𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

54

❝𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒,❞ sheridan shouted after a few exiting sam goody customers. at her feet was a cardboard box chock full of the new smiths' album meat is murder, a stack of copies in her arm against her yellow work t-shirt. she continued to slip each vinyl into its designated display shelf, slated for its release tomorrow.

once the redhead emptied the crate, she began to break it down as she headed for the back of the store. madonna's melodic voice blared overhead; her like a virgin album was still a best-seller at the store, despite having been released a year prior. dani rang up at least five copies of it a day. and she would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy listening to it on the occasion. 

the girl nodded her head and mouthed along to the music as she backed into the swinging stockroom doors. she shoved the cardboard into their trash can, noticing another box of new records on the way. the cover's blacks, reds, and blues enchanted her, and she had read about it in her latest issue of pulse! magazine. it was heart's self-titled album, set to release in just a few short days. sherrie glanced around the storage space with wide eyes in search of any sign of her coworkers. she was sure a single record wouldn't hurt anybody; so, once she found that the coast was clear, she began to slip the vinyl into her corduroy backpack. she had no use for it anymore, considering she was now graduated. it was still good for something.

just as the plastic-wrapped record glided into the black interior of the bag, the overhead lights flickered off. sheridan instantly broke out into a cold sweat. she hastily shoved the vinyl in and yanked the zipper up, figuring her manager had just caught her red-handed and that she'd have to go home and tell joyce she lost her job. or maybe that the universe just wanted to teach her a lesson.

once she realized no one else was with her, she swung the doors out onto the floor. her coworkers glared around the store, their brows furrowed in confusion. all of the lights had seemingly been shut off. even looking out into the food court just beyond the entrance, every bulb was dimmed to complete darkness. madonna had clammed up, too. mall patrons had shared similar looks to dani and her sam goody coworkers.

the shaffer girl stepped out into the crowd by the doors. gawking upward, she realized that whatever had happened extended to every level on top of her own. "do you guys got power over there?" steve harrington questioned, the boy just to her left. he worked at the ice cream place—scoops ahoy!—next door. unbeknownst to her, though, he did that entirely on purpose.

the boy was adorned in a painfully inaccurate sailor's uniform, the royal blue accenting his tanned skin. a white cap with "ahoy!" embroidered in the same blue held his infamous locks from his face. "what do you think, dipshit?" dani fired back. just as steve stuck his tongue out on her, the lights came back on, the music started back up, and everything continued as if nothing had happened. steve's eyes flitted around the building, watching as everyone resumed their starcourt mall activities. "i think that hat's absorbing any of the brain cells you had left," sheridan insulted as she made her way back into sam goody.

"i-i'll see you after your shift!" steve called after her.

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