𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟𝗦: 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗪𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗦

chapter one

Before Sawyer Klein got her job at Light Waves, Alyssa Luttrell was alone, most days. From behind a shelf, she'd watch as her managers and other co-workers all laughed, wanting to join it yet feeling unable to; she didn't want to intrude on their conversation. 

Even if Alyssa had only been working for a week before Sawyer began working as well, she views her first week as a distinct phase within her job: after Sawyer started working, she wasn't left alone again. 

In fact, when at work, the two were never alone and were always together. Folding shorts required two people as did sizing every shelf. If the two were working together, they were working together, and the best part was, no one ever tried to make them do anything else. All of the managers knew the two were friends and that their company made work go by faster, so no one really cared if they were together. 

Except for Neha Han. Before working at Light Waves, neither of the girls had even seen Neha in town, and they had a feeling it was because she was a bit of a recluse. Despite being the same age as Neha, neither Sawyer nor Alyssa had ever seen her in school, which didn't make sense, seeing as there was only one high school within Landler. 

But for whatever reason, Neha hated seeing Alyssa and Sawyer together, so much so that she'd point it out to the managers whenever possible to try and get them split up. Neha was usually working in the fitting room, doing go-backs and helping customers, but she always tried to make Alyssa do the go-backs for her, when Neha had no good excuse to not do them herself. 

This undeniable resentment between the girls left for a tense atmosphere whenever the three were working together, which was unfortunately most days. The managers could feel it but none of them understood it, and they were all too scared to try and figure out why, so the three girls just continued to work, pretending as if nothing was bothering them, even though their 'problem' was working with them.

"Oh, hey Andy," Sawyer greeted her manager when she first walked in, getting ready to clock in for her shift. 

"Hey, Sawyer, what's up?" He nodded, looking up from the iPad held in his hand. 

"Did you know the Industry Set app won't let me view my schedule?" 

"What?" Andy set down the iPad and quickly came out from behind the register, looking down at Sawyer's phone. 

"Oh, yeah, mine isn't working either," Alyssa nodded. 

"You're joking," Andy scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I've got to manually input the schedule now! That's infuriating."

"Hopefully it isn't down for next week's schedule too," Sawyer quickly clocked in before joining Alyssa at their shorts wall. 

"Well, I'll be in the back, now inputting the one-hundred plus hours I've got to deal with now," Andy stormed into the back, Alyssa, Sawyer, and Neha now all in charge of the store as far as selling clothes went. 

"So, anything new with you?" Alyssa looked over to her friend. 

"Uh, yeah, actually," Sawyer nodded with a sigh. "So you know that guy I was talking to?"

"The one from the smoothie place?"

"Yeah, him," Sawyer began, "Well he fucking friend-zoned me."

"What?" Alyssa's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "But the fair--"

"Exactly, the fair!" Sawyer exclaimed. "I--I mean come on, he said he hates roller coasters but then he offers to go on one with me? There's no way that's not flirting."

"Don't worry, there's plenty of better options," Alyssa reassured her. 

"Yeah, well, not here," Sawyer shook her head. "I know everyone too well."