TeamFortress2's New Addition

Chapter Eight

You begrudgingly got out of bed and got ready for the day when you woke up the next morning. You barely bothered to dress, tucking your sleep shirt into a pair of blue jeans. After brushing your hair in an attempt to detangle it, you left your room and made your way into the kitchen.

"Hello honey, how did you sleep?" your mother asked you while she started to fix breakfast.

"Alright," you responded. She seemed to look at you with concern, but you tried to brush it off. You were still full of nerves from yesterday's events, and you didn't want to deal with it. "Honestly, I'm alright Mom. I guess I'm just nervous for today."

"What do you have to be worried about? It's only a gun safety seminar." She gave you a smile, looking more relieved as she popped bread into the toaster. "It's not like you'll be at the range yet."

"I'm just afraid that they'll ask me to do something and I mess it up," you shrugged, avoiding her eye contact.

"Honey, for one, I'll doubt they'll really ask you to do something. Two, even if they did I'd doubt they'll care if you did it right or not. How could they be mad when it's a-a beginner's... thing?" She put the toast on a plate and poured milk while talking and handed it to you. Hearing your mother's words somehow managed to ease you slightly.

"So," you started, taking your breakfast to the kitchen table. "Are we only going to the seminar?"

"I wanted to look at the candy shop nearby for your father. Not every place has those weird mint things he seems to like so much. Now finish up, we need to leave soon."

Nodding, you quickly finished eating, put your dishes into the sink, and followed your mom out of the door and into the car.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

As your mom pulled into the parking space she checked the time.

"Ah, it looks like we've arrived thirty minutes early, it's only 8:30. We should go find the shop. Is that fine with you?" She unbuckled her seat-belt. I never thought to ask why they had this seminar so damn early.

"That's fine," you told her, smiling. You unbuckled your seat-belt and got out of the car. Your mother locked the car behind her. Together, you walked into the mall and soon found the candy shop.

It was set up in a fairly large mall shop. It had chewy and chocolate candies in cylinder dispensers running down the left wall, including some cotton candy. Taffy and fudge were at the back of the room. Also, baked goods, including cookies, were displayed on shelves running down the right wall. Finally, the check-out and sweets-weighing counter was in the middle of it all with a 360 degrees view of the entire shop.

You noticed all of the people in the shop were happy as they shopped for candy, but one shopper in particular caught your eye. You couldn't exactly miss them. They had a gas mask covering their face and a slightly baggy, red flame-resistant suit. They also had what looks like an oxygen tank on their back. You almost wondered if they were a fire-fighter, but immediately dismissed the thought. There'd be no way.

They were standing still, seemingly staring at the fluffy pink cotton candy in front of them in awe. It was as if they were in a trance. Suddenly, they turned to look at you and tilted their head. Your breath caught in your throat. You both stood like this for a while before your mom bopped you in the arm with a bag full of your dad's favorite candy. The person quickly looked back at the cotton candy as you faced your mom.

"Yoo-hoo, (Y/n), are you ready to go?" she asked you, chuckling and shaking her head slightly.

"Oh, yeah, I am. Is it time for the thing- I mean seminar?" You continued to watch the person in the flame-resistant suit. Suddenly, they shook their head and jumped in shock to look at you, as if recognizing you. They started to walk through the store to get to you. Oh shit.