Chapter 16

It's not normal for any guy to have a blank expression when he's offering two hundred dollars a shift to someone. Does he even have that much money?

He's still waiting for my answer while I remain frozen in my spot. I mean, it's a normal reaction to that question, right? Who offers that much money working at a store? Maybe nurses and cops make that much money a shift but all I'm supposed to do is sell sparkly rocks to people. It's not a job that should make that much money.

"So is that an acceptable amount of do you want more?" he curiously asks, cocking an eyebrow at me while clicking his pen. More? He's offering more?

"Um, I know this is gonna sound weird coming from me but um, why are you paying me that much money to sell jewelry?" I ask.

He clears his throat and sits up straighter. "This isn't your typical store. The manager has a lot, and I mean a lot, of money so he pays his employees more. He doesn't need half of the money he has which is why he typically offers this much," he explains, shrugging like it's no big deal. But I thought he was the manager?

"How much is he paying you?" I ask. Maybe if I know how much the others around here are making, then I would be know if the amount he's offering is fair or not.

"I'm being paid one-fifty to two-hundred, depending on how long I work. So which payment plan do you want?" he asks, tapping his pen on the table. The sound slightly irritates me but I keep my mouth shut.

"Maybe just a hundred a shift?" I suggest, not wanting to ask for too much. He gives me a weird look but proceeds to write someone down on the piece of paper.

"Now what days are you available to work?" he asks.

"Any day of the week, but on weekdays I can't get here until around three or four," I answer.

"What about the weekends?"

"Those are the days I'm most free," I say.

"Hm, okay. What about your little brother? Around how long can he be by himself or with someone else without you?" he asks.

"My friend can always- wait how do you know I have a little brother?" I ask, giving him a suspicious glare.

Suddenly his expression goes from calm to nervous, making my suspicion spike even more. "Uh, your work papers state your family members and it says that you have an eight year old registered, which I'm assuming is your brother," he replies. I lean against the chair and cross my arms.

I would have believed him had he not looked so nervous. "Uh huh, so where did you get the paper? I don't remember giving it to you." A weird feeling settles in my stomach but I try to keep my expression neural so that he doesn't think I'm interrogating him, which I am.

"Your manager from your previous work emailed it to me."

"But then how did you know I was going to ask for a job here?"

"I didn't. I got it before we were in this room."

"But when did you find the time to-" Suddenly the door slams open making me shriek in shock and turn around, only to drop my jaw at the figure walking on. Standing on the doorway is none other than Levi.

What's he doing here?

***

Never, in my entire life, have I ever been this happy to have Levi interrupting something between Nebraska and I. Her curiosity almost made me admit my biggest secret to her, and I know her knowledge of my secret is something neither of us want.

"Levi? What are you doing here?" Nebraska asks, turning her focus to him. A huge part of me is jealous that she's no longer paying attention to me, but a small part is glad that she's no longer trying to question me.

"Huh? Oh I uh...work here," he answers, throwing a big smile to make it seem more believable.

"But I thought you work for a pizza place," she questions. Damn this girl is observant!

"I only work there on the weekends," he brushes off.

"Didn't you deliver that pizza to us on a Friday?" I could tell Levi is starting to get annoyed and worried with how much questioning Nebraska is doing. It's almost like she's interviewing us when I'm the one supposed to be interviewing her for this job.

"I just decided to work there that day since I had nothing better to do," he says. She still holds that same suspicious glare but her shoulders don't look as tense anymore, meaning that she either let it go or she's thinking of something else.

***

Nebraska's POV

This isn't exactly what I expected. I thought this job interview would only be about discussing payments, shifts, and then I'll be on my way. Of course, I wasn't expecting Layton and Levi to be in the same room.

"Um, can we just go back to discussing my shifts?" I ask, avoiding eye contact with either of them.

Levi left the room after an awkward nod while Layton just stares at me. "Alright, so how does a shift three days a week from three to six sound?" he asks. "You'll have weekends off."

I mull it over in my head for a while before nodding. "Sounds pretty good."

"Alright. Just write your email and number here and I'll send you the rest of the paperwork," he says, sliding over a couple pieces of paper towards me. I wrote down what he told me to write down as well as sign on several lines before handing it back to him.

"Is that all?" I ask, starting to stand up. Not that I want to get away from him, but too much has happened today and I need time to think. I'll probably tell Jason about the arrangements after I pick him up from Lucas' house.

Layton nods and leads me out the door. As soon as we get out, I notice a beautiful girl waiting patiently at the counter. She's eyeing an expensive looking bracelet before looking up at the sound of Layton closing the door. "Layton!" she squeals, coming over and giving him a big hug.

Oh.

Alright then.

I give her an awkward smile when she looks at me before making me way towards the exit of the store. Turning to the side, I frown when I see an older version of Layton texting on a phone before making his way towards Layton and the girl. I turn back to see Layton in a deep conversation with the much taller than me girl making me frown. Why do I have this ugly feeling in my stomach?

On my way out of the mall, I start thinking about how I look like compared to the girl. She has to be at least five, most likely more, inches taller than me and she isn't even wearing heels. My boring brown eyes are nothing compared to her sparkly green ones. The fact that they stand out in the dim store says it all. She's gorgeous. But what bothered me the most about the whole situation is that I'm even bothered in the first place.

It's not like Layton is anything other than a friend, and now a coworker. Does he even count as a friend? Maybe he's just a close acquaintance. Him paying attention to another girl shouldn't affect me as much as it does. So why does it? Is it because I'm not used to it? Layton did act like he's interested in me, right? Maybe I just took it the wrong way I guess.

Stupid Nebraska, thinking he ever actually liked you.

***

"Did you get a job?" Jason asks, placing another spoonful of rice in his mouth. It's seven pm and since I was hungry, I didn't have time to prepare any fancy meals. I just cooked fish and rice and gave it to him to eat.

I nod while helping him separate the bones so he doesn't choke on it. "Yeah, I did."

"Does that mean I can get new toys?" Of course that would be the first thing he asks about it.

"Yeah Jace, you can get new toys," I tell him, taking a bite from my own plate. With the amount of money I'll be paid, Jason will have more toys than he'll know what to do with.

"Even a boy house?" A what?

"Huh?"

"Boy house," he repeats. "It's like a dollhouse, but for boys. I want batman to have a house. I don't want them in my bed. I want them in a house." Do they even make those?

"Sure. After my first paycheck, I'll get you that boy house." He smiles at my reply before we continue to eat in peace.

***

I seriously hate school.

I understand the need to be educated and all, but some of the things one has to endure during the school day are almost too much to handle.

"Did you get a job?" Haley asks, or at least tries to. I'm too busy keeping my eyes on Zoey to pay attention to anything else. Lucas and Levi even tried earlier but my mind is too focused on other matters to really care.

"Where were you anyways the other day?" Levi asks.

"She had to leave school early," I hear Haley reply.

By now Zoey left to go to her next class so I start paying attention to the conversation that's happening around me. "Why?" Levi asks.

"Zoey," I angrily mutter. Over the past few days I'll admit, I have gotten close to Levi. Not close enough to where I trust him to the level I trust Haley or Lucas, but close enough to where I feel safe telling him about Zoey.

"How come it seems like she doesn't like you?"

"Because she doesn't," Lucas cheekily replies, making Haley elbow him in the rib while I shake my head.

"Why? What happened?" Levi presses on. It's strange how curious he is about the topic but I guess it can't be helped. Maybe he just loves gossip like Haley does.

"Something that happened back when we were in middle school," I tell him, replaying the memory in my head. Before Levi could ask more about it, I start to tell the story. "It was something around seventh grade I think..."

~Flashback~

"He's really cute," Haley says, glancing over at Rick, while smiling shyly to herself. I roll my eyes at her behavior and nudge Zoey, who's sitting next to me.

"You okay there?" I ask, worrying about her. Her face whenever Haley talks about her crush on Rick looks almost like jealousy. I know she likes Rick, but she's too nice to tell Haley that.

She silently nods but keeps her head down. I frown, feeling sorry for her, but turn back towards Haley. "Do you think I should ask for his number?" Haley asks, looking nervous.

"Go ahead," I say, encouraging her.

She smiles widely and runs off to Rick. I use her absence to talk to Zoey. "Are you really that jealous of Haley?" I ask.

She sighs and nods. "Yeah, I guess. I mean she's really pretty and all the guys are always looking at her. None of them even know we exist. Doesn't that bother you?" she questions.

I shrug. "It's not really something I care about. I mean, we have all our lives to look for that one special person. Why waste the beginning of our lives worrying about that?" Apparently she didn't like my answer and just continues to stare at Haley.

After a few minutes, Haley suddenly drops her smile and walks over to our table before sitting down. "What happened?" I ask, since her face looks frozen in shock.

"I was talking to him and one of his friends said he likes someone else already, and Rick confirmed it," she says, sounding really sad.

"Did he say who that girl is?" Zoey asks, for the first time today looking hopeful.

Haley nods and looks up at me with anger in her eyes. "Yeah, he said he already likes Braska." Zoey glares at me with so much hatred before storming away from the table.

Haley refused to talk to me but eventually after two weeks she realized how childish she was being and apologized to me.

Zoey, however, never came back.

~End of Flashback~

After I finish, Levi has a thoughtful look on his face while Haley has a guilty one. Even after all these years, she still feels guilty for how she acted but I told her that I forgave her already. It's in the past. Water under the bridge.

"Levi?" I ask, trying to get his attention. He's been staring off into space and doesn't respond. I clap my hands in front of his face and that's when he shakes his head and looks at me.

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?" I ask, pushing my glasses further up my face. I really wish contacts weren't so expensive.

He shrugs and takes a sip from his water bottle. "Just thinking about that story," he vaguely replies. I decide not to push it further and all of us start walking back towards our classes.

******

So I'm thinking of posting another story soon so you guys should also check that one out.

Tell me what you think!