Change

Matt Donovan was your average, all-American high school boy. He was on the football team at school, worked hard at the Mystic Grill nearly everyday to support himself, and he had a great group of friends. And yet, he found his life being more screwed up than it should be at eighteen years old.

His mother wasn’t around which left him to take care of himself and the house bills, his sister died a year ago, and he found himself surrounded by different supernatural beings. Matt’s friends consisted of vampires, a werewolf-vampire hybrid, a witch, and someone who could see ghosts. He was the “normal” one and yet, his life didn’t feel normal so he decided to drown himself in work.

Matt decided to pick up more shifts at the Grill in order to take his mind off things and to try to return his life back to normal as much as he possibly could. Then one night as he was cleaning up to close the Grill, he heard the door open and close, indicating that someone had entered. “Sorry, we’re closed!” Matt shouted over his shoulder as he placed a chair on top of a table.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” an unrecognizable girl’s voice called out, catching Matt’s attention and causing him to straighten up, “I was just looking to get a cup of coffee but I’ll go.”

Matt turned around to look at the girl just as she was beginning to walk away. “Wait,” he called out making the girl stop in her tracks as she turned on her heel, “take a seat at the bar. I’ll get you some coffee.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to keep you here longer,” she said as she slowly walked over towards the bar.

He simply shook his head, grabbed a clean mug and turned on the coffee machine to make a fresh pot for her. “Trust me, it’s no problem at all,” he replied, thinking he would much rather be at the Grill than in his empty house or getting dragged into his friends’ vampire problems.

The girl smiled softly at Matt and took a seat on one of the bar stools as he placed the empty mug in front of her. Then once the coffee was ready, he filled the mug to its brim. “Thanks," she began before taking a sip then continued and introduced herself, “I’m Samantha, by the way, or Sam. Whatever you want to call me.”

“I’m Matt,” he replied then began to clean the top of the bar with the rag the he had kept over his shoulder.

Silence then filled the establishment. Samantha kept to herself as she drank her coffee and Matt battled with himself internally as finished cleaning. “So, did you just move here or something? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” he finally blurted out.

“Or something,” Samantha answered, tucking a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear and brought her chocolate brown eyes to meet Matt’s blue ones. “I decided to go on a road trip and just ended up here.”

Matt nodded his head and placed his forearms on the bar, leaning against it. “Are you staying in Mystic Falls long or just passing through?”

“You know, I wasn’t planning on staying but I don’t know. I kinda like what I’ve seen here so far,” Samantha replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

A soft chuckle escaped through Matt’s lips and he asked, “Oh, yeah? And what have you seen so far?”

Samantha took another sip of her coffee before tilting her head to the side and pursing her lips as if she was thinking. Then, she answered, “Oh, you know, just this place.”

“And the Grill is enough to make you want to stay?”

“No, but the guy that works here might be,” Samantha flirted, looking at Matt over the brim of her coffee mug as she finished its contents then placed it back down. “How much do I owe you?”

He shook his head, fighting to keep the corner of his lips from turning up into a smile. “We’re closed, remember? No charge.”

Samantha smiled as she placed her purse over her shoulder. “Thank you. I’ll see you around, Matt.”

Matt watched her as she walked out of the Grill, unable to fight off the grin any longer. It was then that he realized that this was the first time that he felt some sort of happiness. It was the first time in a while that things were beginning to feel normal.