Chp.24

"Here's your change." I mutter, handing a dollar to a woman who keeps on glaring at me. She snatches the bag of groceries from my hands – as if it'll get poisoned if I touch it for too long. I frown when she leaves with no other word.

"Yeah, well, you're welcome!" I shout in sarcasm.

Stupid ungrateful people.

Yes, I'm working in a shop now. Mr. Marsh's shop to be exact. And it sucks. Working without even getting a little bit of payment.That's my punishment. And also, me getting grounded is another punishment. Isn't this great? Because – like Dad told me – Mom did freak out on me, no surprise there. And so, I've got a new routine. School, shop, home. Shop, home, school. That's it. No way else. And now I'm forced to take the bus even if I'm five blocks away from the place I want to go to. It's a bit too much to handle.

"What do you think you're doing, huh?" says a young and always-angry man standing beside another counter next to me.

I don't know his first name but the tag on his chest pocket shows 'Garfield' on it. He's another employee. Did I mention a grumpy one? He's only here to keep an eye on me. I don't think he's happy about it though.

"Working." I murmur, rolling my eyes because it's obvious.

"I thought so." He grumbles, glaring at me.

"This is my last day you know." I say, "Think you can give me some credit and be a little nice?"

He snorts, handing me a mop, "Just do your work, kid." With that he goes into the storage room, where he just sits. That's all he does. Depressed guy.

There's no one left in the shop. Because it's closing time or something. So I reluctantly decide that I should mop the floor.

I didn't go to school today. Because I had no interest to go to the end-of-term party with all those free lessons, whatsoever. And anyway, I'll have to go to the summer camp afterwards. And for the first time, I'm willing to go. Even though sometimes it scares me. Not literally. But previous incidents regarding that aren't very good.

It sometimes makes me wonder why they won't just let us come to school instead?

What angers me a bit is the fact that Skylar's gonna be there too. She's coming back apparently. Probably to annoy others. By others I mean – you guessed it – me.

But here I am working till I've got no energy left in me, knowing that I can't do anything about it. Though I want to.

The door of the shop bursts open, and I immediately know who it is. It's one of Ander's friend. Marcus.

I lower my head – not in a way to show that I'm afraid but to tell them that I've no interest.

"T'sup, Wells?" He grins towards my direction, grabbing a lot of chocolate bars in both his hands, "I hope you're working hard."

"Shut up." I snap, embarrassed that I'm cleaning a floor in front of him.

He grabs three cans of coke next and then two large bags of crisps. And who knows what other junk.

"You gotta pay for that you know." I say, louder than intended.

He snorts. Like he always does when I say that. Because this is a joke to him. Because he thinks that he can get away with it. And – as annoying as it is – he does. Quite easily. I know it's because Ander's behind all this. He always is. He doesn't let his friends buy anything. They get it for free. I'm pretty sure his father doesn't know about this. But I'll be the last person he'll believe. What's worse, is that Garfield always checks in the cash register in the end – to see if I've stolen or not, which did I mention that I don't. So basically, long story short, I'm the one who has to bloody pay for whatever they take.

And I can't do anything about it.

Which is bloody great. But not today. I'm not gonna let them do that. Because today I'm bloody prepared. It's my last day anyway, so I think I should take a little revenge.

He dumps all his junk on the counter, looking at me.

"You missed a spot."

"Get lost!" I spit in return.

He throws his head in a long howling – somewhat hysterical – laugh.

"I just want a bag to put all my things in, is all." He explains, gleeful.

I huff a little, glaring at him for a second before walking to the counter again.

"You missed the party you know." He says, smiling, "Did no one invite you?"

He's talking shit because everyone's invited to the school party.

"Don't care." I mutter to which he sniggers.

I check in all the items and put them inside a bag. Marcus attempts to take it from me but I pull it away.

"What?" He frowns.

"That will be seven dollars." I say, calmly.

His eyebrows raise, "What're you playing at?"

I shake my head, smiling all fake, "Oh I'm not playing at anything. I'm just telling you how much it will cost you. That is, if you want your stuff." I slowly wave the bag in the air, enjoying how his face has turned red with anger.

"I ain't got no money." He scowls, "Not like I did before."

"Too bad you won't be getting your junk then." I say.

"What the hell man?" Marcus yells, "This ain't fair!"

My smile grows broader because of the way he's whining like a baby.

"I don't see anything that's unfair here. If you're trying to tell me that you won't pay for a specific reason then I'll very much like to know."

He growls, "I've no idea why you're acting like this when I've been doing this for a week now!"

I raise an eyebrow, "So you haven't paid for a week? Why's that?"

"What the hell…" He mumbles, swearing under his breath.

He's probably confused. But all I can see in him is that how dumb can he possibly get?

"You tell me the reason for not buying your stuff and I swear I'll hand it to you." I hold out the bag, but my grip on the strap is tight in case he decides to snatch it from me.

"I don't know why-" He begins, each word louder than the previous one.

"Just tell me.' I interrupt, still calm.

"But I don't-"

"Tell me and take it."

"Lukas, you're gonna get it-"

"I'm not asking you to get me a gold bar now, am I? All I want is for you to tell me why are you not buying your-"

"I'm not buying em cause Ander told me so!" He yells so loud that I think the floor literally vibrated… Nah.

I grin, "Ander told you to not pay?"

He looks like he'll explode. "Yeah. So bloody what? Why're you smiling huh? What's so funny?"

My lips tighten, only slightly, "Alright, fine. If Ander Marsh says so…"

I give him the bag.

He sighs.

"You've got some serious issues." He rolls his eyes.

"Just be grateful you got your things." I say, firmly.

"Whatever." With that he starts to walk towards the door.

"One more thing." I say, calling out for him.

"What now?" He groans.

As soon as he turns to face me, I take out my phone from my pant pocket and click at the save button in the recorder.

"Just tell Ander that if I were him, I don't think I'll be ready to go home."

I smile, the color from Marcus's face draining away as he realizes.

"You wouldn't." He narrows his eyes a bit.

"Oh I will." My expression changes into a serious one. "Trust me, I won't hesitate one bit."

"If you dare-" He retorts.

"Let me give you a tip: Don't mess with the one who's got the upper hand." I barge in, impatiently but strongly, "And clearly you three don't. Now that I have the recording, I'm gonna go straight to Mr. Marsh. He'll deal with you all himself. I can imagine the look on his face when he finds out."

I beam. Because I can see him thinking. The humiliation. The embarrassment they'll feel. How they'll be a disgrace. Punishment even. Who knows, even jail for a little while? Maybe.

"Or…" I say. Marcus's eyes lit up with hope which makes me snigger.

"Or what?" He asks, "We'll do anything."

"That you will. I've got two conditions." I face is hard and as unreadable as stone. "I want you to tell them to Ander."

He nods eagerly.

"First, I want back my thirty five dollars which I paid for all your stupid things. Deliver them to my home."

"And the second?" I got a feeling he knows it already.

"Don't even try and come near me again. All of you. Because if I even see a glimpse of one of you coming towards me, I swear I'll go running to Mr. Marsh."

A long pause. But then,

"Fine." He huffs.

I smile ear to ear, "Don't forget to put down the bag before leaving."

"But-" He splutters.

"Man, you really wanna get busted huh?"

His mouth shuts up at that, as he grumbles a no.

"Well, good." I frown, "Just remember if you don't hand in my money till tonight then there's nothing – absolutely nothing – that'll stop me from sending this recording to Mr. Marsh."

He swears hard under his breath but takes it all in and goes away.

I finally breathe out a sigh of relief when I'm sure I can't see him.

Acting tough is hard work sometimes.

Glad the matter's solved though. Ander won't ever bother me unless he wants to get in trouble.

I grab the mop again and when I do,the door opens,

"Didn't I tell you, you can't get the bag?" I snap, turning to Marcus.

Except it isn't Marcus. It isn't Marcus at all.

It's Sophie.

Seriously?