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6. Something Old, Something New

Charlie eyed the axolotl again, watching it waddle in slow circles, its dopey smile making her grin.

"You need a better tank, little guy" she said, already heading to the door to put on her shoes. Having a pet was a nice distraction, something for her to focus on instead of the fact that she was waking up in the middle of the night mid-panic attack, or that anytime someone started yelling, her hands began shaking.

Right before she left the shack, she called out to Stan in the gift shop to let him know where she was going. He didn't answer, in fact, he was nowhere in sight, but Charlie assumed he was just busy conning the heck out of tourists.

The weather today was her favorite kind, warm enough to wear shorts but breezy enough to keep you from sweating. As Charlie walked to town, cradling the bowl with the axolotl, a small group of teens her age caught her attention. Two boys currently shoving each other, playfully fighting, and a girl carrying several bags of pet food that should've been too heavy for her.

Charlie approached them. "Excuse me, can you tell me where the pet store is?"

The girl, who Charlie could now see had jet black hair and a rock band t-shirt, answered her first. "Down a couple blocks by the Dusk 2 Dawn."

"I don't know where that is either..." Charlie responded.

"Oh."

One of the boys who wore a purple hat now spoke. "Its not that far away, we could take you to it," he offered.

"Oh, you don't have to, I mean-"

"Nah, don't worry about it, we've got nuthin else to do," the other boy said, leading the way.

"Thanks."

"So, are you like new here?" The same boy asked.

"Oh, yeah, I kinda just moved in."

An awkward pause.

The girl shifted the bags she was carrying with a grunt, then asked, "So, you got a name?"

"Right, right! I'm Charlie," she answered quickly, remembering that people normally expect you to know how to have a conversation. Which Charlie didn't. Small talk felt as mysterious and puzzling as the Bermuda Triangle.

"I'm Millie," the girl responded, beginning to offer a handshake but then stopped when the bags in her hands nearly fell. "The short one's Ethan, and the dumb looking one is Marcus."

"Hey! My mom said I'm gonna have a growth spurt!" Ethan shouted, trying his best to stand as straight as possible.

"You're dumb looking," muttered the other boy with the hat. He then leaned over to peak in the bowl Charlie was still cradling. "What's that?" He asked.

"It's my pet axolotl."

"What's its name?"

"I don't know yet actually, still trying to find a good one."

"Ohhh, how about Joe?" Ethan suggested, biting back a large grin.

The other two teens immediately shouted "No!", leaving Charlie clueless.