Dear Journal,
My name is Tess Harding, and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird.
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It all started that one day in the Crashdown. That's the restaurant my parents own in this dinky rathole called Roswell, New Mexico. You've heard all the UFO stories. I have, anyway.
Most of our customers are tourists and UFO freaks, and this couple was no exception. They were both wearing UFO T-shirts and visors. True Believers, I guess. They must have come for the annual Crash Festival.
After taking their orders, I waited around for their questions. There were always questions.
"So, does your family come from Roswell?" the woman asked.
"Four generations back." Flat out lie. My parents had been UFO-holics as teenagers and had moved here when they'd married at the age of 19. But white lies never hurt anyone, did they?
It interested them. The guy looked up curiously. "Well, does anyone in your family have stories about the UFO crash?"
I almost smiled at their predictability, but instead, put on a concerned face. "If you don't tell anybody..." I looked at their captivated faces and felt like I was talking to a kindergarten class, "I guess I can show you this." I pulled out a picture from my pocket. It looked exactly like the "aliens" from the crash. In fact, it was just my old stuffed alien doll. "Don't show this to anyone while I get your orders."
I walked back towards the kitchen, where my co-waitress, Maria DeLuca, was waiting. Maria's okay. We probably never would have met if she hadn't joined the Crashdown force, but we've gotten to be pretty good friends.
She grinned mischevously. "You are *so* bad, girl. And by the way, Max Evans is staring at you again."
I rolled my eyes. Max Evans is Isabel Evans' brother. Isabel is my best friend in the world--we're practically twins. Max has this huge thing for me, which is annoying. Don't get me wrong, he's hot as hell, but he's not my type. He's a little too square for me. Anyway, I have my eye on someone else, and I think he might like me too. "Maria..."
She so wants us to get together. At that moment, with her standing there and grinning like an idiot, I might have slapped her, if I wouldn't have gotten in huge trouble for it. "He's *so* into you," she teased, and walked off towards a table.
Suddenly, two guys near the window started to fight loudly. One of them jumped up and broke a plate. I was about to go pick it up, but stopped in my tracks when the other guy pulled out a gun. I saw everyone else in the restaurant drop to the floor, but for some reason I was frozen.
"Tess!" I heard Maria's voice yell, but it didn't register.
There was a loud bang. The gun went off, and I dropped. The pain was so unbearable that it was numbing--I couldn't feel it at all. For that matter, I couldn't feel anything. I was drifting off...
...and suddenly I was awake. Staring into the eyes of Max Evans, who else. I looked down and saw that my uniform was undone. I was about to reach up and slap him, when it registered in me. I'd been shot. I'd been dying. And somehow, Max Evans had brought me back to life.
"Holy crap," I whispered under my breath. "What *are* you?"
His eyes were open wide. He was terrified of something, but I wasn't sure what. Suddenly, he grabbed a ketchup bottle off the nearest table, broke it, and spilled the contents on me.
"What are you doing, Max? Eww!" I asked, shocked, and started to get up. I redid the buttons on my uniform and looked at him for an answer.
"You broke a bottle when you fell, spilled ketchup on yourself," he told me, begging. "Don't say anything please." Then he turned and ran.
My name is Tess Harding, and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
It all started that one day in the Crashdown. That's the restaurant my parents own in this dinky rathole called Roswell, New Mexico. You've heard all the UFO stories. I have, anyway.
Most of our customers are tourists and UFO freaks, and this couple was no exception. They were both wearing UFO T-shirts and visors. True Believers, I guess. They must have come for the annual Crash Festival.
After taking their orders, I waited around for their questions. There were always questions.
"So, does your family come from Roswell?" the woman asked.
"Four generations back." Flat out lie. My parents had been UFO-holics as teenagers and had moved here when they'd married at the age of 19. But white lies never hurt anyone, did they?
It interested them. The guy looked up curiously. "Well, does anyone in your family have stories about the UFO crash?"
I almost smiled at their predictability, but instead, put on a concerned face. "If you don't tell anybody..." I looked at their captivated faces and felt like I was talking to a kindergarten class, "I guess I can show you this." I pulled out a picture from my pocket. It looked exactly like the "aliens" from the crash. In fact, it was just my old stuffed alien doll. "Don't show this to anyone while I get your orders."
I walked back towards the kitchen, where my co-waitress, Maria DeLuca, was waiting. Maria's okay. We probably never would have met if she hadn't joined the Crashdown force, but we've gotten to be pretty good friends.
She grinned mischevously. "You are *so* bad, girl. And by the way, Max Evans is staring at you again."
I rolled my eyes. Max Evans is Isabel Evans' brother. Isabel is my best friend in the world--we're practically twins. Max has this huge thing for me, which is annoying. Don't get me wrong, he's hot as hell, but he's not my type. He's a little too square for me. Anyway, I have my eye on someone else, and I think he might like me too. "Maria..."
She so wants us to get together. At that moment, with her standing there and grinning like an idiot, I might have slapped her, if I wouldn't have gotten in huge trouble for it. "He's *so* into you," she teased, and walked off towards a table.
Suddenly, two guys near the window started to fight loudly. One of them jumped up and broke a plate. I was about to go pick it up, but stopped in my tracks when the other guy pulled out a gun. I saw everyone else in the restaurant drop to the floor, but for some reason I was frozen.
"Tess!" I heard Maria's voice yell, but it didn't register.
There was a loud bang. The gun went off, and I dropped. The pain was so unbearable that it was numbing--I couldn't feel it at all. For that matter, I couldn't feel anything. I was drifting off...
...and suddenly I was awake. Staring into the eyes of Max Evans, who else. I looked down and saw that my uniform was undone. I was about to reach up and slap him, when it registered in me. I'd been shot. I'd been dying. And somehow, Max Evans had brought me back to life.
"Holy crap," I whispered under my breath. "What *are* you?"
His eyes were open wide. He was terrified of something, but I wasn't sure what. Suddenly, he grabbed a ketchup bottle off the nearest table, broke it, and spilled the contents on me.
"What are you doing, Max? Eww!" I asked, shocked, and started to get up. I redid the buttons on my uniform and looked at him for an answer.
"You broke a bottle when you fell, spilled ketchup on yourself," he told me, begging. "Don't say anything please." Then he turned and ran.