Marked | ✔️

Part 2:Job Hunting

*Gwang, gwang...gwang, gwang* My sleep is interrupted by the sound of metal being hit. "Wake up, retard! It's time to go job hunting for your lazy ass," Amber says as she tears away my blanket from me. I open my eyes to see her holding a tiny gong with one hand on her hip.

"Why do you have a gong?" I ask.

"Cuz it was on sale?" she answers with a shrug. I scrunch up my face in disapproval, and she sucks her teeth. "Just get up!" she says and attempts to drag me off the bed. "If you don't get up in three, I'll leave you here and let you stay jobless. I won't be providing for you, so you find a way to get food," she says sternly. "One," she starts counting, and I whine. "Two!"

"Okay! Fine, let me get dressed." I finally give in.

"For goodness sake, you're 25. It's like I'm your mother, ridiculous." She shakes her head. She grabs a newspaper and her keys. "Circle anything that interests you," she says as we enter her Jeep. We drive around to several places that were hiring. We went to a cafe.

"Hi, are you hiring?" Amber asks the employee that's carrying a box.

"Yeah. You want to work?" she answers and asks with her back to us.

"No, my friend needs to," she answers. The woman turns around and looks at me. Her eyes widen then she clears her throat.

"Are you sure he knows how to work a coffee machine?" she asks.

"What? Of course he does. Do you?" She turns to me, and I shrug.

"Sorry, but he has no experience. Now, please leave. You're holding up the line." She points behind us. We leave, and Amber rants.

"What kind of ridiculous question was that? How can someone not know how to operate a coffee machine? You put the coffee in and press the start button then it does the rest for you. Also, no experience? How does one get experience if they can't find a place to get it? You can't just not hire someone for having no experience. If that's so, then 90% of people in this world would be jobless!" I can see steam coming out of her head. Amber is a hothead sometimes. She's easily angered. One could say she's hot-tempered.

"Don't worry. We have many more places to go to. This is just our first stop," I say. "Besides, I'm the one trying to get the job," I add.

"That's exactly why I'm mad. It's harder for you," she remarks. Our next stop is a clothes store. As soon as we walk in, people start staring at us and whispering.

"Hi, are you hiring?" Amber asks.

"Yeah. Who wants the job?" the man answers and asks, pointing between the two of us. Amber points at me. Suddenly, a little kid bumps into me and falls onto the floor. I reach for her, but the child's mom quickly swoops her up into her arms and glares at me.

"Stay away from my baby," she says sternly. "You're not seriously going to hire him are you?" she asks the employee in disbelief. "He's a criminal. A murderer," she states.

"Oh, really?" he asks in shock. "Um, sir and miss. Please leave our store. As you can see, you're scaring the customers," he says with furrowed brows. I look around and see the customers staring at me with faces that say 'Ew! Did he really do that? Unbelievable!' and 'Wow! Did he really think he'd get a job after being a murderer?!'

"Let's go, Jason. They're not worth our time," Amber says as she grabs my hand. She gets in the car and drives silently with a frown on her face.

"I'm fine, Amber," I say, and she glances at me then nods. Our next stop is the pharmacy.

"Hey, my friend here is looking for a job. Are you guys possibly hiring?" she asks.

"Yeah. Does he have any experience with medicine?" the woman asks, and I shake my head. "Hm...I guess that's alright. He'll have to work hard to memorize the names, uses, and effects though," she adds in.

"Definitely," Amber remarks with a smile.

"Okay, please fill out this form," she says, pulling out a clipboard with documents on it.

"Yay! I'm so happy for you," Amber whispers to me.

"Hey, Cam. Have you seen the box of Imodium from this morning?" another female employee asks, coming out from the back.

"Yeah, I think Usher put it in the storage room," she answers.

"What's he doing here?" the woman asks when she notices us.

"Oh, he's applying for the job," she answers then the woman pulls her aside.

"Didn't you watch the news, Cam?" she asks in a loud whisper. "He's a murderer. We can't have a criminal here. It'll ruin our pharmacy's reputation. What do you think the boss will say?" she asks.

"Oh no! I didn't know, but I already gave him the form," she says with worry.

"Just make an excuse and take it back," she remarks then Cam, as I heard the woman call her, comes over.

"Um, excu-"

"No! Excuse you!" Amber interrupts her, and she jumps. "It's not like he wanted to do it. The man tried to kill him, and he was abused! You have no idea what he's been through so don't start judging him," she declares furiously.

"I'm sorry miss, but we don't allow that kind of behavior in our pharmacy." The woman steps in. "We can't hire him because we already have an employee. He's just on vacation," she says.

"No, you liar. I heard you whispering loudly with her over there." Amber points at Cam. "It's as if you wanted us to hear it," she adds in.

"Miss, if you don't leave now, we'll have to call the police, and I'm sure you wouldn't want that," the employee states.

"Unbelievable! Let's get out of here, Jason!" Amber shouts and leaves me behind.

"I'm sorry for her behavior," I apologize and leave. I don't know if it's the heat, or if Amber's just really angry because her face is fiery red. If looks can kill, those two women would be dead by now. Her eyes are shooting poisonous daggers.

"Argh! I feel like I'm about to explode!" she seethes through gritted teeth and punches a lamp post.

"Shit! Does that hurt? Amber..." I say and take her hand that's now red. "I know you have a high tolerance for pain, but I don't think you should go hitting metal lamp posts," I say. "Sometimes I think maybe you might have a thing for me," I declare with a smirk.

"Ew, no! Never in my life. You're my best friend," she says with a face of disgust.

"But I'm hot, and you know that so like, yeah. I don't blame you though," I say, flicking my hair back like a narcissist.

"Shut up, dumbass!" She laughs and punches my arm.

"That's better," I say with a smile, and she hugs me.

"Circle something else that interests you on the newspaper," she states.

"I don't think it's up to whether I like it or not anymore," I remark. "Let's just go home."

"Sorry for overhearing your conversation, but you're looking for a job right?" a woman with waist-length, purple hair and silver highlights asks behind us. She looks professional yet carefree at the same time.