Stephanie cringed at the aroma of bleach that came off her. The cleaning rotation had fallen on her this time around, which meant she was in charge of making sure the lobby and both restrooms were spotless. It was literally disgusting; did no one pay attention to what they were doing? The girl's room was worse than the boys! She yearned to peel off her uniform and relax after a quick shower.

"Tanner!"

She shut her eyes, refraining from sighing. There he was, the bane of her existence.

Ted.

He was slightly older than her, having just graduated college at the end of May. Nobody liked him. He acted like he owned the place because he was promoted to Assistant Manager. That was only because Jackie, the actual manager, usually left him in charge anyway even before that so none of it was a surprise to anyone.

Stephanie plastered on a forced smile as she lifted her head up to meet his eyes, while resisting the urge to throttle him. "Yeah?"

He came closer to her. They were equal in height which made him far less intimidating. "Do I pay you to stand around and do nothing?" He barked.

Technically, he didn't pay her at all.

"I was just-" She didn't even get to finish.

"Get back to work!"

How rude, she scowled, clenching her hands into fists. She hated this job. And wanted nothing more than to shove a dirty towel in Ted's face. But she couldn't. She needed to save money for college. Her dad told her once school let out it was time for her to get a job and so, she found an opening at the local burger joint. Only she wasn't aware when she applied that she would be working with Satan reincarnated.

"Of course," Her smile remained until she turned around to which it promptly vanished from her face.

Just a few more months, she told herself. Just a few more months and I'm home free.

She should totally make her exit memorable. Something with pizazz. Something to let Ted 'the resident jerk' Norway she couldn't stand him. Nothing illegal of course. And nothing that would infuriate her dad enough to ground her. She was coming up on senior year. That was the worst possible time to be grounded. Gia had been talking non stop about all the future parties and hot guys that would be available. Stephanie had listened but otherwise didn't remark much on it, knowing her dad wouldn't be so easy going as to let her go to a party like Gia envisioned.

Harry wasn't fond of the idea either. He was stressing horribly over his future, which Stephanie had jokingly said he wouldn't have one if he kept going like that. He had several choices planned out, for college and a major. He couldn't decide on anything and had been mostly fretting over what if he chose wrong and ruined his life forever.

He was being the tiniest bit dramatic.

And as for her, Stephanie didn't know what she wanted to do. She thought about going to the local community college until she figured it out. She'd get her general credits and hopefully by then, have a path figured out or something-

She jumped when she realized she'd been walking backwards and had bumped into someone. She almost groaned, not having enough patience to deal with an irate customer. As if Ted needed more reasons to be on her case.

"I'm so-" She started to say, the words dying on her tongue as she came face to face with a pair of brown eyes she hadn't seen since she was in elementary school.

But that hardly mattered. She'd recognize him anywhere.

"Charles," Her mouth was dry.

He hadn't changed much since the last time she'd seen him. She noted he didn't look so sickly thin anymore. He was obviously eating regular meals, not to mention, he was a few inches taller than her. Although despite those changes, he still dressed like he had in fifth grade; oversized flannel over a plain t-shirt and dark jeans with a hat on his head. His dark hair peeked out in a few spots.

She moved a piece of hair behind her ear, suddenly unsure of what to say.

"It's Charlie, actually," he said sheepishly. "But hi, Stephanie." He seemed surprised. And pleased. "It's uh, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

She nodded, probably a little too fast. "Yeah. Yeah. It has." She rubbed her arm. They stood in silence. Stephanie tried to think up something useful to say.

But she didn't have to. Charles-Charlie did it for her.

"Are you working here?" He was curious.

"Huh?" She blinked. He gestured towards her uniform. "Oh. yeah, I do."

He grinned. She'd never seen him smile before. Not like this, all genuine and happy. It was nice. He should do it more often.

"Oh, it's my lucky day. Running into you and you get to wait on me? It's like an early birthday present."

"Think again," She rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "I'm on cleaning duty."

"That explains the bleach," He snickered. "No offense, Tanner, but you need a shower."

"Oh, shut up," She rolled her eyes again, trying to hide the tiniest hint of embarrassment she felt. She tried to change the subject. "So, are you-"

"Tanner!"

Oh, you gotta be kidding me

Stephanie turned, struggling to keep her temper in check. "Yes?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to get back to work? You can flirt with your boyfriend later!"

She was rendered speechless, her cheeks going red. "He's not my boyfriend," She said defensively.

"Whatever," Ted scowled. He stomped off to the backroom, leaving her feeling like she wished the floor would swallow her whole.

It left them in silence in the middle of the lobby. She turned back to Charlie, grimacing. "I'm sorry. He's-"

"Don't worry about it," Charlie said in a surprisingly gentle tone. "It's fine."

Stephanie felt strangely at ease.

"Okay."

And then her tongue worked before her brain could stop it.

"Do you wanna, I don't know, catch up later?"

Charlie was surprised. "Yeah. Okay. When?"

She glanced at her wristwatch. "I get off in a few hours. Is ten fine?"

"Yeah," Charlie smiled at her again. "That's cool."

"Okay," She was smiling wider than before. She started to back up. "I'll just, uh, I should go before Satan gets summoned again."

He laughed at her not-so-nice nickname for her boss. "Got it. See you, Tanner."