Happy Haunting

CHAPTER 4: Aaron

   I stepped out of the kitchen and walked over to the man at the counter. "Yes? Is there something you need?" I asked. "No, you just dropped this." He put a pin striped pink, purple and then blue onto the countertop. I swiped it up as soon as I realized what it was. "U-uh... thanks!" I sputtered. He laughed and I laughed along with him, realizing how stupid I must have looked. "Bi, huh?" He suddenly asked. "Uh, yeah." I reluctantly let the words leave my mouth. This seemed to be somewhat of a religious town, littered with graveyards and churches, and thus I had tried to cover up my sexuality since I'd arrived, but I had slipped up and began to fear the worst. Surprisingly, he smiled. "Cool. Hey, you should pin that to your overalls, give your outfit a pop of actual colour." I laughed, and pushed the pointy piece of metal into the overall strap on my right shoulder. "Alright, how's this?"
   "Really nice!"
   "Alright, I'll get back to the kitchen and finish making your meal. Anything else you need?"
   "Hmm... I dunno, your number?" I felt my ears burn up. "I- uh, I.." suddenly, the air turned red and I felt faint, but then well again. 'Alright, Lust. Help me out here?' I thought. I felt myself clear my throat. 'Here we go.' "I'll give you my number if you give me yours."
   "Alright-" he paused read my name tag. "Lee." I took control as the air became tinted a scarlet red yet again, and a trail of red hearts glided its way to the kitchen. The demons had been watching the food, but I figured I should get back and check on it. "And you are?" I asked.
   "I'm Aaron, nice to meet you."
   "Believe me, the pleasure is mine." I smiled brightly at him and he turned a bit red. I looked through the window to the kitchen. "Well, I should get back to the kitchen." He nodded and pulled up his hood. "Okay." I walked back to the kitchen to see Gluttony eyeing up the fryer, Lust saying who-knows-what to Pride, and Pride looking pretty flush. "Lust, stop harassing Pride!" Gluttony jumped at Lust and pushed him away from Pride. "Must we?" I sighed as they all looked at me, each looking equally guilty. I walked hurriedly to the fryer and lifted the basket out of the grease. I grabbed some barbecue tongs, taking a generous amount of fries from the metallic basket. I dropped them on one side of a plate, then quickly went to the fryer again, grabbing the tongs again and picking up a piece of deep-fried trout. "I think I left it too long..." I sighed. Pride piped up. "Even if you did, who cares? You got this." I smiled. "Thanks Pride." I looked at Lust. "Oh yeah, thanks by the way, Lust."
   "No sweat. Your flirting game is hopeless, plus this was a great matchmaking opportunity."
   "Oh, shut up. I'm not that bad at flirting." At that, each of the demons laughed. Gluttony spoke first. "Sorry, Lee-" Lust cut her off. Mockingly, he said "I'm not that bad". Pride stifled his laugh. "Well, hey. You could've done so much worse. One day, I watched this teenager try to flirt back to someone, and she just ended up running away."
   "Really?"
   "Yeah, it was kinda funny."
   "Heh." I looked at the plate on the counter next to my hand. I suddenly realized something. My shirt was short sleeved. I went limp. "Uh, be right back you guys." I rushed to the bathroom and fiddled the doorknob until it locked. In the dim light of the washrooms lightbulb, I looked at my arms and sighed. The scars were still so, so visible. I felt tears well up in my eyes and curled up next to the sink. I pulled the sleeves of the shirt down my arms. "G-God damn it.." I started to cry. 'Great, now I've g-gotta wash my face before I leave.' I thought. Thoughts poured in and I felt like I was drowning in them. Just thoughts, hundreds and hundreds of them flowed in. Suddenly the air turned yellow. 'Wait, wha-' my thought was cut short by a flash of light and Pride standing in front of me. "You noticed?" He sighed and sat down. "Yeah."
   "It's jus-"
   "It's okay, you don't need to explain yourself to me."
   "I'm sorry.." I felt my face go red and more tears rolled off of my bandage and hit the floor. "It's okay."
   "Don't tell the others..."
   "Never, but what's the cause? Is it that.. what's it? Diz-phora?"
   "Dysphoria. And it's.. It's complicated, it's so much more than that..."
   "Okay." He grabbed my hand and stood me up. "Pride, I'm-" He looked me dead in the eye. "There's no reason to be sorry. You're great Lee, you've gotta believe it. You changed our... well, our afterlives for the better." I smiled and wiped my eyes. "Thanks, Pride."
   "Now get out there and serve your boyfr-"
   "Oh, what's this? Aren't you the mature one with the image to uphold?" Pride laughed and flashed back out to the kitchen. I peeled of the bandage on my face and threw it in the trash can. I then washed my hands and splashed some water from the sink on my face before walking back into the kitchen. I grabbed the plate and put it on the bar counter in front of Aaron. "Sorry it took so long."
   "It's fine!" He took a bite. He looked puzzled for a brief moment, but kept eating. "Sorry, is it cold?" He smiled. "No, it's okay. And really, it's okay to mess up, you don't need to keep apologizing." I blushed a bit. "Sorr- I mean, uh..." We burst out laughing.

   
TO BE CONTINUED
(A/N:) Sorry this chapter took so long, guys. Thanks for reading by the way! Over 100 reads! You guys make the difference!