KISS: Casablanca High School

Ch 1: Summer Doesn't Last Forever (Gene)

A/N: Each chapter will be from a different perspective (probably) so I'll specify who's doing what in the chapter title!

I stood leaning against the counter, staring at the tubs of ice cream that sat waiting in neat rows. The unnatural colors of the sherbets swirled together as I started to nod off.

"SIMMONS!"

As my boss slammed his hand on the counter I jumped awake, snatching up the ice cream scoop. "I'm focused!"

He squinted at me before stalking off to the storage room. Man, I hate that guy.

"This isn't worth $11.50 an hour," I grumbled, slouching against the counter again. The bell rang as the door opened, and I perked up at the prospect of finally having something to do. But when I saw who had walked in the door, I ducked under the counter in horror.

They found me.

"Hello? Your sign says you're open..."

"C'mon Paul, you said this place had good ice cream."

"Shut up Pete, they do. I don't know why nobody's working the counter."

Oh man oh man oh man. I'm so screwed.

Biting back a sigh, I slowly rose to my feet, pulling the pink hat lower over my equally pink face. "Welcome to I Scream, You Scream, where the flavors are so good they're frightening. Ahhh."

There was silence for a moment, before the three knuckleheads burst into peals of laughter. They were practically falling over themselves as they moved to the counter.

"Gene! Oh my gosh, Gene! What did they do to you?" Paul shrieked. "Look at yourself, man! Have some decency!"

"I mean geez, Gene, what are you even wearing? Blue stripes with a pink vest? And your hat looks like something that Elton John would wear if he was pope!"

I was bright crimson at this point, ears burning red as I gripped the handle of the ice cream scoop with a shaking hand. "Aw, can it man. You came here for ice cream, what do you want?" I growled.

Barely stifling his laughter, Paul scanned the flavors. "Yeah, give me...uh...a mint, chocolate, and cookie dough milk shake and add some Oreos and exactly seven and a half teaspoons of chocolate syrup."

I gave him a flat look and he shot me a smirk in return. Oh he was going to enjoy every single minute I spent making him his stupid milkshake. The three of them started to snicker as I scooped the ice cream, throwing in the Oreos and taking it to the blender. As Paul watched, I dumped in half a bottle of chocolate syrup and slid it across the counter.

"Next?"

"That's not seven and a half teaspoons."

"You can take those seven and a half teaspoons and shove them up your--"

"SIMMONS! Are you disrespecting customers?" my boss thundered, sticking his head out of the back room.

"No, sir!" I shouted back, glaring at Paul. He only winked and took the milkshake, slapping seven crumpled ones onto the counter.

"It's $8.50 with the toppings."

His smile grew and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of change. "Don't do it," I whispered. The change dropped onto the smooth laminate, scattering everywhere. As I counted the pennies and dimes, Paul began slurping on his shake. "Dang Gene, you do know how to make a milkshake, I'll give you that."

"Your change is 75 cents." To my surprise, he was nice enough to drop it into the tip jar. Peter leaned against the ice cream window, staring at the flavors. "I'll just have a single scoop of vanilla on a waffle cone."

I gave him a grateful look and rinsed off the scoop, adding a second scoop for free. "Alright man, $2.50."

He slid me a five. "Keep the change."

Ace slid up to the counter, eyes gleaming. "Give me, uh, uh...one of everything."

I wanted to scream.

With a heavy sigh, I rinsed off the scoop, reaching under the counter to pull out the biggest bowl we have. I looked him dead in the eyes as I filled that bowl with a scoop of all 21 flavors we had. I threw a spoon at him as I slid his sundae toward him.

"That'll be $45.62," I snarled, pushing some buttons on the register.

Somehow, he pulled a fifty out of his sleeve and gave it to me, patting my hand as I took it. "That's for you, curly." He took his sundae and moved to the table where the other two were sitting.

"Hey Gene, you finish the summer reading for English?" Paul asked, sucking on the straw.

"What, you mean Crime and Punishment? Dude, I finished that like a month ago. Tell me you've started it."

A faint flush ran across his face. "It's not that long, right?"

"It's over 500 pages and we have 30 questions to answer with it."

"SIMMONS! Focus!"

"Alright man, we'll see you in a few. Have fun at your job," Peter said, ushering the other two out of the shop.

I looked at the clock and sighed. Only three more hours. It was worth the money. I can do this. For the three days of summer I had left.