Burgers

"Hiya Kip," greeted a smiling middle-aged waitress.

"Hey Nancy," He nodded, taking a seat in a booth.

Avery slid into the seat across from him. The diner smelled like fries and milk shakes. The walls were plastered with '50's memorabilia, the booths looked straight out of "Grease" and the room was completed by stools lining a countertop, and a jukebox in the far corner.

"My ma works here." He said casually browsing a menu.

She didn't scoff, frown, or laugh. Kip expected that amount of money to not look so kindly upon the people with out it. No doubt the guy she came with wouldn't be grabbing a burger at a dingy diner. She sure kept strange company.

Avery nodded absentmindedly and said, "Cool. What do you recommend?" She picked up a menu.

"Other than dumping your boyfriend?" He said sarcastically, "The burgers, they're not amazing, but they're pretty good."

Avery nodded, "Works for me. I think I'm so starved I wouldn't notice if they were pulled out of the trash!" She frowned, "And he's definitely not my boyfriend."

Kip looked confused, "Where…when…uhm…" he trailed off. Not sure of what he should ask.

"Who, Why, and How?" She finished for him; still smirking she put down the menu as the waitress came over.

"So what're yah having hun?" She asked cheerily, surprisingly cheerily for close to 1am.

"Two burgers, two cokes. Thanks" He smiled breifly, handing her the menus and she left.

"You know, you're kind of sarcastic." He teased.

"Yea…sorry." She looked at her ring.

He studied her, still unsure about what to ask next.

She was fiddling with the ring on her right thumb finger; staring at the table. Her well fit deep blue polo shirt and dark denim jeans, he expected were designer, definitely didn't put her living anywhere near here. So he decided to start there.

"So," He started slowly, still watching her, "Where are you from?"

"I," She hesitated; pulling her eyes from the table she looked at him. Somewhere in the back of her mind she noted that she wasn't uncomfortable, she wasn't blushing, and he was definitely a stranger.

"I'm originally from Colorado," She let one shoulder up, and then pulled it down, forming a shrug, "But I got here by way of L.A. and a '66 ford mustang."

Kip smirked; there was a definite possibility she knew a bit about cars.

"He's got a nice car." Kip said, taking a swig of the coke the waitress had just placed, quickly, on their table.

A group of bikers had just filed into the diner, leaving the one waitress in the place very, very busy.

"Well," Avery swirled her drink, then decided to take a sip, "I doubt he understands it's anything more than a convertible. And it's his dad's anyways."

A few minutes passed in silence.

"So, how'd you get to L.A.?" He asked, suddenly smirking, "aspiring actress?"

"Ha!" Avery laughed, "You wish! Nah I was there for vacation, with my mother. She decided to run off to Palm Springs with Tommy's dad; they're dating; I don't think I mentioned that…but anyways, yea. They left, and Tommy promised a beach and he was honestly my only friend so I thought…hey why not?"

Kip stared at her a moment, "So Tommy was the guy at the bar?"

"Yea," Avery grimaced, "Turns out we're not exactly friends."

"And your ma dates that guys father?" Kip asked, taking a large bite out of his burger.

Avery shrugged, taking a smaller bite, "Well, my mom and I aren't exactly similar."

Kip nodded.

"I'm Avery, by the way." She stuck out her hand across the table.

"Oh," Kip reached out, awkwardly shaking it, before letting it drop, "I'm Kip."

"Thanks." Avery said, blushing slightly, staring at the table, "For saving me, yah know? I can't figure out how I got my self here."

"No problem," Kip smirked, "I think my boys were dying for a fight anyways. It was a slow night." He laughed.

Avery smiled.

"So this guy, who drives too nice a car for himself, tells you to pack your bags and drags you to Long Beach for what he said was vacation and turns out to be a drug deal, with one of the worst guys in Long Beach. And now you're stuck here how long?" Kip asked, more comfortably assessing the blue eyed, petite girl. She had a nice smile and really full red lips, but he tried not to focus too much on details; she was distracting.

"Two weeks." She said, pushing back her finished plate and taking a healthy swig from her drink.

"And where are you staying?" He asked. He noticed she'd finished most of her burger and she'd touched her fries.

A slow panic crept onto her face. "Oh gawd," she whispered, "I have no idea!"

"You don't know where you're staying?" Kip asked suspiciously. Maybe drugs weren't too far off.

"No, he brought me right to the bar, he made all the arrangements, oh gawd, he even has my bags!" She was fully panicking now.

Kip's mouth fell open slightly. He grabbed it up quickly, Tommy needed his ass kicked, and then some.

"You can stay at my place for the night." He offered, "And in the morning we can go find Tommy and get your stuff. It shouldn't be too hard, he sticks out in a crowd."

She looked at him nervously. "Yea, I think he does that on purpose…but why are you being so nice? You don't even know me? I could be like…an axe murderer or something."

Kip laughed, "I seriously doubt that, and I'm helping yah out because you look like a girl who's far away from home and's got no where else to go."

"I could go to a hotel?" She said, but as more of a question. "I've got my purse still."

"It's 2am." Kip stated, smirking. Tonight's events definitely hadn't hit her yet.

"Oh." She looked back at the table.

A few silent seconds passed. Kip shifted in his seat, he wasn't sure how he was going to explain this to Memphis.

"Are you sure?"

"It's really not a problem." Kip assured her.

She smiled, "Ok then." She tried to calm her nerves; it wasn't like she had a choice.

This seemed to be the pattern ever since she got to Long Beach, her not having a choice and finding her self in odd and awkward situations…dangerous even. Though she doubted the guy who saved her from dangerous was dangerous too.

"Alright," Kip nodded, "You ready to go?"

"Yup." Avery tossed the napkin from her lap onto the table.

Kip smirked, "Sway would love her manners," he thought sarcastically, "Napkins in laps not to mention the posture." He held the door open for her.

"Thanks, again," she smiled quietly.

"Sure," He looked back into the thriving dinner, still stuffed with bikers, "See yah later Nancy."

From somewhere inside there came the muted response.

"I like your car." Avery said, plopping in the front seat and buckling herself in.

"Yea?" kip asked, sticking the keys in the ignition. "Thanks."

"Yea, I'd pick a '67 Chevie Impala over a Mustang any day." She slouched down in her seat, surprisingly tired.

Kip smirked; she definitely knew a bit about cars.