Dismal - that one word described the weather perfectly that particular Wednesday morning. The sun wasn't shining, but rainclouds weren't filling the skies either. It wasn't warm enough to prance around in a bikini top and hotpants, but a anorak wasn't exactly needed either. In other words, the weather wasn't either great or terrible. Just dismal.

Taryn let out an irritated sigh as she left the front door of her dorm block that morning, slamming the door behind her. It was typical that the one day the girl had chosen to take a stroll down the beach, the weather turned unpleasant on her. Taryn had never seemed to have the best of luck, but neither had her mother. Her mom had always had a knack of choosing particularly terrible boyfriends, but not noticing until it was too late. Her mother's last boyfriend, Mike, had been the reason that the two girls had ended up in Rochester in the first place. Three years of suffering from abuse had taken place before Taryn's mom had dared run away, taking Taryn with her, and it seemed to have taken witnessing Mike take it out on her daughter that had given the woman the final push to actually just get up and leave - while he was at the local bar, that is. Unsurprisingly, her mom hadn't done very much dating over the last six years, with the exception of the odd date or two. Maybe bad luck just ran in Taryn's family genes.

Only minutes later, all plans of a stroll down the beach were halted. The wind was blowing harshly against her features, her hair running wildly out of control behind her. The wind was becoming more and more violent as time passed, and Taryn was beginning to fear for the white shawl thrown over her shoulders, looking dangerously close to blowing away and becoming lost from view. Why on earth hadn't Taryn decided just to go back inside and change out of her white shorts and pink vest top, instead of quickly nipping in and grabbing the first thing that looked warm she came across? Because she was stubborn, of course, although she wasn't always stupid - which was why she had decided not to go all the way to the beach and stop off at the closest cafe she found, before she was lifted off her feet and whisked away by the wind before she knew it.

The first place Taryn had came across was, in fact, Pennie's Diner. Now, Taryn wouldn't of chosen that place if she had a choice of where to go - somewhere much cooler, like McDonalds, would of been much preferred - but the girl was just kind of grateful that there just happened to be a cafe for shelter along the road she was walking down. However, she wasn't so happy when she spotted the crowds of people also littering the diner - in fact, there was only one more table free. Ordering a Hot Chocolate with extra cream and marshmallows for her sweet tooth, Taryn quickly whisked herself over to the table, in fear of somebody else bagging it while she was ordering. There was only one thing missing - somebody to keep her company.