The Peculiar Gun

Part 2

The alarm woke me up at 6 am to get ready for my shift at 7am. The morning was cold and still dark, my car wasn't that good in snow, so I got rides from my sister, Jana, who worked at the dental office nearby. We were always too lazy to make breakfast that early so she had a protein shake in the car made for us.

Startling me, the car honked
Jana murmured something under her breath
"You're gonna make me late" Jana said huffing
I was still fixing my hair under my barista hat
I finally ran into the passenger seat and slammed the Jeep door.

When i got into work it was a busy day, Mondays typically were, but I was happy to be productive on a new day. As I was tying my black apron, my coworker spilled coffee on me from behind.

Great.

"OMG I'm so sorry, let me clean that" Alice whined in her squeaky voice

Alice was my least favorite coworker because she was so boy crazy and always bragged about the messages she got on social media from random guys.

"Oh my god, watch where you're going!" I said visibly annoyed.

From the far end of the kiosk, My coworkers were circled around an iPhone yelling, which luckily for Alice, interrupted her fake apology.
"You guys you guys—no way—did you hear about the power outage in this town that happened maybe connected with aliens messing with the electromagnetic waves..." Jonah said super hyper.

Yeah right.
"You better lay off the espresso" I said snarkily

Oh, so that's why the lights were off last night, a power outage.

After some more talking our manager quickly scolded us to go clean the bar area and restock. 'There is always something to do they told us, and we couldn't be caught talking for more than two minutes without getting yelled at.
I didn't hate the job though, I liked talking to customers and seeing what drink choices people made. Some had routine orders like black coffee or tea, others had more elaborate choices such as, green tea lemonades with strawberry dried pieces and flavored syrups. I mostly made teas and brewed coffee, and rang up customers.
After work, Jana picked me up and dropped me off at the local library, where I was supposed to meet Sade, but she completely flaked because she was asleep. So it was just me. She and I really just liked finding random books that called out to us and flipping to a random page for some interesting quotes.
Sade was really good friend to me. We looked nothing alike but had lots in common, like the same taste in music and shows. Her personality was very bold and confident, which I admired. She was a big risk taker and could fight anyone who messed with us. She is really a great company for my laidback nature. She's not super reliable when it comes to plans, though.

I walked home since the library isn't that far. As I was making myself some food I heard a bang on the door. I sheepishly looked through the peephole to see no-one. Some kids probably playing doorbell ditch I thought. A few minutes later it happens again. I'm home alone, but my sister should be home soon. At that point I was curious, so I opened the door. Some random young guy with shaggy brown hair standing there and said he had the wrong house. Odd, but I just said okay and closed the door.

I trotted up the stairs to my lofty room, my getaway from the stimulation of work and life. I laid on my queen size bed arms and legs spread out like a starfish staring at the ceiling. After taking a big breath of relief, I check to see about ten million notifications on my phone buzzing rapidly. The group chat of me and my friends, titled OnlyFriends, which started last year. Cassie was trying to get us all to go to her cabin party on Friday.

...

I'm down, gonna be lit

Yay

I got up and went to the living room to see Darren and Jana laughing together on the couch.
"Oh Dawn I'm so glad you decided to join us" Jana smiled.
I stared at them both with a disgusted look
I bit my tongue from any bitchy remarks and walked towards the kitchen
I'm staring in the fridge with one hand on the door handle
Im not even hungry I just want to hear what they're talking about, but pretty soon Darren comes into the kitchen and hovers behind me. I felt a warm fuzzy feeling which I immediately suppressed.
To which I laugh nervously, I must of been standing there a while and he caught on.
"Jealous?"
I scoff as that idea is way off.
I liked someone else anyway.
"Yea, totally I really would love to be the one talking to you right now about your crypto, please let me take her spot "

"Your house is nice, I wonder why you never invite me to come over. But no worries your sister Jana is a lot nicer than you. I wish I met her first."
He says as he playfully shoved me to grab a sparkling water

"Yeah if you're moving on to my sister now, good luck."

Jana squeezes by and now the kitchen was getting too full and I was annoyed.
"woohoo party in the kitchen! So Darren make yourself at home and put on the TV whatever you want I'm gonna go change out of my scrubs"
Jana said in a peppy voice.

Darren sits on the right side of the couch and flicks on the tv.
I sip my LaCroix sitting on the left side of the couch. Shark Tank, of all things, I didn't know anybody even still watches it, was on.
At least it wasn't the Office, Jana's favorite show, I roll my eyes at the thought to which Darren notices and speaks
" you really don't like your sister huh?"
He says grinning with the remote with his veiny hand, flipping through channels
"I...she's just ugh... we're really different. "
"You're over here in a beautiful house in a quiet neighborhood and you have nothing to complain about, cheer up" He laughs
"I'm glad you're so smug, maybe I should go to your house and talk to your brother, Will"
"Ok yeah go ahead, oh wait, that's right you always get nervous and barely say a word to him."

Ok he got me there. It's not easy for me to have a crush I always act shy.

"I'm going to one of these days, I'll ask him if he can help me fix my car " I say raising my chin up proudly.

"He's not even good at that stuff, wow you really assume all guys are good with cars?"

"Hmm, maybe. You assume all girls like the same stuff too, but someone sounds jealous" I say eyes wide and head tilted.

"Not even", he looks down at his phone

After a few episodes of Robot Chicken, Darren's phone rang.
"My dad is calling, I better go"
"Alright I'll see you later"

I stood at the doorstep waving and watching him walk home, his house right across from ours.

It was starting to get dark now, and I felt an eerie presence or maybe more than just one watching me from the window. I closed the blinds. I'm still kind of paranoid, but I quiet my thoughts and go to bed. I wondered if it was the guy who knocked earlier, something seemed odd.