Video Game Girlfriend

Chapter 8

To say I rushed through my assignment is an understatement, I got through with a minute to spare. It won’t be winning any awards that's for sure, but it’ll get me a passing grade and that’s all I can ask for. I quickly pack up my computer and folder in my backpack, and then rush out the door. I can already hear Mr. Henley's raspy voice as he berates me for not showing up “on time” like I’m supposed to. 

As soon as I get in I race to the terminal, again hoping to escape the backlash of not showing up when he wants me here. Thankfully his office door stays closed, and I’m able to get clocked in and start prepping for the night without any trouble. Tonight’s just me and a couple of freshman new hires, I help them finish prep before heading over to the gas station side. The two of them will take the sandwich side together, and maybe I can get out of here early tonight, I think to myself as I cash out a couple customers wanting to get gas and snacks. 

The first few hours passed by quickly, Mr. Henley eventually came out of his office, but he didn’t say anything to me about my late arrival, he just grabbed a case of beer and then walked out the door to go home. I start working on my closing duties soon thereafter, trying to get everything done as quickly as possible so I can go home early tonight. As I’m gathering up the trash to take outside to the dumpster I hear the bell ring, signaling that a customer has entered the store. I sigh, and drop the bags off to the side, and head up to the register hoping whoever it is will be in and out as quickly as possible. As I get up to the register I’m greeted by a familiar looking woman, it takes me a second to grasp where I know her from.

“Oh hey, you’re Vanessa’s mom right?” I say to the woman standing in front of me. She quickly looks up at me from her purse where she had been previously digging for her wallet. It almost looked like she was scared, but it was soon covered with a small smile, and she nodded her head.

“Yes, I’m Mrs. Cross, are you in her class?” She asks me, finally pulling her wallet out of her purse and setting it on the counter in front of her. 

“Yeah, my name's Blair, I gave her a quick tour her first day of school. Your daughter’s a really sweet girl, kind of shy though.” I said to her,

“Ah yes, she gets that from me I’m afraid. I’ve never been much of a talker either.” She chuckles slightly as she talks, just then a car horn beeps outside and she looks up. The look of fear flashes on her face again, “Well I really must be going, I just need $20 on pump three please dear.” She says quickly, handing me the cash from her wallet, before cramming it back into her purse. I glance outside and see a man in the driver's seat of the car, it must be Mr. Cross. I take the money from her and ring her up for the gas.

“Have a nice day Mrs. Cross, tell Vanessa I said Hi.” I say, waving at her as she hurries to the door.

“Oh, right, yes I will, it was nice meeting you Blair. You have a good day yourself.” she says, walking out the door and heading towards the car. I watch as she pumps the gas, looking around her as she does so, almost like she’s expecting someone to jump out and grab her. 

They leave soon after, and I finish taking out the trash. I hope everything's okay for them at home, with the way Mrs. Cross was acting, you’d think her husband was up to no good. But, it’s not my business to go poking around in other people's private lives. If it was anything it would eventually come out on its own, or if it gets to the point where I or someone else is really worried about it, then we would take action. But for now, a funny feeling about how someone reacts to their husband honking a horn is nothing to mull over. 

I finish my closing duties just as 10 o’clock hits, time to head home. I check on the other two and see that they are wrapping up their work too. After asking if they need any help, and getting thee all clear to leave from them, I clock out and start walking home. The night air feels cool against my skin, everything is so still quiet, no cars or people around, all the stores are closed so the darkness seems to take over everything. I enjoy walking home after work, it’s peaceful and gives me time to let my mind wander. However, tonight as the crisp air blew past me, my mind was as clear as the sky. 

I walked slowly, paying no mind to my surroundings and relying only on muscle memory to get me home. As I round the corner coming onto main street I notice a figure  walking up ahead of me. That’s weird, I think to myself, it’s past eleven o’clock at night why is someone out walking around this late. I continue walking slowly behind the person, watching them to see what they’re doing, out of pure curiosity more than anything else.

As I’m watching the figure, I soon realize it’s a young woman. Her long dark hair is swaying behind her in a ponytail. She's only a few feet ahead of me now, as I look a little closer I realize I recognize the girl to be Vanessa herself. I wonder what she’s doing out and about this late at night? I decide to go ask and quickly run up behind her, yelling and grabbing her waist shortly. She screamed and turned around sharply, her fist held high, ready to swing on whoever her attacker may be. And just for a moment, where one might see fear flash on a young woman's face after being scared by a man in the middle of the night, there was only anger. Her face was twisted into a dark hate filled look, but quickly she dropped the look and exchanged it for one of relief in seeing it was me, and then fear.

“Blair? What are you doing out here, why aren’t you at home?” She asked, a look of confusion and worry holding onto her face as she looked around for somebody else. She probably assumed I was out with my friends or something.

“I just got off work, I’m walking home now. Remember I told you after school that I had work today and that that is one of the reasons I couldn’t come over this afternoon.” I said. She must not have a very good memory. “What are you doing out here though? I didn’t think you had found a job yet.” I ask, curious as to why she was out this late as well.

“Oh, umm, right… Well actually my parents were having a little dispute, I didn’t want to be stuck in the middle of it so I decided to take a walk and let them calm down a little.” She said. Something in the way she responded made me think she was lying, but after seeing how rushed and impatient her dad had seemed with her mom earlier, and how worried she had looked, I figured it couldn’t be too far off from the truth. 

“Are you ok, do you need anything? I noticed he was a little agitated at your mom when they came in the store earlier for gas.” I said, trying to comfort her, I may be skeptical of her reasons for joining the club, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about her.

“Oh really? What did he do?” She asks, her eyebrow perking up at hearing of her parents' issue at my job.

“Nothing much, your mom just came in to pay for their gas and we got to chatting a little bit, then he started honking and waving his hands around at her like he was irritated. Your mom seemed kind of scared honestly, she left real fast and he kinda went off on her in the parking lot a little. I don’t know what about, but he seemed in a hurry.” I told her.

“Oh, yeah. He gets like that sometimes. I try to stay out of it as much as I can.” She replied, looking back towards her street. She zoned out for a second after she finished her sentence, like she was thinking about something really hard. Then a huge smile spread across her face and she looked back at me. “Do you have to go home right now or do you have a few minutes?” She asked. Confused by her sudden enthusiasm after we were just talking about her parents fighting, I answered slowly,

“Umm, I guess not… everyone should be asleep at my house so they probably wouldn’t notice if I was out for a little while longer, why?” I asked, unsure of what she was wanting to do. And whether or not I’d want to do it anyway. While no one in my house may notice I’m gone, I will definitely notice the lack of sleep tomorrow while I’m at school.

“I just haven’t gotten to see much of the town yet, we’ve been so preoccupied with moving and getting settled and back into a routine. I was wondering if you’d mind walking me around and showing me the sights?” She asks, her hsy demeanor surfacing again as she crosses her arms behind her back and looks down at the ground, pushing the dirt around with the toe of her shoe. I really do like Vanessa, and would love to show her around and maybe get to know her a little more. But, I still can’t help but to think that she’s working as a spy for Haley and her friends. As I continue tossing the idea back and forth in my head Vanessa says something else,

“It’ll give my parents some more time to cool down too, I really just don’t want to go back yet.” And with that, my mind was made.

“Well I guess a short tour won’t hurt, it’s not like our town’s very big anyway.” I say, gesturing for her to walk back the way we had come. “Let’s start this way, at the edge of town and work our way through.” I finished.

“Really!” she says, lifting her head and smiling enthusiastically. “Thanks Blair I really appreciate it!” She continues, turning around and walking back towards the red light that marks the middle of town. She begins skipping in front of me, making her way swiftly down the street, and I can’t help but smile at her. She really is unlike any girl I’ve ever met before.