Ready To Run

Chapter 2

At the end of our shift we change into our normal clothes and get ready to go home.

"Camden! Nicholas! Just the two I wanted to see." Mark, our manager, exclaims while walking into our dressing room.

"Mark, I thought I told you to knock." I say while rolling my eyes and taking my braid out.

"Of course! Well I just wanted to let you know that you two are some of the best employees we have here at Disney. I am so thankful to have you two working for me, and I just wanted to let you know that." He says with a smile.

"Thanks Mark, it's really no problem. We love this job!" Nick says while smiling. I nod I agreement, but eye Mark suspiciously.

"Mark, where are you going with this?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know... That you're getting a raise!" He says. "Keep up the good work you two!" He adds with a thumbs up before leaving.

I look a Nick in shock. Then, I grab onto him and start jumping and screaming. "We're finally getting a raise!!" We scream together.

Nick is one of my best friends. He's my partner for almost every job I have here.

I work Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., mostly as Elsa, but also as Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Belle. Recently Mark has been having me try other princesses, too. I play Elsa most of the time because I look the most like her. I have long extremely blonde hair and brown eyes. Sometimes I wear blue contacts to look more like her. To play the other princesses, I usually have to wear these itchy wigs, but it's totally worth it, because seeing a kid smile is the best feeling in the world.

Being at Disney and in character makes it so easy to be happy. It makes me feel so much better, not having to be myself, being able to forget about everything.

One thing that few people know about me is that about 7 months ago, I lost my father and my cousin Ivy in a car accident. We were all extremely close. My younger sister Emily was put into a coma from the same accident, and is still in it. There is little chance that she will ever wake up, but I try to keep hope. After Ivy and my dad's funeral is when the depression started. I didn't want to do anything, I just sat in my room. I didn't want to talk to anyone and I pushed everyone away. It's a lot better now, but sometimes I have these spells where I just want to be alone and I feel terrible. I fight it as much as I can, but sometimes it's easier to give up.

Nick is the only one of my friends that know of it, and he tries to help me as much as possible.

My other friends are Steph and Destiny, which is pretty predictable. We all hang out together all the time, and they're all great people.

"Cam! Hey! There's a party at Vista Way tonight, wanna come?" Destiny asks while throwing an arm around me.

"Actually, Camden was just coming to a celebration dinner with me. We just got raises!" Nick says while Steph gives him a high five.

"Uhm what, do you want a gold star?" Destiny asks with a laugh. "So about the party," she begins. "It's gonna be a hot one!" She says.

"You just want Sawyer to hold your hair while you puke." Steph says accusingly.

"Not true!" Destiny says pretending to be hurt.

"Guys, I'm sorry. I was just gonna go home and sleep. I'll see you guys later though, okay?" I apologize.

"Aw, fine. You'll come next time though, right?" Destiny asks.

"I'll try." I say with a smile.

"See ya!" Steph says while hugging me.

"I guess I'll go home too then, if there's no celebration dinner." Nick says sadly.

"Hey, we'll do it a different time, yeah?" I suggest while poking him in the ribs. We head to our apartment, which is really a hotel that Disney employees live in permanently.

"And hey! Why don't you call that girl that gave you her number today? She was cute, and totally into you!" I tell him.

"She's too young for me." He says sheepishly.

"Nick!! You're the same age!" I say while elbowing him.

He laughs. "Too young." He jokes again. "Hey, maybe I will call her." He says.

"Good." I say while crossing my arms and sitting down on a bus seat.