Almost Lucky

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔬𝔫𝔢 🔪🩸

There's a town that feels like the middle of nowhere, even though it's smack dab in the middle of California. It has beautiful views, warm weather, amazing food, and would honestly be a tourist spot if people knew about it. That's Anais's town.

"Heyyyy Niecey, what are we up to today? It's Saturday, you wanna do some shopping with your grandmama?" Maria asks her granddaughter, sitting on her bed. Anais props herself up on her elbows, smiling. "As long as we pick up those apple cider doughnuts from Leila's. Now let me get dressed, I'm gonna try to be as fabulous as you," she says, pulling her legs from under the covers. Maria laughs, getting up and strutting to the door, looking back only to say, "Oh honey, I love you, but you could never be as fabulous as me!" And with that, she sashays away. Anais chuckles and shakes her head. Her grandma is definitely more eccentric than most, but she loves her for it.

As she gets ready for her outing with Maria, her phone rings. Incoming call: LeenaBeana!

"Hi Leena! I'm getting ready for a day out with my grandma,"

"Omg! So fun! Me and my dad are actually on our way into town too, maybe we can grab brunch?" her best friend says through the phone speaker. Anais can hear Leena's dad singing to the radio in the background.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'd love that. Let's meet in front of Leila's, we were going to just pick up some doughnuts but now I'm craving one of her famous omelettes," Anais replies, pulling her shirt over her head.

"You mean one of Omari's famous omelettes," Leena teases. Anais rolls her eyes. Her whole friend group seems to think that Omari and her have some sort of secret relationship going on or something, which is 100% false. Anais and Omari have been close since 8th grade, when Omari moved and Anais was his tour guide. They've just stuck together ever since.

"Whatever Lee, nothing's going on between me and Mari. Me and grandma will meet you at Leila's in 20 minutes,"

"Okayyy, see you in a bit BamBam,"

"See ya Pebbles,"

When she's done getting ready, Anais and Maria get into Maria's old van and head into town. "So...have you heard anything?" Maria asks quietly. Anais shifts uncomfortably in her seat, swallowing hard. "Um, no...they said uh, they'll let me know when they have any updates for me," she replies softly. "It's been 2 months," "I know...I don't wanna talk about this anymore..." "Okay baby, I'm sorry...I just care," "I know, it's okay, I just don't wanna ruin the mood," "You're right, we're gonna have a fun day today!" Maria cheers, doing a little dance in her seat. Anais laughs, leaning against her seatbelt. After a brief moment of comfortable silence, she says, "Grandma, you need a new van. You've seemed to have this like, forever," sighing and trying to crank down the window. Yes, crank. "It was your grandfather's honey, I don't wanna let it go. It'll be like letting go of a piece of him...besides, ain't nothing wrong with ol' Juniper!" Maria exclaims, patting the wheel. Just as she says that, the window crank snaps in Anais's hand, and the young girl just looks at her grandma, who returns with a sheepish smile. "Minor fix?"

The women arrive in front of Leila's about 10 minutes later to see Leena and her dad standing outside waiting for them. Anais excitedly jumps out of the car, running to her best friend and hugging her. The two have been close since they were in diapers, and since neither of them have siblings, they were basically sisters from different misters. "Hi Maria, hi Anais. Nice to see you both," Mr. Chen says, hugging both the girls. "Dad, c'mon let's go in, Neicey and I are starving," Leena whines, grabbing her friend's wrist and pulling her into the restaurant. Mr. Chen and Maria share a look, laughing, and following in pursuit.

Leila's is a cute little spot, modern with an old timey feel. A TV screen is on either side of the diner, both running the local news station. Purple booths line the walls, with smaller tables in the center. It's a Saturday morning, so it's a bit busy, but not unmanageable. Leila herself is leaning on the counter, going over some forms when she spots the group of 4. "Ahh, Anais, Leena and company! So good to see y'all. There's 3 booths open if y'all wanna choose one, I'll send your server over in a minute," she smiles.

The group has been chatting at their booth about 5 minutes when their server makes his way over. "Hey everyone, a round of water is coming up, but do you want sumn' else to drink?" Omari asks. "Hi Omari, I was hoping your mother would send you our way. Could I have some green tea please honey?" Maria asks. The boy nods, looking around for other orders. "Black coffee for me, orange juice for Anais, and cranberry juice for me please MarMar," Leena smiles. "Leena, y'know I hate--" "MarMar," "Lee--" "MarMar," "...You're lucky I'm at work," he sighs, smirking a bit. He walks back to the kitchen to get things settled, bumping into his mom.

"Sorry ma,"

"It's okay honey...so...Anais looks cute today, doesn't she?" "Moooom, stop. We're just friends," "Yeah, okay,"

🧿⏳⌛️🧿

Omari's just placed Anais's plate on the table when it's announced. "Breaking News, a body has been found in the woods off Frederick Ave." The diner comes to a complete stop. Everyone turns to watch the screens. "A woman's body was found mutilated in the bushes off of our very own hiking trail. The body was found by hikers around 10:30AM, and police say that the scene was quote 'almost unbelievable to the human eye,'. Updates will be made throughout the day," the newscaster stated, almost visibly shaken herself.

This is when everything in their little town, took a turn for the worst.

////
AN: What do yall think? Let me know in the comments and be sure to vote 🦋🦋