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d e s t r o y

MORNING SHIFTS AT Savvy's diner was always the same. The hustle bustle of activity; nonstop coffee orders; impatient workers trying to beat the morning rush hour. On weekends, however, it was a different matter altogether. The usual crowd was there, just less demanding, more relaxed. And at seven-thirty in the morning, all I had were the regulars - old people who woke up early and ordered the same breakfast sets every morning.

I was manning Savvy's alone the day Joey Addison walked into the diner. Mikel, the chef, was in the kitchen. I was leaning against the long counter, sipping my first cup of tea for the day.

Just as I was about to head back into the kitchen, the bell attached to the main door jingled, the light tinkling sound making me look up. Two guys stumbled in. One of them, a boy with an unruly mop of dark curls, had his arm wrapped around the waist of the other, and both seemed equally exhausted.

It was unusual to have guys my age at the diner so early in the morning, and I couldn't help but stare at them. The two boys made their way to the counter, and the curly-haired boy pushed the other onto the stool before leaning against the counter to speak to me.

"I need tea. Or coffee, either one would do. Make it lukewarm, if possible," he reached into his leather jacket and brought out a packet of Marlboro cigarettes, along with a lighter. He was just about to light a stick when I stopped him.

"No smoking in here."

Hastily, he set the cigarette down. "Sorry," he sounded rather sheepish. "I quit awhile back, but I had to stay up all night and needed something to keep me awake."

I raised an eyebrow and surveyed his friend critically. "He's drunk, huh?"

"Completely hammered," The curly-haired boy said, slanting an annoyed scowl at his friend. "Joey here just went through a breakup. He thought it'd be wise to pull an all-nighter drinking and getting himself shite-faced."

I smirked. "That's clever."

The boy called Joey raised his head from his arms to glare at his friend. "Don't publicise the affairs of my love-life to strangers," he snapped, before turning to face me. "Where's my bloody tea?"

I rolled my eyes. Drunken people were never fun to deal with. Reaching for a cup, I placed it on a porcelain platter, before pouring coffee until the cup was full to its brim. "Drink up."

Joey frowned and sniffed at the drink. "That's coffee," he grimaced, "I asked for tea."

"He hates coffee," his friend added, looking at me rather apologetically, as if he was embarrassed by Joey's grumpiness.

"I don't care," I replied, flatly. Joey glanced up at me, his eyes widening in slight surprise. "Coffee's good for a hangover, so drink up. Or I'll get your friend to shove it down your throat."

His friend grinned, and I stiffened the urge to break into a wide smile as Joey stared angrily back at me. I met his gaze evenly and, begrudgingly, he lowered his head to take a slurp of the coffee.

"You're pretty good at this," his friend commented, giving me an appraising look. "Have you been working here long?"

"Sort of," I shrugged, beginning to wipe the counter with a damp cloth, in case Mikel came out and saw me lazing around doing absolutely nothing but talking. "For more than a year."

"We haven't seen you around before."

"Well, when do you eat here?"

"Generally nights," he grinned, "The pasta here is pretty good."

"So I've heard. Anyway, I usually work morning shifts," I replied, lightly. "So I guess that explains why you've never seen me around before."

"Don't you have school though?"

I was about to reply when a peeved voice interrupted our conversation. "Stop hitting on the girl, Declan," Joey said, scowling at the both of us as he cradled his coffee in his hands. His eyes met mine, and his glare deepened. "He's got a girlfriend, I hope you know that."

My eyebrows shot up. There was nothing remotely flirtatious about the conversation we were having, and I was fast losing my patience. A sarcastic reply had almost slipped past my lips when Declan stopped me. "Just ignore him. He's in a horrible mood. You were saying?"

I had gotten far too caught up with being annoyed at Joey that I momentarily blanked. Then I remembered. "Oh, I was saying that I work morning shifts, then get back home to study. It's a pretty flexible schedule since I'm home-schooled."

From my peripheral vision, I could see Joey's lips curl into a sardonic smirk. "That explains it," he mused, his tone almost mocking.

Immediately, I bristled, my eyebrows knitting together threateningly. He said it like being home-schooled was a bad thing. I'd barely met Joey for fifteen minutes and already he'd pissed me off a whole lot. "That explains what?"

"Shut up, Joey," Declan chided, shooting his friend a warning look. "Ignore him, he's just taking the piss."

But Joey clearly wasn't. I knew it - there was nothing remotely teasing about the glint in his eye - and I braced myself for his verbal attack.

"That bossy, uptight attitude you have," Joey replied, smoothly. "Clearly, you haven't been around teenagers your age much."

My mouth fell open as I bristled in indignation, but I shut it quickly. "Alright," I said, slowly. "Maybe I am bossy and uptight. At least I'm not a bitter arsehole, at least I don't pull all-nighters drowning my sorrows in alcohol, at least I can handle a stupid breakup and not mope around like a big baby."

It was a low-blow, and I knew it. But I could hardly stop myself - Joey had waltzed into my territory and basically insulted me. When a guy called me bossy and uptight to my face, I assumed all civilities were pretty much thrown out of the window.

A look of unconcealed surprised flashed through Joey's eyes and he flinched - an almost invisible movement, but it didn't escape my notice. Even Declan was shocked by my outburst; but he seemed more amused than angry, if the small smile tugging at his lips was any indication.

Joey, on the other hand, was furious. "You think you got me all figured out, haven't you?" he hissed, "Well, I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but you're fucking wrong. You see, I have a reason to be so shite-faced, and that's because I lost a girl who was ten times better than you'll ever be. She was one in a million. Losing her was the shittiest thing that ever happened to me. She was perfect, and I fucked it up, and now do you get why I'm so wrecked up about it?"

His words were like a nasty slap to my face. "You're mad," I declared, at last. "You're so in over your head that you can't see that your ex wasn't perfect - "

Joey's eyes darkened. "Shut up."

" - because if she was, she would have stayed and tried to work things out - "

"She loved me," Joey spat, but I could see the hesitance in his eyes and knew that just one more push and he was going to crumble. "She loved me but I screwed things up between us - "

" - but if she loved you, if she really, really loved you, if she loved you so much her heart would break if you two ever did spend a day apart," I said, in my calmest voice, because sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind, "Then why did she leave you?"

His eyes narrowed, and I knew at that instant I had struck a raw nerve. Joey's glare was cold, almost deadly. "Fuck you."

I was hardly bothered. I'd seen my fair share of bastards around, and one additional insult hardly fazed me anymore. "No, thank you," I deadpanned, "Now piss off."

That seemed to do the trick. Muttering one last swear word under his breath, he pushed himself off the stool and strode out of the diner angrily, swinging the door shut behind him.

"I am so sorry," Declan hastily apologised, seeming rather bewildered by his friend's sudden departure. "I had no idea he was going to be such an arse, I'll get him back here and make him apologise - "

"It's fine," I murmured, quietly, a small smile tugging at my lips. "I was kind of a bitch anyway."

"But you were right. His ex, Fiona, never really loved him anyway," Declan admitted, before grinning at me. "You seem to have a lot of experience dealing with breakups."

"I've just seen my mum date her fair share of pricks, that's all. Watching her love-life get messed up over and over again kind of helped me know what to do and what not to do after a breakup."

"Kind of like a breakup formula," he smiled warmly.

I hadn't ever thought about it that way, although put in Declan's words, it certainly did make sense. "Yes. Kind of like a breakup formula."

"Well, I should probably get going," he said, at last, sliding off his stool and sliding a five-pound note across the counter to me. "It was lovely meeting you - "

"Kira."

" - Kira. I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other a lot. I'll bring my girlfriend along next time I drop by, she'd love to meet you."

I nodded and waved goodbye to him. Certainly, I was up for the whole idea of meeting Declan again, and his girlfriend, who was bound to be nice given that Declan was possibly one of the nicest guys I'd ever met. I just hoped they weren't going to come with Joey. Anyone but him.

I was wrong, of course.