took a deep breath. “Your name is Sadie Evans. You’ve been in at least one of my classes ever since the first grade. You’re probably the only girl I know that still has her original hair color and nose, and this diner is more of a home to you than the one you have with the Calloways. And speaking of them, you have to be the strongest person I know for having put up with them for so long. No one deserved to be treated like that, especially after what you’ve gone through.

“And I’ve been coming in this diner every Thursday for the past two years since you started working here, hoping I could finally think of something to say to you other than ‘thanks for the burger.’ And now that I finally got the guts to say something, you have to leave. But I think I should say it anyway. I…well, I like you, Sadie. Probably more than just like, actually…

“I love the way you can laugh at yourself when you make a mistake, and the way you can see the bright side in just about anything. I love that you can make me laugh, even when I’ve had a bad day and that even though I’ve never talked to you longer than a full five minutes up until now, I feel like I’ve known you forever. What I’ve been trying to say is going to sound really stupid and pathetic now, but I’m in love with you, Sadie Evans.

“Well, that’s it. I think I finally said everything and now I feel like a complete moron because you’re looking at me the same way you did those girls earlier when they ordered salads. I’m—well I think I’m going to just take my dog and go home now that I’ve embarrassed myself enough. Goodnight, Sadie.”

Sadie was rendered absolutely speechless. Not only did she just have the longest conversation she’d ever had with Brian Haner, but he said he loved her. Okay, where was Ashton Kutcher? Wasn’t he supposed to come out right about now with his camera crew and yell, ‘you just got punk’d,’? She looked around. No one was in that back alley besides herself and Brian—who was now tugging Bella along by the leash. No camera crew. No Ashton Kutcher.

Was this real? Did that actually just happen? But more importantly, why was she letting Brian walk away?

“Wait!” she exclaimed and ran to catch up with Brian. “Brian, wait!”

He turned quickly and Sadie stopped short, catching herself before she almost crashed right into him. Now that she’d gotten this far, she didn’t really have anything to say. Nothing that she could think of at that moment, anyways. But finally she pulled something from what he’d said and looked up at him. “Have we really had at least one class together since the first grade?”

Brian blinked once, probably thinking that maybe he’d heard her wrong and stared at her expressionless. She’d got him that time. Laughing, she stood up on her tiptoes and did one of the single most daring things she had ever done in her entire life.
She kissed him.

She’d hoped he’d return the kiss, but she didn’t think it would be with so much enthusiasm as when he did. His strong arms wrapped around her and he held her up as he spun in a short circle. He let her down once they’d stopped, but his arms remained locked around her.

“After all of that,” he laughed, bowing his head against hers. “You remembered that part first?”

“I think I kind of forgot to think when you told me you loved me,” she replied through a laugh. “Wasn’t expecting that one.”

“Too soon to be said on our first date?”

She laughed again and kissed him briefly. “No,” she murmured against his lips. “It’s been a long time coming. From me, too.”

Brian held her back at arm’s length to look at her seriously. “You too?”

She giggled at the sudden innocent question and then nodded. Brian’s face broke out into a wide smile, but before he leaned in to kiss her again, he looked down at Bella sitting down on the pavement with his tail wagging happily. “Wanna give us some privacy, dude?”

As if understanding what Brian had said completely, Bella barked once and started a slow trot out of the alleyway. The last thought that crossed Sadie’s mind before Brian kissed her again was that even though Bella was certainly no white horse, he was close enough. Brian on the other hand…well, let’s just say that Sadie had finally found her prince charming.

Fairytales do exist. You never know; you could be living one this very moment.
All you need to do is open your eyes.