For the next week and a half, we slowly found our groove again. Lara's wounds were almost non-existent and she almost stopped making unholy noises every time she moved a limb. I managed to finish my exams with surprisingly good grades and I am now officially a senior. I don't know what Cooper was studying for, but he isn't doing that anymore. Even though we agreed we weren't going to tell Axel and Landon yet, she still had to talk to the manager about her unaccounted absence. He was sympathetic and agreed to give us both a week off and today marks our first day back.

We got up around 10am, she made us breakfast and even packed me a lunch. I could get used to getting spoiled like this. Before her brother officially moved to Amsterdam, he left her a beautiful Range Rover which is now our official method of transportation. One of the many good things about having a car is our ability to play music at the loudest possible volume. Surprisingly, her music taste is so close to mine which made choosing songs that much more better. We are currently jamming to LA Baby by the Jo Bros. Since the store was only a half hour away by car, we could only listen to so many songs.

We pulled up to the store parking lot, locked the car then made our way inside. The smell of everything mixed up into one really put me at ease. Don't get me wrong it was nasty, but the familiarity was comforting.

"Oh my God! Welcome back guys, I really missed you." Asma cheerfully welcomed us both with a big, big hug."

"Wow Soph, you smell amazing!" She added, her smile never faltering.

"Thank you so much Asma, it's good to be back." Said Lara.

"Thanks girl! We missed you too..." I started to say, but was rudely interrupted.

"Hey! Lady! I don't have time for your girly dumb stuff, can you cash me out so I can maybe not miss my bus?"

Lara and I looked at each other, definitely not missing this.

"Sorry, I gotta go back, but I'll find you guys later."

"Later!" We both said, walking away, the customer eyeing us weirdly like we just hiked the prices on demand.

"One of my biggest fears is that they talk to me like that, and I unknowingly punch them square in the nose." She said.

"That's actually one of my many dreams and aspirations." We laughed, but ain't nothing funny about it because I will smack them.

Before we took a right into the hallway that lead to our locker, I could sense something with my peripheral vision. I looked up to find Axel and Landon standing at the window of the assistant manager's office, Landon's back to us. He waved and gave me a huge smile, dimples in full view. I enthusiastically waved back and went to catch up with Lara. She was talking with one of our regulars.

"Well hello Mrs. Jordano, how are you?" I asked.

"Hello my dear! I was just telling Lara here how long it's been since I last saw you two. Is everything okay?" She asked, worry evident on her face.

She always got us homemade cookies and gave us tickets to concerts she won. She's literally the grandma we never had.

"Yes ma'am, everything is going great! Just busy with exams but we're done now." I said in a rush.

She smiled, and started fishing for something inside of her bag.

"I kept baking a fresh batch everyday in case I ran in to you girls. The best chocolate chip cookies ever. When I didn't find you, I would just give them to Copper or Axel or Jordan, they seemed to enjoy them as well." She handed us an aluminum container with a ton of cookies in it.

Both our eyes lit up like little kids

"Thank you so much! I will cherish this forever." Said Lara, as we both hugged her.

"Oh, you don't have to thank me dear. I am happy to make them for you children. My own family died in a cottage fire two years ago, and my husband died due to an aneurysm a little after that. In my head and in my heart, you guys are the closest thing I have to one.

My dear God in the heavens above. This is one strong lady. We didn't know what to say so we both hugged her so tight. Our three person hug turned into a five person hug somehow because I felt weight over me, and I also happened to smell a familiar vanilla/cinnamon scent.

"We love you Mrs. J." said Axel and Cooper together.

She took a step back, with tears in her eyes, and blew us all air kisses.

"And I love you all. I will be bringing them to you guys every once in a while. And thank you," she touched her heart, "for this." She waved by at us and turned around and walked right outside.

"Very nice to have you ladies back here." Said Axel, with a hint of a blush. "Cooper was this close to being the reason I committed a felony."

"I wouldn't be the reason if you laughed at my joke the first time I said it."

"I would if it was funny. But it got progressively worse the more you repeated it, so let me be. Don't you have a job to go do?"

"Don't you have a job to go do?"

"I'm here to say hello and welcome back to my fri... colleagues." Stuttered Axel.

Weakling.

"Well unlike you, they are my family, so I win."

"Axel to customer service please. Axel to customer service. Thank you." Called Asma from the front.

"Saved by the bell. Anyways, welcome back ladies, and you," He pointed at Cooper, "get back to work or I'll have Joey sit on you." He smirked as he walked away.

"It's so cute how he thinks scaring me with Joey is the way to go. I've worked him so much in the Deli department that I've grown very accustomed to his onion stank."

"That's a really mean thing to say." I said, flicking his forehead.

"OW! Hey, we're cool. We're friends."

"So what? Be nice to people dude." Lara also chimed in with another flick.

"Ow! This is harassment and assault and I will not stand for it." His forehead had two bright red marks on it. "Anyways, welcome back. I shall now go back to being a float in the meat department. Landon said he had something special prepared for me, whatever that could mean." He gave us both high-fives.

As we watched him retreating away, we both knew what that meant.

"Oh Landon, is about to make him hate his life." I said.

"You got that right sister."

We made our way to the break room and were greeted by people I've never spoken with before. Andy and Fatima from dairy, Jordan from deli, and Leo from frozen.

"Girl I don't even know half these people, how do they know us." Whispered Lara, as we took the stairs back to the store.

"I know! But it's really cute that they do."

We were somehow put on adjacent cash registers; cash 3 and 4 which were also close to the customer service desk. I guess they wanted to keep an eye on us, but hey I am not complaining.

I opened up my register, took off the signs and wiped it down. Now we're ready for business.

"I can help the next customer!"

A middle aged man with more Eggos and ramen than I could possibly count stepped in, unloading his basket onto the belt, his weird eyes never leaving mine. He looked to be in his late thirties, early forties, shirt buttoned all the way up and tucked in. He had those Jeffrey Dahmer glasses and slicked back brown hair, but had that weird stache that made him look a little suspicious. The most stand out item was a huge, gold pendant with absolutely nothing on it situated high up his shirt.

How can he breathe?

"Hi there gorgeous."

Immediately no.

Why does this have to be my start? What is it about me? From my peripheral view, I could see Lara snicker.

"Um hello sir. How are you?" I tried to be civil, but he continued going down the pervy road.

"I'll be great when I find out when I can take you out to dinner?" He replied, a dumb smirk never leaving his face.

Why me God? Why me?

I chuckled very uncomfortably. I focused on scanning his 30 ramens and 15 boxes of eggos and bajillion drinks and many boxes of trash bags. Who the hell is he trying to feed? The kidnapped children he keeps locked in his basement? I tried my best to not make eye contact because I could tell he was still looking straight at me. I tried going through it as fast as I possibly could, not really caring if I made a mistake or not.

"Ummmm, your total is $89.40. How would you like to pay."

He took a few seconds to answer because he was busy staring, and that god awful smirk never even left his face.

"I will be paying in cash." He said so painfully slow.

"Okay, go ahead." I felt my stomach churn in disgust.

I waited for him to give me a bill or two, but after a few seconds when he didn't hand me anything, I looked over to see what the hold up was. He was holding a huge stack of $1 bills and he was licking his fingers before going through each one of them, all the while never lowering his gaze.

Bro what the hell is wrong with this dude?

"Oops. I forgot what number I was on, looks like I have to start over."

Unbelievable. I was feeling very uncomfortable and I couldn't even ask for help because Lara was busy with a customer and Cooper was in the meat department in the back.

Then I got an idea. Axel is always around. I sneakily took out my phone and texted him from under the counter.

To: Axel

SOS SOS

Before the message sent, he somehow forgot which number he was on and started all over again.

"Excuse me, you're holding up the line. Can't you pay with a credit card like a normal person?" Asked another customer behind him.

The guy slowly turned his head around like an actual psycho and smiled the sleeziest smile.

"Sorry sir. I just can't help it. Now thanks to you, I have to start over." He shrugged and sure enough, started again.

Why does he do everything in slow motion?

I gave the other customer an apologetic look, but he mouthed "it's not your fault."

The phone next to me rang, and I picked it up so quickly I smacked my forehead.

"Ow. Hello?"

"Hey. What's up? What's the SOS?" Thank God it was Axel.

I turned my back to the customer and slowly whispered.

"I'm sorry I didn't know who else to call. There's this really weird creep, who is paying all cash with $1 bills for a $90 total and every time he's almost done he says oh I forgot where I was counting and starts over. He tried asking me out, and it made me so uncomfortable, and he's not only making everyone else uneasy, but he's also holding up the line."

All I heard was the beep of the phone. Did this human hang up on me? Ugh, damn you Nikkolson. I turned around to see that the guy stopped what he was doing and just continued staring at me, with a pervy smirk on his face.

"Is everything okay sir? Do you need to change your method of payment." I was this close to giving him everything for free.

"Nothing wrong. I'm just admiring your beauty, and," he took a long, awkward whiff of the air, "you smell absolutely wonderful. What's your perfume? Maybe I can buy it so I can smell you... it, so I can smell it around me at all times."

"It's actually Tom Ford something Vanille, thank you kindly for noticing." Axel towered over the man like he was a little cockroach; looking him up and down. He didn't need to flex his muscles, but he did anyways.

Super-Axel to the rescue.

Perv dude stared at him dumbfounded, then smirked like nothing was happening.

I breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way to me.

"Do you still need to count you money again or would you like to pay with a different method?" He asked him firmly, moving closer to me in a protective yet cute way.

Focus Sophia.

"Umm, uhh, I would like to pay with my credit card." He said, the smirk completely off his face. So he does have another method. Little potato doody.

I heard the customer behind him whisper "what a creep."

You got that right sir.

"Okay Sophia, why don't we click on credit card."

Oh, I forgot we were still in this sad situation.

I clicked on credit card button and waited for his stupid payment.

"Oh, Sophia. That's such a beautiful, fitting name."

Dear God.

Axel and I looked at each other with disgust.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" He asked, borderline yelling. I've never heard his English accent be this intimidating before. That was...interesting.

"Uh, uh, no, no I didn't. Thank you for your help. I'll see you again." He took his receipt from Axel, who stayed with me until the man took his stuff and exited the store.

"Are you okay? Did he touch you with his dirty hands? Do you need to step away for a second?" He whispered.

"I am okay. Pervy McPervyson just ruined my day, but thank you so much for stepping in. You're the best." I said, causing him to breathe out in relief.

"I always gotchu Powers. Always." He said as he ran off, his vanilla scent lingering a little longer.

Nice.

Okay, back to earth, Sophia.

"Next customer please. Hello sir. I apologize for that; whatever that was."

"Oh no need to worry darling. If I wasn't afraid for your wellbeing, I would've pummeled him to the ground. No one with that high level of pervertedness should be allowed in family friendly stores."

"Tell me about it."

I continued scanning his items in a comforting silence for a few minutes. He had a lot of items, which got me thinking that he was maybe inviting his family over for the holidays.

I think he might've sensed that I was a little puzzled.

"I'm taking my kids over to our cottage. Our little one never saw it and he's off to university next year so we will be taking a family ski trip to Colorado."

"Oh, that sounds amazing. I hope you guys have a wonderful time."

As much as I was happy for the happiness of other people, I know that I would never get to experience that with my own family.

"What are you going to be doing for the holidays? Any family coming over?" It was an innocent question, but it still hurt.

"Um, actually I'm here all alone. I actually....I actually lost my family a few years ago." I whispered out, my head bowed down in pain.

"Oh, honey. I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's okay sir. How could you have possibly known? I do have amazing friends though who are exactly like family." Even the mere thought of my friends makes me happy.

"Well that's good. I'm glad." He smiled, a kind and genuine smile.

I don't know how long a person should wait in times like these before announcing the total, but I guess there's  no good time like the present.

"Thank you so much. Your total comes up to $150.98."

"Would it be a bother to pay half in card and half in cash?"

"No bother at all sir. Go ahead."

The next couple of hours went by smoothly without any weirdos to put a dent in my day. Three hours into my shift, I was finally allowed to go on break since it got very busy all of the sudden. In order to catch up, they let me and Lara go together and brought our very own float, Cooper.

We ordered food from a Chinese restaurant and went upstairs to start eating. When I was going upstairs, I managed to take a whiff of the air around me and it smelled more like Vanilla than meat.

He was here. I mean duh because he works here, but yeah anyways.

We finally sat down, exhaustion taking over our elderly bones.

"I can't do this anymore, I'm so tired. This ain't worth the minimum wage we're getting paid." Said Lara, half eating and half spitting it everywhere.

"Not worth the customers either. That weirdo, serial killer looking dude wouldn't leave me alone. He fits the mold for a sociopath, and I'm almost 90% sure he has kids locked in his basement somewhere."

"You have to stop entertaining creeps Sophia. He wouldn't be treating you like that if you weren't overly kind." said Axel, emerging from the shadows and putting on his hoodie.

What in the damn hell. Where did he come from?

"Excuse me?"

"He cowered when I spoke to him, and didn't say another word. Try to be more stern and less fidgety. People will take advantage of you that way."

What the hell? I don't even know if that was advice or him just bashing my existence, but regardless, not cool.

"No. He cowered away because you stood over him like the fricking hulk while he was just at medium height. This is why it's much easier to kidnap girls, because we're tiny and non-confrontational, whereas they would need frickin ketamine darts to subdue you for a few seconds."

The room was silent for a while, sparks flying around for all the wrong reasons, everybody holding their breath in.

"Babe, all I'm saying is, be careful. That's all." He smiled, shrugged his dumb shoulders, then left. For the first time, I felt like he was undermining me rather than encouraging me; I felt small, and weak.

"What the hell was that all about? Damn I guess I really misread that situation." said Lara. "Also, what the hell was the 'babe' thing?"

"God! I don't know, and at this point I don't even care. I'm tired, and hungry. Dumb boys and their stupid lingo." All it took was a single bite of my dumplings to forget all the misery and humiliation I felt today. We continued the rest of our break and the rest of our shift talking about anything outside of these walls. Lara felt sick a few hours before we were done and had to leave, but promised she would come back for me when my shift ended at 9pm.

Nine pm was the worst time to be in this plaza. All the stores were closing early today for whatever reason and we were the last ones open. I volunteered to stay until closing because I needed a distraction from the crappy perv and whatever Axel was talking about. It was just me, Asma, and Nate and a few produce dudes who always looked like they were too high to be working.

When the last customer left and we all closed down, the rest of the plaza looked absolutely deserted. It got so busy that I didn't even have time to text Lara until I was standing outside in the freezing cold.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride girl?" Asked Asma, as a car pulled over to take her home.

"I'm okay! Thank you so much! Lara should be coming soon to pick me up." I replied.

"Okay! Have a great night." She waved as the car drove away.

"Okay, Jason," I heard Nate say as he was locking the door, "I expect you to stay with Ms. Powers until she is picked up. Have a good night you two, and good work today." He said, as he wandered off to his car.

"Good night!" We both replied.

"Jason, you really don't have to wait for me. Lara should be on her way anyways."

He looked at me like he was really trying his best to focus, but his brain wasn't helping him.

"No, dude. Nate asked me to stay here, then for you always me, staying."

Oi.

"Buddy, do you hear yourself? Also, it's freezing and you don't have a jacket. You'll freeze to death. It's okay, I'll be okay."

He thought about it for a second then agreed.

"Thank you ma'am. You are good people. Now it all makes sense why he'd do all of that. Bye Powers."

"Bye dude. Whatever the means." I saw him stumble to the bus stop and coincidentally got there just as the bus was arriving. He looked back at me and pointed at something to my left, then waved goodbye. I waved back at him, and watched the bus drive away. That same second, I got a text from Lara that she was a few blocks away. There was an accident on the road that delayed traffic for a while.

As the last car left the place, I got this very eerie feeling, like I was being watched. I slowly looked around, and decided against wearing my Airpods. It started raining heavily, and it made seeing outside the perimeter a little hard. A few minutes of complete silence passed, and then I heard something to my left. My neck snapped towards the sound, and I squinted to be able to see under the poorly lit walkway between stores.

"Hello!" I yelled out, 100% knowing that this is how movie people die. My heart beats skyrocketed and I was getting a little anxious. A few seconds passed before I heard another sound coming from the same direction. The hairs on my neck stood straight up and my gut was telling me to prepare for a fight. I took a fighting stance and prepared to knock someone's front teeth.

"Come out right now, or I will find you and pummel you to death." A lot of big talk for someone who was literally shaking.

There was no movement, but then through the dark, I saw a shadow move towards me. It looked like a blob of a human being, with one identifying feature; a golden pendant on their neck. A sad spit of light reflected its light off of it, and straight into my eyes.

Ew, store perv is back.

"Don't worry. It's only me darling." His voice seriously makes me want to puke. Like that one devil villain from the powerpuff girls.

"What the hell do you want?" I spat out. Other than to steal the joy and appetite of people.

"You."

Gold pendant wearing freakazoid say what now?

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me darling..."

"Don't call me that!"

"Okay princess listen to me..." Wow that raspy voice changed very fast. "You will either come with me quietly, or I will make you. But frankly, regardless of how loud you scream, who's going to hear you? Under the heavy rain. I just want to... what's the phrase... take you out to dinner."

Oh shit. Oh crap. Oh damn.

I tightened the grip on my wrist and made sure he saw that I meant war.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. And if you take a step closer, I will hurt you."

He laughed a humorless, maniacal laugh. Within a split second, he brandished his pocket swiss knife in front of me. As if on cue, thunder struck the ground.

Oh shit. Oh crap. Oh damn.

He started to slowly walk towards me, but somehow I was glued in my place. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through me, yet I wasn't able to do anything. The closer he got, the calmer I became because one voice echoed in my head; my taekwondo teacher. God Bless your heart Josephine Kim.

"Dollyeo chagi Powers! Stronger. More power. More focus. More breathing. Kihap!" She would cry out.

More power.

More focus.

More breathing.

It all happened so fast. The creep charged at me the same time a couple of headlights made their way into the parking lot.

Kihap! Kihap! Kihap!

I kicked him straight in the stomach then side-kicked his face. His knife flew away and he hit his head against a pillar before he landed on the ground, face bloody and nose possibly broken. Hopefully. He got up again, and tried punching me again but I managed to dodge it, take a step backwards and kick him square in the jaw. This time, it was enough to floor him.

Little perv.

"Holy shit Powers! You can kick!" My brain didn't quite register the voice as Axel's and I swung at him. Miraculously, he managed to dodge it.

"Hey. Hey, it's me. It's me!" He held up his hands in surrender.

I was still mad at him, but why is he even here?

"Oh. Sorry. I was just taking your advice and not being naïve and fidgety. Why the hell are you here?"

"Lara texted me that you were here alone and I know for a fact that Jason would not stay longer than his shift, because that's usually when his edibles kick in."

I just stared at him in disbelief. He noticed my lack of response and had the audacity to ask me what was wrong.

"Are you ok? Can I drive you home?" He asked cautiously, narrowing his eyes.

"You don't get it do you? You don't get to talk to me the way you did and come back and talk like nothing is going on, without as much as an apology."

He stared at me, a little dumbfounded. Why are boys like that? Are they always this clueless?

"What.... What did I do?" He asked so innocently, tilting his head to the side.

I stared at him, trying to find out if he was serious or joking. All I found was utter confusion.

"You're not used to someone questioning your method of conversation are you? Because every girl just falls for your charm and British accent, don't they? Oh, and throw in the word 'babe' there for dramatic effect and everyone comes falling at your feet, right?" I couldn't stand there because I was so mad. I picked up my bag from the floor and made my way towards the bus station, under the pouring rain. I ain't riding with him until he apologizes.

A single step outside the protective cover and my hair was soaking wet. I couldn't stop now though, for the sake of my dignity. I was half way across the empty lot when he finally caught up with me.

"Sophia. Sophia stop." He spun me around to face him,  his hands on both my shoulders, the rain matting his curls to his head.

"What happened? Where is all this coming from?" He asked. Is he being genuine or is he just playing dumb.

"What you said to me in the break room." I replied, steam fuming out my nostrils. I hope my pathetic tear ducts don't embarrass me. I'm not sad, I'm just upset.

"Oh." He shoulders slumped a little, but not enough to loosen his grip on my shoulders.

"Yeah. You made me feel small and pathetic. It was like you were insinuating that I invited that sad slob of a human being to harass me. You made it seem like I was weak and helpless Axel. That was very uncalled for, especially after everything I've been through. You didn't have the right to say anything like that."

I might've looked like an absolute lunatic, because he started chuckling.

"Are you kidding me?" I yell out. Unbelievable.

"No, no I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that Soph. You're undoubtedly one of the bravest girls I've ever met, and believe me I've met a lot of girls. Like a lot..."

"Okay, Casanova, not helping." I'm 100% sure I was about to get pneumonia.

"Right. Sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect. I was really and truly just looking out for you. It didn't sit right with me when you told me about that creep. The way he was looking at you and the way he was talking to didn't sit right with me and before I knew it I was already downstairs begging myself not to murder him."

"Yes, but why? You came so fast when I called you, I mean you don't even do that for Asma and she gets crapped on everyday by customers. And she's been here much longer than me." I looked deep into his eyes, hoping to find an answer.

"Because Sophia...." He started, maintaining eye contact. His eyes became much softer, and kinder; almost loving.

With the rain pouring around us, and every sound drowned out, this could easily be a scene from a sappy rom-com

"Because...what?" I whispered, my heart beating a million miles a minute. Wait am I not mad anymore? What's going on? Why am I flustered?

"Because..." he whispered out, removing a strand of hair from my eyes.

Before he managed to finish that sentence, two police cars made their way into our plaza, accompanied by Lara's car and they all drove straight at us.