The woman tilted her head. “Wait—Lavender? Like my employee Lavender?”
I nodded. “Yep, the same one. She and I used to be best friends, if you can believe it. We were together constantly, even before the guys came around. It was us against the world…” My voice trailed off as I got caught up in the painful memory. “Ah, fuck.” I carefully dried my eyes. “The five of us used to hang out all the time, spending every weekend together. We were inseparable, that is, until that red-haired witch, Sybil, showed up. I don’t even know where she came from. She just blew in from nowhere and seated herself right in the middle of our group.” Nonchalantly, I did my best to point out who was who.
Tawny eyed her from across the pizzeria. “Hmm. Looks like a bitch to me.”
I snickered at her comment. “Yeah. And she hates me for whatever reason. Now, none of them really talk to me. We slowly stopped hanging out, and then when I got kicked out of my house a few months back, they all just disappeared on me and that was it. Went from being inseparable to barely even talking to one another. I don’t even know where they met Sybil, or what unfortunate event happened that left her in our lives, but she’s sunk her teeth deep into all of them…especially Montey.” My chest ached as I watched the two of them together. “Now, they treat me like a leper.”
Tawny placed a hand on my multi-colored, polka-dot and polyester-covered shoulder. She looked at me with sorrowful eyes and made a face. “I’m sorry, kid. Losing your friends—that can’t be easy. And you were all friends for a while, weren’t you?”
I nodded. “Years. Lavender and I damn near grew up together.” The clown bobble-head was begging to be bobbled again, so my hand reached out and poked it. “Oh well…things change, right? And soon, it won’t even matter.”
“Yeah.” Tawny roughly patted my arm. “There’s always a hot redhead with a great set of tits waiting to break people up. Trust me, I would know.”
“It’s not like I was in a relationship with any of them.” I groaned. “And I’m sure Sybil is nothing like the woman your husband left you for.”
“Ex-husband,” Tawny grunted. “And I’ve seen the way you look at the hunk with the long blue and purple colored hair. There’s history there.” She winked.
I looked back at the group and watched Montey smile at Sybil, the same way he once smiled at me. “Yeah, well, that’s long dead.”
“Why don’t you take a little break once they leave? I know you’ve been working a double today, so take a walk. Go clear your head and come back refreshed, okay?” I opened my mouth to respond, but the couple from my section suddenly approached the register, wearing big smiles and those red clown noses, ready to pay. Tawny checked them out as I watched.
It must be nice to find someone so head over heels in live with you that they’re willing to wear a fucking clown nose and eat shitty pizza just to celebrate your anniversary.
I glanced back to the table in the corner and noticed both Ryder’s and Token’s drinks were in need of a refill. “Fuck,” I mumbled. Reluctantly, I stood, sighing heavily as my feet carried me back over to their table. “Can I get you two another Coke?” I asked, motioning to the empty cups.
Token looked at me and smiled. “Yes, please.” He slid both his and his twin brother’s cup over to me. Grabbing them, I walked away in silence, ignoring the loud scoff Sybil made. As soon as their drinks were refilled, I returned them to the table and rushed to check on their order. Thankfully, it was ready. Together, Tawny and I delivered their food, this time without any underhanded remarks or looks of disgust coming from Sybil. Since Lavender was using her employee discount, Tawny would have to be the one to check them out, which meant my job was done. A little victory in my book.
“I’ll be taking that break now,” I whispered to Tawny. She nodded and I turned to look at the group. None of them acknowledged me or bothered to even look my way.
Fucking figures.
I walked back through the kitchen and made my way to the back door. As soon as I cracked it open, I ripped the hat from my head and sighed as if the gross, trashed-filled alley was the freshest air I’d had all day. I hung my head and groaned, frustrated by how my life had ended up this way. “What I would give to have even just one friend again.” Just as the words left my lips, another one of the rats that lingered around scuttled to my feet. And I smiled. “Hello friend.”
“Shhh!”I gently tapped the pocket of my uniform as I stuck to the wall within the mall. “Stop wiggling around or someone will notice you.” I peered down into my pocket at my little friend. The rat chittered faintly and I smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you some more crust when we get back.” My gaze broke from the vermin as I walked around the crowded mall. People made faces and tried to stifle their laughs as I walked through, pretending to be unbothered. It had become part of my weird little routine to wander the mall during my longer breaks, and Tawny was chill with it as me waddling around in my uniform seemed to attract customers to the pizzeria, meaning it was a win-win for everyone.
“Nice outfit, clown,” a random teen teased as he and his gangly friend snickered and rushed past. I rolled my eyes and kept walking.
Wow, how original.
I used to feel embarrassed when I would walk around the mall on my breaks. The Big Top uniform was not at all inconspicuous, and the looks I would get were often those of pity or mockery. Sometimes both. But, being able to walk around like this had just become part of the job. And I was in no mood to bother with the taunts and teases of random people. I was too busy trying to decide how I wanted to spend my break. And without thought, my feet had carried me through the mall and right into the food court. “Let’s see.” I looked around at the selections before me. “What do I want? Corn dogs? Nah. Cookies? Too sweet. Pizza—hell no.” I kept looking around, but nothing really looked appetizing. “Fuck it, I’ll just settle on a pretzel.” I walked over to the counter and placed my order. It didn’t take long for the server to hand me the salty snack. I thanked the worker and ended up sitting down along the edge of the mall fountain as I quietly ate the doughy treat.
People shot me glances, whispering to one another as I enjoyed the pretzel. I felt lighter after eating it as the salty snack ended up being exactly what I needed. “Here you go, little fella. I saved you a piece.” I snuck a tiny crumb to the rat in my pocket. The critter ate the crumb and I slouched, sighing as I looked at the time. “Ugh, we should probably head back now.” It took a good minute before I finally rose to my feet and stretched. “Only a couple more hours until I can clock out and go to bed.”
And then that’s one less day until I’m out of here.
I walked across the food court and tossed my trash away, stopping as I stared at the neon sign outside the shop to my right. “Oh, we can make a tiny stop, right?” The rat in my pocket squeaked and I smiled. “I’ll be quick, I promise."
I quickly walked across the way to the little local bookstore. It was my favorite shop in the entire mall, and I would often find myself roaming around the store, getting lost in the pages of the old books inside. I hadn’t been in for quite a while and felt an itch to sneak inside, even just for a moment.
I still have at least 20 minutes on my break, which is plenty of time to look around.
The little bell above the shop door jingled as I stepped inside and was instantly hit with the overwhelming smell of dusty old books. It was such a comforting smell that always settled my nerves. “Good evening.” The elder clerk behind the register greeted me as I stepped inside. He was someone I didn’t recognize and held a gaze that made my spine tingle with anticipation as I inched further inside.
“H-hello,” I stuttered back bashfully. I glanced around the shop and realized everything had been moved from where it had always been. It was all so confusing. Where I expected there to be cookbooks, I found biographies. Fiction and non-fiction were basically flipped, and as I was looking for science fiction, I instead found comic books.
Why is everything so different? This place must’ve been sold or bought out…the last owner would never dare change how things were.
I sighed and continued to peruse the shelves.
