The Stolen Jewel of Hecate

Chapter 3

I get to work five minutes late and hope my boss doesn't notice. I walk into the locker room and see my boss sitting there. As if she was waiting for me. " I'm sorry Rosetta. I was helping an old man with his things and didn't notice the time. It won't happen again." Rosetta only smiled at me. She was a kind old lady with her dream store. " It's fine dear. It was for a good cause." She said with a smile. "Now go out there and sell some instruments." She says with pride. She is a big inspiration when it comes to music. She makes it seem so fun. I head out to the drums section of the store. Each employee gets a different instrument essentially to take care of. Mine is drums. Your instrument section is based on what you are good at playing. I'm at my section, and my section doesn't have a single person there so I went to a drum set and started playing a little. I'm just making it up as I go. This is why I love my job. You can play during work hours and it is considered work. I play some more until I hear the bell of the door. I look up to see Emma with Logan. Shoot. I was having a blast and now they had to show up. A coworker came up to me. Jackie. She mainly works in the saxophone section but she knows a little on drums as well. She is a kind woman, and really helps me with life problems sometimes." Want me to take over for a bit? That jerk of yours came in. Let's say it's your break." Jackie smiles at me. Jackie along with Rosetta is a sweet older lady. I shake my head. Jackie gives me a weird look. "I'm having too much fun to take five. Besides it's not like they will realize I'm the one playing." I say with confidence. Jackie nods worriedly because she knows what Emma is capable of. Emma almost got me fired a couple of months back because she pulled those damn tears and said I did something rude. I kind of forgot what she accused me of but I remember it was horrible. I go back to what I was playing, quietly of course as to not disturb anyone and not pull attention to me by, specifically Emma and Logan. A little after they came in, Ellie came in. Every day she visits me at work. " Hey Sam!" she yells. This brought attention to me by the few people in the store. Including Emma and Logan. I sigh and give Ellie a death glare. She didn't know why I gave her that look but then I gave a gesture to my left to show her Emma and Logan. She looked a bit embarrassed but she brushed it off. Emma came walking over to me. She seemed to have lost Logan so she was safe to protect her lie. Oh great. " Well if it isn't Sam. You work at a lame old music store. How lame!" She says with a laugh. " You're even geekier than I thought." I looked at my feet. I loved what I did. It didn't exactly pay much, but it was something I wanted to do with my life. " Emma leave her alone. She hasn't done anything to you." Ellie said firmly. Emma gave her a glare. " Please she is obviously trying to steal Logan from me. She needs to stay off other people's territory because she is currently trespassing on mine." Ellie was fuming. " People are not property. People are people that can make their own choices. Logan does not belong to you." Ellie yelled. Emma scoffed. " You get what I meant. Logan is going to be my boyfriend and I don't need you or your coward friend Sam making it take longer than it needs to." Emma said with a smile. " That isn't your choice to make." Ellie stated. I look away from the fight and see Rosetta looking at me. A look that showed if I didn't get them out of the store I could lose my job. I gave Ellie a look to tell her to back off and that it wasn't worth it. Ellie gave me a sad look. "Sam, Emma is stepping all over yo- '' Ellie started but was interrupted. " Yah and if she knows what's good for her she will not let that change." Emma said with a smug look. " Ellie I am your friend and all but as an employee, I need to ask you to leave. You are bothering a customer." I said with disappointment in my voice. Ellie gave me a betrayed face. Ellie was right, I was being walked all over but I couldn't do anything about it. I could be fired if I talked back to a customer. I lowered my head as a silent apology and hoped she understood where I was coming from. Ellie grabbed her things and walked out the door. I gave a tired sigh and Emma leaned in close to my ear. " You made the right choice." I was angry but I wanted to keep my job. Emma stepped away and Logan came back from who knows where. Emma grabbed his arm and they continued to wander around the store. I watched them pace around and Jackie came back up to me. She gives me a look to come with her to the locker room. " Sam, are you OK? I saw and heard everything. I know what you did must have hurt your pride." She said with concern. I just looked at her. I couldn't hold it in anymore. " Just life isn't fair Jackie. There is no justice where it's needed and it isn't right. People who are physically enhanced get whatever they want with a snap of their fingers and don't have to work for anything, while people with good work ethic and good hearts always work hard and get nothing for it. Being different is something to be ashamed of in this world. Having a special talent is wrong in this society. Even being happy with who you are, gives you consequences. People who are closer to the mirror then to people are viewed as cool. People who show their feelings are considered weak. It all comes down to who has more followers than who, and who has the better selfie. You can be considered less for things you can't control. Everyone is obsessed with the word perfect and wants to be it. If you don't match that word, that stupid seven letter word, you don't matter. You don't have a say. You mean nothing, and it is wrong." I say with tears in my eyes. Jackie gives me a hug. " I am sorry sweetie. I wish there was something I could do for you." Jackie said rubbing my back. I cried as quietly as I could and Jackie stayed with me until I calmed down enough. Once I was calmed down enough and looked presentable I went out to finish my shift. I walk out to see Rosetta waiting for me. I looked at her and smiled and tried to hide the pain. " I know what happened Sam." She said with a knowing look. I looked at her hopefully with a confused expression. I didn't need more people knowing what happened. " W-what do you mean? " I asked with a stutter. Rosetta glared at me. "Sam don't lie to me. I saw what Emma said, and did. You didn't have to cower out of it. You could have stood up for yourself. I wouldn't be mad. Also, I heard what you said about life not being fair. I get it. You're frustrated with how the world works." She gives me a small smile, and I smile back. " Sam, just don't be afraid to stick up for yourself. You do it for others. Why not yourself?" She left me with that question to think about. Why do I stick up for others but never myself? What do I have about myself that I hate so much that I think makes me not worth standing up for? That is something I currently can't figure out, and maybe it's something I won't figure out for a long time. I finished my shift with thankfully no more problems and I started heading home. I keep thinking about what Rossetta asked me. ' You do it for others. Why not yourself?' That question keeps ringing in my mind. She was right. A big problem with many people in this world is the struggle with self-esteem. People with those problems think they aren't worth it. Those people don't do things for themselves and I am one of those people. I can't seem to figure out why I am like this. Why I think I don't matter. Why I think I'm not worth standing up for. Unfortunately, I don't think I will change anytime soon, same as many others in this world. With more questions about the incident, and about what Rosetta said flooding my mind with no answers, I make it home faster than usual. I open the door to an empty house. I don't even consider it home anymore. Home is where your family is. My family is never here. Home is where good memories are held. There aren't many happy memories except for the ones when my parents came back from trips for a day. This was a house, not a home. I sigh and head up to my room. I flop onto my bed, ready for a deep slumber. I was about to go to sleep when I saw a box on my nightstand. "What's this?" I thought out loud. I sat up and picked up the box. I don't remember leaving something like this here. I don't even remember having something like this. I stared at it for a few more seconds and then opened the box.