Ugly : clifford a.u

Michael

“What the heck happened man?”

Turning my head in the general direction of the voice talking, presumably to me I shrugged.

“What was wrong with her?” Maggie demanded.

“Maggie hush, you’re being rude.” I chided.

“What was wrong with her face?” Maggie repeated.

“I don’t know.” I snapped.

“I think she got freaked out by your dog.” The boy’s voice infront of me said.

“She’s a leader dog.” I said slowly.

"She's a big ass leader dog." the boy scoffed.

“Is she okay?” I questioned, “The girl?”

“I don’t know.” The boy answered, “She ran out.”

Feeling bad I pulled Lola closer to me.

“Can someone tell me what was wrong with her face?” Maggie demanded.

“Maggie stop, you’re behind incredibly rude.” I snapped.

Sighing, she thrust the stack of Barbie movies she had picked out into my hands.

Shifting them to under my arm, I reached out a hand, which she slipped her smaller one into.

“Take me to the front.” I instructed.

Swinging my arm wildly, she led me through the moderately empty store to the front desk, where I was greeted by the familiar voice of the boy who had spoken before.

“Hey.” He greeted, “I’m Ashton, welcome to Video Valley.”

“Thanks.” I mumbled, putting the DVDs onto the counter, before reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet.

“Babysitting?” Ashton questioned.

“Unfortunately.” I mumbled.

“You do realize that she picked out a bunch of rated R movies right?” Ashton whispered.

“Fuck,” I breathed, “Are you kidding?”

“No,” Ashton laughed, “I mean she’s got great taste in porn but…”

“What?” I gasped, “Maggie where are you?”

“Looking at the girl.” She called out from somewhere.

“Get over here.” I demanded, “You know you’re not supposed to wander away from me.”

“Is she still here?” Ashton asked Maggie, ignoring me.

“Yeah.” Maggie said excitedly, “She’s on the bench I think she’s crying.”

“She’s crying?” I questioned.

“Yup.” Ashton said, “You must have really scared her.”

“Shit.” I mumbled, “What do I do?”

“I don’t know, why are you asking me?” Ashton laughed.

“I don’t know.” I admitted.

“Why don’t you go ask if she’s okay, chicks dig that kind of stuff.” He replied.

“You think so?” I said slowly.

“Yeah, they eat that shit up.” He answered, “I’ll stay here and make sure your sister or whatever picks out kids movies, while you do.”

Chewing my lower lip I hesitated, not sure if it was the right thing to leave my niece in the care of a guy I’d never seen before.

“I have a little sister.” He informed me, sensing my discomfort, “I’m twenty, I go to Heck Ville University, I’m actually getting a degree in child development. I want to be a teacher.”

“Maggie come here.” I called out.

A split second later I felt her tiny hand slip into mine.

“What’s up Uncle Mikey?” she asked.

“This guy.” I said, “Does he look sketchy to you?”

“Yup.” She answered, “He has a punch of coloring on his skin, and earrings in his face?”

“What?” I yelped.

“She’s lying.” Ashton laughed.

“Maggie come on.” I sighed.

“He looks nice.” She giggled.

Figuring I was probably handling things completely wrong, I nodded.

“There’s only one door right?”

“Yeah,” Ashton answered, “If you’re out front you’d hear us if we tried to leave.”

Sighing, I nodded again, “Okay.”

“Come on,” Ashton said, his voice changing into one of those annoying higher pitched whines people use around little kids and puppies, “Let’s go pick out some movies.”

“I already did.” Maggie replied.

“Ones without naked women on the front.” Ashton laughed.

Listening to their voices growing fainter as they walked away, I tightened my grip on Lola.

“Door.” I said softly.

Immediately, Lola stood up and led me straight to the door. Patting her on the top of the head, I pushed the door open, a chime ringing as I walked outside.

Immediately my ears were met with a soft sniffing sound. Following the sound, I shuffled forward slowly, stopping as my fingertips brushed against the cool metal of the bench. Feeling around for a minute I straightened up before clearing my throat.

“C-can I sit here?” I asked.

“D-don’t sit next to me.” A girl’s voice replied, shakily, making it obvious that she was crying.

“Why not?” I questioned.

“I’m ugly.” The girl whispered.

My heart breaking a little I felt around until I found the seat of the bench and sat down before turning towards the girl and extending a hand.

“Nice to meet you ugly.” I greeted, “I’m blind.”