C H A P T E R  T H R E E

"I'm probably going to get arrested for murder by the end of the week." I dramatically sigh to Jackson, running a hand down my face.

We're both currently swinging on my old swing set with half-eaten ice cream cones in our hands, chatting away about how dumb Quinton is.

Well, at least I'm talking about how dumb he is, since she's too nice to admit that he's evil.

"Well, just know that I love you and I'll be the one to break you out of prison." She assures me with a smile. "I still can't believe that Quinton works there, what a coincidence." She adds, which only feeds the flames that are currently burning in my soul.

I sound dramatic, I know.

"I know." I let out a loud sigh, "I don't think I'll be able to do this. I can't stand seeing him for more than five minutes,  imagine five hours." I groan before taking a bite of my ice cream, frowning when I realize that it's almost finished.

"Maybe this is a sign." She says with a mouth full, her ice cream gone completely. Wow she's a fast eater.

I look at her with a confused gaze. "A sign for what?"

"A sign that you two should forgive each other and move on." My eyes immediately widen at her.

"Jack, you know how he treats me." I say sternly, my heart picking up speed. "He's a terrible person."

"I'm not justifying what he's done, I'm just saying that this is eating you alive. This is just hurting you, it's not effecting him." She says sternly, and I can't help but roll my eyes in her direction.

"I can't forgive him, and you know that Jack." I say with an annoyed tone. "He's unforgivable."

"No one is unforgivable. My Dad left me and my mom, but I forgave him. Yes, it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I realized that being happy is better than being angry, especially over a person."

I hate it when she pulls out the Dad story on me, because I always lose.

"I know." I let out, placing my face in my hands.

"Do you?" She says. "Because if you truly knew, you'd be able to forgive him."

"Well. . ." I mumble, my shoulders slumping in defeat. "It's a lot easier said than done."

"I know." She says, placing one of her hands on my back. "But you can do it."

"I hate when you're right." I admit with a glare, standing up from my swing, throwing my cone in the dumpster that my dad keeps on the side of the house. I hear her chuckle behind me.

"I'm right a lot." She says with confidence, striding up beside me as I make my way towards my front door.

"Uh-huh, right." I playfully roll my eyes at her and cross my arms over my chest.

"Well," She declares, "I'm gonna head home now, I love you."

I bring her into a quick hug before mumbling, "I love you too," into her ear. She lets me go before hopping into her car and swiftly driving down the road towards her house. I let out a loud sigh as I step inside, feeling tired and worn out from work, deciding to head upstairs to shower and lay in my room.

☆

I'm convinced that my mother has no human emotion towards me at all.

She literally woke me up at seven o'clock this morning screaming at me to get out of bed because Percy called saying that he needed me to come in early. She was also pissed that she was woken up instead of me because, "I never answer my phone".

One second she hates when I'm on my phone and the next she's mad at me because I'm not.

Mothers, something even scientists will never be able to understand.

My thoughts get interrupted abruptly from a loud noise, seeming to be coming from the front of the store. I walk around the book shelves to see a two year old carrying a small book in his hands, deciding that he wanted to leave the store before checking out. I chuckle at him, smiling as I walk up to him.

"Hi cutie," I say cheerfully to the infant. "Where's your mom?"

He just looks at me with a smile on his face, his eyes full of joy and innocence. I pick him up, hoping to find his mother somewhere behind the bookshelves or in the restroom.

I check the restroom but come up empty, so I check behind the bookshelves instead. I'm relieved when I find a petite blonde woman in the cook book section with a little girl by her side.

"Excuse me?" I ask the woman, putting a hand on her small shoulder. She turns around, a small smile on her face. The smile turns into a look of confusion in an instant when she sees the small child in my arms. "Is this your son?"

"Oh my, yes! Where did he wonder off to?" She asks, extending her arms to the child. He jumps into her arms, laughing a bit.

"He was just at the front of the store." I say, smiling. "Have a good day."

"You too, dear." She says back before looking at her son, smiling. I internally sigh, hoping that one day I'll have children. I've always loved babysitting, because I always feel like I'm getting a small glimpse of what it would be like to have my own home and children.

"Well," I hear an annoyingly familiar voice stay behind me, "look who the cat dragged in."

I turn around and place an icy glare on Quinton before walking past him, not in the mood to play his little game, which involves him annoying the crap out of me on purpose and me blowing up on him. I can't deal with his childish attitude right now. If Percy finds out that we don't actually get along, he may try to get us to talk about it. . .and that is not what I want to do.

I go back to restocking the shelves, finishing off what I started an hour ago. My next task is to avoid Quinton as much as possible. He's a menace when he wants to be, and by the look on his face, he's probably planning some way to get on my nerves.

Well, his presence alone gets on my nerves so he doesn't need to do much scheming.

I quickly make my way to the back room, avoiding his annoying glare in the process. I grab the cleaning supplies before heading into the bathroom, surprised when he doesn't say anything rude or sarcastic to me.

First I clean inside the stalls and restock the toilet paper, happy at the fact that the bathroom isn't dirty today. I quickly sweep and refill the paper towel dispenser, exiting the restroom when everything is done. "That was fast." Quinton says behind the counter, a smirk on his face. "It better actually be clean, or else I'll get Percy."

"Why do you care? It's the woman's restroom." I say, rolling my eyes.

"Because if it's not clean, then you could get in trouble," he says with an evil tone. "and if I keep getting you in trouble, than you could get fired. And that's exactly what I want."

I just roll my eyes at him. "You can't get me fired, because I always do a perfect job. And if you want to go check the lady's restroom yourself, fine by me." I snap at him before stomping into the back room, letting out a growl of frustration as I sit down in a chair.

"You alright?" I hear Percy ask from behind me, and I quickly put a smile on my face before turning around.

"Yeah, just stubbed my toe a little." I lie, grabbing my shoe to make it look real. He looks at me with worry in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asks, and I nod my head.

"Of course."

If I have to keep lying to my own boss, I may end up getting fired by the end of the month. And I most definitely cannot have that happen. My mother would throw a fit and Quinton would find an abnormal amount of satisfaction, which would just about kill me.