This stemmed from a prompt on Pinterest (originally from Tumblr's own writing-prompt-s).
This was it:
You're a regular office worker born with the ability to "see" how dangerous a person is with a scale of 1-10 above their heads. Today, you notice the reserved new guy at the office is a ten.
I wrote a comment on Pinterest, a lot of people liked it, I said I'd write a one-shot. That I've done… but sorry to say I didn't really go off my comment. It's still Percy Jackson, and still work and sweets related, and it's still to the prompt, but sadly, the similarities end there. I tried really hard to think of small story, but that concept turned out to be just that, a concept, there was noting else to it. I stressed myself out for a while and after a bit I just decided to write this.
Very sorry if this is disappointing; it most likely will be. I said I'd write something, I never I'd be good at it. :/
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit….
School had just gotten out, and Scarlett stayed behind talking to a friend before frantically realizing that today was her first day of work. A week or two ago she had applied to a small ice cream shop not too far from her school; she had been accepted and was supposed to start today.
Currently, she was sitting in a subway train, stressing out and attempting to will the thing to go faster by the sheer power of stress. She was going to be late on her first day. Shit.
Once she made it out of the Underground, Scarlett set off running. She stumbled to stop as she arrived before her new place of work. She took a second to smooth her hair down, attempt to straighten her clothes, tuck her shirt back in, and try to achieve an altogether more put together look.
After about fifteen seconds she gave up and walked in, a pleasant little chime following her.
It was a small place, the floor littered with a few tables, all complemented by stools, and a counter in the back—simple and sweet. The walls were painted in a fun way, though: stripes of turquoise, honey-yellow, and royal blue raced each other around the white walls.
Behind the desk was a teen, around her age, lazily leaning against a counter. What she guessed was a textbook was propped open back there, obscuring his face, but he turned to look up at her as the door chimed, alerting him of her entrance. A woman and two kids were sitting at one of the tables, and so were two other young teens at another. Quiet chatter drifted around the room as she nervously walked up to the counter.
She waved tentatively at the boy behind the counter, "Hi, I'm Scarlett."
"You're the new employee, right?" he asked as he flipped up a section of the counter so he could walk out and greet her. "I'm Percy," he stated as he stuck his hand out in greeting.
She shook it, and absentmindedly wondered why his hands were so calloused. "You aren't mad that I'm"—Scarlett glanced at her watch —"shoot, almost fifteen minutes late?"
"What do you mean? You're right on time." He led her behind the desk, a grin on his face, and winked at her when they arrived in the back room. "By the way, you gotta wear one of these aprons," he gestured to the row of aforementioned aprons hanging on hooks in front of them. They were all assorted colors, matching the stripes on the walls. She grabbed yellow. Percy, she noticed, was wearing one of the royal blue ones.
"Oh yeah, they also made you a name tag. Lemme go grab it."
She stood there awkwardly and tied her apron on as she waited. It only took a moment for Percy to come bounding back with a small metal name tag in hand. He gave it to her with a flourish, "M'kay, tour officially over. Sorry it was short, but someone always has to be out front, so let's venture out there before I get in trouble."
She followed him to the counter and listened as he began to explain everything. By the end of his spiel, (which was comprised of him listing the procedures and rules, teaching her what was what, coaching her on how to use/do certain things, and possibly telling her about his favorite pastimes) Scarlett was certain she had made the right choice to apply here.
She assumed her first day would be full of some other employee droning on about rules and the like, which she technically wasn't wrong about, but Percy somehow found a way to make it enjoyable. Every now and then he was interrupted by a customer, and when she asked to help, he just brushed it off and let her chill.
As she watched him work, she figured he must have been here a while, because he was good at this. He was quick to do everything, and easily remembered what the order was. Additionally, Percy was incredibly good with people, especially kids.
He could also suggest things with a scary amount of accuracy. If someone didn't know what to get, or their flavor wasn't there, he could give them a sample and they almost always got a cup of whatever he had given them happily. And it wasn't just his favorite flavor he suggested or anything, it varied from person to person.
An hour later, Percy had finished showing her the ropes and they were just talking as customers steadily trickled in. The store was only just filling up, and now every seat was taken, inside and out. Percy scooped ice cream and she manned the register.
She figured this would be a stressful situation, a rush. It was one of the things that made Scarlett apprehensive to apply, but Percy yet again changed her mind. He found a way to diffuse the stress of it all, and quite frankly, her end of the job wasn't all that hard.
The rush lasted about an hour, but the time seemed to slip by quickly enough with the fast pace of it all. At some point, the store emptied back to around halfway, and the stream of people slowed down to a trickle again. Percy muttered something about homework and gave her an apology in advance for the boredom, then proceeded to walk over to the counter in the corner so he could (presumably) finish his reading.
Scarlett stood at the counter and watched the door, for about five minutes she just leaned against the cool surface and waited for more customers to come. None did in the small span of time, but she descended into boredom quickly.
She took one of the tiny tasting spoons and dipped it into the chocolate, wishing its sweet taste alone could cure her boredom. She glanced at Percy, then at her backpack. She too had homework, and sure, she could do it now—he told her as long as they were in the front room and attended to the customers, they could do whatever.
But she just didn't feel like it, for once she didn't have that much work (having done some at school in a free period, and the fact that she had projects due for two of her classes and had already finished them). So, she resorted to people watching, thinking, and eavesdropping... After only another two minutes, she was bored out of her mind again.
Finally, someone came in. Well, not someone, but a family of four: a mom, dad, and two little boys. They all ordered, she served them, they paid and left. But they gave her an idea, made her remember something she couldn't believe she forgot.
There was something about Scarlett that not too many people knew, and that even she herself, had no explanation of. If she focused, numbers would pop up above people's heads. The range was one through seven, at least as far as she knew. The rating showed how dangerous people were. The highest number she'd ever seen was above a lady's head—it had been a seven. It was when she was in a parking lot of a strip mall a few years ago, the lady had had a military uniform on and the coldest expression she'd ever seen a person wear. No movie, picture, or otherwise compared.
She glanced towards a couple in the corner, they both had fives. That made Scarlett wonder what they did for a living, or at least what gave them a score so high for seemingly random people.
She wondered if they were both somehow extra strong, or maybe they knew certain things... or maybe they had weapons on them—and knew how to use them. She stared really hard at the pair of ladies, trying to see if they had anything concealed on them.
After some staring, she determined, either they were really good at concealing things, had nothing on them, or she was plainly bad at spotting this type of thing. It really could be a combination of any of those factors.
Giving up, she looked towards a babysitter on the other side of the store, sitting with two little kids. They both had ones, which was unsurprising, and the girl herself had a three—which again was not unusual. It was sometimes weird how close numbers were, occasionally it made sense, because how dangerous could a human really be? So why would the rage vary too much? On the other hand, however, some people seemed like they should be levels above others. But she guessed it made sense, if only you didn't think about it too hard.
In a corner in the back of the room was a group of teenagers—she didn't recognize them, so she guessed they weren't from her school—one of them had a four, the rest were threes, nothing too special there.
Someone walked in, she mentally thanked them as her savior from further boredom. They walked to the group of teens in the back, and after some exchange (which she sadly couldn't hear) they all laughed and the pair that had just walked in stalked up to the counter.
"Is it true?" one of them questioned, laughing. He had a grin that she didn't like all too much—it was too cocky. A mop of brown hair sat on his head and he had an even tan that hardly covered his pasty skin. The boy beside him was Hispanic looking, black hair, and brown skin, he was wearing the biggest shit eating grin and somehow looking sort of victorious.
"What would you-"
"Is it true that the Percy Jackson works at a tiny ice cream shop?" the brown-haired boy laughed.
Percy didn't even look up.
"I always knew you were poor. Those hoodies... you do know most people don't wear the same dank clothes every day, right? Can't your mother buy you more than one outfit? Are you paying for your own rent off this job? I know Paul can't put any of his teacher's pay towards it."
"Don't you bring my mom into this," Percy's voice floated threateningly from the counter.
"Jackson has a sweet spot for mommy, does he?" the second one taunted.
"Yes, I love my mother, fuck off Trent," he still hadn't moved. Multiple people in the store gasped at the language, even though Scarlett thought he'd said it rather quietly. Scarlett couldn't blame him though, he sounded so bored and done with these people. She didn't doubt their harassment was a common occurrence.
"I bet she doesn't even try. She's just broke and relies on you. Maybe that's why she had you, I bet that's it. Probably the only reason she keeps you around." Scarlett felt as though she could only watch the exchange, she felt bad for Percy, but he seemed to have it handled. And besides, she did not have the mind to get caught in the middle of this. Suddenly, felt the need to know their numbers (earlier they had broken her concentration and she lost 'the sight'), she wondered if all the shit they talked had anything behind it. Turns out, not really, one was a three and the other a four. So, really, nothing extraordinary.
Percy finally snapped and stood up to face the pair, "I swear Kyle, if you don't shut up about my mom, I will deck you and not even be sorry about it."
Scarlett had to hold in a gasp, he was a nineteen. She backed up and shook her head, attempting to reset whatever she had seen. Maybe it was a glitch somehow. She knew it had never deceived her before, but she refused to believe what she had seen.
How could he have a nineteen? She didn't want him decking anyone with that number. The pair of boys in front of her were assholes, that was for sure, but nobody deserved to be decked by someone with a nineteen.
She felt the need to go to the back room so she could avoid whatever was happening. But she couldn't seem to tear her eyes away from the scene that was unfolding.
"I thought you refused to hurt anyone," Kyle mocked.
"Dumb promise I made, plus I won't get suspended for anything I do here."
"Ah, ah, ah, but you could get fired."
"I haven't taken my break yet," Percy responded icily.
"Well then let's see what momma's boy's got," Trent laughed.
"I'd rather not, I don't want to break my promise if I don't have to. You should know though, I know how to punch. I used to be kicked outta schools for it."
Earlier, Scarlett probably wouldn't believe this, thinking it was only a bluff; but now, she wasn't too sure.
"So, are you here for ice cream, or do I need to show you two the door?"
"Are you seriously too scared to fight us, Jackson?"
"No, but there are children here, so if you aren't buying, I'm sorry but you gotta leave."
"I don't have to go anywhere. And you most certainly can't force me to do anything."
"You really are looking for a fight, but you are currently loitering, so yes, I can kick you out. So, what will it be? Ice cream or the door?"
"I'm not buying anything from you."
"Alrighty then," Percy drawled as he flipped part of the counter up. He walked out to meet them, seemingly at ease, his lips tipped upward in a small and passive smile. Walking behind them, he grabbed one of each of their hands and twisted it behind their backs before either could respond. Each gave a small yelp in response.
He walked with the two of them in front of him. As he walked by, he stared down the group in the corner—the one they had previously visited—as he forced the two in front of him to walk out the door. Neither resisted. He walked back in, and made it all the way back behind the counter. Yet, neither of the pair had made a move to come in. They just stared at him coldly through the glass.
Presently, he seemed to realize Scarlett was staring at him. It must have been quite the expression, because his own morphed into one of extreme confusion.
"Is there something on my face?" he asked, clearly confused, and rubbed his forearm childishly over his mouth. She only now realized the change in his voice. It had become icy when he had been talking to the two boys, now it was light and playful again. She just looked at him, unable to come up with a plausible excuse for blatantly staring so much.
As the silence stretched on, he cocked his head to the side, "What? Is it something in my hair?" He ran a hand through his hair and then proceeded to shake his head like a dog. An action which made it extremely messy.
"What is it?" Percy demanded, confusing coloring his words and a dumb expression of befuddlement painting his face. It was so hard to think that face matched his number. How in the world could this dumbass be a nineteen? She didn't understand it in the least bit.
"It's, uh, nothing...," she finally managed. "So, who were they?"
"Friends from school," he deadpanned.
She laughed and tried to focus on anything but the nineteen she had seen floating above his head. "They did seem really friendly," she remarked with a weak chuckle.
"No, but really, what was that look for?"
"Seriously, nothing," Scarlett needed to distract him….
"I wouldn't have actually decked him you know. I don't like violence."
Oh. So he thought she was scared because he acted all tough towards the douchebags. Right, well she could play that up. Maybe. Her acting skills weren't exactly sublime.
"Yeah, of course…. You really wouldn't have though?"
"Nah, I've kept my hands clean for so long, I couldn't break my streak now. Besides, it'd be such a waste of a good break… one I might've been bluffing about not having taken."
She laughed at his attempted joke and tried to look more relaxed.
"I've got one more question then," Scarlett asked with a grin. Maybe Percy was somehow extremely dangerous, but she found herself asking the question of whether it really mattered. Because standing in front of her was a truly hilarious person, he was kind and sweet as well. So, she found herself thinking to heck with the numbers. Percy's a great dude and no weird sight's going to change that.
Scarlett's grin widened; she knew she'd picked the right job.
"Do we get free ice-cream?"
When his answer was a yes, all she could think was, there are great employees and great perks. Scarlett was definitely looking forward to working here.
I hope you might've been able to enjoy that, sorry it wasn't very good. And shout out to ZriptideZ who helped edit this, check out her stuff. :)