Status: It's over! May write a sequel later, not entirely sure yet.

Diamond In The Rough

Chapter One

Before you get to hear my story…sorry, our story, let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Cassidy, I’m twenty three years old, and until a few months ago, I had worked in a tiny diner in South Jersey. I was a waitress, and I loved my job. I had gone to college for nursing, but for some reason I couldn’t bear to part with the job that had carried me throughout college. I’m kind of glad I didn’t leave, because if I had…well, that’s all part of the story, isn’t it? Anyway, I was working in this diner, Tilly’s, and we had this tradition called Flyers Fridays. Anyone who came into the diner wearing Flyers stuff got a free ice cream, any flavor we offered too. So that’s where this story starts…one Flyers Friday, not too long ago.

I rushed into the diner, throwing the part of the counter that allowed me to get to the kitchen open quickly.

“Late!” several of the chefs teased as I rushed into the kitchen.

“Yeah, yeah, shut up!” I chuckled, tying my apron around my waist quickly. It was Flyers Friday, and we were bound to get an influx of kids from the local high school any minute. I frowned at the name…Flyers Friday. It was “hockey Friday” in my mind because Carl, my boss, had taken a special liking to me and allowed me to wear my favorite team’s jerseys and tee-shirts after realizing that I refused to don anything orange and black. That was something I was very adamant about. No orange and black. Ever.

I rushed back to the front counter and flew towards the cash register, hoping to catch Ellie and apologize for being late. Ellie simply shook her head and laughed as she saw me rushing towards her.

“Honey, don’t worry about being late. It’s fine. Take a second to catch your breath, and then I’ll set you up with a good table in a few minutes.” Ellie smiled. I grinned widely. Ellie had taken a liking to me, and she always tried to set me up with a table that she thought would tip well. Of course, we all got stuck with a bad table every once in a while, but Ellie tried to prevent that as much as possible. I walked back to the counter and got a glass of water, downing it quickly. Just then a tall man with curly brown hair walked in. All I heard was “twenty” and I knew that Ellie would be giving me the table.

“Alright, well Cassidy will take you to your table now if you’d like,” she smiled. I slipped out from behind the counter and nodded. The man looked vaguely familiar, but as he smiled I shrugged it off.

“Sounds good,” he said, and I led him to the biggest table we had. He thanked me, and said to give the rest of his friends a few minutes to show up, so I returned to the counter and glanced at the sweets that were sitting in the glass case. Ellie smiled from the cash register, and I laughed. She knew that I loved working in the diner, and she treated me like a daughter. In some ways, I was the closest thing to a daughter she could have. Her and Carl had a daughter once, but she died when she was only 2 after being diagnosed with a rare disease. Ellie and Carl couldn’t bear the thought of having another child, so Ellie had adopted me in a way. My parents were almost absent in my life, and so we were a very good fit together. I shook my head as a swarm of men walked in, and I returned to the table where they were sitting now. I raised my eyebrows when I noticed they all had Flyers shirts on.

“So I’m guessing you’re all here for Flyers Friday huh?” I laughed. They stared at me in confusion for a minute, their eyes trailing to the large red and white logo on my chest.

“What the hell is Flyers Friday?” one of the guys asked.

“What the hell is on your shirt?” another asked. I laughed and shook my head.

“Flyers Friday is a tradition here at Tilly’s. On Friday, anyone wearing a Flyers shirt receives a free ice cream. As for my shirt…well, I consider today hockey Friday instead of Flyers Friday. I am obviously not a Flyers fan.” I smiled.

“That’s a shame, I thought you were pretty cute,” one of the guys smiled. I raised my eyebrows and suddenly I felt like I had been hit with a frying pan. Holy hell, this really is a Flyers Friday, isn’t it?
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I didn't realize until after I had written this chapter that Carl and Ellie are the names of the couple in Disney's "Up", but I really like the pairing and didn't want to change it, especially after realizing that...so yeah <3