Phantasm (Phantasm, #1) - Camila/You

Chapter 1 [📱]

"Here you go. Have a good night."

I smiled at the older woman and watched her children practically pull her out the door. They were probably excited about the chocolates she bought and surely they were going to eat them in the car. I watched her drive away before turning to a door opening on the far side of the store. Stuart made his way towards the register and placed two cans of Coke on the counter in front of me.

"Good job today, Y/N," he said, making his way to the side and crouching so he could pass through the small space to get to the inside of the register. "You can go home now, I can handle the night shift alone."

"Are you sure?" I asked him. But I already sat at the counter and slid backward, landing smoothly on the tiled floor on the other side.

Stuart was my boss and owner of this small convenience store in our even smaller town. And the thing with small towns was that everybody practically grew up with each other. Three years ago, when I just finished high school, I remembered him telling me not to let this small town get to me. And that I should strive to go outside of this shithole place-make a name for myself and take my family to a better life.

I was full of dreams back then. Now, I just knew better.

He packed me a few groceries and included the two cans of Coke he took earlier. He handed the bag to me with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. This man was like a father to me and I was concerned about his well-being.

"Are you okay, Stuart?"

He looked at me and I was surprised by the pain I saw in his eyes. "You'll just think I'm meddling," he uttered.

"No, no, tell me."

"I hate that you're here."

Now I knew why he was cautious of me thinking he was meddling. Of course, I perfectly knew what he meant. It wasn't that he literally hated my presence. But that he hated the reasons why I was anchored to this town.

I was the one who broke the silence. "Goodnight, Stuart."

"Careful on your way home."

I made my way outside with the shopping bag clutched tightly to my chest. I wondered what made Stuart say that to me after all this time. Since I asked him if I could work at his store, he's never once mentioned my failed attempt at leaving this town. I tried, I really did. I went to college and tried to pursue music, but after one year, I had to stop.

That was when my father stepped out of our lives.

He just packed his bags and left without a second thought about his family. I put up a brave front that day and didn't cry. I instilled it in me to be strong for both my mother and sister. After all, it was only us left. So I stopped my studies and went home so I could help my mom. She kept telling me it was okay, that she could still support me, but I knew better. I had to put my dream on hold for her.

I waited for the stoplight to turn red before I crossed the street. There really weren't any cars this time of night but I didn't feel like going home. I knew my mom wasn't going to be there and my sister would probably be sleeping by now so I'd be all alone.

I was just tired of being alone.

After a few more minutes, I arrived at our front door. Fortunately, my dad had the decency not to kick us out of the house when he left. But there wasn't any consolation in that at all since the house was small, old, and beat up. I mean a two magnitude earthquake could probably make the whole house crumble in on itself.

But it was a roof above us.

As I walked towards the living room, I knew I was right. The whole first floor was dark with only a dim light on in the kitchen. I walked over to the fridge and saw a note my mom left us. She was out on her job again. Honestly, she was seldom home. And I don't blame her because she was practically working three part time jobs simultaneously just so we could live day-to-day. I felt really bad for her but at least by working for Stuart, I was helping her with the expenses.