Sunnydale Mills

Day 001

Lena pulls into the deserted parking lot and parks relatively far from the Darcy's entrance. She pulls her satchel over her shoulder and starts trudging towards the dull clothing store. She presses the lock button on her car keys, waiting until she hears the beep before picking up her speed towards the glass doors. Her eyes glance over to the rest of the parking lot, examining the environment around her with a shiver. The store is connected to a shell of a mall, one that she does not know the name of since the spot where the mall's name would be is now vacant, leaving only a shadow of what once was displayed for the world to see.

Lena pulls open the doors to the store, sighing with relief as the warm air inside blows the frost away from her face. She hastily walks deeper into the store, looking around in confusion, wondering why it's so quiet.

The store is just as dead inside as it is on the outside. 'So this must be the hidden flaw of the store that my previous manager didn't mention.' Lena approaches the Employees Only door and enters to find the punch-in clock, some lockers, a lunch room, and an office. She puts her stuff away in a locker, and then punches in with her employee ID, being told by her previous manager that it should work here like it did at the other store.

Beeeeep

"Dammit..." she mutters under her breath before trying again.

Beeeeep

"That's not gonna work, ya'know..." a boy's voice from behind her speaks up. She turns around to see a teenage boy with dark curly hair flopping over his face as he gives Lena a lopsided smile. He takes a slow bite from his apple, and she pulls her lips in a confused frown.

"What do you mean?"

"That machine, it's been broken for so long that everyone who currently works here has never actually seen it work," he mumbles with an unchewed apple in his mouth.

"How the hell am I supposed to clock-in, then?" Lena questions the cocky kid with a raised eyebrow. His uniform looks like it was thrown on in a rush, and most likely hasn't been cleaned recently. She continues to pout at the boy, feeling like he might be lying to her.

"You see the clipboard beside you on that fold-out table?" Lena follows the direction that his head nods to, and there, on a shifty fold-out table, there is a clipboard that looks like a sign in/out sheet for employees. "That's how you clock in and out at this shitty store," he mumbles before taking another aggravating bite from his apple. Lena leans over and writes her name and the time on the clock in front of her: 1:00 pm.

"Ah, Lena, perfect timing! Thank you for coming!" A sweet feminine voice chimes from behind her. Lena turns around and looks at the woman walking out of the manager's office beside the lunch room. The woman holds her hand out, and Lena shakes her hand with a forced smile.

"Nice customer service smile. It almost feels real," the boy speaks in a mocking tone, and both Lena and the woman glare at him.

"Don't be an asshole, Preston," the woman pipes back swiftly, catching Lena off guard. The woman's glare is now replaced with a neutral smile. "Don't mind him. I'm Gail, your store manager."

Lena is speechless as she just nods, looking at Preston with raised eyebrows.

"Let me show you around the store a bit, and let you in on how we run things here," Gail said as she opens the door leading out to the store. Lena follows her out. "I hear you're really great."

"Yeah, I guess," Lenna shrugs with neutral features.

"I don't want to sound rude, but..." Gail stops, and Lena halts, tilting her head in anticipation. "What made you transfer into our store? Usually, people transfer out of our store, never the other way around."