Dani Kincaid snapped her gum, rested her chin on the palm of her hand, and stared lazily out the window overlooking the Santana Beach boardwalk. Her wad of Bubbleicious had lost its flavor long ago, and there was nothing left at the video store for her to do on that slow Tuesday evening in the dead of summer. The usual flux of tourists that came to visit her oceanside town were beginning to dwindle, and the long, hot days seemed to stretch out before her into eternity. The summer after high school graduation was all carefree days and nights, and for eighteen-year-old Dani, life was a breeze.
“Aaaaaalrighty then!”
Jim Carrey’s signature phrase bellowed through the airfor what felt like the millionth time that summer, filling the mostly empty video rental store with obnoxious chatter. Dani flicked her gaze to the television screen mounted over the front desk. They were surrounded by more movies than she could watch in a lifetime, but her fellow Cool Flix employees always seemed to play the same things over and over again.
She sighed and called out to her co-worker, Kyle. “Hey, can we watch something other thanAce Venturafor a change?”
“Sure.” Kyle turned toward her voice and plucked a tape from the return cart. “We’ve finally got a copy ofScream 2back in. Seen it yet?”
“Yeah, I saw it in the theater twice.” She yawned. “What about a classic? Something, you know,different?”
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre?”
“Nah, we’d get in trouble,” she said, glancing toward the Classic Movies section. “Too violent.”
“No more violent thanScream.”
“Yeah, but at leastScreamhas some comedy to balance things out,” she said. “What aboutCasablanca?”
“Ew. Romance.” Kyle stuck out his tongue and made a gagging sound. “Plus it’s in black and white.Bo-ring.”
“Genre snobs are boring.” She shot her co-worker a playful smile and stepped out from behind the front counter. “Besides,Casablancaisn’t a romance, it's a drama. Romance has to have a happy ending.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you were our resident film expert.” He grinned and returned to his work.
Kyle wasn’t wrong. Her love for the cinematic arts was what had driven Dani to work at the video rental store in the first place. All through high school, she spent her summer and after school hours at Cool Flix, rewinding VHS tapes, upselling candy to little kids, and recommending films to customers. If she had to watch Ace Ventura make his butt talk one more time, she was going to lose her mind.
Dani plucked the plastic clamshell case forCasablancaoff the shelves and stared lovingly at the cover with a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. Watching and dissecting films of all genres was Dani’s favorite pastime and passion, something she hoped to pursue further in college. Part of her was sad to beleaving the little video rental shop by the beach soon for bigger and better things, but another part of her was ready to see what the future would hold. For now, she was determined to enjoy the last few lazy days of summer before everything in her life was going to change.
With her favorite classic film at hand, Dani took her place behind the counter, and eyed the VHS player mounted over the counter. She returnedAce Venturato the rewind machine, poppedCasablancainto the player, and relaxed a little as the opening credits played. Dani had always enjoyed watching black and white films with her parents as a kid. There was something about the old-timey music and how people acted in films from long ago that helped to calm her down. She eased into her favorite spot against the back counter, lost in the silver screen as the bell rang over the front door.
“Welcome to Cool Flix,” Dani said, her gaze fixed on the TV.
“Welcome to Cool Flix.” Kyle echoed her sentiment without looking up from the wall of VHS tapes.
The video store employees were required to greet every customer who walked through the door in this scripted way. It was corny, but Dani had been doing it for so long now that the phrase was almost like a reflex. Most Cool Flix customers didn’t care anyway; they were just regular folks on vacation looking for a cartoon to entertain their kids, couples looking for a movie to make out to, or wealthy retirees in search of their favorite oldies. But that evening, the person who walked through the door was neither a kid nor retired, and his presence instantly set her teeth on edge. This was a customer Dani had come to know and dread.
She could smell him before he even made it to the counter.
“Lucky me,” he said. “My favorite rewind girl is working today.”
The aroma of drug store cologne assaulted Dani’s nostrils as Matt Vickers approached the counter. Matt was four yearsolder than her and tall with the kind of athletic build that was impressive to some and intimidating to others. He had been a senior at Sunset High School when she was a freshman, a linebacker on the football team, his name and image immortalized behind the glass trophy cases in the school hallways like some gridiron god. He wore his gelled curls cropped short and bleached, causing his ultra-blond scalp to stand out in stark contrast against his unnaturally tanned skin. His teeth were so white they practically glowed when he smiled. Everything about this particular customer made Dani’s skin crawl, but it wasn’t just his overly familiar attitude or his pink popped collar shirt and seashell necklace ensemble that gave her the creeps. There was something dark and dangerous in his eyes, something shark-like and predatory that caused a ball of disgust to form in the pit of her stomach whenever he was near.
“Can I help you find something?” Dani swallowed, forcing the spent gum down her throat as she cast her gaze toward the neon outer-space-patterned carpet.
“Yeah.” He smirked and leaned across the counter, resting his forearms a few inches from her chest. “Your number.”
Dani backed up and gagged as the vapors of his spicy sweet cologne invaded the inside of her mouth. The taste of chemicals, musk, sweat, pheromones, and artifice coated her tongue in a thick, unwelcome layer. He had been harassing her for weeks now, growing more bold each time he came into the store. She even reported his behavior to management, but was told there was nothing they could do. Dani loved working in the video store for the free rentals alone, but she had been starting to consider quitting altogether after her last uncomfortable visit from Matt Vickers.
“I already told you, Matt. I have a boyfriend.” Dani folded her arms at her chest and hugged herself.
“You remembered my name,” he smirked, snapping his gum. “I like how it sounds coming from that pretty mouth of yours.”
Dani threw a desperate glance for help in Kyle’s direction. He was still stacking tapes along the wall, oblivious to her distress. She would have to get out of this one by herself.
She held her chin up high and stood her ground. “If you’re not going to rent a video, then you should probably leave.”
“Easy, easy. It’s okay. I’m not gonna bite ya.” He chuckled and straightened his stance. “I can take a hint. I’m just gonna go check out the new releases.”
