ALONE

Charlotte Cane

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"ᴡᴇ ᴏꜰᴛᴇɴ ᴄᴏɴꜰᴜꜱᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴡɪꜱʜ ꜰᴏʀ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪꜱ."― ɴᴇɪʟ ɢᴀɪᴍᴀɴ, ᴍɪʀʀᴏʀᴍᴀꜱᴋ

"Stupid teenagers, always making my job harder," the clerk whispers bitterly underneath his breath. He glares at me, sits the ID down against the countertop, and twists around. "Hey, Jo!" He calls to someone in the closed back room behind the register. "We got another fake ID and a stupid teen!"

After a few moments of silence and no response from this 'Jo', he turned an annoyed scowl my way. "Don't go anywhere," he sternfully hissed and disappeared into the backroom.

I was ready to collapse. My whole body shook like a leaf as I stood there, hopeless. I wanted to run, but the fear kept me in place. Would it even matter if I ran? He knows my face now, and in such a small town he's guaranteed to find me.

I'm caught. I don't have any choice but to face the consequences, don't I?

I feel like a deer in the headlights as I remain there, pale as a ghost. I would have broken down into tears, but the sound of commotion, scuffling, and noise distracted me.

"Fred, stop." A familiar, plummy voice giggled and laughed. "Get off me," she playfully said, without any intensity or graveness. There was a lustrous look cooking in her eyes as she tried to fend him off from touching her---inappropriately.

"I can't." A male's voice, who always sounded like he was garbling water, echoed louder than her voice. "You wouldn't let me do it in the bathroom, Jules."

I craned my head, watching as Julie and Freddie appeared from the gas station bathroom hallway, looking as if they were half arguing, half messing around.

"You said you were getting chips, not following me into the stalls, you pervert." She shoved him in his chest as he trailed behind her, hands reaching for her waist.

"Oh, come on, you let Kevin do you. So why are you playing hard to get with me these days?" Fred friskily said, grabbing her arm, but she elbowed him away with her arm.

Kevin…. do her?

I couldn't comprehend the slang.

"Oh, my god…" Her laughter died as her face gaped in shock. She quickly shoved him off, hooking her hands to her hips. "How do you know about that? I told him to keep quiet about what happened that night!" Julie suddenly snapped, the anger making her smile bend into an angry glower.

"Locker Room talk, Jules." He smirked, shrugging nonchalantly. "Can't help it if he needed to talk about that little hiccup sound you make before you----."

"---Shut up!" Julie hissed, her hair whipping around as she moved with anger. "Don't you dare tell Meg!" she threw her pointed finger towards his face. "I swear to god I will bust your glories if you tell her a word about it."

"I'm not gonna tell her." He says, with a confirming shake of his head. "Unless?" His brows raised slowly and his eyes looked towards her chest.

"You're disgusting," she loudly groaned. "Fine." She threw her hands up in defeat. "Whatever. Only one more time though."

"One more time?" He pouted like a dog. "What's up with you these days? You're not as fun as you used to be."

"You heard me for the first time. Only one more time," she said, firmly as she turned her away, an irritated frown glued to her face full of makeup.

"Really, Jules, what's up? We weren't ever like this before."

"I don't know what you're talking about Freddie." She kept her head turned to the side.

"Come on Jules. Stop being like this." He spoke in low, sultry voice as he entangled his hand with hers. He had this look in his eyes that reminded of Kevin's look when we were in the boy's bathroom. It made me feel sick to my stomach.

Why do all the boys on the football team have to have those looks in their eyes wherever the prettiest girls in the school like Julie or Megan walked. It just felt wrong. Wrong to think about why, and wrong to watch every time.

"Fred, look." She tried shaking off his grip. "I told you before, I really like Gregory and I don't want to ruin anything I have with him."

Instantly, Fred released her, dropping his advances with a disgusted scrunch of his face. "What the fuck, Jules? You really like that guy? He's married and he got kids. There's no way in hell you're really falling for him."

"I know but, it's different with him!" Her voice bounced up in volume, a sensitive look dancing her jumping gaze. "You guys don't understand it."

"No." Fred shook his head, eyes wide as saucers. "You don't get it. He's just fucking around with you, Jules. You're a flavor of the month. Not the main menu."

'Yeah! Yeah. Just come and see! She's by the cash register'.

Fear snatched and I tore my sight away from being momentarily distracted by Julie and Fred as I heard distant voices coming from the backroom behind the register.

I wanted to process more of what they were saying, but I couldn't in my weakened panicked state. All I knew was that I was going to have a heart attack if I didn't get out of the situation, pronto.

"Julie! Freddie!" I quickly caught their attention. "Please, help me!" I almost whimpered as I resisted water welling in my eyes.

Both of them glanced at each other before looking at me.

Quickly, I snatched the fake ID off the countertop, moving to them with haste. "Megan asked me to use this fake ID so you guys could get this thing for the party, and I wasn't supposed to get caught, but I caught and-and the manager is coming out and I don't know what they're about to do but---."

Julie interrupted my rambling. "---Hold on." She held her hand, widening her eyes. "Slow down, You're talking too fast."

"The clerk said he's going to get the manager." My lips trembled as I whipped my head around to the backdoor, waiting in apprehension for the doors to open. "I don't know what happens if you get caught with a fake ID, and I-I don't think I want to know. W-what should I do?"

Julie and Freddie shared looks again.

"The manager is coming?" Julie asked, lifting her perfect brows.

"Y-yes." I nodded my head, making hesitant glances to the door.

"Well, fuck. You're screwed." Freddie snickered, and to my surprise, hurried out the doors leaving me and Julie behind. He moved so quickly with those long spider legs of his, that I didn't even have to time or blink.

Blinking rapidly, there was desperation in my eyes as I swiftly turned my head from the exit and back to Julie. "J-julie, what should we d---."

"---Here she is Jo." The backroom doors opened and the clerk came back out with a middle aged man with a large beard.

Panicked, I looked back to Julie, but in the split second my attention left her, she left me.

She left me.

Julie really left me.

I could feel eyes falling to me as the clerk and his manager shut the backdoor closed.

I was alone.

Alone to face the consequences.