Hiya!

I mentioned in my previous devlog that I would be working on some short stories that would follow different characters from Fueled by Insanity, so here they are! It was fun getting to write different things, even if it's been a while since I've written in a story format rather than the visual novel format that I'm used to. Hopefully, now that this has gotten me back into the hang of writing again, I should be able to do a good job for the next update.

So anyway, here are the stories! All of them take place before the story of Fueled by Insanity begins.

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Caijoru's Inconvenience

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The sun's familiar soft, red glow outlines an old brick country house, the same one I had lived in before my brother and I embarked. I flinch upon seeing it, the memories rushing back to me of the place I'll never experience again and the people who will never remember I was there. What I'm seeing is only a replica conjured up from my own memories to give form to this curious, desolate space.

We had not returned here willingly.

"This is certainly an inconvenience," I huff.

My brother chimes in, "yes, and a troubling one at that. We would be in quite a predicament had I not had the foresight to bring a second one of these."

He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a stone with a faint red hue to it, much like the one that had been confiscated from me only half an hour ago.

"You never did tell me where you obtained them."

"Nuh-uh-uh. A kitsune's gotta keep his secrets. Now, come. Let's go inside where it's much less dreary." My brother leads the way and I reluctantly follow. Now that we're down to one key between the two of us, I know better than to allow myself to get separated. I dare not think of what would happen were I to end up alone without a key of my own. At much as I'd rather be the one in charge, I don't have much of a choice but to follow along right now. Like always.

As we enter the house, I'm struck with a sense of nostalgia. Everything is back where it used to be: the futon next to the fireplace, the giant, glass credenza filled with hand-crafted wooden figurines, the bookshelf filled with just about any science book, fact or fiction, I could get my hands on... even the pile of clothes on the floor that Rix refused to ever clean up.

I lean back against the wall, not wanting to get too comfortable. This is only a temporary stay, after all. My brother, on the other hand, waltzes on over to the futon and lies down, holding his key just above his face, staring at it. I stare as well. It's curious how something so small can be so useful. You would never know just from looking at it. It's dull in color and doesn't glisten or glow the way most enchanted artifacts would. Any trace of magic in it is entirely undetectable, and yet, that key is the only thing that allows us to enter and exit this place, this world between worlds. How my brother managed to obtain, or perhaps create it, is beyond my knowledge. The two we had are likely the only two in existence at the moment, which makes it all the more troubling that mine was seized from me in only the first world we delved into.

"What's our next plan, Meimaru?" I ask. "Do we continue exploring other worlds, or do we look for a way to return and take back our other key?"

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Marshall's Morning

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It's early morning and I'm sitting in the cafeteria. It's our last week before finals, so I'm reviewing my notes, trying to get in as much studying as I can. Unfortunately, a certain someone is making it difficult to focus, not that I mind too much.

"And then the main admin decided to nerf mages after that because I beat the final boss at level seventy-five without taking any damage by kiting him around the room. It took, like, two hours and it was so intense, but I knew I could do it. You should try playing sometime, Marshall."

Colin's being his usual, chipper self today. He's always got some new game to rant on and on about to everyone, and it doesn't matter if you have interest in it or not. He will make sure you hear every single detail. Still, I'm ok with that. While I'm sure my grades would be higher if I could actually concentrate on studying in the morning, I also appreciate the company. I just don't have much I can really say in return.

"Yeah, I may download it some day. Just not right now when finals are coming up." It's the best response I can come up with to avoid him pushing it further. He's been trying to get me to play this new MMO with him for weeks now.

Colin's eyes light up after I say that, his tail wagging behind him. I've made a mistake, haven't I?

"Awesome! I've been saving up spare sets of equipment that I can give you. I've been holding onto everything I get so that if you guys start playing, you don't have to go through the hellish grind at the beginning like I did."

With as excited as he's getting over this, maybe I could throw him a bone and try playing with him just once, even it's not my type of game.

I'm about to turn back to my studies, but am quickly interrupted when a certain arctic fox's voice catches my ears. "Hey, guys."

"Hiya, Parker." Colin immediately shifts his attention to the fox. Parker drops his backpack to the floor with a loud thud and, unfortunately, the sound of something being smashed as well.

"Uhh... did you just break something?" I ask, staring at the bulky red backpack lying on its side.

Parker's ears fold and I can sense the dread all over his face. He drops down to unzip his backpack and pulls out a laptop. When he tries to open it, it becomes evident that one of the hinges has snapped off.

"Aww, crap! I forgot to take my laptop out last night. My dad's going to kill me," the panicked fox tries lining up the broken laptop hinge to no avail. It's done for.

"Why did you have your laptop in your bag anyway?" Colin asks.

"I had a presentation yesterday. I guess I forgot to take it out last night 'cause I was too tired."

Parker picks up the broken laptop and sets it on the table, finally taking a seat with us. I feel like I should say something, but I don't know how to even help. I know nothing about repairing electronics.

From the corner of my eye, I spot Caleb, the last member of our core group, walking over to us with a full breakfast tray in his hands. I wave to him.

"Yo, how's it going, guys?" The raccoon uses his foot to pull out the chair next to me to take a seat. Colin nabs the apple from the tray as he usually does, since Caleb doesn't like them. Our school has this weird rule where if you buy lunch or breakfast, you have to take certain food with you whether you like it or not. If you don't want it, the teachers tell you to just throw it away. We've always been told it's so the school can report that students are eating healthy, but all it really does is waste food. Because of that, we usually swap food items we don't want.

"What happened to your laptop?" Caleb inquires, noticing the busted hinge.

"He slammed it on the floor. Full force!" Colin answers as he raises a fist into the air. "... Ok maybe it wasn't quite like that."

Parker, meanwhile, pushes his laptop over to the side and rests his head on the table, closing his eyes. "Today sucks."

"You should be able to get it repaired," Caleb begins. "I was able to get my keyboard replaced when it started shorting out. You could always take yours to the same place I took mine. It didn't take them long to fix it after they ordered the parts."

"Maybe..." Parker sighs. Man, he really looks defeated right now. "Either way, I'm dead when I get home."

"Just tell your parents I did it." Caleb suggests.

Parker raises his head and blinks, staring at the raccoon. "What?"

"Just say I tripped and fell on your backpack or something. They can't get mad at you if they think it's my fault."

"Yeah, but..."

Colin butts in. "Don't his parents already hate you, Caleb?"

Caleb nods. "Exactly. So it's not like it matters if they get mad at me for something else."

"Hmm..." Parker lifts his head back up, his eyes still transfixed on the broken hinge of his laptop as he contemplates Caleb's plan. "Maybe that'll work. I dunno. My parents can be weird sometimes."

Caleb snorts. "You're telling me."

"Hey, I just realized something," Colin starts, grabbing all of our attention. "The library should be open now, right?"

"Yes," I answer.

"I need to I need to go print out my essay for Mrs. Campbell's class. Does anyone wanna go with me?"

The rest of us look to each other, trying to figure out who has the least reason to not go with him. Colin's always been weird about not wanting to go places alone, so whenever he has something he needs to go do, he always asks for one of us to tag along.

Caleb's the first to turn him down. "I would, but I still need to eat," he motions towards his breakfast that he hasn't yet touched.

"I'm still studying," I point out.

Parker lifts his head up off the table and shrugs. "I guess I'll go with you."

"Yay! Thanks." Colin stands up and puts his backpack on while he waits on Parker to get his stuff together, and then the two of them head off.

Only afterwards do I realize the situation I'm now in. I'm alone with Caleb. Ok, I'm not technically alone with him. There's a lot of other students in the cafeteria, too. Still, it's only the two of us at our table now...

A week ago, it wouldn't have mattered, but he recently came out to me about being into guys. I'm not sure why he did, or why I'm the one he went to to talk about it, but ever since then, I've kind of, uhh... been questioning things myself, as well.

"Anatomy and physiology, huh?" Caleb's voice startles me, causing me to jerk for a second.

"H-huh?"

"That's what you're studying, right?" I notice Caleb leaning over, glancing at my lab manual that I'm meant to be studying. "I've heard that class is hard."

"Oh, uhh... yeah, kind of."

I flip the page and place my finger on a random word, slowly moving it across in an attempt to make it look like I'm actually doing something. Caleb, in the meantime, is struggling to open the small package of oat cereal on his tray.

"Wow, it's like they superglued this shut."

I'm about to suggest for him to just poke a hole in it with his spoon, but the package finally comes open, some of the cereal flying up into his face in the process. I chuckle, having looked up from my lab manual just in time to see. He sits still, staring in shock for a second, before grumbling to himself.

"Stupid school cereal."

His expression soon changes into a smile as a light bulb seems to go off in his head.

"Oh, right. I've been meaning to ask," he says. "What are your plans after we graduate?"

"Like... career?" I ask, not sure what he's getting at.

"Just in general."

I gaze at his tray as he pours a serving of milk into the plastic cereal bowl, trying to think of how to answer. "Maybe I'll do more schooling. I'd like to go into the medical field. But, I think I want to take a year off before that."

Caleb rushes down the bite of cereal he's eating before responding. "Dude, yes. We're about to finish school, so why go straight into more school?" He takes another bite, and then continues. "I'm going to get a job after graduation so I can hurry up and move out of my parents' place. There's this house I've been looking at that's not too bad, but I'd need someone to split rent with."

Realizing that I've been looking everywhere except at Caleb, I turn my focus towards his face, not wanting to come across as too standoffish. I don't want to give off the impression that I don't want to be around him, especially since he trusted me enough to come out to me. I'm just worried about going too far the other way and making him uncomfortable. I'm not very good at dealing with feelings like this.

I focus my eyes on his nose, something much less intimidating to look at than his eyes, and respond. "I'd be fine with splitting rent with you if you need a roommate. I'm wanting to move out, too."

"Awesome!" Caleb's eyes light up upon hearing my answer. "Hey, do you think we should ask Parker and Colin too? The more people to split rent, the better."

I feel a slight wave of relief come over me when he asks about the others. If they're around too, I won't have to worry about making a dork of myself by being alone with him. That's assuming this crush even lasts that long. I think that's what this is, at least. Just a crush.

"Yeah, that might be best."

Suddenly, Caleb makes a strange face, like he's trying to figure something out. "Hey, uhh... you're staring at my nose. Is there something on it?" Caleb brushes his nose with his hand, trying to wipe off something that's not there to begin with. Meanwhile, I'm panicking inside about how to react. I wasn't trying to stare at him, but apparently I was if he noticed. I was just trying to do, you know, normal eye contact stuff.

The only thing fortunate about this situation is that he's unintentionally given me a way out. "Yeah, you had some cereal stuck to your nose, but you got it," I lie, adding a forced chuckle for effect.

"It's because that stupid packaging refused to come off," he laughs as well, before taking his last bite of cereal.

"Yeah, well-" before I can finish my thought, the bell rings and it's time to head to class.

"Hey, perfect timing. See you at lunch." Caleb picks up his tray and gives one last grin before we part ways for the day.

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Tracy's New Job

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"Hello? Anyone here?"

I glance at the text on my phone to make sure I've got the correct time and location. Sure enough, this is the address I've been given, yet I don't see anyone else here. The room I'm in is much smaller than I was expecting. In fact, it's only slightly bigger than my bedroom. The walls are decorated with shelves filled to the brim with books, boxes, jars, and other various objects such as rocks, sticks, and small sculptures.

"Helloooooooo? It's ten thirty. This is when I was told to be here," I call out, hoping someone will hear.

... Still nothing.

"Did they give me the wrong address?" I mumble to myself, examining my surroundings to make sure. "No... this definitely feels creepy enough to be a paranormal research place, but... why is no one here?"

Just then, I get startled by the sound of the door opening behind me. When I turn around, however, I just find a short, disheveled chinchilla balancing three boxes of donuts with two cups of coffee on top. "Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean to keep you waiting. Last night was horrible. A client reported a ghost her in basement, so I had to stay there all night."

A few questions pop into my head almost immediately. Is this my boss? What's with all the donuts? And... "You saw a ghost? Like, a real one?"

"Of course not. That's why it was so horrible. I had to sit in a basement for five hours for nothing. It's silly of people to believe ghosts would exist only during the night and then just, what, vanish during the day?" The chinchilla lets out an exasperated sigh as he sets the boxes down on a nearby computer desk. "If ghosts were real," he puts emphasis on the word "if," "they would be around at all times of day. Instead, I have to lose sleep over nothing."

The chinchilla takes off his jacket and hangs it on a coat hanger in the corner of the room that I hadn't noticed before. He then walks up to me. "Now, for introductions. I am Blake, owner of The Paranormal Research Lab, and I assume you are Tracy?" I nod. "Would you prefer to go by Ms. or Mr. Tracy?"

I'm caught off-guard when he asks. My previous employer was... not the most accepting when I came out as trans, so it's hard not to get nervous about the topic of my gender because I never know how people will take it. Having it brought up so casually without any snide remarks makes me feel... happy, actually, like I can relax and not worry about anything.

"Ms. works," I answer.

"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Tracy." He holds his hand out for a handshake, so I accept. "Would you like a donut or some coffee maybe?"

"No. I mean, no thanks. Not right now, at least." I'm struggling to figure out what tone I'm meant to use. Blake's speaking so formally, so I feel like I'm expected to as well, but I've never been very good at acting all proper and stuff.

"Well, I'll leave them here in case you change your mind," Blake opens one of the boxes and faces it outwards before taking a sip from one of the styrofoam coffee cups. "It's easy to forget to eat when you're lost in research, so it's a good idea to keep snacks about."

"How does this research stuff work anyway? Am I going to be reading a bunch of books of old ghost stories or something?"

I notice Blake's tail twitch when I ask that, which makes me wonder if maybe I've said something wrong.

"No. Books are dull and boring, and it takes forever to find what you're looking for. It's much better to use the internet. That is why I've got a computer here, after all. Imagine you were to be asked for information about the lucky quartz of Brimswall. How would you look it up in a book if you don't know where to start? No, the internet is a much more efficient way to learn about specifics."

I'm not sure where to start with everything he's just said, so I decide it may be best to ask about the thingy he mentioned. "What's the lucky quartz of Brimswall?"

For the first time so far, Blake's formal demeanor goes away entirely and a genuine smile makes its way across his face. "Good question. Why don't we look this bad bitch up?"

I have to do a double take upon hearing that. Did he really just say that? I can't help but burst into laughter once I finally realize. I did not expect the complete one-eighty in his tone. Judging by how pleased Blake looks with himself, I think that was his intention.

"I always love doing that," the chinchilla sticks his tongue out at me. "I'm horrible at keeping up the whole formal facade. I'll do it for clients, but fuck me if I have to keep that up all the time."

"Man, you had me fooled," I say, still amused by his sudden shift. "I'm gonna be real here. I was nervous as hell with it being my first day and all, but that made my day."

"Of course." Blake reaches into the first box of donuts and pulls one out, taking a bite. "That's one of the perks of this job. You can just be yourself and have fun. Just as long as you actually get stuff done."

Something tells me I may have lucked out with this job. I was skeptical at first, but this seems like it will be better than I expected.

"So, anyway, lemme go ahead and get you logged into your account here so we can look that quartz up. Might as well start you off with one of the few real things out there so you'll have an idea of how this all works."

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Daren's Graduation Party

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It's been years since I've last been to The Samwood Burger House. The last time I can remember was on a school field trip back when I was a kid. Today, I'm here for a sort of graduation party that my half-brother and his friends are throwing for me. They asked me where I wanted to go, so I chose here.

I don't know Colin's friends all that well. They were all a grade above me, so I never saw them much aside from the occasional mornings where I'd eat breakfast in the cafeteria at school. I think his friend group has expanded a little since then.

My friends, on the other hand, I've only met online. I'd like to meet them some day, but that likely won't be happening for a long time. Traveling is expensive and we all live too far apart.

Back to the here and now, we're seated at a table, waiting on our food to arrive. Colin, Parker, and Sean are all bickering about how their ride here went while Marshall, Caleb, and I listen in.

"That's why you should've listened to me instead of Sean!" Colin rolls his head back, dramatically sighing, yet lets his tongue hang out of his mouth to show that he's not actually that angry.

"I said I was sorry," Sean scratches the back of his head, his face turning red from embarrassment. "I thought I knew the way."

"To be fair, I wouldn't trust you with directions either, sir," Marshall grins at Colin from across the table.

Colin glances back at Marshall and then shakes his head. "Don't you start saying that to me."

"Why not... sir?" Marshall's grin turns wider as he knows he's found a way to mess with Colin.

"To be fair, I still got us here in good time," Parker chimes in.

"You drove us in circles for half an hour! If you just listened to me, the person who's actually been here before, we would've got here in five minutes!" Colin's tone becomes slightly more exasperated, yet he still manages to keep a goofy smile at the same time. "Why were you even listening to Sean's directions anyway? He's never been here. How's he going to tell you the way to a place he's never been?"

"I mean, Sean's way did take us on an adventure. What's the point of riding in the fox car if we don't get to take the scenic route every time?"

From what I gather, the three of them usually ride together whenever they go places, so they call it the fox car. I think the other two usually ride together, but Caleb and I live on opposite ends of town, so Marshall picked me up while Caleb came by himself.

"So, Daren," Caleb gets my attention on the side while the others continue to banter, "what are your plans now that you've graduated?"

I was hoping to avoid this question, but I can't say I'm surprised I'm being asked. I just don't have a good answer for it. "Was hoping to get into a music college. Got rejected."

"Dang, that's a bummer."

"Yeah... So I don't really have any plans now."

It kind of sucks not being able to give a good, positive answer when I know this is supposed to be a celebration, but I don't know what else I'm supposed to say. I could lie and make up something about career goals, but I'd rather just tell the truth. Truth is always easier.

"If it helps, I can get what it's like having a wrench thrown in your plans for the future," Caleb turns towards the rest of the table and glares briefly, though none of them notice.

"Something happen?" I ask.

Caleb hesitates before answering. "Well, some of us were supposed to get a rent a house together after we graduated, but they all bailed last second."

"I didn't mean to bail," Colin interjects, overhearing the conversation. "Like I said, I haven't been able to land a job yet. I can't exactly pay my half of rent if I have no money to pay with."

"That's not really an excuse," Caleb retorts. "I already told you the place I'm working at has openings. You could still get a job there."

"Yeah, but that would mean working weekends."

"What's this about?" Parker asks, only just now hearing this side of the table's conversation.

Before anyone can answer, our waiter shows up with our food. He goes around the table, serving each of us our meals before heading off. Most of us got burgers with different various toppings. The only one who strayed from the norm was Marshall, who decided to get nachos instead. Sean takes notice.

"Did you really just come to a burger place to get nachos?" the cross fox judges.

"Yes," Marshall answers before shoving a chip in his mouth, not phased by Sean's reaction to his meal choice.

"I approve. Their nacho cheese is really good from what I remember," I pipe in. "There's a reason I asked for some on the side." I remove the top bun from my burger and pick up the small, plastic container of nacho cheese from my tray to pour over the top before placing the bun back on.

I lift up my now-complete burger to take a bite when I notice everyone staring at me.

"What? You guys not had nacho cheese on a burger before?"

"No," Parker answers, "but it looks really good. Maybe I should ask for some the next time our waiter comes around."

"You guys are strange," Sean gets the words out in between bites of his burger. A couple pieces of lettuce fall off, but he's quick to pick them up and not let them go to waste.

"And that's why you hang out with us," Parker smirks at him. I think Sean is new to their group since I don't remember seeing him hang out with the others at school.

"Hey, I'm not weird. I'm normal," Colin says as he's busy digging into his fries.

"You're the most weird..." Marshall replies, pausing a second before finishing his sentence, "sir."

"Doesn't every group of friends call themselves weird?" Caleb questions. "So, saying that we're weird just means we're normal."

Colin's ears perk up when he hears Caleb's remark, and he wasts no time in following up. "See? Caleb agrees that I'm normal."

"Yeah, just keep telling yourself that," Sean snorts.

That only makes Colin smile more. "Now that I have your permission, I will."

The rest of our meal continues much the same way. Luckily for me, Colin and his friends have enough energy between all of them that I'm not expected to do too much aside from sitting back and enjoying myself. I admire how my half-brother has managed to not only make, but keep most of his friends throughout his school years. I made a few here and there, but none of my in-person friends really stuck. They'd always drift away after a while when our interests would change. Maybe it's because I'm not as outgoing as Colin.

Either way, this graduation party was fun. It helped me take my mind off of what could have been, and focus more on what can still be.

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Ted's Bad Day

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"Let me speak to your manager!"

I groan as I've got yet another customer who's irate over something that's their own fault. They're the third one today.

Unfortunately, I'm the only cashier here for the rest of the night, so I have no one to back me up. The other two have already gone home as their shifts just ended. Not only that, but my manager's not even here today, so I'm by myself to run the front end. I never realized before this job just how much customer service workers have to deal with.

"Manager's not here," I calmly explain, but this wolf is having none of it.

"Oh, of course! That's just great!" he complains, making a dramatic fuss. Meanwhile, the lady who's with him, presumably a coworker since they're both wearing the same car dealership uniform, looks embarrassed about the whole situation. "Where's Edwin?" the wolf practically snarls. "He never asks me for my ID. I can't believe this shit you're pulling."

"Let's just go," his coworker tries to persuade him, but that only stirs him up even more.

"No! This is bullshit!" the wolf continues to raise his voice. "I just want my beer!"

The more he yells at me, the faster my heart races. Deep down, I'd love to yell back at him, but that would only make things worse. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure my manager's had something against me since the day I started working here, so I don't want to risk getting fired. Instead, I try my best to calmly explain the situation to him again.

"Store policy is to ID everyone for alcohol sales. Your ID expired five months ago, so I can't sell this to you."

"Dude, I'm twenty-eight!"

"And your ID is still expired."

"You know I'm old enough."

"And like I said, your ID is still expired. If I sell this to you, I could get fined or arrested. I'm not risking it."

"Fine, but I'm not putting this beer back. That's your job, asshole."

The wolf storms out, followed by his coworker, though she does mouth the word "sorry" to me before heading out.

Luckily, there are no other customers in line at the moment, so I get a minute to calm down. I'm used to dealing with these types of customers by now, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm always shaken up afterwards.

"The holidays really do bring out the worst in people..." I mutter to myself. Because I'm the lowest in seniority at my store, I'm always the one who has to work closing shift on holidays, and every time it's the same. People find reasons to get upset and take it out on those who don't deserve it. But, that's life I guess. A job is a job.

It's hard to believe I've only been working here for eight months. It definitely feels like it's been way longer. I suppose it's hard to track time when I don't have much of a life outside of my job. It's not easy to have one when I'm always having to work during the times most people my age are available to hang out and do stuff. The only thing really keeping me in this city is the fact that rent's cheap and I don't feel like gambling on getting a new job that could potentially be worse than this one. Besides, I've grown attached to some of my regulars here. I think I would miss them if I were to quit.

A few minutes go by when finally, another customer, a tiger, shows up. I notice that he's struggling to balance the ten or so bottles of beer that he's carrying over. Sure enough, by the time he reaches my register, his grip fails and all of the bottles go smashing down onto the floor. Broken glass and beer go flying everywhere. The tiger stares at the mess he's made for a few moments before looking back at me, panic written all over his face.

"I am so sorry!" he places his hands on his head, at a loss for what to do. "I thought I had a better grip on them!"

As much as I should be annoyed that I'll have to clean the spill up, I can't bring myself to be upset. All I can do is laugh at the comic relief this has brought me.

"It's fine," I shake my head, not bothering to hold back my laughter. "Honestly, this is the perfect end to this day I've had. I needed that."

"Do you have a mop or something? I can help clean it up," the tiger offers. I stop and think about it, and realize that all of the cleaning supplies is locked up in a closet in the back, and I don't have the key to get to any of it.

"I've got some paper towels," I say, grabbing a roll from underneath my register and holding it up.

"Is that really all they give you to clean with?" the tiger questions.

I nod. "It's not a problem. I'm used to cleaning spills up."

"Spills with glass?"

"Ok, maybe not spills with glass, but it should be fine. I've got plenty of paper towels to double up on."

I make my way around the register to where the broken bottles are and start drying the area up.

"If you hand me some, I can help," the customer signals to the paper towel roll, so I unravel it and tear off a bunch of sheets to give him. I normally would insist on not having a customer do any cleaning up and stuff of that sort, but with how worried he seems about the situation, I figure it'll help him feel better.

"So much for getting back to the party in time," the tiger lets out a nervous laugh. "I'm pretty sure I'm in the running for worst host award."

"Yeah, well, you did a good job at giving me a much-needed laugh. Tonight's sucked so far," I say as I start to scoop up some of the glass shards into the nearby trash can.

The tiger follows suit, pushing most of the big shards into one pile that he can easily pick up with his paper towels. "Oh, right. You're having to work tonight. It's a shame they don't let you stay home... Then again, I guess you're having to work because of people like me coming in last-minute."

While he's not wrong, it's not like I have anything better to be doing today. I don't exactly have friends or family waiting for me at home. Besides, "My shift ends in like, five minutes," I say.

"Hey, so you'll get to party tonight after all!"

Heh, party. If by that, he means sit in my bed with cookies and milk and a good book, sure. "Yeah, totally," I lie. I don't really have any reason to talk about my life to someone I'll likely never see again. Maybe one of these days something will change and I'll get the time for making friends, but for now, I'm content with how things are. I know I won't be working this minimum wage job forever, after all. At least, I hope not. Sure, I may have to deal with a few bad eggs here and there, but it seems like every time something goes wrong, there's someone new right around the corner to make my day better.

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Sean's Phone Call

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I hover my finger over the call button, unsure of what to say if he answers. I've only ever spoken Daren a few times, but I'm worried about Colin and don't know what else to do. In the time I've known him, Colin's never been good at opening up to people, and lately he's been shutting himself off more than ever.

The last time I heard from Colin was almost a month ago. He told me that his mom had passed away and that he was going to be staying with his half-brother for a while. He seemed like a different person that night. He sounded so broken.

He had already started to withdraw the month before, after two of our friends cut contact with all of us. According to Colin, the two of them had a big fight and wanted nothing to do with our friend group afterwards. He wouldn't tell me what the fight was about, but I also know it's not my place to ask. Still, now there's just three of us left in our group, and I'd like to not lose the couple friends I have left.