THE DEMON WITHIN (A ZENDAYA RPF)

COUNTERPHOBIC

SEPTEMBER 5th 2016

Zendaya stood in line with Darnell inside a convenience store, eyeing her surroundings as she awaited her turn to check out. The two were waiting to purchase a few gift cards.

As time passed and the line inched forward, Zendaya's patience began to wear thin.

"I wish this line would hurry up. Don't these people know how to use their feet?" Zendaya complained.

"Calm down. We only have two people in front of us," Darnell said soothingly.

"I wish it was only one," Zendaya retorted.

When they finally reached the front of the line, Zendaya grabbed a few gift cards off the shelf. The pale, emo-looking clerk stared at her with a hint of disapproval.

"Excuse me, you can't take those gift cards. Please put them back where you found them," the clerk said.

"Why not?" Zendaya questioned.

"You can't afford them," the clerk answered curtly.

"I wouldn't be here if I couldn't. Just check out my items so we can leave. We've been waiting long enough," Zendaya said, her frustration mounting.

The clerk rolled her eyes and looked away from Zendaya, seemingly repulsed. "I'll take the next customer," she announced, ignoring Zendaya completely.

As the clerk began scanning items from the customer behind Zendaya, anger surged through her.

"I don't know who you think you are, telling me what I can and can't afford," Zendaya seethed.

"All I want is to buy these gift cards, and you're being incredibly rude and disrespectful. Just check me out so I can pay and leave. I can report this to your manager right now unless you want to stop giving me a hard time. I promise you, I'll make sure you get fired for this." Assured Zendaya

"Just hand me the gift cards and be on your way out. I'm not letting you buy these," the clerk retorted. "I'm in the middle of helping a customer. You're the one being rude, distracting a customer from being served and threatening an employee."

"How? You're supposed to be serving me right now. I'm in front of them; I should be going first. And I don't appreciate the way you're talking to me, so of course I'm going to complain to your manager about it," Zendaya argued.

The kind gentleman behind Zendaya and Darnell, who had been watching the drama unfold, decided to interject. "It's okay if you check her out quickly. She was in front of me the whole time. I can wait."

"Thank you, sir. Even he agrees. That's the fair thing to do. Here's my card," Zendaya said, reaching for her wallet.

Suddenly, the clerk snatched Zendaya's wallet out of her hand and threw it over the counter. "No! You need to leave! I don't give a damn about you or what you do. Fuck you and everyone who looks like you!"

At that point, Zendaya had endured all she could tolerate from the clerk. In a flash of fury, she grabbed the clerk by her shirt and yanked her over the counter. With astounding strength, Zendaya slammed her against a shelf, which crashed to the floor with the clerk sprawled across it.

"Zendaya! Zendaya! Stop!" Darnell screamed.

Ignoring him, Zendaya dragged the clerk away from the fallen shelf and began pounding her fist against the woman's face repeatedly. Darnell finally managed to lift Zendaya away from her target.

The clerk remained motionless on the floor, weakened from the beating. Her face was a bloody, mangled mess-nose pointed sideways, two black eyes, a split lip, and bruises blossoming across her cheeks. She looked like a mutant from a horror film.

The customer behind Zendaya stared in shock. "Holy shit, that doesn't look good," he muttered.

"You heard what she said, right? You heard her!" Zendaya screamed at Darnell.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you attack her! We could've just reported her to the manager. You didn't have to flatten her fucking face!" Darnell admonished.

As if on cue, the manager entered the room, drawn by the commotion. His eyes widened as he took in the scene-his employee on the floor, face battered, and the toppled shelf.

"What the hell is going on here? Why is the shelf on the floor?" the manager demanded.

Zendaya, still breathing heavily, explained, "This woman was extremely rude to me and refused to take my order. She told me to leave, threw my wallet, and said some very disrespectful, racially charged comments. I lost my temper. I'm sorry. I just want to buy my gift cards and leave."

The manager's demeanor changed as recognition dawned on his face. "Are you Zendaya?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me," she confirmed.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm sorry about what happened here. We didn't mean to inconvenience you. Sometimes Brianne can be very rude. You can pay me for the gift cards, and I'll give you two free of charge for all the trouble. I'm really sorry you had to go through this." He called out to his staff, "Maurice! Keith! Come put the shelf back up!"

"Thank you so much. I appreciate your kindness," Zendaya said as she retrieved her wallet from the floor. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength and lose control."

"Don't worry about it. She's getting terminated. Everything's going to be fine. Just run your card through the scanner," the manager assured her.

After paying for her gift cards, Zendaya and Darnell walked peacefully to their car.

"See, that wasn't too crazy," Zendaya reflected. "We dealt with a situation, reported a terrible employee, and got what we came for. Now, I'm going to spread the word about this place."

"Yeah, because that was completely unacceptable as hell," Darnell agreed.

THE END