Black Roses, Silver Thorns Prologue

Kataro walked me out to the truck. I scraped together the cute back sequined camisole and a pair of jeans. Kataro promised we weren’t going anywhere fancy. We were just going to one of his favorite diners. He drove out past the mall and onto the busy highway. Soon we reached a cozy little blue diner. The sign was one of those huge light up ones. It read: Amelia’s diner. Where you’re like family. Open twenty-four hours a day. Kataro opened the door for me. I walked inside and took a look around. The sound of 80’s music filled the air. I spotted the source in a corner. The diner had a jukebox. The floor tiles were sky blue. The walls were a navy blue. An electric black guitar signed by the lead singer of Def Leppard was hanging up on the wall with about a dozen other 80’s artists. The smell of breakfast food was the air. I looked at the booths and ran over to one. The only other couples in the diner were an older man and an older woman and a married man and woman. There were about 4 other people who were alone. I sat down on one side of the booth. Kataro caught up to me and sat beside me.

“So you like it here I take it?” Kataro smirked. I nodded.

“This is all so new to me but yes I love it,” Kataro signaled for a waitress to wait on us.

“Everything that you’ve never tried is new. It only becomes old once you live it,” I looked at Kataro in wonder.

“I love the words you speak. They are like magic,” my eyes stayed glued to him as our waitress came over. I looked at her long enough to know her uniform was a bright green dress and a white apron.

“Hello Jeremy I haven’t seen you in forever. Where has all of your cuteness been hiding?” The woman spoke with the typical Tennessee accent everyone hears around here.

“Sorry Nicole. I’ve been busy. I can’t make it down as much as I used to. So how is your husband, Lucas?” Kataro asked her. The words flowed easily out of his mouth.

“He is doing fine. Thanks for asking. Now what can I get you and your lady friend?”

“Her name is Kairi. Kairi this is Nicole,” Kataro told her. I mumbled a hello.

“Let’s start with what you want to drink.” Nicole said to Kataro.

“I’ll have a Sprite. Kairi what would you like?” Kataro looked over at me.

“I’ll have a Mountain Dew please,” I say to Nicole sweetly.

“Isn’t she adorable?” Nicole asked Kataro. Kataro looked at me a nodded. Nicole scribbled down our drink orders onto her tablet.

“Now what will ya’ll have to eat?” Nicole asked us.

“I’ll have a bacon burger with a side of fries. What about you Kairi?” Kataro looked at me in a concerned way.

“I’ll have the same as you,” I smiled another sweet smile at Nicole as she wrote down our order and walked away. When Nicole was out of earshot I looked at Kataro.

“Since when have you gone by Jeremy?” I asked him curiously.

“Since last year this…I don’t want to talk about it,” Kataro looked like he wanted to cry.

“Oh…oh I’m sorry. So is that like a nickname?” I asked.

“Jeremy is my middle name remember?” I nodded my head.

“Oh yeah…right,” I lied. Kataro looked like he wanted to say something but he must have decided not to.

“I’ll be right back,” Kataro stood up and fished a quarter out of his pocket. He walked over to the jukebox and inserted the quarter. He started to flip through songs. He must have selected one because by the time he reached our table again a sad and slow song began to play. Kataro stood up again and took my hand. “Cinderella may I have this dance?”

“This can’t be happening. This is happening. Wow,” my head screamed as I took his hand. I soon figured out the song we were dancing to was “When Love & Hate Collide” by Def Leppard. Kataro and I rocked back and forth. I was sure we were getting some pretty odd stares but I didn’t care.

Kataro knew all the words and started softly singing along. I didn’t know that this song could be a bad omen for what is to come. Nicole, I noticed, was watching us. Kataro twirled me around and then started rocking back and forth again. The night was perfect just me and him. The final strum of the guitar happened and we slowly let go of each other. Surprisingly the whole diner burst out into applause. All eyes were on us as we made our way back to our booth where Nicole was waiting for us with our dinner. We thanked Nicole and began to eat. The burger was great. It almost melted in your mouth. The bacon was juicy and the cheese was gooey. I polished it off in five minutes. Kataro beat me by a minute. I picked up a fry and popped it into my mouth. It was crispy, salty, and very delicious. When we had finished eating Nicole gave us the check. Kataro refused to let me pay. So he paid the bill and we walked to his truck.

I heard rustling in the trees but I never minded it. We got into the truck and started to drive home. I noticed a yellow punch buggy was behind us. I closed my eyes and drifted to sleep when something dawned on me. Daniel drives a yellow punch buggy. When we got home I laid on the couch for a few minutes. I picked up my dream journal and gasped. On the last page of my dream journal was an accurate colored sketch of Kataro.

“Omg,” I breathed. Kataro was my dream boy and my soul mate.