FicWad

My boss at work was a tall, strict-looking blonde woman. She looked to be about the age of forty-five or so, but I figured that was due mostly to the numerous plastic surgery procedures she had done. The woman clicked across the floor towards me with a small smile across her bright red lips. I watched her approach almost a little apprehensively. I wasn't sure what she wanted. Hopefully, I wouldn't be in trouble for anything. For the most part, I had done a pretty good job here so far. The only thing that counted against me was the night I fainted and my fellow cashier had to take over my shift for me. But really, that was the only thing I had done wrong. Every other night, I had been on time and had proceeded to get my job done without any problems. Besides, I couldn't figure out how my boss could've learned about my little fainting spell unless the other cashier had told her about it. She wouldn't do that to me...would she? She had seemed really nice to me that night when I had fainted. You couldn't just trust strangers though. They could turn on you whenever they felt like it and crush you beneath their feet.

"Hello there, Miss Black," my boss, Susan VanAlen, greeted me. Watching my foot tap anxiously on the floor, she smiled and added, "It looks like you're in a bit of a hurry tonight. Do you have plans or anything? Maybe there's some boy waiting for you outside the store for a date or something like that?"

I blushed and shook my head furiously. As far as I was concerned, I wouldn't ever be going on a date with a boy again. To answer her question, I replied instead, "No, I just have to go shopping before Monday, so I was thinking about doing it tonight. You know the saying; there's no time like the present!"

Susan laughed and her blue eyes crinkled as she spoke, "That's true. I just wanted to come over and tell you that you've been doing a great job with your position at this store. We'd like to give you a bonus of one hundred dollars for your consistent work these last four months. I think I'll let you off duty now too since you only have five minutes left. You might as well head to that store and buy whatever you need to buy before dark. It's not safe for a pretty little girl like you to be wandering around at night."

My heart raced excitedly as Susan placed five twenty-dollar bills into my palm with a smile. I had never thought that there was even a possibility that I would get bonuses here. I must've been wrong about that though! Grinning widely, I thanked Mrs. VanAlen, "Thanks so much for this! I wasn't even expecting it!"

Susan smiled kindly at me and waved towards the door, "No need to thank me, my dear. You deserve the money fair and square. Now go run along and go to that story. You don't want a ride to the story, do you? I'd be happy to drive you, sweetie. I do get worried about you out there all alone at night. There's been a lot of crime around here lately."

I shook my head and skipped cheerfully towards the door, ignoring the slight pain in my knees as I went, "I'm good, thanks for the offer though, Mrs. VanAlen! I'll see you at work on Mon-" I broke off my sentence. I had no idea how long the dance was going to last. What if Ray kept me at the dance all night and I wasn't able to escape? Then I would end up missing work! I didn't really want to ask Mrs. VanAlen for a day off after she had just given me a bonus for my consistency, but I didn't really have a choice.

"What is it, Olivia?" Mrs. VanAlen asked curiously, raising a perfect eyebrow above her right eye. "Do you have something going on Monday?" Hesitantly, I nodded slowly and explained, "Actually, I do. The Downey High School is having their annual winter dance and I'm required to attend. It's not that I want to go or anything, but I don't have a choice about it. I'm not sure how long the dance lasts though, so I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to work that night."

Mrs. VanAlen waved a hand as if to dismiss the subject, "Oh, don't worry about that at all! I'll find someone to take over your shirt for that night. Have fun at your dance!" With that, Mrs. VanAlen waved a hand to me as I thanked her and silently slipped outside into the darkness. The night was cool and crisp and I could hear crickets chirping all around me.

After locating the clothing store in the faint distance, I started skipping off towards it with a bounce in my step. I was feeling in a much better mood than I had felt in days. The prospect of having two hundred dollars in my pocket was making me feel light-headed. I couldn't even remember the last time I had that much money. I felt so rich! While I skipped along, I tried to think about what color dress I would want to get. I had been thinking of black. After all, black was a traditional color and it was really sexy. However, would everyone else be wearing black? For once, I didn't want to blend in that night. I had nothing to fear the night of the dance. After all, Ray couldn't rape me in public and he certainly wouldn't let any other guys get their hands on me. So if I didn't want to blend in, what color dress would I want? I would need something that would match my light brown hair and hazel eyes. I decided maybe I would ask the owner of the shop for some fashion hints.

As I reached the store, I pulled the doorknob on and stepped inside. I followed the signs that led to the dresses. To my delight, the store was almost completely empty so I almost had the store all to myself. But just as I rounded the corner to the dress rack, a head of long, auburn hair came into my sight. My eyes narrowed as I recognized the girl; it was Kitty! What would Kitty be doing here at this time of night? Picking out a dress probably, but why so late?

Deciding not to approach her, I started thumbing through the dresses to see if I could find something I liked. However, the crinkle of the dresses made a rather loud swishing sound, and Kitty glanced curiously over her shoulder to see who was behind her. For no good reason at all, I found myself blushing at looking away from her. For some reason, I just didn't like looking people in the eye. I knew that looking away was rather rude, but it was just something I had always done.

Kitty, however, smiled at me through her dark, burgundy lips and said, "Hey, you're in social studies last period, right? I swear I saw you in class today. Forgive me, but I don't remember your name. What was it again? I'm sure I've heard it before, it's just that I have an awful memory. Anyways, I'm Kristen. Everyone calls me Kitty though."

Hesitatingly, I reached out a hand and shook Kitty's, saying, "I'm Olivia Black. Yep, I'm in social studies last period. So what are you up to this late at night? Do you always go shopping this late?" Okay, I knew the questions I was asking were really nosy and none of my business, but the questions just seemed to pop right out of my mouth. I wasn't sure why I felt urged to ask these things, but suddenly, I felt a strong need to know exactly what Kitty was up to.

Kitty returned her gaze to a strapless, dark green dress that hung on a hanger right in front of her as she replied, "I'm looking for a dance for the dress on Monday actually. I'm really excited for it! This is going to be my first real dance ever! I don't always shop this late though. I'm only shopping this late because I had swim team practice after school, and after that, I had to go home and finish my homework so my mom wouldn't be mad. Has someone invited you to the dance?"

I nodded without any enthusiasm. Two people had invited me to the dance actually; James and Ray. Kitty turned back to me and raised an eyebrow curiously. It was obvious she wanted to know who had invited me to the dance. Feeling like I should tell her, I said in an expressionless voice, "I'm going with Ray. Who are you going with?"

Kitty squealed and exclaimed, "Wow, you lucky girl! Ray is that guy with the sexy abs and blonde hair, right? I've been trying to get him to notice me for forever, but he never even sends a look my way. Oh well, I wouldn't want to steal him from you if you two have been going out. I'm going with James Hetfield. He's been really friendly in class to me lately, so I kind of expected him to ask me. You have to admit, he is pretty cute. Maybe not as good looking as Ray, but still."

It took all my strength not to snort at Kitty's statement. For all I cared, she could have Ray all to herself for the rest of her life if that's what she wanted. As a matter of fact, I would pay her the two hundred dollars in my pocket if she could "steal" Ray from me. I didn't reply to her sentence and just kept thumbing through the dresses. There was a little pain in my chest that had not been there a minute before though. Where had that come from?

Kitty sighed and held out that gorgeous, dark green dress for me to look at, saying, "Look at this dress, isn't it beautiful? It's like a dream dress for me. The only thing that sucks about it is the price though. It's one hundred and fifty dollars. My mom only gave me fifty to spend on a dress. I guess I'm going to have to go with this black one." Kitty took a much simpler, black dress off the rack and rested it lightly over her arm. With that, she waved to me and said, "Nice meeting you, Olivia! I hope I'll see you at the dance on Monday. Anyways, good luck finding a dress!"

I watched as Kitty disappeared around the corner before immediately turning towards that green dress she had looked at. Okay, I knew one hundred and fifty dollars was way too much for a dress, but I felt a strong need to have it. I knew it certainly wasn't a nice thing to buy Kitty's dream dress, but really, why should I give a damn about Kitty? No matter how friendly she had been to me, I still couldn't help but feel a strong feeling of dislike towards her. I wasn't sure why I disliked Kitty so much, but I just did.

I hesitated one more second, and then decided to buy the dress. I pulled it gently off the rack, careful not to snag the fabric, and hurried up towards the cash register. The woman behind the cash register rang the dress up for me and told me the price of it with a large yawn. Her eyes were dark and she seemed to be falling half asleep. I quickly handed over the money and then took the bag with the dress she handed me. Feeling excited to have such an exquisite gown in my bag, I clutched it tightly to my chest and hurried out into the darkness.

Even though I knew I was very tired since it was near the end of the week and I hadn't been sleeping much, I felt like I had a lot of energy. It was like the excitement about the gown had pumped fuel into my. Maybe I was just so looking forward to the dance that nothing else seemed to matter. It was kind of funny how at first I had dreaded the dance and was now looking forward to it. I guess I changed my mind about things pretty easily.

~ ~ ~ ~

When I arrived home later that night, I saw that the lights in the house were still on. That meant my mother must still be up. I wondered what she was up to. Hopefully, her secret lover wouldn't be fucking her on the couch. Knowing that my mom really didn't need to see my new dress, I quickly stuffed it into my book bag. After all, she would definitely consider spending a hundred and fifty dollars on a dress as a waste. But to me, it wasn't a waste. It was making me happy, and most things didn't do that anymore. So if spending a lot of money made me happy, well, I didn't regret it.

Apprehensively, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. My mother was standing against the far wall with a pale face and trembling arm. I bit my lip as I slowly shut the door behind me. It wasn't a good sign when she looked like this. It was pretty obvious to me that she had been drinking a lot. I wasn't sure if I should speak to her or just let her be and go up to my room. Sometimes she wanted to chat, and at other times, she just wanted to be left alone.

Figuring that this was one of the times when she would just want to be left alone, I started towards the stairs, but was brought to a halt at my mother's words. She called out to me in a deadly tone, "Stop, Olivia. Go over to that corner over there." She pointed to the corner of the room opposite her with a long, bony finger. I wasn't sure what she wanted, but I obeyed her and crossed the room so I was standing opposite from her. For some reason, every step I took seemed to make me more and more nervous. Something just didn't feel right her. Something bad was going on.

Once I stood directly across from her, I peered into her eyes and raised my eyebrows, "What's going on here, mom? Do you need something?" My mom just shook her head stiffly and continued to look at me with that deathly gaze. There was definitely something wrong with that woman. I had never seen her look so bad before. It was like looking at a woman who was seconds away from death. It certainly wasn't a pretty sight.

"Hold still for a minute. Promise me you will?" my mom slurred. I shrugged my shoulders and agreed to her command, still trying to make sense of the situation. I was pretty lost in what was going on. Then I noticed that she had been holding something behind her back. With those trembling arms of hers, she brought an object out from behind her back and pointed it right at me. With a gasp, I noticed the object was a gun...that was pointing right at my heart.

Before I had time to think or act, the monster of a woman across the room from me pulled the trigger. I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared myself for a quick death. When nothing happened, I slow dared to open my eyelids. Across the room from me, my mom's eyes were rolling back in her head and her grip on the gun faltered. With a loud bang, she tumbled to the ground. When I was sure she was unconscious, I hurried across the room to retrieve the black gun from the ground.

Examining it carefully, I tried to figure out where it had come from. I had never seen it before. It was like it had appeared out of thin air. In all my years, I had never imagined that my mom could own a gun. But she was obviously pretty crazy now and anything was possible. Trembling slightly, I stowed the gun away in my pocket and trudged upstairs to my bedroom, leaving my mom lying on the floor. There wasn't anything I could do for her at this point.

As I walked upstairs, I couldn't get my hands to stop shaking. I kept thinking that my life could've been ended by now if the gun hadn't malfunctioned. As much as I had wanted to die before, now I wasn't so sure about it. Maybe life wasn't so bad after all. I should be more careful for what I wished for. After all, those wishes might actually come true.