Spinnaker's Lunch Counter

When the staff put a plate down in front of a student, everyone stopped talking. The student neither moved nor ate a hamburger, and after a short while, students began to whisper.
“He’s too upset to talk now,” the student said.
“Who’s responsible for what happened?” a girl next to him murmured. Again, there was a deadly silence. The middle-aged staff couldn’t endure that kind of quietness in these days, finally said:
“It’s really hot today. I wish I worked in an air-conditioned chic luncheonette,” he smiled, fiddling a ketchup squeeze bottle. The girl smiled. The staff asked her if the police had released an arrested student.
“No, he remains silent,” the girl replied.
“Don’t speak to him,” the student said.
“To be frank with you, I’ve known that policeman. His wife is my former classmate,” the staff said.
“Really?” the student said. “May I ask a favor of you?”

A man in a grey suit came in, and the student clammed up. A man said:
“Can I have a hotdog?”
The staff disappeared into the kitchen, and when he came back, the man talked to him about urban redevelopment. The staff put on a concerned look while the man, a bank officer, explained how important it was to start the development of a station square.
“If that happens, our building would be slated for demolition,” the staff said.
“In a large sense, no one of us could live against the tide of the times,” the bank officer said, nodding.
The student’s jaw muscles flexed, saying nothing. The girl cleared her throat when the bank officer, who polished off the hotdog, stood up and left. The student and the staff started to talk again.

The next day, when the girl came into the spinnaker’s lunch counter, neither the student nor the staff was there. The girl sat on a stool, reading a paperback and saying nothing. When she started coughing due to the dust, a waitress brought a glass of water to her.
“Thank you,” the girl said.
“No problem,” the waitress replied. “Last time a maintenance man checked the heating system, he said there were cracks everywhere on the wall. We need to repair. Would you like some jelly beans?”
The waitress took a mini plastic bag with lace pattern out of her pocket. The girl couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
“I’ll take an orange,” the girl said, picked one up and opened her eyes. It was a green apple jelly.
“You lose,” the waitress said and went back to the kitchen.
The girl sighed and continued to read the paperback.
After the sunset, the girl heard that the student who had been arrested was finally released.

Two days later, two students, the girl, and the bank officer were sitting on the stool in the spinnaker’s lunch counter.
“I can’t thank you enough,” the bank officer said.
The student who stood next to the bank officer was his brother.
“The doctor told me to get enough rest, but I won’t give up,” the bank officer’s brother said.
“How dare you say such a thing,” the bank officer said and raised his eyebrows.
“Come on. Just relax,” the staff said and put four cups of coffee on the counter, but the girl didn’t move.
“What’s the matter with you?” the staff asked her.
“Last night I was thinking about what I’ve ever done before. I’ve done what I thought was right, but I want to know more about this world,” the girl said.
The staff said nothing, and the bank officer seemed uncomfortable. While two students were talking in a low voice, the girl stared them anxiously and unfolded a newspaper on the counter.
(616 words)