Chapter 7: An Obnoxious New Arrival

Chapter 7: An Obnoxious New Arrival

The Roadside, Temperance, South Dakota...

       Layla Quinn had a long day and wasn't in the least looking forward to what was awaiting her when she returned home to the two-bedroom yellow house in the middle of the woods that she shared with her father and his annoying slobbery rottweiler. She barely managed to get through the final stretch of class before her mind went completely blank in terms of having mental burnout from being overwhelmed and decidedly stressed due to her day. Lunch was the only positive thing about it and even then they had to talk about their respective upcoming classes. When the school bell rang it was a bittersweet experience as she knew that the day was only going to begin all over again and she'd have to part from her friends who had their stuff to do as far as after-school work and chores are done.

With her mind now on the subject of work, Layla looked at her watch and sighed knowing that if she had not hurried she'd miss her bus and be late getting to work at the diner. She guessed that Phoebe had been there doing most of the heavy lifting as the other waitresses were more or less busy doing nothing that didn't involve heavy tips on their part. 

Working at Earl's Diner wasn't something her father liked the idea of her doing, but since he was more or less the type to sit on his arse and drink beer than to obtain gainful employment for more than a few days at a time, it was a necessary thing to allow. She was sixteen after all and needed to pull her weight, as far as he'd been concerned. Layla of course had been the reason he came to this conclusion in the first place as she was more than willing to work to save up money to get a bus ticket out of this former one-horse-town, the first chance she got. 

Layla hurried to the bus stop unsure what the new rush of people coming in for something to eat would bring, She climbed onto the bus when it pulled up at the stop and ventured back toward the end of the bus much like she always had before filing into a window seat and taking a few moments to look out their surroundings as they pulled away from the stop. She thought about how she'd feel if she were hopping on the bus to leave the town for good when she finally saved up enough money. Usually, things like that kept her going even on her worse days and then some. 

The ride was decent enough being that she was one of four people who had been on board. She sighed staring out the window at the winding road as they got closer and closer to her destination. After several minutes, she pulled the wire signaling her desire to get off the bus stopped after a bit of maneuvering she stepped out just a few paces from Earl's Diner which lead her to do a bit of walking before she got inside. 

The first thing that caught her eye, when she turned up in front of the building, had been the motorcycles that were all parked out in front of the place. She'd only seen them in movies and it was interesting that they'd been there as no one in Temperance even owned one let alone a working motorcycle. She quickly counted them, taking note that there had been nine in total and she could see from the plates on the back that the people that owned them had not been from Temperance. 

With a sigh, Layla walked into the diner and was immediately greeted by Phoebe as she headed toward the back to clock in for her shift. The place didn't require a uniform, and for that, she was fortunate as she wouldn't have anywhere to change during her route if she did need one. Phoebe seemed pleased to see her and had been eager to tell her all about the new arrivals, as they were the only thing of significant interest to happen to this place in a long while. 

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

The Backroom, Earl's Diner, Temperance, South Dakota...

    The semi-cool air from the backroom where the workers took their breaks and readied themselves to go out and face the lunch horde of customers every day was a welcome change from being amid the many eyes that fell upon Layla when she first arrived. It also gave her and Phoebe time to speak in private as the other girl was all too eager to chat about the new arrivals. 

"So what's with the bikes out front?" asked Layla pulling her hair back into a neat ponytail as she spoke. 

"We have a real-life biker gang visiting Temperance," replied Phoebe with a smirk. "Most of them are trouble, but there was this cute one...I think he's into mechanics and he has a nice smile." 

Layla continued to put away her things in the nearby locker of sorts for her to obtain later once her shift was over. She turned her attention to putting on a waiting blue apron and smirked when she took note of Phoebe's apparent crush on one of the trouble-making "outlaws". 

"Careful Phebes, you know what they say about good girls that latch onto bad boys," she warned. 

"Oh come on," said Phoebe in annoyance. "You wouldn't be saying that if you saw how cute he was...he's harmless...and only fixes cars and bikes....you know I like a man that's good with his hands."

Layla giggled at this shaking her head. 

While it was true that her friend had a weakness for men capable of doing almost anything with their hands, she still believed she should exercise caution when dealing with the strange new arrivals. 

"At least go see what they look like up close," said Phoebe with a smirk. "Bet you might even find you like one yourself...I mean everyone knows you could do with a good man and a hot night of sex one good time."

Layla rolled her eyes. 

"Not funny Phebes," she replied. "And in case you have forgotten, I don't have any interest in anyone at the moment by choice...there is no way I am going to end up stuck in this town for the rest of my life."

"You will if your dear old dad has anything to say about it," warned Phoebe. "Why don't you at least go out and live a little...nobody is saying you have to have a man's baby just indulge in a little bit of fun now and again it'll be good for you...might loosen up the stick you have up your butt that keeps making you a buzz killer."

Layla rolled her eyes and flipped off her coworker who had burst into a fit of giggles of her own as she walked out of the backroom and out to the front counter. She found herself looking over at the obnoxious biker gang who had not toned down their antics in the least since their collective arrival. 

She began her shift, wiping down the counter and checking for new orders mostly as a means of distracting herself from her curiosity about the strange group. As Phoebe attempted to imply,  the rowdy strangers clad in black leather vests, were the only exciting thing about the shift and Temperance at the moment.