The neon lights outside the diner flickered erratically as Chloe sat slouched in a corner booth, staring blankly out the rain-speckled window. The muffled buzz of distant conversations and clinking glasses filled the small-town diner, contrasting sharply with the storm brewing in her mind. A cigarette dangled loosely from her fingers, unlit, but she twirled it between her thumb and forefinger, the only sign of her restlessness.

She checked her phone for the tenth time in as many minutes, the faint hope of a message lingering before she shoved it back into her jacket pocket with a frustrated sigh. The streets were nearly empty now, washed in the dim glow of streetlights, and she watched as the raindrops streaked down the glass, racing each other to the bottom, just like the thoughts in her mind.

Her eyes drifted back to the cigarette, and she scoffed to herself, shaking her head. She didn’t even really want it. It was just something to do. Something to hold onto, like the memories she clung to. She looked down at her chipped nail polish and muttered to herself, “Why the hell am I even still here?”

But when the diner door creaked open, her gaze flickered up, and her her brow rose, cigarette between her fingers. She didn’t know if she was expecting someone or if it was just another stranger passing through the night, in the mood for food.