Atelophobia (Kellic)

5

I entered the music store the next day, greeting one of my coworkers with a polite smile. Despite having school before, I was surprisingly motivated. Guess a good night of sleep does make a difference after all. Not having to go to work after I sorted everything out with Kaily made it possible for me to not only go to bed rather early, at least compared to my usual schedule, but also to spend some time with her again. We sat down together and did our homework side by side. She had become one of the bests in class and barely needed my help anymore which made me extremely proud. She even told me that she considered becoming some sort of doctor, maybe a surgeon or even a therapist, taking as she was extremely interested in biology. Even though those were really high ambitions, I truly believed that she was capable of achieving them. But that also reminded me of why I did what I did, why I was working in the first place. No matter how much I loved to spend time with her again and being well rested, I knew that she needed a good education, which sadly would require money. But if sacrificing my own life meant that Kaily and Nick were able to live a good life, with a good education and job one day, hell, I would even take another job and give up sleeping all together.

"Hey, Dave!" I greeted him with a smile while I put by back behind the counter, as always. Dave was leaning with his back against it, watching my good mood in suspicion.

"Hey, Kellin. What's going on? You seem rather..." I could tell he was trying to find a word that wouldn't come off as offensive.

"As if I finally slept for once?" I finished his sentence and I heard his deep laugh in response. No matter how often I tried I was never able to figure out Dave's age. He was a plump, average heighted man, with a few grey strands in his otherwise dark hair and beard, but he also had such a youthful glimmer to him as if he was only a few years older than me.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. So you figured everything out yesterday?" He had his arms crossed in front of him. I mimicked him and leaned against the counter as well. There was only a hand full of costumers in the shop, so I figured a bit of small talk was fine. Especially if my boss initiated it.

"Yes, thank you again for that. My sister got in a bit of trouble." Dave frowned a little at that. "You never told me about your sister." I shrugged. "Guess it never came up. I have a little brother as well."

Dave nodded slowly, no longer looking at me, but staring into the distance ahead. "You are seventeen, right?" He asked after a while. I responded with a simple 'Yes' and he continued to stare ahead of him for a few moments before he broke it with a sigh. He lowered his gaze and rubbed his hand over his forehead. "I wish I could give you a raise, Kellin but at the mom-"

"Oh, no no no. Don't worry Dave. It's fine. Really!" My eyes widened a little at his statement. He looked at me in contemplation, his mouth pulled down on one side. From one second to the next his face got back to his usual expression. "All right then. I don't pay you for standing around and talking. Get to work, boy," I couldn't help the small smirk as a response to his change of moods. I was thankful for that. "Yes, sir."

A few hours in, almost at the end of my shift, I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Excuse me, sir?" I turned around and met Vic's cheeky grin, and I hate to admit that I had an involuntarily smile on my face as well. "How can I assist you?" The shop was about to close in a few minutes so it probably was pretty urgent. "Did you manage to break your strings already?"

"No," he simply replied, his grin widening. I looked at him, waiting for him to go on. He started to bite his lip and broke eye contact, without his smile ever fading. "Well, I figured if you are too busy to go get lunch, I'd bring it to you," he held out a brown paper bag he had hidden behind his back with a sheepish smile.