The Guy Department

Four

"Fantastic! Oh, I'm so happy you decided to join us!" Mrs. Blakely said happily as she seemed to almost jump for joy. Almost.

Oh, what have I gotten myself into?

"Boys, collect your things and contact the others and tell them to come to the Homebase immediately. I don't want to have to keep Star waiting any longer than she already has." Mrs. Blakely instructed. 

Ajax got up the quickest. He ran past me so swiftly, I could feel a small breeze. He rushed to the silver doors and pushed them open before he ran down that long hallway Mrs. Blakely and I had just come from, his sneakers loudly smacking with each step on the linoleum floor tiles. Puck and Alex getting up behind him and walked out. They didn't seem interested in our new project. Kylo was the last to get up. The legs of his chair scraped the floor loudly. 

"Is this really necessary? I'm only supposed to be here for another six months and then I'm done." Kylo grunted as he stood in front of Mrs. Blakely. 

"It is necessary, Kylo, and while it may be true you owe six more months this project won't count toward it." Mrs. Blakely replied.

"What?!" Kylo asked loudly.

"While it is true you need to only work here for a year as per the court's sentence, you need to actually be on the job for that time to count. You can't spend the rest of your time hiding in this break room and think I'll count it as your time." Mrs. Blakely said, "Now go on with the others and get ready." she added.

Kylo grumbled to himself and walked out the door, slamming it into the wall and causing me to jump before he stomped down the hall.

"Uhhhm excuse me, did you just say that one is serving time here?" I asked hesitantly, "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that. He's like a criminal, isn't he?"

Mrs. Blakely shook her head, "Not in so many words. He just caught for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's not as scary as he puts off. When he gets used to you you'll see he's a total marshmallow." 

"I don't think he sees it that way. As far as I'm concerned, criminals act like criminals and it's difficult for them to change." 

"He doesn't act like a criminal. He's just an angsty teenager. He just needs someone to point him in the right direction. I think you can be that person." Mrs. Blakely said. The phone in her pocket started to ring a happy little tune and she immediately plucked the phone out of her pocket and took the call. "Yes...yes...I see... Have you tried-?...You have?...Same result?...Okay, I'm on my way." She ended the call and turned to me, "I'm sorry Star, it seems I need to go take care of something on our Grandparent Rentals floor. It seems someone might have- Oh, I don't know why I'm explaining that to you. You're not taking care of any of our Grandparent rentals.... Anyways, wait here for the boys to come back. All eight of them. When they're all here and ready to go I'll have my driver give you all a ride to your house...Oh, also, give me your phone number." Mrs. Blakely said as she held her phone out to me.

I slowly reached out for her phone and put my contact number in for her and then my name and a little yellow star next to my name like I did whenever I added my number to someone's contact and handed the phone back to her.

Mrs. Blakely smiled at my little addition to my name, "That is so cute." she cooed, "You keep reassuring me over and over again that I made the right choice about you." 

"I'm still not sure this is such a good idea-"

"Just wait here for the boys. Don't go wandering around. Trust me, you'll get lost down here. All of our newbies do." Mrs. Blakely said before she walked through the door and left me alone in the room.