Realistic or Modern 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐭?

[amberskies]

As Joshua ate, his eyes flickered between whomever was speaking, until eventually he stared at the wooden details of the picnic table and passively listened to the conversation, unsure exactly of where was going.

"Boring. Let's do something!" She suggested with enthusiasm, lowering her tupperware filled with salad for a moment. "We can get drunk at my place. My parents are out of town for the weekend." Lindsey went on to offer, again looking expectantly at each teenager.

The prospect of getting drunk tonight made Joshua return his attention to the conversation, peering over at Lindsey sitting across from him. "Yeah, sure. What time?"

"Oh, sorry i'm stuck at work until like 10:30." Ellie told them, assuming that would automatically exclude her from the plans. Lindsey's house was most definitely not walking distance from Ellie's work, so there was absolutely no way she was walking all that way in the middle of the night.

 

[esor]

Sky frowned and nudged Ellie, "Nooo you still have to come. We can bring you there! Please? Josh and I could pick you up." She pleaded, then looked at Josh for some sort of approval or agreement, hoping he wouldn't have any reservations with that.

"Wouldn't be the same without you." The girl continued with a smile, hoping it'd leave Ellie with no excuse but to hang out with them.

Alex nodded slowly, "If she's getting a lift can I too? Don't want to drive, not if I'm drinking, plus it'll be easier with just one car." He smirked, hoping he'd get away with getting a ride there. It could've been a bit weird considering he didn't know Josh all that well and he would be the one driving, but he was sure Skylar would convince him if it meant that Ellie would go too. He figured that Ellie's work wasn't too far from his house, so he could walk there. "I can meet you where you'll meet Ell. Wouldn't be a bother." He proposed before shoving the last corner of his sandwich into his mouth.

At the same time, he didn't want to seem like he was begging. He swallowed his mouthful quickly. "It's whatever, though. I'll turn up." He assured.

 

[amberskies]

At this point Josh was just listening in on the conversation and not saying much, figuring he'd join in once they'd come to a consensus. Upon hearing Sky mention they could pick Ellie up from work, he glanced at them for a moment. It seemed he was picking two people up, then. He was alright with that. He wasn't particularly close with Ellie, but apparently Sky was close with her, so why not.

"Yeah I don't mind." He said very plainly as he gave Skylar a nod, before biting into his sandwich once more.

"Yeah fuck it i'll come." Ellie accepted, returning the nudge to Skylar with a slight smile. It really didn't take long to convince her. She'd be a little bit tired after work, but it was nothing some alcohol couldn't fix.

Josh was back to not paying attention, until a third person wanted a ride from him. As carefree and careless as he was, he quite honestly wasn't the biggest fan of playing taxi. It wasn't about gas money at all to him; his parents could easily fund that. Now he was the one person that couldn't drink. He spoke again after swallowing the sandwich bite he had been working on.

"Yep." Josh accepted with a nod at the man, having nothing else to contribute to the conversation. Besides, he was real busy with his sandwich. He wasn't particularly fond of Alexander. He didn't know him that well, but he just looked like he was a bit of a dick. Maybe it was because he didn't talk much. But now that he thought about it, Joshua didn't talk much sometimes too. Either way, he held onto his bias toward the guy without explicitly making his feelings clear. "What time?" He eventually added so he knew when he had to be at Ellie's job with Skylar.

"I'll probably finish at like 10:30 so.." Ellie told him.

 

[esor]

An excited giggle escaped Skylar's mouth once Ellie agreed, she was happy she'd get to spend time with the group as a whole- not something they did all that often, or at all. Following the conversation, all Sky could think about was how generous Josh was being. Though she thought it was a shame that he probably wouldn't be drinking, she'd like to witness a drunk Josh and get to be drunk with him. But it wasn't the end of the world.

"Thank you." She said looking at him, a genuine smile on her face. "Any time around 10:30, then, would be great. You could pick me up at around 10:20? If that's okay, of course." She suggested to Josh, figuring they'd need a good few minutes to get there. She didn't want to leave Ellie by herself at all, even if she'd be indoors.

Alex's only response was a nod at Josh, it was quite subtle and probably unnoticeable if you weren't looking directly at him. He calculated in his head to set off around fifteen minutes before Ellie's shift would end, he was a fast walker but had a feeling that Josh wouldn't be keen on waiting around for him if he was late.

As of yet, Xander had mixed feelings about Josh. He had never done anything to annoy him or give him reason to dislike the guy but it was just a feeling. Maybe they were too similar, plus he didn't think they'd ever have anything to talk about. Nonetheless, no one was forcing the two to speak so he didn't see a direct issue.

As it seemed plans were close to being finalised, Lindsey grinned and clapped her hands excitedly. "Yay! We'll have so. Much. Fun! "

 

[amberskies]

Josh had never actually been to Ellie's job, but he only knew of one video rental store that was open so late. The one she worked at was popular for being a last-minute place for people to grab a movie when everything else was closed.

"You work at the Video House?" Josh asked, double-checking about the location first so he had an idea of when exactly to leave and pick up Sky.

Ellie simply hummed a 'mhm' in response, since she was in the middle of eating her sandwich and didn't want to talk with her mouth full.

"Yeah 10:20's fine." Josh confirmed as he glanced over at Sky for a second. That meant he'd have to leave his own house a little at 10:15 ish. Sunnydale was fairly small, so getting from one place to the other was incredibly fast. It was cool, but at the same time it meant Josh knew practically every street and store around. There was no such thing as 'exploring Sunnydale' or unknown locations for him to go to. That wasn't just him though, he was sure every Sunnydaler related to him.

"We buying booze?" He asked. Not that he was gonna drink it, but he assumed that if Lindsey didn't have any, they'd have to go out and get some.

"Nope, i'm pitching in though. Just tell me how much you spend." Lindsey told them. She, too, had a family that was pretty well-off, so she wasn't about to limit them on their alcohol spending. Hell, if the rest didn't have enough to pitch in, she would probably just offer to pay for it all. She acknowledged her privilege and was pretty generous with it.

 

[esor]

Skylar replied to Josh's time confirmation with a happy nod, excited that they'd actually be hanging out and she wouldn't spend her Friday laying in bed and scribbling in her diary about how cute Josh looked that day. Maybe that's not all she told her diary about but it was definitely part of it. As the rest of the group discussed booze she pondered what she'd wear, not like it would have to be something special but she'd still quite like to look a little nicer than she did during school. If there was a chance she would get messily drunk she'd have liked to keep some of her dignity by at least looking good whilst doing so.

Getting drunk wasn't something Skylar did all that often, being more reserved than most she'd turn down any party invites unless Ellie was going and she lacked other people to hang out with- she knew there were groups who would celebrate every Friday like it was New Years. She liked that they could be so excited, but that just wasn't her type of scene.

Alex nodded. "I have some at home I can bring, too. We'll have enough." He chimed, sounding the most excited he probably ever had in front of that group. He liked getting drunk, he wouldn't deny that. You would never catch him turning down an opportunity to drink, especially if there was a way he could steal alcohol from other people and get drunk for a dime. Plus, if Lindsey was going to pitch in he figured he could splurge on a more expensive type of alcohol.

By then Sky had chosen an outfit in her head and returned to the conversation,

"I'll need to buy something, yeah." She said with a smile, the excitement for that evening not shifting. "Are you not going to drink, Josh?" She asked him, not that he said anything but she figured if he was driving he wouldn't. She'd have like to think there was a way for him to, like if they crashed at Lindseys he could drive home in the morning, but that seemed kinda unrealistic. She did feel bad he'd be the only sober one, though.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie's mind, too, was focused on what to wear that night. She didn't have anyone to look cute for, but she always tended to dress up whenever she was hanging out with anyone. A short knife-pleated skirt and boots were definitely on her mind. It was sort of chilly at night though, so she had to think more about it. She typically went home after school to drop off her school bag and grab anything she needed for work, like a sandwich, deodorant and whatnot, so this meant she had to bring her change of clothes with her. Or wear it to work. No, she'd definitely earn way too much male attention behind the register if she did that..

"Nah i'm driving." Josh told her. As much as he loved breaking the law by drinking and smoking underage, along with many other things, he'd absolutely never drive even if he was the tiniest bit intoxicated. His parents raised him better than that, and he had half a mind to know that it was incredibly selfish and dangerous to do. He wasn't too annoyed by it. Maybe he'd smoke a little bit of weed right when they reached Lindsey's so the high would be gone by the time he left. Yeah, that was a fair plan. "What time are we staying at yours until?" He asked, wanting to double check if he'd have enough time for that.

"Literally whenever." Lindsey shrugged. Her parents weren't home anyway.

Ellie scratched the back of her head as she thought of what the hell to do about her parents. There was no way they'd let her stay out past midnight regardless of it being a Friday, that was her typical curfew, but she didn't want to be a buzzkill by having Josh drop her back home early.

"Can I sleep at someone's?" She asked, her eyes looking between Sky and Lindsey to see who could offer. "My parents." She added afterwards. The whole group knew about how annoying her parents were, and how whenever she wanted to go out late she'd always have to sleep at someone's. Ellie would simply pretend she and the friend in question were going to watch a movie and bake or something, which wasn't typically what happened. On occasion she did that so she could sleep over at a boys place.

 

[esor]

A little disappointed by Josh's reply, Skylar just nodded. In all honesty she just felt guilty for everyone but him being able to drink, especially considering she was the one who suggested them picking up Ellie. But she figured that Josh wouldn't do it if he wasn't alright with it, plus knowing him he'd find a way to have fun regardless.

The girl was eager to reply to Ellie, "You can stay at mine." She offered with a kind smile, knowing her parents would have no reservations about it. Like many dads, Skylar's father wasn't too involved in who her friends were and didn't seem to care all that much, but her mother adored Ellie so would be more than happy for her to stay over. She also thought it'd be more convenient because Sky's house was closer to Josh's anyway, and he could drop them off on his way home.

"Cool. Anything else, or are we going to have some spontaneity?" Xander questioned, only teasing but he wasn't one to plan everything out. He thought spontaneous things were better, more exciting and thrilling.

Alex took note of Ellies plead to stay at someone's house, he wasn't all that familiar with the families of his friends, mainly since he didn't care and didn't pay attention. The only family that mattered to him was his own, so why pay attention to anyone else's. But that made an impression on him, he wondered how strict her parents were.

His parents wouldn't mind if he was gone for a few days at a time, of course he wouldn't just disappear but he wouldn't be scolded for being out and having a good time. The contrast intrigued him, and he thought how lucky he was that he didn't have anyone on his ass about where he was or what he was up to.

 

[amberskies]

Josh was no longer bummed about not being able to drink. If he could stay long at Lindsey's house, he'd just smoke and wait until he was sober before driving everyone home. He couldn't do the same with alcohol, though, because knowing him he'd end up drinking beyond his limits. There was no way he'd sober up in time for that.

Ellie knew one of the two would offer, but regardless she was relieved that she had a way of staying out late. She knew for a fact her parents would be asking about who was there and every detail about what they'd be doing or where they were, so she mentally prepared herself for that when she got home. Her parents were just incredibly over protective, and wouldn't let her leave the house unless they knew exactly where she was at all times. It was honestly really annoying and over the top, but there was nothing she could do about it until she moved out.

"Thanks." She thanked the girl with an innocent little smile. She could always count on Skylar. Her gaze then turned over to Alexander, rolling her eyes at him. She never rolled her eyes because she was actually bothered, more just to mess around and act bothered.

"I guess that's it." Lindsey nodded, and just as she finished talking, the bell rang, indicating the end of their lunch break. "I'll see you guys tonight at mine then?" She confirmed as she began to pick up her trash to throw away on the way to the school entrance. Josh and Ellie proceeded to do the same.

"Need me to drive you home again?" Josh asked Sky as he got to his feet with his crumpled trash in one hand. He wasn't sure whether she still needed a ride home, but offered regardless. It wasn't like it inconvenienced him.

 

[esor]

"That would be very helpful." She replied with a nod, sipping water from her bottle then standing. "Thanks." She added at the end, wanting him to know how appreciative he was. There wasn't really a way to make it up to him, but if there was she thought he'd just tell her anyway. After screwing the cap back on her bottle she tossed it into her open backpack and zipped it up as she made her way to the entrance of the school, pulling it onto her right shoulder.

Alex furrowed his brows when he noticed Ellie's eyeroll, and let his eyes linger on her for a moment before he turned away and began to walk. Quickly, he unwrapped a piece of gum and tossed the wrapper onto the floor, shoving the sweet light pink strip into his mouth whilst he walked into the school. There was no reason for him to walk with any of the people he'd just had a conversation with, he was certain none of them had the same class as him. Even if they did he'd just be walking by their side with not a peep escaping their mouths; he'd said everything he needed to say to them all for now.

Considering he wasn't eager to be in class, he walked quite fast. That was always the case though, his long legs made it difficult to walk any slower. Plus he figured the sooner he got there, the sooner he could sit down and do absolutely nothing. Bliss.

Sky too made her way to her own class, giving Lindsey and Ellie a little wave as she went down a separate hall. "See you tonight!" The girl beamed, excitement evident on her face.

 

[amberskies]

"Not a problem." Josh told her, before turning his attention to the rest of the girls at the table.

"Ladies." He said, announcing his departure. He then turned around and headed into the building. For once he knew what he had next, and unfortunately none of them were in his class, so he figured he'd get there on time so he could snatch a seat toward the back. The last thing he needed was to have to sit next to someone who wouldn't stop bothering him, which would occasionally happen.

"Bye bye." Ellie told the rest of the group, and headed off to class alongside Lindsey since they had French together. The group split off to their respective classes, and Ellie didn't see much of everyone else until the end of the school day.

 

[esor]

Alex jumped up from his bed realising the time, "Shit." He muttered under his breath. It was 10pm, he'd been lazing around doing nothing since he got back from school and had taken it a little too far. He yanked off his comfortable sweats and pulled on a pair of black jeans then threw on a navy sweatshirt and some random shoes. He never paid much attention to what he wore, he just thought the darker and more subtle the better to deter people from speaking to him. He ran a hand through his hair and jogged downstairs, grabbing a six pack of whatever beer there was in the fridge.

"Bye!" He called through the house to whoever was listening, shoving his wallet in his back pocket before leaving. The breeze hit his face as he stepped out, closing the door behind him. He firmly held the beer in his hand and set off to Ellie's work. It took him almost no time at all to arrive, he peered at his watch to read 10:18 once he was outside of the Video House. Keeping the six pack in his left hand, he pulled the door open with his right and walked in to find Ellie. He was uncertain of how busy it was, but he wasn't going to wait outside.

Sky had told her parents of the evenings plans, leaving out the whole getting drunk part, when she got home from school. They were happy for her to go as long as she had a safe way of getting there and back, so when she mentioned Josh they were delighted- her mother in particular. At around 10:15 she walked downstairs to wait for Josh. She wore a pair of denim Levi dungarees with one of the clips undone and a white graphic tee that she cropped herself underneath. She made general chit chat with her parents whilst she waited, coming her fingers gently through her hair which she kept down.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie had gone home after the end of the school day and packed a bag with a few essentials, which typically included a water bottle, her keys, wallet, headphones and cassette player (obviously), and some band-aids since she was a bit of a klutz. She ended up wearing her outfit for tonight to work because she didn't have much space in her backpack, so she ended up bringing her perfume and deodorant too in case she had to freshen up.

Despite it being a Friday, she managed to close the store at its usual time, which was a couple of minutes after 10 p.m. At this point she had already swept the floors, deciding to leave the mopping to whomever was opening up the store tomorrow morning. She was wearing a black skirt paired with a black sweater and decorated with a few accessors, including tights with little hearts. This was her typical style. Not only was she comfortable, but she felt pretty cute too.

"Sorry, we're closed." Ellie called out as she heard the bell above the door ring, indicating a customer had entered. She was placing a few stray DVDs back in their appropriate spots on the shelf, her back facing the door, until she decided to turn around to see who it was.

"Oh. Hey Xander." She said. Was it already 10:30? Glancing at the clock on the wall behind her, it seemed like he was just early, which was fine since she was practically done tidying up anyway.

Joshua was already in his car by 10:15, a white beanie sitting atop his head with his curls poking out the side and a black hoodie with a graphic design clinging to his body, along with his usual pair of jeans. A tune was softly spilling out of the car radio as he drove, his fingers drumming against the steering wheel. Sky's home eventually came into view, and he parked on the side of the road. Pulling the keys out of the ignition, he figured it was more appropriate for him to knock on the door than to honk his horn and call her out like a dog.

With his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, he approached the front door and removed one hand from his pocket to give it two firm knocks, before returning it to its original location, shielding his skin from the cold air.

 

[esor]

Alex forced an awkward smile on his face, he never learnt how to force a smile but thought it would be rude not to show her that he was at least a little happy to be there. He set the beers down on the counter to give his arm a rest from the weight.

"Hey." He replied, his tone casual and lacking excitement. "Nice to see you're still alive. Get home okay the other day?" He asked, leaning against the counter whilst looking at her, one leg crossed loosely over the other and his arms folded over his stomach. Waiting for her reply he glanced around the store, he didn't actually go there too often so it was cool to see what they had, maybe he'd visit the next time he needed a film to watch.

Sky grinned at the knock, heading over to the door and opening it. "Hey Jo-" she began before she was promptly interrupted.

"Joshua! Hi!" Skylar's mother said, rushing to the front door to stand beside her daughter. "We have to thank you for driving Skylar, we appreciate it so much. You're an absolute angel!" She continued. Sky couldn't help but stare at the ground, her face turning red from embarrassment. Josh was probably the last person she wanted to be embarrassed in front of. He was so cool to her, so this just seemed utterly lame.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie let out a slight laugh as she walked up behind the counter with a large set of keys dangling between her fingers.

"Well, I wasn't a murder victim on the 9 AM news so yeah, i'm okay." She said, looking up at him from the counter for a moment before searching through the set of keys for the one that fit the cash register. She stuck the appropriate key into the register and twisted the key to the right, knowing it was locked once she heard the familiar click.

"Seems like Heather was the only victim so." Ellie added, turning around for a moment toward the shelves behind the counter. There were all sorts of things there, like limited edition DVDs that were more prone to getting stolen as well as the stereo that was softly playing the music in the background. The stereo was placed a little high up because thats where the god forsaken outlet was, so she had to stand on her tippy toes to hit the 'skip' button. The Harpsichord version of 'Illusions' by Cypress Hill started playing, and she let out a slight huff as she reached further up with her fingertips to decrease the volume just a tiny bit. It was usually pretty crowded in the store, which meant the volume of the music had to be a little louder. But now it was empty so it was a bit too loud.

Joshua waited in silence outside the door for a few moments, before it opened up to reveal Sky, a slight smile finding its way onto his lips. His eyebrows then lifted up as a different figure appeared in the doorway in front of Sky, and he blinked for a few moments at the sudden compliments toward him.

"Oh, uh, not a problem." He brushed it off, giving a slight shrug and his head cocking to the side as he did so. Josh didn't mind looking good in front of other people's parents. Maybe it was because he had so many siblings that his parents didn't appreciate him as much, but that wasn't a thought he was going to delve into now. "Just doing my part as a friend." he added, not wanting to seem dry and curt with her parents.

 

[esor]

The tall boy kept his eyes on Ellie as she did her tasks around the store, finding it intriguing.

"Well I'm...glad? To know that you're still alive." He let out a soft chuckle. He let silence fill the air for a few moments, holding back more laughter as he watched her struggle to press the buttons on the stereo. After the music had quietened a little he broke his gaze from her and continued to gaze around the room.

"How long have you worked here?" He asked curiously, standing up straight and starting to rip the cardboard sleeve his beers were in. He pulled one out and hooked his pointer finger under the tab, pulling it towards him until her heard the satisfying click and fizz of the newly opened can. He brought it to his lips and took a sip. The teenager was well aware that it was probably inappropriate to be drinking in a store, even though it was closed, but he would be lying if he said he cared at all.

Skylar's mother smiled again and placed her hand on his forearm, "We are really happy you're her friend." She added, her tone soft and gentle.

Sky huffed, "We need to go and pick up Ellie." She said to break up the awkwardness that had been created, well, she thought it was awkward. The girl quickly grabbed her house keys off the side and pushed them into her pocket. Tucking her hair behind her right ear she turned to her parents, "I'll see you later." She said before stepping out of the door.

Her mother nodded, with her dad coming to the door and them both waving, her mother sporting a cheesy smile.

 

[amberskies]

"Yeah, thanks." Ellie let out a stifled laugh as she turned around to look at him, adjusting the hem of her skirt before proceeding to unplug any devices.

"Watch your step." She told him as she flicked off all of the light switches, and instead turned on the black lights scattered about the entire inside of the store. It gave the store a bit of an eery atmosphere. The manager had installed those lights to capture peoples attention when they would drive by at night. Sometimes during events like Halloween they'd keep only the black lights on since it fit the whole Halloween vibe.

She had pretty much finished closing up the store, and at this point she just had to lock the front door and activate the security system, which she'd do once Joshua's car pulled up in the parking lot so they wouldn't wait in the cold.

"Uhm.." She thought for a moment as she walked over to where he was, standing by him and leaning forward onto the counter. "Like a year and a half I think?" She sort of guessed. Ellie started not long after she turned 16 and was legally old enough to work. "Do you work?" She asked him. There were quite a few things she didn't know about Xander.

Josh let out a slight laugh. "Yeah, same." He told them. Personally he didn't sense the awkwardness in the air, but then again, it was very rare for Josh to ever feel awkward. He thought something was only awkward if you made it awkward. Awkwardness was a feeling. But, understandably it seemed like Skylar wanted to get out of the situation, so he nodded along to her words.

"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Hart." The curly haired boy gave them a subtle smile and a wave, before turning around and walking alongside Skylar toward his car.

"Cool parents." He commented casually as he approached the drivers seat.

 

[esor]

He nodded at her answer, "That's cool. You seem like you enjoy it. Interest in movies?" He asked her as though it wasn't obvious. He liked that fact that she was such a hard worker, he thought everyone should be. But not when it came to school, that was where putting in effort got a free skip. He stumbled over whether or not to answer her question. He figured since it was only her he may as well open up slightly.

He thought that Ellie seemed trustworthy, not that it was a secret, he'd just rather not everyone know lots of things about him, the last thing he wanted was to be subject to gossip, but it would be unlikely anyone would dare to talk about him behind his back.

"Yeah, sometimes. I help my dad and my uncles business." He told her, keeping it short and sweet. In his mind that's all she needed to know, for now anyway. He finished his sentence by sipping the beer he had in his hand, kind of disappointed that they weren't as cold anymore but he figured that Lindsey wouldn't mind letting him store them in her refrigerator.

"Don't wait up!" Were Skylar's last words to her parents before she closed the door, sighing as her and Josh walked to his car.

"Sarcasm?" She asked him, opening the passenger door and sitting inside. Skylar thought he parents were amazing, they were a perfect balance between caring for her and just letting her be a teenager, which she very much appreciated. But she wouldn't call them cool. Her cheeks still had a pink tint to them, flushed about the situation.

 

[amberskies]

"Yeah! I do like it here." Ellie nodded, her hands clasped atop the counter and her fingers toying around with one another. She didn't have the ability to sit still, ever. She always had to be fidgeting somehow, even if it was subtle. "Horror's my favourite." She admitted. Her boss let her borrow movies from work without having to pay for them, so she frequently borrowed some horror films and watched them by herself at home. At night. For some reason they just didn't creep her out that much. Sure, it would occasionally cause her heartbeat to spike, but she never really got nightmares from them.

"What kinda work do you do?" She asked, and then had another thought. "Something with your hands? Since you were good with them in class." She told him, and then after a few seconds, looked away from him as she realised how that sounded. "Like, doing the chemistry thing." Ellie elaborated, furrowing her eyebrows afterwards. She had to start thinking more before speaking.

Joshua gave the couple inside the house one final wave, before looking over at Skylar, a little surprised that she was questioning whether he was being sarcastic. Had he come across like that?

"Nah, they seem nice." he shook his head as he shut the car door and pulled his seatbelt across his body. He stuck the key into the ignition once more, looking over at her. "You don't think that?" He asked her, sort of curious to hear what she had to say about her parents.

 

[esor]

Alex couldn't hold in his laugh when Ellie complimented how he used his hands.

"Weird you took note of that." He commented, finding it as a good way to avoid her question. He leant down on the counter, using his arms to prop himself up and look at her. "Is that what you look at when you spend time with people? Their hands? How they use them?" He questioned in order to tease her. He knew exactly what she meant, he just thought it was funny to mock her about its other interpretation. Though either way, he took it as a compliment. As he spoke he inspected his hands, looking over them as he stood up straight again.

She shrugged, sliding her seatbelt on and pushing the end into the buckle. "They're lovely. Very lovely. I just think they're embarrassing." She admitted, though if he questioned her she thought he most likely didn't get that same vibe from them.

"Usually I wouldn't mind being embarrassed by them, I won't be shy because I have loving parents. That time it was a little different." She said followed by a prompt shrug, as if to deflect from what the last part of her sentence meant.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie opened her mouth to say something, but was unsure of what to say. She really didn't think he was going to tease her on that, and to be honest, she was taken aback. She couldn't help but let her eyes flicker down to his big hands, taking note of the way they looked. His knuckles were rosy from the cold air, and there were veins protruding from the skin on the back of his hand, leading up his forearm masked by his hoodie. She let out a small laugh, slightly high-pitched and laced with a bit of nervousness. What the hell was wrong with her? She still had time to recover from that.

"I just li-" She started, and then stopped talking. Saying that she liked hands wasn't going to save her from the situation.

"Shut up." She very simply told him with a smile threatening to spill across her lips, nudging him with her body as she spoke. She could feel her cheeks beginning to heat up from the entire situation, so she stood upright and walked behind the counter once more, grabbing her backpack from the floor and placing it atop the counter so it looked like she had something to do. Which she totally didn't, all she did was move her bag. She would just prefer if he didn't notice her blushing, especially because she had absolutely no reason to blush.

Joshua proceeded to reverse into the main road and drive in the direction of the Video House. Upon hearing her say they were embarrassing, he let out a laugh.

"My parents are embarrassing too." He told her. Everyone's parents were embarrassing to some extent. He didn't perceive that from her parents, but he was sure that if he was in the same situation with his own parents, he might've felt differently.

Then, upon hearing the last bit that she said, his eyebrows lowered in slight confusion and he stopped the car as they approached a red light.

"Why was that time different?" He went on to ask, reaching his hand over to slip a different cassette into his car radio. "Angel" by Aerosmith proceeded to play quietly in the background, and he couldn't help but let his slim fingers drum along to the beat onto the steering wheel, his eyes switching from staring at the red traffic light from looking over at Skylar as he anticipated a response. She looked rather pretty with the red neon light reflecting off of her pale face.

 

[esor]

The boy kept laughing, light chuckles exuding the fact he was happy with the outcome of his teasing. "Don't tell me to shut up. You shut up." He smirked, "I'm not the one making a fool of myself." He teased further, though for once he hoped he wasn't going too far. He made a mental note to tame it after that.

He may have been oblivious and untalkative but he was quite observant at times, so he did notice her blushing a little. But it wasn't something he thought too much about, everyone got flushed now and then. But not him, he didn't think of himself of someone who would be that affected by anything. He found himself feeling kinda bad about ignoring her question by teasing her, so he gave in.

"Construction kinda stuff. Fixing things, making things, installing things, etcetera." He said once his chuckles subsided. "Not very interesting, but it pays quite well and since my uncle runs it I don't have a strict schedule. I can pick a job to help him on if I ever need a bit of extra cash." He told her, surprising himself that he was talking so much about it when at first he didn't even want to tell her that he worked.

As the taller boy laughed, a smile creeped onto Skylar's face. It was nice to hear him laugh, she liked his laugh, plus she was glad that he thought his parents could be embarrassing too. But to her, Joshua didn't seem like the kind of person who would ever get embarrassed. He seemed like a 'take it in stride and pretend it didn't phase him' kind of guy.

She was hoping the rest of the car journey would be spent in silence or talking about something else, but he just had to ask. It took her a second to weigh up her options; if she wanted to make something up or just tell him what she meant by that. Bravely, she went for the latter. She took the few seconds it took Josh to switch out the cassette in his car radio to order her thoughts.

"Well, it's you." She told him simply, hoping it's ambiguity would leave him wondering about what she meant. She'd already decided not to answer any more questions about it, the answers would probably slip out when she got drunk anyway. At least if she was intoxicated she could pretend not to remember what happened the next day. Her eyes shifted from the road in front over to him, her lips still upturned and eyes still gentle. With no idea what he'd interpret from that, she looked back to the cars in front of them.

 

[amberskies]

"Sorry, boss." Ellie teased, looking up at him with a slight smirk as she made reference to the whole 'boss' thing from chemistry class. That may have helped her recover a little. She reached into her bag for her perfume, wanting to make sure that she was fresh. Not that her job caused her to sweat, ever, since she mainly sat behind the counter, but the scent of perfume and laundry on her clothes had sort of faded throughout the day. As she listened to him speak, she threw her hair behind her shoulders and sprayed the sweet perfume onto a wrist and then rubbed it with her other wrist before dabbing it at her neck. That was much better.

She turned around for a moment as she looked at the clock. 10:25. They should be here sometime soon then.

"Damn, that's a lot of manual labor." She commented, sort of impressed though. She didn't mind sitting behind a counter or walking through the store to help people find movies as a job. She probably wouldn't last a day building things. She'd likely break a nail and end up pouting about it.

Josh was hoping that what she would say next would give him some answers, but it very evidently didn't. Now what on earth did she mean by that? Not that he was overthinking, he was merely confused and she wasn't making it any easier for him to understand.

"Yeah.. it is me, Josh. Hi." He told her, and then returning his eyes upon seeing the hue on her face shift to a green shade. He hit the accelerator and sped down the road, though he remained under the speed limit. He was an excellent driver, and knew where not to go fast due to higher police presence. This area usually had cops hiding out somewhere, waiting to give someone a ticket, particularly on Friday nights. But, that wasn't what his mind was thinking of now.

"What are you on about?" He followed up with a laugh, wanting to hear her properly explain what she meant by that. Did she mean because they were friends rather than strangers? He wasn't too sure.

 

[esor]

Alex watched Ellie put perfume on, a smile appearing on his face as the sweet scent filled his nostrils. It smelled very nice, pretty he thought.

"Yeah but I do enjoy it. Keeps me active, not that I need it." He smirked. "And it's actually really satisfying to watch some rubble turn into something useful, building stuff is cool." He added. He really did enjoy it, which was a good job considering he'd inherit the business. He had wondered if the business would end with him, not that he wouldn't have someone to pass it down to he just never thought about it, but what 17 year old boy did think about his future so intently?

He took another swig from the can and then hummed, "Want one?" He asked Ellie, gesturing to the pack of beers next to him. "They're still kind of cold."

Sky simply giggled and gave him an exaggerated shrug, she really didn't want to tell him. She knew it was because even though she was stone cold sober she'd go on a tangent about how cool he was and how she wanted him to think that she was cool, and embarrassing parents didn't help with that. She decided that if anything would make him think she was uncool, it would be blurting that out to him.

She looked at him as he drove, she loved the fact he was a skilled driver, she thought it was hot in all honesty but that was something she was also going to keep to herself, for now at least. But she didn't want to leave the quiet completely unfilled, sure the music was still playing and she enjoyed listening to it but she also enjoyed talking to him.

"Your car is really cool." The girl said simply, before beginning to quietly hum along to the song.

 

[amberskies]

Ellie put away the little perfume bottle and now returned her full attention to him, leaning across the counter so she was facing him as though he were a customer paying for a video. She let out a small laugh upon hearing him say he didn't need to be active. Well, he wasn't wrong. He never really wore things that showed off his body, but from what little she's seen of his shoulders and forearms, the man definitely was fit.

"Yeah, sure." She accepted, reaching over and grabbing one of the beer cans. He made it easy for her since he previously ripped up the plastic holding the cans in place. She lifted up the tab and listened to the familiar sizzle of the beverage, before pulling the tab off and tossing it in the trash under the counter.

"Cheers." She told him, before taking a couple of sips of the beer. It wasn't too cold, but it was still at a good enough temperature where it felt refreshing. Beer wasn't her absolute favourite drink, and she definitely didn't enjoy getting drunk off of it since the percentage was pretty low, but one on occasion was pretty nice. Especially after a long day at work. Friday's were always a little more intense at work, there would be way more customers. She wasn't the only one working, but the manager didn't trust the other employees nearly as much as he trusted Ellie to close everything up.

"They should be here any minute." She told him, grabbing her backpack and throwing it onto her shoulder. She grabbed the set of keys on the counter and gestured for Alex to follow after her toward the front door so she could close up and set up the alarm.

"What, you're not gonna tell me?" Josh told her, only glancing at her for a split second since he was focused on driving and would much rather not get into a car crash. He wasn't sure why she didn't want to tell him. He wouldn't die if she kept it to herself, but seeing as it involved him, he sort of wanted to know what was up. She seemed to change subject, so he dropped it.

"Thanks. I like it too." Josh chuckled a little. He wasn't about to go on about how he got the car, since it was a birthday gift for his 16th birthday and most teenagers didn't get an entire new car as a gift. It felt like a flex, and he was too humble to brag about it like that.