Is This It?

Chapter One

 Today is the day. I have been waiting for it my entire life and it has now come. I will rise up out of bed at an ungodly time of 8 AM and shower probably too quickly. I will eat a small breakfast, or none at all, brush my teeth and leave the house. Today is the day that I go to work. Well shit that is every day and it is awful. I guess today isn't very special at all, in fact, it's quite terrible.

My name is Jayce and I am a shift lead manager at my local grocery store with the pretentious name of ,Grow Sherry's Convenience Store. It is an awful take of the word grocery and an even worse lie that it is in any way convenient. The owner is a happy spirited middle aged lady who most likely has no friends or family. She mainly hires high school kids and pays them a solid hourly rate of minimum wage per hour. As you would imagine the kids don't really care too much and as such take fifteen minutes to check anyone out. Oh, by the way, there are like four registers and we are the only grocery store in the general vicinity of our town. As such it's pretty much always full of impatient grumpy old people.

If you haven't gathered yet I really love my job. I started working here when I was still in school and now, even though I have graduated, here I am. Working as a shift manager for basically still minimum wage per hour and having to deal with kids who would rather be, quite literally, anywhere else.

So can you really blame me for popping two xanax everyday before I go to work? It calms me and is probably the only reason that I have been able to keep this job over the years. You see I started taking xanax when I was in like 10th grade maybe? I can't really remember because high school was a blur, but yeah I have been on it for awhile. Of course I have a prescription for it though, I'm no criminal. Wait yes I am. I buy my xanax from a guy who goes by Natty and, for the love of God, I hope he isn't basing it off of Natty Ice. That'd be too embarrassing and I would have to find a new dealer, which, would be too much of a hassle for me to even care to do. Anyway, due to being in a small town I have to pay a pretty penny for my 2mg xanax and sadly it takes most of my paychecks just for me to deal with the job. I am in a vicious cycle of doing drugs so that I can work so that I can do drugs to continue working. Life as an adult is great.

When I woke up, as usual, I was the only one up in my house. My parents are both pretty deadbeat and don't do much of anything. Before I was born my dad used to work like a maniac and paid off our house and car, but ever since he decided he has done his part and went unemployed. In that time the debt has stacked back up and their car was taken due to being behind on every other payment. I had to get my own vehicle and settled upon a 2004 Harley Davidson Sportster. Yeah a motorcycle, how cliche right? Anyway when I woke up I had to be pretty silent or my parents would get pissed and due to drinking all the time I had to be careful of that.

I finished my daily routine and popped my pills before grabbing my helmet and going outside. It was fairly chilly, as it is most mornings at this time, with a slight overcast. I took a deep breathe and allowed the fresh air to fill my lungs deeply as I made my way to my bike. I took off the cover and admired it for a few seconds; the blood red finish always drew my eyes upon it. Within a few minutes I was off and onto the roads.

The town I live in, Martinsburg, is fairly small and as such most of the streets are basically back roads with the exception of the main street where many of the businesses were, including mine. It was only about a ten minute ride til I got to work and by the time I got there I already had a very slight buzz as the pills began to take effect.

I was greeted, as usual, by Sherry herself. "Hello, young man," she said softly as I approached the door.

"Hello, Mrs. Holden," I replied ritually. "How's today's team looking?" I asked, already knowing the answer she'd give.

"As bright as sunshine," she said beaming and I sighed. It was a Saturday morning and the kids would be extra annoyed at having to be here.

"Good to hear," I said anyway and walked inside. The interior is much as you'd expect in a small town grocery store. The four lanes were made out of cheap plastic and looked as though they'd fall down at any time however, to my despair, they continued standing day to day. The aisles were made of wood and only went to about my shoulder and were filled with most only the basic necessities. Bread, flour, sugar, a few spices, rice, old people cereal, oatmeal, canned vegetables and fruit, and a few toiletries. Inside a few refrigerators were the perishables which included milk, eggs, cheese, lunch meat, bacon, sausage, hamburger, and chicken. It wasn't an exciting selection, but unless you wanted to drive forty minutes to the nearest larger town then it was what you dealt with.

"Jayce, what's up man!" Elliot said and clasped me on the shoulder. Elliot was one of the kids that worked here. He was in the 11th grade and was one of those kids who just thought everyone loved them deeply. His hair was blonde and shaggy and he was a pretty normal build.

"Not much just about to start the day," I said expressionlessly.

"You think there is anyway you might be able to let me out a little early?" He asked with pleading eyes.

"What for?" I replied slightly irritated.

"Well me and Lizzy were going to hang out and I'd like to get as much time in as possible." He explained.

"Probably not," I said faking sadness. He threw his arms up in the air with a disappointed huff.

"Why not?" He cried.

"Because we need you here Saturdays are the busiest and besides you should thank me. She's only going to break your heart anyway." I finished talking and walked towards the back office leaving Elliot in a fit of pity.

When I got to the office I saw Isiah, one of my best friends, rocking back on a chair in front of the desk. "What's up dude!" He said loudly when he saw me.

"Not much man. Just got to ruin Elliot's plans so that was fun," I said with a half smile.

"I told him that you would say no," he replied grinning. "These kids want jobs, but never want to actually work," he laughed and sat forward before standing. "So how have you been?"

"You already know the answer to that," I replied blankly. "However in a couple more minutes I will be feeling a lot better."

Isiah shook his head slightly. "I really wish you wouldn't do that you know."

"I know, but I'm not a genie so I'm not really into the game of making wishes come true."

"You're such an asshole sometimes," he said and flipped me off.

"That I am," I replied smiling. "Well I guess we better go and whip them kids to work," I said as I turned to walk out the door.

The work day went pretty by pretty normally. The lines got long, the people got annoyed, and I got high. During my lunch I had to pop another pill to keep the buzz going as well as my sanity. The store closed at 5 PM and by that time I was completely worn out. As soon as the doors were locked Elliot came back up to me.

"Can I leave now, please?" He asked impatiently.

I let out a long sigh. "Is your register all cleaned up?" I questioned.

"Yes," he said sheepishly. I knew he was lying, but I was annoyed with him.

"Then go," I said sternly and he quickly left. 

"You're going soft on me, Jayce," Isiah said as he walked up behind me.

"It was either I let him leave or I deal with his whining the entire time."

"Very true," he replied. I went and cleaned up around the store and made sure it was ready for tomorrow before going to leave. As I was about to exit Sherry came up to me.

"Another great day," she said softly and held my wrist. "I appreciate your hard work for all these years. Why don't you take the day off tomorrow," she offered.

"Are you sure?" I asked cautiously.

"You deserve that much," she said with a smile.

"Then I shall see you Monday," I said before exiting out into the sunlight.