Learning To Fall

seven

trigger warning ; panic attack

I'm being shaken awake before I even remember falling asleep. I open my eyes grudgingly before looking at Calum.

"What, Cal?" I demand. He looks at me with a happy grin.

"Pokémon GO just launched!" The boy shrieks, which causes me to flinch away. Then, excitement comes over me, and I'm going on my phone to download it. Say what you want, I love Pokémon.

"Where are we?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"In my driveway, I figured that you'd wanna drive around catching Pokémon once we'd downloaded it," Cal answers, also taking out his phone to download it.

"Calum, you're not playing Pokémon GO and driving," I scold, feeling like Rachel. He laughs and shakes his head.

"No, I'm not," He says, and nods his head as Mali-Koa, his older sister, exits the house.

"Holy shit," I say, getting out of the car and hugging her.

"Hey, Ands," She laughs, hugging me back.

"It's been so long," I say, pulling away from the hug. She smiles at me in reply.

"You've gotten taller," Mali says, sounding like an aunt. I laugh and scrunch up my nose.

"Don't mother me, Mali," I tease, getting into one of the back seats of the Jeep. Calum was already in the passenger seat.

"So, where to?" Mali asks once she gets in the car. Calum and I look at each other before he answers.

"Anywhere with Pokémon."

>>

"There was a Jigglypuff right on that old lady," Calum laughs as we enter the diner. We'd gone back to Cal's house and changed (Mali loaned me a sweatshirt and shorts,) and now I had to work.

"I can't believe she thought I was trying to take a picture of her," I giggle back. He smiles in reply. As we walk up to the counter, Rachel widens her eyes and leans in.

"Where the fuck have you been? You're thirty minutes late," She whispers harshly. I furrow my brows in reply. On the rare occasions I was late, Rachel didn't care. Unless-

"Andrea, you're thirty minutes late. Care to explain?" A voice says from behind. I turn to face none other than the step monster. I can hear Calum sigh, knowing that I would be in trouble once we got home.

"No, I know no excuse that I have is worth saying." I reply, almost too harshly. What else could I say? 'Sorry, I'm late because I had to catch a Jigglypuff'?

"Good. Then maybe closing up will teach you a lesson. I expect nothing but the best from you, and you have deeply disappointed me. Go, start your shift." Lillian commands, and I grab my name tag and apron before going to start my shift.

>>

On my break, I shoot Elliot a text saying that the step monster was back early. Also, I catch more Pokémon. Turns out that the diner was a Poké stop. When I come back in, I hear Lillian scolding someone else.

"And you, Mr. Clifford, can also enjoy staying until closing time. Matter of factly, everyone else can go home thirty minutes earlier today. I, for one, am leaving now." Is all she says before a sheepish Michael walks into the kitchen.

There was only one other worker, a middle aged man named Vince who cooked most of the meals, in the kitchen. He was leaving in twenty minutes.

This was going to be a long night.