money > a.i

o n e

Present

Ashton

"Hi, welcome to KFC, what can i get for you?"

I spoke with a slight bore in my voice, watching as the guy ingnored my boredom. He returned his eyes to the menu behind me and began pondering, as if weighting all the pros and con's of his order.

I let out a small sigh, knowing he was one of those costumers that that a while to order. I took the opportunity to refill the napkins by my side, not wanting another costumer to complain about it being vacant.

I returned back to the man, who was still looking back at the screen with a finger pressed up to his lip. He had very few hair on his head, probably resulting from it running away. And his left eye was slightly lazy as his gaze fell above me.

I cleared my throat, loud enough for him to snap out of his daze.

"What would you recommend from the menu?" He asked, taking a quick glance at me.

"The water," I muttered under my breath before clearing my throat, preparing to rehearse my practice.

Lure them to the most expensive yet inexpensive thing to make.

My boss's words repeated in my head as I faked a small smile, "I heard the ten piece seasoned meal is great!"

The man scrunched his nose a bit, before taking my suggesting and paying. He grunted as he waddled to a corner table.

The door bell chimed, as I finished typing in the man's order. And when I saw a silhouette in front of me out of the corner of my eye, I rehearsed my weekly line once again. "Hi, welcome to KFC, would you like to try our new family chicken bundle-"

I looked up, seeing Michael make a pondering face as he hmmed out loud. "Hmm... not today, I was actually looking to buy an order of dignity with a side of self respect for my friend, Ashton. You see, he's in desperate need of some," he laughed as he sat on the counter table. He played with a straw as he looked at me.

I rolled my eyes, telling him to get off the counter as I asked him why he was here.

"It's 18:03, your shift ended three minutes ago." He pointed out, chewing at the end of the blue straw.

I looked down at my clock, mumbling a bit before telling my boss I was leaving for the day. I changed quickly in the bathroom before meeting Michael outside the restaurant.

"So, Captain Chicken. Where do you want to go?" He chuckled, dropping his arm around my shoulder, his straw sticking out from his lips.

"Don't you work today at that printer store?" I asked, getting in Michael's passenger seat. He was technically the only one of the group who had a license. But was still too broke to afford a car so he borrowed his parents. (beaten up truck). It was an actual relieve to not have to walk from work today. I decided to mentally thank Michael for that.

Michael started up the engine, chucking as he ran a hand through his galaxy hair. He heaved in as he spoke, "Got fired. Supposedly there's this unwritten rule where you can't sit on the copy machine and make copies of your ass,"

I let out a laughed as I shook my hand not being as surprised that he would do that. He pulled down the glove department as he took a few papers out, laughing. "I got to keep them though,"

I rolled my eyes at Michael's typical behavior and turn on the radio switching it to our favorite station. A David Bowie song was playing and Michael reached up to turn the knob. Bowie was his guilty pleasure. Although it didn't make him look 'punk rock', he loved both indie-rock and alternative tunes.

As Michael drove down town, the music was on full blast and David's hit, Heroes, was playing. It reminded me of that movie, The Perks of Being a Wallflower where they pass through the tunnel as Sam climbs out of the back seat and Charlie watches from the passenger seat. I laughed at the thought of that ever happening. There wasn't even a tunnel near Sydney. Not that I knew of anyways.

That moment was my secret pleasure.

And i secretly hoped for it to happen to me. As Mikey drives simultaneously while oblivion to the fact that my perfect girl was outside the truck, with the possibility of her flying away. While I look at her. And I fall in love with the sight.

"I don't get it," Michael began. "It's the first of June. Basically Summer. And here you are, working at minimum wage everyday."

I glared at him asking him, "And what's wrong with that? I want to save up for my future."

He let out loud laugh as he almost lost control of the steering wheel. He was always too dramatic and exaggerated if you ask me. Michael rubbed his eyes as he began to speak again.

"Ashton, you're 18, you're supposed to live! You're not going to be a teenager forever!"

I let him continue, knowing he wouldn't let me talk.

"Listen, Sophia's cousin is staying this summer in town, now's your chance to have fun with her!"

i thought about the idea of me and Mia hanging out together, but the thought was hard to process. We've only talked about twice. And they were both about school related topics. Nothing personal. Unlike Sophia, Mia was shy, she never spoke whenever she was in a room with us. Not to us at least. So the thought was hard to process.

"I don't know. Seems like a long shot." I said, unsure.

"You need to live," Was all he said, pulling up to my driveway.

**

PLS VOTE/COMMENT

ILY

Updated October 26, 2016