All That and a Bag of Chips

Chapter 1

Author's Note: This story will contain depictions of tobacco use, drinking, and swear words. At this time there are no trigger warnings, but please advise me if you believe there should be any. Thank you for reading!

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With the sun just above the horizon, Collin pedaled along downtown Santa Cruz, one earbud playing No Doubt, and small white clouds marking each exhale. But the cold didn't bother him. It helped wake him up.

Making his way down Pacific Avenue, he smiled and waved at the girl with a lip ring who worked at the bagel shop, the balding man who ran the flower stand, and the guy with purple dreads who was a barista at the cafe. No one was out at this time, except those who worked the early shift, and even if he didn't know their names, Collin knew everyone's face.

As he coasted toward the smoothie shop where he worked, he took his new iPod out of his pocket–still impressed with how small it was compared to his old Discman–and turned the music off. Tom was waiting for him. He was wearing his usual bright red beanie, gray hoodie, and navy blue bomber jacket and was leaning against the plate-glass windows smoking a cigarette.

"Second time this week you're late, douchebag," Tom took one last drag and then flicked the butt towards Collin.

Collin looked up at the looming clock tower across the street. It read 6:29. "I'm not late, you're early," Collin said as he walked his bike over to the large black iron circles bolted into the sidewalk and secured his ride, careful to loop a chain through both the front and back tires. "And, dude, you really shouldn't be calling your boss a douchebag."

"You're not my boss. Janet's the boss. You're just a shift manager. You make what? A dollar more an hour than I do?"

Collin took out his keys and jangled them. "I make a buck-fifty more an hour than you do, and more importantly, I have the keys and know the code to the alarm system."

"Well, shit man, what are you waiting for? It's cold as a witch's teat out here." Tom rubbed his hands together.

"Oh, don't get your panties in a twist," Collin teased as he let them in and then locked the door behind them. The alarm chirped its countdown and only stopped when he walked up to the pad and clicked on the four magic numbers. Tom flipped on the lights and both guys changed into company t-shirts and aprons and got to work setting up the machines, stocking the display cases, and counting the registers.

There was a checklist for opening the store, but neither Tom nor Collin needed to look at it. Collin had been working here for three years, since his freshman year at the University, and while Tom had only joined the crew last year, he was a focused and reliable worker.

"It's going to be hot by midmorning," Collin broke the silence as he finished calibrating the juice dispenser.

"Oh yeah, I saw that in the paper."

"Probably going to be pretty busy."

"Yup, probably," Tom answered absent-mindedly as he emptied a bucket of ice over the carrot display.

"Everything is looking good. We're ready to open with five minutes to spare. Want a coffee? I'll run across the street," Collin offered.

"Sure man, that'd be great. The usual." Tom reached for his wallet in his back pocket.

"No," Collin held up his hands. "I'm the douchebag boss. It's on me."

"You know you don't have to, man."

"No sweat, dude," Collin said as he unlocked the door.

Within the last half hour, the street had woken up. College kids with 8 AM lectures, high schoolers with before-school activities, and professionals who commuted over the mountain to Silicon Valley all needed their caffeine fixes and there was already a line forming to order drinks at the cafe. But the guys here were quick, so Collin didn't worry. In a few minutes, he had reached the counter.