Nowhere Kids

Job Hunting

Brent and I joined the others at our usual table for lunch, both with a big smile on our face. I really wasn't expecting him to open up the way he did, but I'm glad he did.
"What's got you two so happy?" Eric asked as we sat down. The look on his face showed he was still mad, and I knew it'd be a while before he forgave Brent.
"If you must know I finally did what needed to be down and now I feel much better" Brent said with a smile.
"Gross man no one needs to hear about that" Zach said. Brent shot him a glare and I giggled.
"Not that dude. I finally told Jamie how I really felt. I was too scared to, but I knew I had to before it ate away at me and changed me for the worst" Brent said proudly.
"So you got grumpy cause you bottled up your emotions?" Barry asked.
"I guess so" Brent said with a shrug. I smiled as he put his hand in my lap. It felt nice knowing we were officially a couple now.

Now that things were settling down between all of us, I decided now was a good time to bring up something important.
"So Brent and I were thinking it's time we get jobs" I said, breaking up their usual conversation.
"Yeah? And what's your reasoning to not wait until school's out?" Eric asked. Brent cleated his throat and looked him in the eyes.
"Money" he said in a serious tone.
"You got my attention" Zach said.
"Think about it" I said. "If we start saving up now, we can probably afford our own places by the end of the year"
"Maybe we could afford one place if we put our money together, but why would we? I can't picture us all living together" Eric said. He had a good point.
"Still, it's good to have pocket money so we have more options when we hang out" Zach said.
"Yeah Eric, maybe you don't want to move yet, but you can save up for your own car so your not using your dad's, or you could buy that bass you've always wanted" Barry added.
"Come on man, you have to admit it's a smart idea" Brent said as he tilted his head at his friend. Eric sighed.
"Yeah, you guys are probably right. How about we go around looking for job applications after school?" He asked. We all agreed that was a good idea.

The rest of the school day went by smoothly. Zach and I left gym together to meet the others out front.
"So, where should we start?" Eric asked as he clapped his hands together.
"Let's try the mall. Maybe we can all get jobs close together" Barry suggested.
"Sounds good to me" Zach said. We all agreed and headed out. Brent and I enjoyed our ride together while Zach went with Barry. Eric took his own vehicle and we agreed to meet back up at the mall's food court once we had our applications.

Brent and I arrived at the mall and walked around together.
"Think it'd be easier if we split up?" He asked as he held my hand. I shrugged and looked down at the floor. It probably was a good idea, but I was still shaken up by Mark and didn't want to be alone.
"Might be faster if we split up.." I said quietly.
"I don't mind staying with you if your not comfortable being alone right now" he said gently  I squeezed his hand and nodded.

Brent and I walked by a pet supply store with a help wanted sign in the window.
"This is perfect" I told myself as I dragged Brent inside.
"You sure?" He asked with a chuckle.
"I know what's good for pets, and I can bring Beau with me" I explained. I let go of Brent's hand and walked up to the counter to ask for an application.

The lady behind the counter was kind and quickly described the job before handing me the application to fill out.
"Thank you, I'll make sure to drop this later" I said. The lady thanked me and said goodbye as I grabbed Brent and left. Now it was his turn to find a place.

We walked by a small diner that stood next to the food court. Peering in, we saw Barry talking to someone inside.
"Maybe you can be a server" I suggested to Brent.
"Should I get a job with Barry? We all see each other at school, shouldn't we have our own jobs?" He asked.
"Why? We already hang out after school everyday" I reminded him.
"Good point..." he said before letting go of my hand and walking inside.

Barry left the diner shortly after Brent entered.
"Going to try and be a line cook" he said as he held up his application.
"That's pretty cool. Brent's going for server" I said.
"Cool, I hope we get to work together" he said. We waited with me until Brent came back with his application.

We went to the food court together and found a table to sit at. Eric and Zach both eventually joined us.
"So what does everyone have?" Eric asked as he sat down.
"Line cook" said Barry.
"Server" said Brent.
"Selling pet supplies" I said.
"Selling fishing supplies" said Zach. 
"Selling instruments" Eric said last. He pulled some pens out of his pockets, I'm assuming he had for school, and passed them around. We all sat quietly as we filled out our applications.

Once we were all finished we headed back to the stores to hand them in. The nice lady from earlier told me they'd call me tomorrow if interested. Now was the worst part, waiting.
"I hope they call back" I mumbled as Brent and I walked to his truck.
"I'm sure they will. Hey, it's still early. Want to do something?" He asked.
"Yeah, we should probably tell Barry and Eric where to..." I started.
"No, I mean just us. If that's okay" Brent said, cutting me off.
"Oh right" I said. I looked up at him and saw him smiling back at me, his blue eyes making me feel safe. "I'd love that"
"Great" he said sweetly. He took my hand as we walked through the parking lot, but he didn't say anything. I could tell he already had something planned, but I figured I just had to trust him.