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You’re sitting at the bar of the Rebel Chain, the last place open tonight in this sleepy Arizona town. Your solitude allows you to tune in to the <a href="https://youtu.be/jAg6tyC9Xxc?t=307" target="_blank">sounds</a> of the bar around you: people talking, glasses clinking, and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrwsOuJ2VvY" target="_blank">music</a> that plays softly over the speakers overhead.
You’re waiting for someone to meet you, and you aren't really sure when she's supposed to show up.
You don’t really mind though, because there isn’t much to do on a Friday night in Winslow Valley, Arizona anyway.
Lately, it seems like everyone in the town chooses between two main options: either to get into [[drinks|drinks]] or get into some [[trouble|trouble]]. You start a bit, thinking about how long you've been staring at the group who just entered. You didn't realize someone had been standing there the whole time.
“I think everyone’s just as intrigued by that group, Marley. I’d be staring, too, if I wasn’t working,” Roswell, the bartender, laughs. You’ve always liked them, and you’re enough of a regular at the Rebel Chain that the two of you can have a friendly banter. Well, Roswell could have a friendly banter with a broom, but, you feel like the two of you are friends.
“So what has you staring?” they ask, leaning back against the bar.
[[“They seem…interesting, to say the least.”|interesting]]
[[“Yeah, admittedly, I’m not really sure what they’re up to, but… for some reason, I like them.”|like]]
[[“There's something about them that just creeps me out.”|creeps]]“That group is interesting, all right,” Roswell chuckles after your hesitant response. “I feel like they’re just going to sweep someone up into their magic routine or whatever it is they do and then disappear. They’re just here waiting because they haven’t swept someone up yet.”
You’re mostly listening to Roswell, but at a point, you get so caught up in watching the group that you can’t really hear Ros anymore.
Well, you aren’t really watching the group.
You’re looking at [[her|Dani]].
At least, you think you like them.
Roswell doesn’t question you, but nods, and goes back to cleaning the bar. As you look at the group, you wonder:
“Do I really like them, or do I just like [[her|Dani]]?”
There are folks in Winslow Valley who probably drink too much, but they’d argue that there just isn’t much else to do.
You wonder if you’re gonna turn into one of those folks, sitting here at the Rebel Chain, alone, on a Friday night.
[[You hope not.|bar1]]
Growing up, you weren’t one of the girls who got into trouble. You didn't necessarily stand out at all, really. But if you had to guess, you'd say you were a good kid.
But now that you’re older, you sometimes wonder what you’d be like if you had been a troublemaker.
Both the good kids and the troublemakers never left this town anyway.
So now, you’re both stuck here. Only they’re the ones with the fun stories, and you’re the one sitting in the Rebel Chain, alone, on a Friday night.
[[You try not to think about it too much.|bar1]]
You hear the bell above the door chime as it swings open, banging against the wooden entryway. If the immediate noise from the door didn't catch your attention, the group of five coming in does.
They're a rather rowdy group, exchanging jokes and stories as they cram into one of the bar’s front booths. You haven't turned to look back at them, but you recognize their rambunctious laughter. You know them because, well…the whole town knows them.
When they came into Winslow Valley, rather boisterously, it quickly spread through the town’s most reliable sources of gossip that they were only staying for a few days. They wanted to practice their act before they hit the road for Phoenix. Or Tuscon. Or perhaps it was some other city that got muddied and warped by the wild game of telephone that Winslow Valley always played with their gossip. Someone had said they were skipping the rest of Arizona altogether and heading straight for Vegas. Wherever they were going, this strange group of—was it a band?—wasn’t supposed to stay for long.
Until they stayed for the entire sweltering month of August. And this colorful group of five made no efforts to blend in.
You haven’t really decided if you trust them or not.
<img src="https://d3o372dlsg9lxo.cloudfront.net/catalog/products/a4433/images/grid/5089cf77e694aa4eec00015f/Z020826.png" alt="A photo of a light bulb" alt="" class="fade" />
The light overhead <<link "buzzes.">><<append "#buzzes">>As soon as you notice it, it seems so much louder.<</append>><</link>> <span id="buzzes"></span>
You turn away from the counter, looking toward the group sitting at the booth in the front. You're staring when [[someone|Roswell]] slides in next to you.She's the one sitting on the edge of the booth, nearly falling out, laughing and joking with the rest of them.
Dani always came into the diner where you work early weekday mornings. She would come in with her softly freckled nose and her light Appalachian accent and her chopped, messy blonde hair and always order the same thing:
Two over-medium eggs, a piece of bacon and a sausage link, and a slice of whole wheat toast.
<div class="eggs">You didn’t mean to memorize her order, it just… happened with cute girls sometimes. You couldn’t help it.</div>
You and Dani talked quite a lot over these early morning breakfasts--nothing big, just small talk, really--but when she asked you to meet her out at the Rebel Chain, your heart still [[skipped a beat|eyes]]. As soon as the words come out of your mouth, you know they aren’t quite right. “//Creep// out” isn’t the right phrase. There’s just something weird about them. The group seems harmless, peals of laughter ringing out from the front of the bar, all five of them squished into a booth clearly meant for four... but everyone has been wary of them, so you are too.
Except for one of them. [[Dani|Dani]].Dani takes a couple steps back, toward the bar door. She holds a hand out to you.
"So do you wanna meet everyone?"
You hesitate, only for a second.
Do you take it?
-
"the sonder of a bar in winslow valley."
written and coded by hal robison.
created through Twine.
And in that moment, she catches your eye from across the room.
And again, your heart skips a beat.
[[“Hey!” you manage to stammer, giving her a wave, and standing.|walk]]
[[You smile at her, but say nothing.|smile]]
[[Turn and shoot Roswell a panicked glance.|panic]]Dani scrambles out of the too-crowded booth to come say hi.
“I didn't even see you when I came in!” she says, exasperatedly. She was always so expressive. Something about her eyebrows, and her mouth. You could always tell what she was really feeling [[by the way she talked to you|thoughts]]. Roswell shoots you a pointed glance back.
"Go over there," they say, reaching over from behind the bar to give your shoulder a friendly shove.
"The conversation isn't going to start itself."
[[You go.|walk]]
[[You stay.|lookdown]]When you stand and scoot your barstool back, the legs scrape noisely across the ground.
<div class="eggs">Oh god. Is everyone looking?</div>
But Dani doesn't seem to notice. She already has a wide smile on her face, and she jumps (or really, nearly falls) out of the booth to [[come say hi|talk]]. You stare down into your drink at the bar, berating yourself. You could've gone and talked to her. Also, you think, staring down at your hands, your nail polish is chipping. You should repaint them. You should focus on anything else except the fact that you are so bad at this.
But then you hear a voice over the music and the voices and the sounds of the bar.
“Sorry I kept you waiting!”
[[Turn around.|smile]]“It's nice to see you outside of the diner!” she says, over the sounds of the bar. You can still hear her friends talking loudly from their booth.
[[“Yeah,” you laugh. “Too bad you can't get over easy eggs and whole wheat toast here.”|convo]]
[[“Mmhmmm!”, you nod emphatically, not sure you'll be heard over the music.|quiet]]Dani looks at you, furrowing her eyebrows.
It looks like she makes a decision.
“It's kind of loud in here, can I talk to you outside?” she says.
[[You nod.|outside]]<div class="eggs">You'd always thought, mostly to yourself, that Dani liked talking to you.</div>
Well, you [[hoped so|talk]].Dani laughs. “You know, you guys have pretty good breakfast. But I mostly came for the company.”
She glances down, then back up at you.
Just for [[a moment|question]]. Outside, there are a lot of stars out. It's a clear night.
. . . + ˚
. .
* ✺ . ✧
·
⊹ * *
“Marley, I've wanted to tell you this for a while.
I...”
She pauses.
“We leave tomorrow. My friends and I, I mean. We don't stay anywhere for long, really.
And I've been wanting to tell you for a long time that...there's something about you that's special. And I came into the diner every day trying to figure it out. But I think there's something here..."
<div class="eggs">(She thought so, too?)</div>
"...and I don't want to miss it.”
[[Kiss her.|kiss]]
[[Grab her hand.|hand]]The pause lasts a little longer than you thought it would.
So, you venture to ask.
[[“Is everything okay?”|quiet]]That mouth, the one that you always thought was so cute and expressive, is finally against yours.
It's more perfect than you could've imagined it.
✹ · * ✵
✫ * · *
· ·
. ⋆
˚ ·
✫ ✹
But now you don't have to [[imagine.|end]]Dani glances down at your hands, and then looks up at you, laughing a little.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she says. “My hands get sweaty when I'm nervous, too.”
“Shut up,” you laugh, pulling her in for a [[kiss|kiss]].