Graveyard Shift

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR
"On that note," Eleanor then said, Kris calming her laughter now, "is anybody hungry?" Daren was still asleep. "I said, is anybody hungry?" Daren didn't even move a little bit to show he may have heard her. "Really?" She said. "DAREN!" And the ginger was still asleep.
"Wake up," Anna said. "This is Anna, wake up, Daren. If you wake up, I might love you; probably not, but I might." I was expecting his eyes to fly open like in the cartoon Tom and Jerry, but he was just completely dead to the world - Anna included!
"Hand me that thing," I said and gestured to the sanitizer. She handed the bottle to me and I threw it at his face, yelling, "WAKE UP!" He groaned uncomfortably and slowly, but surely, began to blink his tired eyes.
"Oh! It worked!" Kris began to laugh and Anna joined along.
"Mmm," he hummed sleepily as he rubbed his eyes and stretched his legs as best as he could in the car. "Damn leg fell asleep," he suddenly muttered as he grabbed at it, banging his foot against the door. This only made all of us laugh really hard; well, excluding Daren.
"So," Kris started and leant an elbow on his shoulder, though it really made her reach rather than lean, "how's your head?" She asked.
"Fine," he furrowed his brows, "why? I'm not the one who forgot my hijab." Kris immediately huffed at the comeback. Anna and Eleanor now laughed at her. Daren then began to stretch his arms.
"Boy, you better get your hand out my face," Kris snapped as he had one arm out in front of her, stretching. She pushed it down and he eyed her menacingly. She only did the same.
"Alright," Eleanor chimed, "I don't know about you, Khizra, but I am in the food mood and I am sure your flirting buddy is too."
"Who the fuck is Khizra?" Daren said.
"Ew, gross," she said. "No, he's not my - just EW!"
"Language!" I said. He stuck his tongue at me.
"Are you serious? Did you just ask who Khizra is?" Anna laughed.
He narrowed his eyes to think and then he widened his eyes and looked at Kris, then back at Anna and Anna nodded. "Oh my God, your name is Khizra??" He finally said, enlightenment crossing his face.
"Oh my God," Kris massaged her temples.
"Ooh, I love the Khizra story!" Eleanor laughed.
"I don't," Kris groaned. "Derachi's so stupid," she said. I laughed. I had never heard the story, but I did know her name was Khizra. Daren was smart, but he was also very oblivious, which explained this whole moment taking place. I remember, after studying for two weeks, he actually answered all eighty questions on our end of the semester test for history when he only had to choose half to answer because he didn't read the directions and just started to answer like a madman. It was hilarious after he turned in three pages of that shit to Derachi.
Anna laughed. "I'll tell it," Eleanor said.
"Or you could nahhh," Kris said awkwardly. I laughed.
"Okay, so Derachi and Kris have known each other since, like, Freshman year. And Derachi is totally bae-" This made a slight pang of stupid jealousy arise in me, which caused me to actually say:
"Bae really means poop in Danish."
"William Taylor!" Eleanor then interrupted herself to scold me. I shrugged with wide eyes because it was a very true fact. She couldn't help and smile at me before looking back at Anna, though, and I smiled back, feeling my neck flush in the slightest. I thanked God for the black makeup still covering my skin.
Anna then pressed her to go on, "So Derachi is bae-"
"And gay; as in literally; as in married to a man; as in not a woman; as in not a female student; as in that would be illegal; as in you're too young for him; as in he's a teacher; as in he is an older gay teacher." Daren added. I glanced at him and he nodded understandingly before we both burst into laughter.
"YOU GUYS ARE RUINING THE STORY!" Eleanor scolded once again, louder than before, blue eyes intensified. Daren and I continued to laugh, though. When we calmed down she went on with the story.
"Like I was saying, it's about the first day of school, and he's taking role for attendance, and he stops for a second-"
"Can you not? Can you really just, like, not?" Kris suggested and Daren put his hand over her face as he stared at Eleanor intently now. She pushed his arm away, which he was unprepared for, and he got smashed into the door. We all immediately laughed at him and he began to massage his head.
"You're violent."
"It's a gift," she said and smiled proudly. Anna and her laughed.
"Basically, Derachi stops and he's all confused looking before he attempts it. He's like, 'K-Kris-Krissna?' Kris can't even answer because she's laughing at him trying to say her name, so he immediately knows who it is because she's the only one laughing besides Cara, who he already called for. So then he puts it in his role. Next day, he's like, 'Kris?' And nobody answers, like, nobody. And he then proceeds to say, 'The one with the hard name I can't pronounce,' and Kris immediately starts laughing again because she then realizes it's her he's trying to see is there. This began Kris." Eleanor and Anna thought it was pretty hilarious whilst Kris took a breath and shook her head. I found it more enlightening rather than entertaining; then I thought of Derachi saying it and saw why it was way more funnier with him doing this.
"Oh my Goddddd!" Daren said overly-dramatically-breathy, very much entertained and enlightened. "TOK: MIND BLOWN!" He gestured an explosion with his fingers starting at his temples.
"Friggin' Derachi," Kris said and shook her head. "Not even close to my name. It isn't that hard to pronounce!" She defended. "I don't understand how he got the R in the wrong place!"
"What do you think will be called at graduation?!" Daren then laughed. She pushed him back into the door. He squeaked out his irritation. "It's not my fault that your name is not actually your name," Daren defended as he rubbed his arm.
"So, is it just me who wants chips or what?" Eleanor questioned, moving on.
"You can't go into a gas station with a black face." Anna reasoned.
"Racist!" Kris then joked.
"Thanks," Anna said with a smile and hand over her chest. "I try." Kris and I laughed.
"Well, I think it is perfectly fine to go inside of a place with my face painted up. Don't you agree, William?" I looked back at my reflection in the rearview mirror and bean to laugh.
"We are ninjas," I said.
She smirked my way, "Exactly. Unstoppable."
***
We were literally in the middle of nowhere with this random gas station, so I didn't really worry about anyone stealing the car as we all walked into the liquor store. "I wonder why she never corrected him on it," Daren said.
"Why who never corrected who on what?" I asked as we eyed Oreos in the aisle we walked through.
"Kris," he said. "I mean, she could've told him."
"I'm sure she did, but he's white and it's a story now. People like things to turn into stories."
"You really think Kris wanted that to turn into a story?"
"I don't think she really cares that much. I think she finds it funny too in reality, but Derachi probably remembers it every now and then and laughs at his own stupidity."
"You think Anna's legit about Derachi-"
"Don't even go there, man. It's a joke." I said as I grabbed a can of Pringles.
"How come Derachi has all the girls in our grade in love with him? He's older, he's gay, and he's a teacher; what's so hot about that?"
I chuckled as he grabbed Nutter Butters, "Maybe the fact that being an older guy is hot to girls as well as being gay - and being a teacher is, like, extra danger." I joked. "I mean, none of them are actually trying to get at him, really. He's just, like, a younger teacher, but still older, and for some reason girls like gay guys better than straight guys; I don't know why. Then, since he's a teacher, it's, like, they get to see him everyday and he's not a normal teacher; he's actually cool."
"And not a ginger," he added.
"Anna's all over Ed Sheeran, dude," I tried. His shoulders slumped as I placed an arm on him. "Cheer up, man; one day she'll confuse you two." He pushed my arm off and laughed.
"You're an idiot," he laughed.