Charity's POV:

I choked on yet another dust cloud as Ethan dumped another box out into the trash.

"Sorry! It's just really dusty…"

"Noticed already…" I waved a feather duster in his face.

The boy just smiled grimly then went back to dumping boxes.

Most of the stuff in the boxes were just old figurines and packing peanuts, but every once in a while I found something that was worthwhile.

For instance: literally 30 minutes into cleaning, I found an old box of work clothes that were in pretty good shape. After I changed into something I wasn't afraid of getting dirty, we actually started to make a dent. That was two hours ago.

Ethan carried another load of empty boxes out to the backyard. When I had asked him what he was going to do with them, he simply replied with, 'firewood,' then went back to cleaning.

I sighed in frustration as opened yet another box. "I really hate-" my voice died in my throat. "Um…Ethan. Ethan? ETHAN!"

The poor boy came running into the room. "What's wrong?"

I frowned at him. "Um…why do you have this in a box, in storage?" I held up an almost new black gun.

For the briefest moment I saw a flicker of panic pass through the boy's eyes, but it was gone just as quick. I decided it must have been my imagination.

"Well…I got this house and it had these boxes in here when I got it. So I didn't know that was in there…" Ethan walked forward and scooped the gun out of my hands then disappeared out of the room.

Slowly, I got back to unpacking boxes and dumping them out. After another 45 minutes, Ethan finally came back in and took the remaining box shells out back. When he returned, he found I had already started to dust.

We worked in silence for another 30 minutes. Finally, just when I couldn't stand it anymore, the strange boy began to whistle a little tune. It was a happy tone and after a few minutes, without thinking, I joined in with humming.

We finished dusting and started to rearrange the scattered furniture. Another few minutes later, I found that the two of us were harmonizing in perfect sync. After we got bored with it, I started to hum a different song, and Ethan joined in after a few minutes with his whistle. The tunes continued to float around the room for the next hour and a half. After we the song ended we stared at the now clean and spacious room.

I smiled at my musical partner. "I think we did a good job."

Ethan's POV:

I nodded in agreement. "I'd forgotten what this room looked like."

The walls were white with a gray stripe in the middle running around the room. A large widow, now clean, faced the front yard and was lined with light gray curtains.

A bed was tucked in the corner with the white and gray bed spread and a small gray side table. A small white and gray dresser was on the same wall as the door with a small desk to its right.

Just looking at the clean room gave me chills. My old bedroom looked exactly the same…I just wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Trying to ignore the memories, I glanced at my watch. 1:45.

"Snap!" I yelped. Without any explanation I turned around and ran into my bedroom. Two minutes later, I ran out in my uniform.

Charity was sitting in the living room, waiting for me to come out. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to be late for work!" I hurried past her and grabbed my house keys. Just as I was about to leave, I realized…Charity would be here alone for almost nine hours. Okay…not happening. It wasn't that I didn't trust her…it was just…okay, I didn't trust her.

"You work?" the amnesia girl continued to stare at me.

I whirled around. "Of course I work. Everyone works." My brain wracked for someplace Charity could stay, but came up empty.

The girl shrugged. "Sorry, I really should have considered the fact that you had a job. What do you do?"

"I'm a bus-boy at a restaurant…" Who could take her for a little while…and maybe forever?

Excitedly, the hedgehog leaned forward a little. "Oh! I wonder if I worked. Well I obviously worked, but what did I do? Secretary, babysitter, taxi driver? Oh I really hope that it's not a taxi driver, who would want to do that for a living. Well I guess you would meet a lot of different kinds of people, so it would be exciting at certain points. But driving everywhere, ugh. No, I was not a taxi, bus, or driver of any sort."

Did she ever stop talking? That was the second time today she had started rambling…and it was already getting old. While she continued I continued to think about what I was going to do.

"…or perhaps I was an intern! Oh that would be great…but an intern to what? Maybe I was a librarian…all of those books with all of that history! Or maybe I was a waitress? What restaurant do you work for? Do you think I am a waitress? No probably not…maybe I'm a-"

I tuned her out after that. Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks. Lightbulb.

"Charity, be quiet!"

The girl fell silent.

I gather my thoughts. "I can't leave you here for half the day, and there's no way I can afford to keep you alive. So how about you come with me to work? I'll talk to my boss about getting you a job. Then you can put in the income to keep you alive, and I don't have to worry about you breaking something in here."

Charity nodded then frowned. "What do you mean break something?"

"Charity…"

"Okay! Okay! I think it's a great idea!" she smiled at me with pure joy. I couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Alright then! Let's get a move on, or we're going to be late!"

When Charity moves, she moves. I was half running, half being dragged to work by a purple hedgehog. Made me wonder what the neighbors would say…

Ten minutes later, we stood outside the popular restaurant. The neon sign above the shop read

Chelsi's Fine Dining and Show

I opened the door and lead Charity inside. "Well here we are. Now where is-"

"Ethan Levson! You're fifteen minutes late!" A black and white cat stormed up to me. Chelsi was wearing a bright pink t-shirt and black dress pants. Around her neck was a simple silver chain with a matching bracelet. Chelsi grabbed my arm and began to drag me across the floor.

"What did I tell everyone about coming late? Now you are needed at tables 4, 8, 11, 21, 27, 29, 33, 42, 43, 44, 45, 49, 50, 55, 71, 72, 75, 79, 80, 82-"

"Chelsi!" I cut off my employer for the past five years. "First of all; I'm going to need a list! Second of all," I pointed to Charity, "I brought a potential employee."

The cat noticed the hedgehog for the first time. She scanned Charity quickly, then nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll see if I can use her. But you need to GET TO WORK!"

Chelsi could be temperamental, but she could also be really sweet…as long as you don't show up late for work. Without another word I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a tray, and then started the long hours of bus boy.

For the next two hours I watched Chelsi and Charity out of the corner of my eye, but wasn't sure how the amnesia girl was doing. Quietly, I prayed that she would get the job, just so I wouldn't have to take care of her as soon as she could afford rent.

Table after table, order after order, I hoped that the confused girl was doing well.

Charity's POV:

First impression of Chelsi; strict. The cat started with the whole list of rules that I would be following (if I got the job) then showed me what I was supposed to do during the day. Place orders, carry food, and keep the customers happy. She then put me on five tables for a dry run, with actual customers. Nervously but as confidently as possible, I did everything as good as I could.

After a few minutes I realized that a few of the hostesses were staring at me. Three of them, to be exact. They were whispering among themselves and kept glancing at me. Pushing them out of my thoughts, I greeted the next customer.

As the minutes turned into hours, I got the hang of balancing the food and greeting the customers. Soon, it felt as though I had been doing this for years.

When six o'clock came around, Chelsi pulled me aside. "You got the job. Arrive tomorrow with Ethan and we'll discuss the hours and pay. If any questions pop up, ask me or anyone else here. See you tomorrow."

The women walked away hurriedly to the back room. After she left, I exhaled deeply, then decided to stick around until Ethan came out.

After an hour, an orange colored fox walked over to me and sat down. I recognized him from the kitchen, but hadn't had time to talk to him.

He greeted me with a simple, "Name's Rusty."

"Charity."

Slowly, he nodded. "Let me just cut to the chase. You may want to watch your back."

"I beg your pardon?"

He nodded over to the three girls' that had been staring at me earlier. "See those girls?"

"Yeah?"

"You want to steer clear of them. If they feel that you threaten their job then you'll be fired before you can say, 'have mercy!'" Rusty shook his head in disgust.

I looked at him with doubt. "Is that so?"

He nodded, "Oh it's happened before. Just ask your boyfriend, he's seen it."

Slowly I realized he was talking about Ethan. I felt my cheeks turn red, "Oh! He's not my boyfriend. I barely know him!"

"Oh…I just assumed. Anyway, those girl's drive me crazy!" the fox grumbled. "They cheat and lie their way around and never leave any proof." He stood up and brushed some bread crumbs off his pants. "I just thought I should warn you. Good luck."

Rusty walked out the front door, leaving me pondering what to do about the troublesome threesome.

Shout out to Meadow for Rusty! Thanks! Review please!