String of Fate

Chapter Seventy Nine

I blew a bit of my fringe out of my face as I tried mopping the floor before giving up and tucking the loose strand behind my ear. I finished mopping the aisle and checked the time on the clock behind the counter. My dad also glanced up at it. "Elena, what are you still doing here? You need to get to school."

"I'm going now. I was just finishing the aisle." I told him, pushing the mop through to the back and slipping off my apron, hanging it up. I pulled my backpack and tie from the hook next to it, slipping my backpack on and starting to do my tie as I headed out of the room and into the shop. "I'll be back after school to help out. See you later."

"See you later, darling." My dad called after me as I headed out of the door. Outside was a gang of guys in hoodies, at least two of them smoking. I squished my way past them, careful not to step on the guys sitting on the pavement. "Guys, do you have to block the entrance to the store?"

"Oh, look at you, thinking that you own the place, little girl." One of them sneered, blowing a cloud of smoke in my direction. The other guys laughed as I stepped back, starting to cough. The first guy stepped back up to me. "Why don't you just run off to school like a good little girl?"

"Leave her alone, Brian." A strong male voice called from the other side. Both the other guy and myself turned, seeing Kai from my year standing there, hands in his pockets. He was known as the 'bad boy' in our year. "Come on, guys, there's got to be better places to hang out at."

"I'm sure there is. Why don't you go there, kid?" Brian replied. Kai pulled his hands out of his pockets and cracked his left hand against his right. Brian stepped back from me. "You know what, kid, you're right. Come on, guys, let's go."

The gang slowly headed away from the store in the direction of the park. I reached in my bag and found a spray, unloading about half a can over myself. "Oh my god, I am going to stink of smoke all day now."

"Are you okay?" Kai asked, coming to stand by me. He looked a little concerned.

"Yes, thank you. I just hate the fact that they insist on blocking the pavement for people who actually shop in our store." I explained, starting to walk in the direction of school. "How come you know them?"

"Well, one of them is my brother, but the guys all know how strong I am and never want to get in a fight with me, so I just scare them a little." Kai rambled. "Sometimes, I think they just live to cause trouble."

"Oh my god, Ellie! You're late!" My friend, Sophie called. She was waiting for me in the usual spot. She rushed over to me and hugged me, looping her arm through mine. "Why do you smell of smoke?"

"Good morning to you, too, Soph." I laughed, glad that one of us was so cheerful this morning. "That gang is still hanging around outside the store. It's getting ridiculous now. I'm starting to think that they're scaring the customers away."

"It seems like your dad might need to get the police involved at this rate. It's been going for about a month now." Sophie pointed out. Then, she seemed to notice that Kai was actually walking with us. "Oh, hello, Kai."

"Hi." He responded back to Sophie, a little surprised. "Elena, why hasn't your father gotten the police involved before now?"

"He has tried but the police have never done anything about it, so, it looks like we're stuck with them." I said, glancing at Kai. It was his brother that we were talking about, after all. "It's weird that the police won't take control over a bunch of eighteen year olds. There's got to be something that they can do."

"I don't know. I suppose we just have to wait and see." Sophie suggested.

That afternoon, I was surprised to see Kai waiting by the gate for Sophie and me. At first, I didn't realise that he was waiting for us, but he fell into step on my other side and I didn't really notice. It was Sophie that noticed before me. "Oh, hey, Kai. Heading home the same time, are you?"