Down Under

Chapter 7

The sounds of tennis shoes on the carpet have served as your mundane background noise for the past few shifts. Jobs were a necessary time waster that even the previous you had to deal with to afford to be alive, but the task itself never got any easier. There were several things you could be doing right now that all proved to be more entertaining than watching Randy put back the return movies of the day. Being a cashier at the only video store in the entire town meant that you got to meet everyone, whether you liked it or not. There were the extreme religious people that would throw fits about the adult section fully knowing that they would come to check out videos themselves, but who were you to judge? Your personal favorites were the outcast kids who did nothing but provide good movie recommendations and invite you for smokes.

"I honestly don't know why these horror films aren't flying off the shelves. Halloween is only a month away, and I know people around here need all the inspiration they can get," Randy complained, pushing the not empty cart back to its designated corner and sitting on the corner next to you. "What are your ideas for the year?" His question was innocent for any passing person but knowing him, it would be a full on interrogation littered with nothing but judgment.

"Tatum was thinking about doing the Heathers or something for the whole trio thing. I was leaning towards Beetlejuice just for the grandiose aesthetic," you replied, leaning your forearms onto the counter as your gaze met Randy's. He was forced to look down at you to actually make eye contact, making your proximity that much thinner.

Sticking his tongue slightly out of his mouth, Randy grimaced at the idea before loudly booing you. Halloween was all about showing off your assets and, in Randy's case, your blood magic. To you, the event was more social. After all, there was no time of year when dressing up and being fully creative was widely accepted in public. This was the perfect time of year to let yourself get wild while still fitting in with the rest of the group. It was one of the few aspects of life that you missed as you grew up and time was robbed away from you.

"Boo what? Not every girl has to have their tits out for it to be considered a good costume. And even if they did, it's not for your wandering pleasure," you shot back, making sure to slightly glare at the guy sitting before you. He recoiled slightly, pushing his body away from yours as though to escape your eyes, but it was futile. "Hey... doesn't mean that some ladies out there wouldn't want you flaunting your body." It was a passing joke at most. Something to bring his thoughts elsewhere with no consequences, but he immediately turned red and started blubbering out random sentences with no coherency.

Smiling at the sight of a flustered Randy, you moved your gaze over to the clock on the opposite wall. You knew that it was getting late even for your normal shifts, but the owner had pushed for a later closing time in hopes of accommodating the Halloween rush that the store was sure to get. Randy was for sure rambling, trying to figure out just who these few ladies you mentioned were. In his mind, it could have all been pushed aside as a joke, but it was the yearning mini-him whose heart continued to race, that secretly hoped this was a roundabout way of you confessing to him. It was not.

"Is your mom still not here yet?" Randy asked, trying his best to diverge from the previous topic that he had brought up. It was a brief second of the two of you looking at the entrance door, attempting to make out any figure in the dark, only for nothing to appear. "I could drive you back if you need the lift."

"It's fine, she usually comes half an hour late anyway," you reply, playing with the sleeves of your sweater as the darkness started playing games with your imagination. "If worse comes to worst, I could probably get Tatum to get her brother to take me home."

"Dewey? He's still in the police force?" He let out an unbelieving laugh, catching a stray rag you threw his way to start dusting away at the shelves as the clock slowly ticked to the end of the shift.