Cross Roads

Chapter Five: Scream

— Chapter Five: I Scream, and Then You Scream, and Then We All Scream —

I am walking out of the one-person bathroom in McDonald’s, having changed out of my work uniform and into something more . . . appropriate, as Alvin deemed it, for clubbing.  In reality I feel like I am taking my first steps into whore-dom, wearing too tight skinny jeans and a skimpy sheer top.  I had refused the heels that Alvin demanded, instead opting once more for my signature boots.  The guy can complain all he wants, but I am not risking him abandoning me again, forcing me to hitch-hike home in heels.

“Someone just took a hop, skip and a dump in there,” I tell Alvin as he is standing in lobby, waiting for me to appear.  The look he gives me is priceless, somewhere between mortified and embarrassed.  His eyes grow bug-wide, his mouth falls open, and the color his skin takes, I’m pretty sure, is unnatural.

“Spencer, that’s disgusting,” he hisses, nervously glancing over to a couple sitting down.  It is obvious that they have heard me.  The boy is trying hard not to laugh, and the girl is trying to look disgusted even as she is laughing into her snack wrap.

“What?” I ask, slinging my backpack up onto my shoulder.  “It’s true.  It smells in there.  I almost threw up.”  I walk up to the counter and call “Someone find the Febreze.  The girl’s bathroom is pretty much fermenting in toxic fumes right now.”

Brandon, who is lingering near the counter, grins over to me.  “I told you not to eat the Double Quarter Pounder, Spence,” he says.  “You know the grease doesn’t agree with your stomach.”

I frown.  “Hardy-har-har,” I grumble.  “You’re hilarious, Brandon.  I think I might die from laughing so hard,” I deadpan.

He looks up from the paperwork he is currently trying to fill out, first raising an eyebrow at me, and then glaring at Alvin who is standing by the door with his expensive little Samsung Galaxy in his hands.  “Why is he here?” he asks quietly.  “And what are you wearing?  Spencer, is everything okay?”

I pout and fold my arms, covering up my very unimpressive boobs to the best of my ability – I’m pretty sure all I manage to do is make myself actually have a cleavage.  “I got into a little bit of trouble,” I admit, glancing back at Alvin to ensure he wasn’t listening or getting impatient.  The last thing I need is for the pompous princess to get annoyed and start bossing me around in my place of work.  I am the one who does the bossing, thank you very much!

Brandon leans towards me.  “Do you need money?”

I snort and wave a hand.  “No, and it’s not like you have any to give me even if I did.”

He knows me too well to be insulted, merely holding my gaze and waiting for me to break.

I will not.

The seconds tick by in a tense silence.  My eyebrow twitches.  I chew my bottom lip.  I play with the hem of my shirt.  Brandon remains calm and collected and does not move.

I huff and sigh and say, “I may have done something really stupid—”

“Which is your forte,” he interrupts, nodding for me to continue.

I glare.  “Anyways, I did something stupid that might have involved a certain prick’s prized car—”

“What!”

I reach out and cover his mouth with my hand, hissing for his silence as I make sure no one has heard.  The only ones who are looking are the couple in the corner.  They appear very confused.  They can stay that way for all I care – teach them to mind their own business.  “I did something stupid and got caught, and now I’m being blackmailed.  Happy?”