Warning: Profanity.
Note: The title is from the song "Meddle" by Little Boots.
A/N: Sometimes, if I'm not being lazy, I actually write things. Amazing, isn't it?
Revised in February 2015: The more I read the original version of the story, the uglier it became. I had to do something about it, so voila—a better edit!
7teen: Meddle
Should I really bothered with this hellhole today? Nikki asked herself. She looked at the Khaki Barn's afternoon influx of customers, or "mindless fashion sheep," as she liked to call them. Nope, not at all.
She glanced at her favorite changing stall, which no one occupied. She tossed aside the sweater she'd been folding over and over again in favor of taking a much-needed break. With each step, victory was closer and closer—so close she could almost taste it—but before she found herself at the stall door, she was greeted by defeat.
"What do you think you're doing, Nikki?"
She groaned. "Trying to catch a break for once."
"I'll gladly let you do that on your own time," Chrissy said. "Listen, I need you on register duty for the day."
"Why me? Can't you get Kirsten or Kristen to do that?" She muttered, "That's all they're good for, anyway."
"But I want you to, Nikki,"—Chrissy ditched her atypically polite tone—"because I know you ditched half your shift the other day to socialize with a friend. I mean, you could relax in that stall, but then I'd have to make you do inventory and put you on employee probation. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
Her reply was a monotonous no.
"Glad you're seeing things my way." She smirked, continuing to do so as she walked by.
"Bitch," she muttered. Between Chrissy's manipulation and the more air-headed Clones' squeals of getting a new co-worker, Nikki wanted to wilt and die at work. But she needed to keep her willpower strong. Traveling money was the endgame after all. (Although the option of blackmailing Chrissy with her Jedi Knight Club membership didn't seem so bleak.)
Finally at the cash register like Chrissy commanded her to be, Nikki only assisted one customer before resting her head on the counter. If she couldn't get her break in her favorite stall, then she would get one here.
"Excuse me, miss, could you ring this up for me?" someone interrupted.
Without even lifting her head, she replied, "Can't you see that I'm taking a break? Besides, the merchandise from this store isn't even worth it."
She was relieved when she heard clothing hit the counter and footsteps leaving the store. However, she wanted to roll her eyes when she heard another set of footsteps approaching.
"Nikki?" she heard. "I didn't know you worked here."
When she raised her head, Sydni came into focus. "Big surprise, right? Though I'm not quite sure why I work here… Oh right: traveling money. That's where the list begins and ends."
"Oh." Noticing Nikki's tired eyes, she looked away and placed her hands behind her back. "Maybe I should wait outside. I shouldn't bother you."
"You can stay; you're not bothering anyone. Besides, it's not like I'm doing anything worthwhile." She rested her elbows on the counter. "So, what brings you here?"
"Well, Caitlin wanted to take me on a mall tour, but she asked me to meet her here first." She met Nikki's eyes. "I guess a little time away from my laptop won't hurt."
"Try telling that to Jude last year." Nikki laughed at the memory. "He was so obsessed with some laptop game that we had to stage an intervention."
She chuckled. "Jude seems like an interesting person."
It had been less than a week since she'd formally met the gang at Geoff's party, and she'd only hung out with them a couple times, but she'd found herself intrigued by this group of people—sitting in her food-court chair and watching them interact, only participating in conversations once in a blue moon. A few of them reminded her of friends and acquaintances back in Baltimore. A few others were entirely new personalities to her.
She wasn't used to hanging out in a bigger group yet—a drastic difference from her preferred, intimate group of two, sometimes three, people—but maybe she would get used to it. After all, they were only one group in a city of over two million people. (She'd been doing her homework on Toronto.)
"Yeah, but once you get to know him, he'll become a brother. An unpredictable, stoned, anti-bathing brother," Nikki said.
She giggled before feeling quite nostalgic. "In that case, he'd be my second brother. Very different from my other one, though."
"Really?"
"Yeah. My friend Marcus and I were really tight. He was a kind, chill shoulder to lean on. We'd always hear each other out, always had each other's backs no matter what."
"Ah. That kind of sounds like me and Wyatt."
"He seems like a genuinely nice guy." She glanced at her sneakers as she fiddled with her bracelet. "That's really refreshing."
"It is, isn't it?" She snorted. "God, most guys these days are complete asshats. Can't tell the good guys from the jerks anymore."
She frowned. "You have no idea. They're like wolves in sheep's clothing."
"Only they're pigs, pricks, and dicks who've 'got Kik.'"
"Exactly!" Alongside Nikki, she laughed her first genuine fit of laughter in ages. Once their fit ceased, she asked, "So, do you have any advice on where to work?" Twisting a lock of her brown and copper hair, she said, "If I start coming here everyday, I might as well have a job, right?"
Nikki shrugged. "Makes sense to me. My only advice is to save yourself the trouble by not working here. Seriously."
"Why not?" She avoided her eyes. "I-I mean I never paid much attention to this store back home, but I'm just curious, that's all."
She smirked. "First of all, relax—I don't bite… much. Second, the Crappy Barn is not worth your time. Trust me."
"Oh, okay. Thanks for that."
Not knowing what to discuss next, Sydni was grateful for an approaching, arguably frustrated customer.
"Miss"—she plopped her clothing on the counter before Nikki—"I've been waiting for your assistance for over three minutes. That's absurd."
"You know what? It truly is, but—looking at these clothes—I'm sure you'll survive." Nikki offered a stern face.
"Well I never."
"Then don't."
The woman stormed off as Nikki called, "Have a Khaki day!"
Sydni gasped at the scene she'd witnessed before grinning. "Oh my gosh, Nikki, how are you still employed?"
She shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I ask myself the same thing everyday."
Sydni frowned when she felt the conversation hitting a snag, but she figured nothing good could last forever. She was yet again grateful for Caitlin's good timing, entering the store after the lull was established.
She offered them both a bubbly smile when she reached the counter. "Hi, guys!"
"Hey, Barbie," Nikki said. "What's new?"
"Oh, nothing much." She faced Sydni. "So, ready for my one-of-a-kind tour around the mall?"
Caitlin and her pearl-white grin, offered nothing but sunshine. She couldn't hide her eagerness any longer. This was the chance for the gang—and, more specifically, her—to connect with someone new, to let more light in, to be refreshed. This tour of the mall would only be the beginning, Caitlin could feel it.
Sydni couldn't refrain from smiling either. From the moment she'd hung out with Caitlin at the party, Caitlin's presence had been overwhelming, but in a good sense. It was a refreshing mix of joy and sincerity. It was contagious.
"Of course I am."
"Let's go!" Before Caitlin sped off with Sydni, she said, "Bye, Nikki!"
Nikki waved and tried to enter her happy place, or at least her relatively stable place, as they left. The prospect of someone new among her friends wasn't so bad, at least not anymore. Accepting Caitlin as part of the group, especially when she'd proven herself as a good person, further opened Nikki's mind. The possibility of a new attitude around the gang was welcome, but she hoped they would stop here, because more than seven people would just be overkill.
"Um, miss, can you please ring this up for me?"
If I hear miss one more time, I swear to God… Ignoring the customer before her, Nikki massaged her throbbing temples with her index and middle fingers. "This is going to be a long day."
