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Creaky fan blades whine above me, their endless swaying only adding to my numbness, I listen for a noise besides the shitty stock music and the endless crying of the rusty old fans. The store should really just replace the old things. But I guess with a boss as stingy as mine, I wouldn’t expect any upgrades to the old place. “Darwat’s Corner plaza” has been my job for way too long, and honestly, it saddens me to think that I’ve been wasting my life away here. But a degree gets you nowhere in this stupid town, so this is about as far as I’m going to get in my career.
The creaking eventually fades into the music as I stare blankly at the shelves in front of me, my chair providing little to no back support as I sit. The stool was a belated “gift” from the higher ups, they said it was for being such a loyal employee . They know I hate it here, but what am I gonna do about any of this? Nothing. I drag a push pin along my arm, pressing down just enough to leave a little white line behind the point. I sigh, letting the pin scratch more lines into my skin, its not like I care about the stinging pain, at least it’s something. A reminder that I am still alive and that this is not, in fact, hell. If it weren’t for the customers milling about, I would have fallen asleep by now.

The store was usually rather empty, bringing in a crowd of elderly couples or overworked soccer moms every now and then. But every now and then we’ll get a group of new faces. These people are usually the biggest form of entertainment that I receive, since they are usually younger and often joke around with the products. I’ve had my fair share of awkward teenagers meander up to the counter with a broken item and a wad of cash in their hands. I prefer the younger crowd over the middle-aged customers, as they are far more polite and will often crack jokes with me.
Today’s group was promising.
The store was vacant for most of the day, only one or two regulars stopped by, but at around three o’ clock a group of three waltzed in. They appeared to be a group of typical young adults, two were obviously much older than the third, but they still appeared to be in their twenties. Oddly enough, they were bickering about being banned from Wal-mart and having to change their usual store.

“I told you not to do it. And this is the price.” One of the elder men stated, gesturing to the younger man.

‘”you have t-to admit, it was funny as hell.” The youngest chirped.

“But it was incredibly irresponsible.” The second eldest replied, casting a weary glance to the eldest. Clearly, this argument had been going on for several hours.

“A-anyway, this place is b-boring.” The youngest whined childishly, his arm fidgeting rapidly. He looked wary and restless, his pale skin and tousled brown hair giving him an almost paranoid aura. But the young man was grinning despite his restless body parts. The eldest, a tall man with darker brown hair and blue, sleepy eyes, sighs deeply and scratches the side of his face. I will admit, this appears to be the only man besides Hugh Jackman and Stanford Pines who could pull off sideburns. I glance at the third man, who was reading over a checklist, a small frown painted onto his pale face. “Well, maybe if you hadn’t tried lighting a pile of watermelons on fire, we wouldn’t be having this problem. I think we needed a different store anyways, we shouldn’t have been going to such a big market.” The middle man grunts, and the three began their trip.

I’ve been listening to their banter for about half an hour now, and between the snide comments from the eldest and the giggles from the youngest, I will happily say that I hope they come back.
My eyes wander to the youngest, who appears to have strayed away from his friends and is currently skimming through the candy near my checkout stand. The cash we rake in from those dumb sweets is almost ridiculous. With all the old people wanting to treat their grandkids to something sweet and all the parents trying to silence whiny children or trying to eat their feelings, you’d think the candy was the only reason we’re still in business.

Continuing my assault on my own arm, I allow my gaze to travel from the young man’s back and to the empty isles nearby. Where could his weird friends have gone? The thought doesn’t truly bother me, it just makes me feel a little awkward. “H-Hey miss, wh-why are you doing that to your arm?” A soft voice stutters from my right. Startled, I jump and accidentally scratch my arm, causing crimson liquid to rear its brightly-colored heard. “Fuck.” I state, staring down at my arm with little to no emotion. I wasn’t exactly upset, just mildly inconvenienced. “Oh. I didn’t mean to scare y-you…” A soft popping noise emits from the man’s neck as he jerks violently to the right. I turn my blank gaze toward the odd male, staring into his hazel eyes calmly “It’s fine. I don’t really care.” I mutter, turning and looking around for something to stop the bleeding. “H-Here, I’ve got s-something f-for that.” The stranger chirp, digging into his pocket and pulling out an altoids tin. Popping open the small container, the man pulls out a bandaid and promptly uses it to cover the cut. The bandage itself was a simple fleshy color, so it blended in almost perfectly with my arm. “That wont do…” The stranger mutters, stroking his bare chin and thinking, “stay right here, lady. I’ll be right back!” he finishes, dashing off to one of the adjacent isles.
After what seemed like a few seconds, the man returns, his blue-hooded jacket bouncing against his back. I take a moment to observe his clothing, blue jeans and a tan jacket with dark striped sleeves. The only colorful thing on him was the blue hood on his hoodie.
“Excuuuuuuuuse m-me lady!” The man coos, waving a package of sharpies in my face “I wanna buy theeese.” He finishes, placing a ten on the counter and rocking back and forth on his feet. “What a child.” I think as I ring up the markers and give the man his change. As soon as he has the receipt, the man rips open the pack and begins selecting markers randomly, grabbing my arm. I watch, mildly bemused, as the strange male begins doodling on the bandaid, decorating the bland fabric with stars, swirls, flowers, and dots. “There! All better,” He chirps, looking up at me with happy eyes. I take these few moments to awknowledge his adorable features: big eyes, soft skin, a small scar next to his mouth is concealed by a small amount of makeup. “he’s cute, I guess.” I think as he grins.
“now, an artist must sign his work!” The adorable man finishes, grabbing an orange marker and signing “Toby” in sloppy script. “Toby” stands up straight, gently patting the top of my head. He seems to become mildly distracted for a moment before asking “Hey, what’s your name? You know mine, obviously.” He gestures to the doodled bandaid. “It’s (y/n).” I state, letting my eyelids flutter partly shut and my face to become blank. Numbness won’t be overcome by doodles and giggles. “Pretty. Can I get a smile? Please??” Toby begs, leaning heavily against the counter, I make a point to frown slightly, glaring at Toby. But unlike most flirtatious people, he doesn’t insist that I actually smile. “I like you. You don’t listen.” Toby declares, staring at me with wide-eyed joy.

“Toby! What the hell are you doing!?” The enraged voice of the eldest man barks. I turn and see the other two approaching with a full basket of food. “how much do these three eat?” I ponder as they draw nearer. “I was talking to a new friend, say hi (y/n)!” Toby replies, nudging my shoulder. Sighing, I turn to them “Sup?” I mutter, standing and preparing to scan their items. “Well? Don’t be rude. This is the only place in town that hasn’t banned us yet, might as well know the workers.” Toby drawls, enjoying the frustrated expressions on the other two’s faces. “I’m Tim. This is Brian.” The eldest growls, gesturing to himself and “Brian” who gives off a soft grunt.

Several minutes later and I find myself still sorting gratuitous amounts of canned food into bags. All was silent except the beeping of the scanner and the occasional popping noise from Toby. Tim and Brian sometimes exchanged random phrases, but remained mostly silent as I finished bagging up the items. “That will be $255.78” I state blandly, watching as Tim reveals three hundred dollar bills and places them on the counter. “keep the change as a tip of sorts.” Tim grunts, glancing at Toby and back at me as if to say “for dealing with this idiot.” I don’t argue with it as I print out their receipt.

“Goodbye (y/n)!” Toby yells as he is handed several bags, “Be quiet you imbecile.” Brian hushes as they leave the store. Tim stays behind and gives me a sympathetic glance “Thank you for keeping him out of trouble, ma’am. Usually we are in the store for hours.But you saved us, in a weird way. Hope to see you again next time.” Despite the bluntness of his tone, I can tell that Tim is being honest about Toby’s absent mindedness. “No problem.” I reply, waving as Tim jogs after Brian and Toby.I sigh,watching them walk off down the street. Soon, an elderly lady walks in and begins scanning for items. Boredom returns and I begin to think of the three as I absently trace the bandaid on my arm.

“See you next time.”