String of Fate

Chapter Six

I snatched the stupid guy magazine out of his hand, pushed his feet down off the counter and threw the magazine in the bin under it. Then, I rounded on him, my hands automatically going to my waist as I tried to figure out what the heck he was up to. "What exactly are you doing here, Ryan?"

"Covering for my brother so he could go on a week holiday with my best friend." He replied, admitting that he really didn't want to be here and he was a little pissed off that he was being left out. Was he actually pissed that Michael and Jake had gotten their strings? The two of them were so good together, though.

He got up and grabbed the magazine from the bin from my other side, sitting back in the chair. This time he was lucky that he didn't put his feet back up on the shop counter. He'd almost kicked the till last time. He returned to the page that he had been reading, finding it with ease. He did look up at me when he spoke, though. "Working in my parent's pet store wasn't exactly the dream job that I had been looking for. Michael had always been the one to like animals."

"Well, it's the only one you've got so you could at least make yourself useful." I answered. I might not even be sixteen yet but I still classed as his boss since this was his first day and I had been working here since my fifteenth birthday, when I had convinced his parents and brother to let me work here. I actually loved this job.

It was only a small pet shop that only needed two members of staff at a time so Michael and I usually did the four until eight shift for his parents to have the night off. I enjoyed the closeness of all the staff here and how they had just let me become a part of the little family. I looked back at Ryan, annoyed that he just wanted to do nothing. "There's some bird seed boxes that need to go on the shelves and can you bring some dog food tins for me while you're at it, please? It will involve putting that magazine down, I'm afraid."

"It's not a magazine – it's a comic. It's called Batman. You should try it sometime." He said, still, he got up, put the comic down and headed to the store room out the back. I tidied the cat food as I checked on the pets we had – a couple of rabbits and guinea pigs, some tanks of mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils and degus, and a variety of tropical fish and gold fish. I loved looking at the animals, and I had to check on them to make sure none of them were fighting. We'd had that a couple of times. "Are you coming to help, or just stand around staring at fish all day?"

I jumped. He'd sneaked up behind me so quietly that I didn't know that he was there. I put my hand to my ear, too. He'd whispered into it. I felt my face grow red and he just smirked at me. I became angry, grabbing a slab of dog food tins and stomping to the display. He just chuckled as I walked off.

A few hours and a good few customers later, it was time to close up. I swept the floor and Ryan sorted out the till, tidying up the files from the pets sold. I made sure that the other animals had food. I was surprised that Ryan called to me when he was done. "What are you doing on Friday?"

"I don't know yet. I haven't planned that far ahead. My family might have something planned." I answered. Saturday was my birthday so my family might have decided to do something to celebrate. I looked up from the fish I was feeding, all the goldfish rushing to grab the food. "Why?"

"If you're free, do you want to go and catch a movie? I was meant to go and see it with my best mate but he's already seen it with my brother." He asked, putting the folders in the drawer of the cabinet behind the counter. I really hoped that he put them in the right place. His mother had told me that she would check in the morning anyway, just in case.

"Okay." I answered, shutting the fish tank. I didn't know how to turn him down – he sounded like he really wanted to see the movie and his best friend had let him down. I couldn't do that to him, too. I mean, it sounded like it might be fun anyway. Besides, I hadn't been to the cinema in ages.