fixing feelings - vance hopper

chapter 1

it was Sunday night and you were working late at the arcade as the prize cashier. you hear the bell ring above the entrance and a group of boys walk in and you immediately get nervous because you've dealt with plenty of shit people before that have included cat calling and even groups of girls who will only walk in just to degrade you. you watch this
one boy specifically who has long curly blonde hair with a denim vest on.
you didn't realize you were staring until your coworker walks up behind you and tells you to stop getting distracted and switch gears to the main cashier where you get quarters to play the arcade games.

you sigh and walk over and the boys are in a line near the register and i give each one change. you noticed that all of them would look at you in an admiring way but you didn't think too much of it. once the boy you were looking at before walked up

you were stuttering while asking him how much change he would like. "h-how many quarters d-do you need?" he noticed your stuttering and rolled his eyes. he told you how many he needed and you handed him the change. "thanks" he said without an expression.

he walked over to the pinball game in the corner of the room and played for hours and hours. it was now around 10 pm which was our closing hour you dont think he knew that because he just continued even after his group left.

you walked up behind him slowly and tapped on his shoulder. you noticed he flinched "i'm sorry i just wanted to tell you that we closed a few minutes ago" he looked at you and heavily sighed.

you walk over back to the cash register and gather your things. he was just about to walk out when he heard you whisper to yourself "shit". you forgot your house key and your mom is out drunk somewhere. she always is. she never really cared for you ever since your dad died in a sudden car accident when you were only 7 years old.
you started breathing heavily and your anxiety started to kick in. you didn't know what to do because your mom could be gone for days because she has before and you dont even have my house key.

the curly haired boy noticed your small panic attack and walked over to you and asked you an annoyed quiet "are you okay?" you looked up at him and told him what was going on. he just looked at you and started thinking.

vance wasn't the type of person to care about other peoples feelings because no body ever cared about his and thats what triggered his anger issues to become so bad. he tried getting better but there was always something. he had friends but they were always busy and had other plans other to hang out with him so he always felt lonely. he acted tough so nobody would mess with him and he didn't want people thinking he was a pussy and let people get to him. vance would go to the arcade to lower his stress in the world and just let go there.

i know you dont know me and you dont even know my name or anything yet but you could crash at my place for the night. the blonde haired boy said very quietly thinking you probably wouldn't  have heard him. you gave him a small smile and he just looked down at his feet. you can tell he's not used to talking to people in a calm manner. he definitely doesn't look like it. he looks tough and thats one thing that made you nervous to talk to him when he walked in. "really? oh my god thank you so much" you said he mumbled a "mhm" and both of you walked outside.
you wanted to get to know him so you asked him random questions. his name is vance hopper, he's 15 years old and his parents are divorced but lives with his dad who is always at work. and he has a golden retriever named buddy.

the whole time he was answering your questions he was very quiet and seemed like he didn't really know how to talk to you.

he opened the door for you to his house and it was a little messy and had beer cans everywhere and his dog ran up to you and jumped on you and started licking your face. you were smiling and laughing, you looked up at vance and he was trying not to smile. "okay okay buddy get off" he said and took your hand to his room.
you was quite surprised when he grabbed your hand.
his room had many band posters and his room smelled like cologne and cigarettes. you looked around while he was throwing away a few cans that sat on his wooden bedside table.

you had an itch and started scratching your jeans, you hated wearing jeans they were so uncomfortable to wear but you had to wear them to work as a uniform.
he noticed "hey uhm do you need something else to change into?" you nodded hesitantly. he walked over to his dresser and pulled out an oversized plain white t-shirt and baggy pajama pants. he walked back over to you and nervously handed it to you and asked if it was okay. you gave him a small smile and walked to the door in his room you thought was a bathroom.

it was just a closet and he chucked quietly. you glared back at him quickly and he stopped. "the bathroom is outside of my door and walk down the hall first door to your left. you rolled your eyes playfully. as you were walking out you heard him let out a deep breath. you walked to the bathroom and changed into the clothes he gave you.