"But Y/N!" A skinny blue-eyed boy tugged at your shorts, practically dragging himself across the ground, "I don't wanna leave!"
You rolled your eyes and sighed, prying the little demon off of you, "Sorry little man. You've been here for about... three hours? Your parents wanna move on."
The boy groaned and slumped onto the floor, folding his arms and pouting dramatically.
"No fair!" Swallowing down a snappy remark, you gently nudged the boy up off the floor and he stomped about for a moment, mumbled to himself, and then finally moped back to his parents.
He was the final kid. The final. One. When you'd had the task of showing all the kids to their parents, the sheer amount of them seemed to be endless. You would think you got them all and then find one hiding in a trash can or in the ceiling vents or some other impossible place. It was tiring.
As soon as all the parents took their kids away, your happy-bubbly fairy persona dropped into how you really felt - exhausted. But your day wasn't finished - Bonnie had asked to show you around earlier and you weren't about to pass that up, not when these first few impressions were so crucial.
"The kids can be pretty tough, huh?" You turned around to see Bonnie, who was quietly putting some of the bowling balls back into cases, "I remember my first day - absolutely crushed me. But then again, I wasn't good with kids at all. You, on the other hand..." he smiled.
"What is it about me that screams 'kid friendly'?" You asked, hastily picking up some of the balls closest to you. You were genuinely curious - you had always thought kids were just as repulsed by you as you were by them and the both of you would mutually avoid each other. Even though today had kind of disproved that, you had figured that if you did interact with you, you would be so lame and boring and cringey that they would spontaneously combust in front of you.
Bonnie tilted his head to one side, one ear flopping down.
"It's not that your 'kid friendly' - you're just... good with them. You don't baby them as much as other people do."
You're ears flared with heat. "...thanks! I guess I just find it easier to be myself around them cause kids don't judge as much as adults do." You grunted, heaving a particularly heaving bowling ball onto the counter, "It's stupid, but I don't really mind."
"I know what you mean, though." Bonnie quickly put all the balls away, his animatronic strength aiding him well, "being around adults it URG- annoying. They're all 'you must do it my way or not at all' and 'Disappointed frowns'. That's why I don't like talking to them. And I thought you were gonna be like, even though you're not really an adult yet (I'm pretty sure). That's why I avoided you at first. But... I don't think you're like that, are you, Y/N?" You blinked. You'd never really heard someone say exactly what you thought, but Bonnie had just recited word-for-word your opinion on adults.
"Exactly! That's why growing up is so sad; I'm gonna turn into one of those grumpy old prunes myself one day!" Bonnie laughed and you beamed.
"So..." You got up and stretched out your arms, letting out a huge yawn, "You still up to show me the place?"
Bonnie held out his hand.
...
When you had first come to Bonnie Bowl, you hadn't really looked around. Sure, you'd had a quick glance around the room, but you hadn't taken the 'grand tour' - you weren't sure you needed one. But now, tailing behind Bonnie, it was very clear there was more to Bonnie Bowl than met the eye.
For one, there was an entire arcade hidden away in a remote corner of the area. It was just like the Bowling Alley - bigger and better than any arcade you'd ever seen.
"This part was only recently installed," Bonnie said, who had slowly began to talk more and more about each location you two visited, "This was a hit when it first came, but now it's just more of a teenager hang out." You quickly slotted some change into one of the machines and let the game fizzle into view.
"Honestly, teenagers these days," you muttered, wiggling the joystick around spasticity, "always acting so emo. They're almost as bad as adults - except their motto is 'it's not a phase, mom'. God, how glad am I to be out of that stage of my life"
Bonnie chuckled, "I like how we're just slandering every generation - the elders are to be the next victims!" You risked a quick glance back to shoot Bonnie a grin before settling your concentration back on the game. Bonnie crept tentatively closer and stared at the screen, his eyes wide with interest.
"Have you never seen one of these before?" You asked, carefully to keep your jerking elbow away from Bonnie, "you live here!"
"I've never watched someone play" Bonnie fixed gaze on your little avatar, his eyes practically glowing.
You scoffed, "Well don't stare for too long; you become just like those teens!"
Soon you finished up the game (you lost just like the loser you were) and Bonnie showed you to the final place; the ice cream parlor. Apparently that's where you'd be spending most of your time, just mindlessly slinging ice cream till your hands literally turned into ice cream scoops. That wasn't the most exciting realization, but at least you would be unclogging toilets for hours at a time like you used to.
"So that's everything!" Bonnie sighed, giving you a weak thumbs up, "yes, it's not the most exciting place in the Pizza Plex, but it's, ah... it's mine. And I hope you like it." He scratched the back of his head, letting his ears dangle down in front of his face.
"Course I like it!" You cried, winking and doing those awfully lame finger-guns that you always found yourself doing, "it was... nice meeting you. Really nice. You're cool. I'm cool. Kinda. Best friend material." Your grabbed Bonnie's hand and shook it firmly, causing him to squeak and jump in surprise.
"N-Nice to meet you too, Y/N. See you tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow."
Bonnie continued to watch as you strolled out the door, flipping your keys up in the air and catching them as you went.
...
"Huh - weird." Olive chewed her gum thoughtfully, cracking her fingers, "the way you describe Bonnie is... different. Around me he's as quiet as a mouse." She eyed you up and down, "I guess he just doesn't like me."
You shivered - it was a cold end to this summer day and you hadn't brought adequate clothing for this kind of whether. You just given Olive a recount of your day - minusing a few parts here and there - and Olive had actually been surprised. Not with how well you'd done; she'd never admit that, but surprised at Bonnie's behavior. Turns out she hadn't been exaggerating earlier and that how Bonnie acted today was pretty rare.
"Well duh," you rolled your eyes dramatically, "who likes a witch in clown makeup?" Olive groaned and punched you in the arm, making you giggle.
"You can call me a witch all you want, but do not insult my makeup skills." You shrugged, muttering a barely audible "I only speak truths."
"Anyways," Olive drained the rest of her iced tea, "the second day is always a little easier. Now that you've got a taste of the job, I hope your happy with it."
You folded your arms and snorted, "Happy with it? Oh please - the only job I'd be 'happy' with is being Zendaya's personal fashion designer. But to be honest..." You glanced back at the Pizza Plex, the bright 'come back soon!' sign faded in the fog, "it wasn't that bad.
"Not bad at all."
A/N don't worry people, in the next chapter things will actually happen-
