Carter

Chapter 1

I had to get out of the house. Well, according to my mom. But the thing was...I really didn't want to. She had a thing where sitting on the couch all day wasn't allowed. So by that logic, I had broken the rule at least 50 times by now. She decided I had to "Get out. Go places. See things." or whatever.

"Honey, I think you need to go somewhere and be a little more social." I tried to explain to her that playing Xbox with my friends is plenty social. "And while you're out doing that, maybe you could get a job." Yeah, I know that not having a job at seventeen is what most people would call pathetic. But when your dad just died a few months ago, you aren't really in the mood for that kind of stuff.

So at 9:00 p.m. one July night, my mom made the decision to make me work at the town's movie theater. Possibly the most boring job ever. I had filled out a job application a long time ago but never had enough energy to turn it in after my dads death. I argued against her decision for at least a half hour but at 9:37, it was the 'end of discussion'. I get that my mom is dealing with stuff too but making me work at a freaking movie theater was not the answer to her problems.

Three days later my mom gave me some wonderful news.

For the first time in like a month, I got up before noon and put on actual pants. It was my first day working at Summerfield's Cinema. I had to walk into the newly improved theater and instead of telling the ticket salesman what movie I wanted to see, I had to ask to see the manager. I headed towards the door with the Employees Only sign and tried to open it. I'm kind of wimpy I guess you could say. It's not like I'm fat or anything, I just don't go to the weight room everyday before school. Plus, it was a heavy door.  Anyway, I got it open.

So the manager, Rebecca, gave me the uniform that consisted of black pants and a maroon polo with my name tag that had Carter printed in bold. Rebecca's nice, I guess. She told me I'd start in training and stuff but for now I can sweep around the concessions. I told her that'd be fantastic, although in all honesty that was complete sarcasm. I didn't want to sweep. I mean, who ever wants to sweep.

I sweeped and mopped and whatever until finally my shift was over. I drove home in my 20 year old station wagon and did my usual activities for 4:00 in the afternoon. At around 4:30 my mom called me. I knew exactly how this conversation was going to go. She was going to ask me a ton of questions like 'How did your first day go?!','Did you make any friends?', 'Do you love it already?' and she wouldn't leave any room for me to actually answer. So, I picked up the phone and answered all of her questions.