Friends in Low Places
"Hey Matt, I just wanted to say you're doing a great job!" Marcus patted him on the shoulder.
"Thanks! Maybe we should talk promotion? I kinda hate working soundtracks," Matt frowned.
"Oh, of course! But you know, we do have to give the newbies the harder sections until we know they're worthy of the Billboard section," Marcus tapped his forehead.
"Understandable. So where to I get to move to?" Matt excitedly asked.
"Country! Isn't that so much better?" Marcus grinned.
"I was literally just in country last mon-"
"Dang…well, Nokia is in Adult Alternative and she's not going back to university until spring. Sorry bud," Marcus shrugged.
"Fine, I'll go back to country…but I better not be switched back to Soundtracks. The next section has to be better!" Matt protested.
"You got it bud. Sorry for the mixup," Marcus said.
"Anything is better than Soundtracks," Matt grumbled.
"Noted," Rina popped up behind a display.
"Gah! What are you doing there?" Matt gasped.
"Just giving people heart attacks," Rina smirked. "Sorry about what happened."
"It's fine. Again, I'd rather not have to listen or look at another Disney or Fast and Furious soundtrack again…," Matt grumbled.
"If I were manager, this wouldn't have happened. You'd be in a better section by now," Rina snorted.
"Really?" Matt blushed.
"Absolutely. Marcus is cool, but he has no idea how to run a store. They should have given the job to me," Rina frowned.
"That sucks. I bet you'd do a good job," Matt goofily said.
"Damn straight I would. Now I should probably get back to reorganizing those stupid anime figurines. I don't know why we're getting them all of a sudden. This is a music store, not a weirdo store," Rina grunted.
"Wrong. We're a media store," a redheaded girl with a pink hoodie and blue mini dress smirked.
"Whatever, Nokia," Rina rolled her eyes and walked off.
"And she thinks she can be store manager with that attitude. She's amusing," the redheaded girl condescendingly smiled at Matt.
"Nokia, how long were you standing here for?" Matt asked.
"Long enough. Anyways, I've worked at this store for almost five years on and off, and there's always someone like her who thinks they know the operations of this store like the back of their hand. But this store changes their store model often to compete with the consumer market- not always successfully, but immature high schoolers like her don't have the hindsight to see that," Nokia smiled and walked off.
"Yikes," Matt whispered to himself as he started to organize the country CDs.
"Cause I've got friends in low places where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away and I'll be okay…"
"I don't know if I'll be okay…," Matt groaned.
"This job hunt is exhausting," Davis whined.
"It's okay, something will come around soon," Kari gingerly patted him on the head.
"I could see if there's an available position in my store," Izzy gulped.
"Hmm…I think I'll pass," Davis squished his face.
"What? Why?" Izzy gasped.
"Have you met your manager? She's a case," Davis shook his head.
"Sorry, but I'd rather wear this hat in school than to work with her. She's a bit extreme," TK said.
"You're really brave," Kari nodded.
"Gee thanks…," Izzy rolled his eyes.
"I'd rather have Tai's job than yours," Davis said.
"Okay, I get the message," Izzy groaned.
"Hey, did someone say my name?" Tai sauntered over to the smoothie stand.
"You're really rude, my job can't be that bad," Izzy said.
"What?" Tai said.
"These jerks said that they would rather wear heavy makeup than to work with me," Izzy huffed.
"Whoa, that is rude!" Tai gasped.
"Thank you!" Izzy exclaimed.
"No. You're rude. I love my job. You're an ass," Tai put his hands on his hips.
"Look, we're not trying to insult anyone's jobs. We don't have a problem working with you, it's Yolei we have a problem with," TK said.
"She made Mr. Alexander walk out of a lesson. He said something about triggering PTSD, packed up his briefcase, and we didn't see him for two weeks," Kari grimaced.
"She can't be that bad," Izzy shook his head.
"It's probably cause you can't pick up on social cues," Matt snuck up behind Izzy and poked him in the ribs.
"Gah, where did you come from?" Izzy jumped.
"Your imagination," Matt made a face.
"Matt, your job sucks. Would you rather stay where you are or work at my store?" Izzy asked.
"Oooh, that's a toughie…," Matt winced.
"What do you mean?" Tai asked.
"I got demoted back to country music. That's literally where I started. Then my female coworkers don't get along with each other…but they're both hot…but my manager is an idiot. But your manager is scary. But she's kinda cute. And you get cute girls at your store," Matt wiggled his nose.
"Are you seriously thinking about it?" TK gasped.
"Well, I could see if there's an opening for my store regardless, if you're interested Matt. Then Davis could work at the music store," Izzy said.
"That's not a bad idea. What do you think?" Kari looked at Davis.
"Pass," Davis stuck his thumb down.
"What the heck, Davis? I thought you needed a job! Beggars can't be choosers," Izzy crossed his arms.
"No offense but I didn't think there would be a worse job at the mall, until I remembered Matt worked at the music store. He's right, tough call, and one I'd rather not make," Davis said.
"Fine, but there's not a lot of jobs left in the mall. You'll be lucky if you find something," Tai shook his head.
"Hi guys, great news!" Mimi happily skipped over to everyone.
"What's the news?" TK asked.
"I just got a job!" Mimi clapped her hands in excitement.
"Congrats. Where?" Izzy asked.
"The new macaron place! There's 30 different flavors and I can't wait to try them all!" Mimi squealed.
"That sounds delicious. You're so lucky," Davis drooled.
"It's literally so easy. The macarons are delivered fresh daily, so the only thing I need to do is brew the coffee! And I get an employee discount!" Mimi grinned.
"Damn, that sounds like heaven! Congratulations!" Tai nodded.
"We'll have to stop by. I love a good macaron," Kari smiled.
"Well, time to head to my shift! See you later!" Mimi slipped away.
"Damn…lucky duck. Maybe I should try the food court," Davis rubbed his chin.
"You think that would be a good idea?" TK asked.
"What's the worst that could happen?" Davis shrugged.
"I could see you eating them out of business," Kari snorted.
"Come on guys, have some faith in me! I'll get a job and I'll show you! I'll show all of you!" Davis sprung up from his seat.
"The only thing you have to prove is your job will be better than mine. I'm out," Izzy tapped the tabletop and got up from his chair.
"Ditto," Matt flashed the peace sign and walked away.
"Good luck, Davis!" Tai smirked.
"Hi, welcome to the Penalty Box! How can we help you?" Sora stood by the entrance.
"Hey Sora, it's me!" Tai waved his hand in front of his face.
"Right, you look so different in your work outfit. So what brings you by?" Sora asked.
"Just wanted to shop around for some soccer equipment. I need something that's gonna be top of the line, something that will show people I am still the alpha," Tai picked up a soccer cleat.
"But aren't you the captain?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, but since people have been finding out I've been working at the makeup store, they're not taking me as seriously anymore. It's getting really offensive and tiresome, honestly," Tai huffed.
"I can imagine," Sora hummed.
"Can you? I mean, you're a girl but you're not really a girl…like you don't make yourself up pretty like Mimi or Kari," Tai said.
"Excuse me?" Sora cocked her head to the side.
"I mean…you don't-you don't care about fashion and makeup and that's cool and whatever. But if you want tips, I could totally-"
"Get the hell out of my store," Sora snatched the cleat from Tai's hand.
"What?" Tai gasped.
"Out! Out!" Sora threw the cleat at him and grabbed another cleat from the display wall.
"Leaving!" Tai ran out of the store.
"Takenouchi! What the heck is wrong with you?" a girl with short brown hair made her way to Sora.
"Sorry Fujieda…someone from my school only came here to say bitchy remarks to me," Sora sighed.
"Come on, you shouldn't let words get in the way of customer service. Five minutes in the penalty box," the girl sighed.
"Fine…," Sora walked to the penalty box.
"What are you in for?" a girl with long, brown hair looked up at Sora.
"I threw a soccer cleat at someone. You?" Sora asked.
"I called someone an idiot," the girl sighed.
"Aren't you the assistant manager?" Sora asked.
"No exemptions from the penalty box," the girl shook her head.
"Remember, eye contact. That means no looking at her boobies," Yolei said.
"What? I wasn't-" Izzy turned red.
"Actually, I changed my mind. I don't want any of these anymore," the girl at the cash wrap pushed a pile of clothes toward Izzy and pulled her sweater closed.
"I swear, I wasn't doing that…uhhh," Izzy grabbed the side of his head. "Yolei, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"What?" Yolei innocently asked.
"You keep making me look like a creep in front of our customers! Eventually no one's gonna want to come here," Izzy huffed.
"Sorry, did I say that out loud? That was more or less a reminder for me. Her boobs were really big though, weren't they?" Yolei grinned.
"I'm already out of my comfort zone working at a store like this, please don't make it worse," Izzy took in a deep breath.
"What? How am I making it worse?" Yolei put her hands on her hips defensively.
"I'm the only guy working here, and you making stupid and untrue remarks about my performance doesn't help. I don't want to be known in the mall as the weird creep who works at the pink store," Izzy clenched his jaw.
"Fine, I won't say anything anymore. Except that your fly's down," Yolei pointed at Izzy's pants.
"What? How long has that been there?" Izzy huffed.
"Like your whole shift. Honestly, I figured you'd be a boxers kind of guy," Yolei shrugged.
"Cut it out," Izzy turned his back to Yolei and fiddled with his zipper. "Crap, it's broken."
"Ugh, what is wrong with you?" a girl gasped at Izzy.
"Oh my god…no! I was just fixing my pant- and she's gone," Izzy winced.
"Well, if you didn't tell me to can it, I would have told you that it's not okay to play with your dick in front of customers," Yolei shook her head.
"I wasn't- I was just adjusting my pants," Izzy grunted as he untucked his shirt to cover up his zipper.
"I'll let you off with a warning, but next time I'll have to write you up. Oh, by the way we have a lot of go backs. You'll have to put them all back. After all, it's your fault you made these girls disappear. That's seriously gonna hurt our conversion," Yolei shook her head.
"I hate this job," Izzy grumbled.
"Please tell me you're not gonna quit any time soon?," Mimi pouted.
"What?! Oh, hi Mimi," Izzy sighed.
"I brought some macarons over. I was hoping you would be nice enough to let me use your employee discount?" Mimi smiled.
"Sure, whatever. Thanks, but you didn't have to bring these over," Izzy grabbed the bag of macarons.
"It's okay, it's the least I could do! You're helping me out big time!" Mimi sifted through clothing racks.
"It's not a big deal. It's not like I'm going to use the store discount," Izzy took a bite from a macaron.
"Thanks again! None of my clothes fit me anymore. I think I'll just get a couple of dresses, just to be on the safe side. I'll have to make time to get back to my original size soon," Mimi sighed.
"I think you look fine the way you are," Izzy said.
"You're so sweet, but I just can't afford to buy a whole new wardrobe right now. I don't know why I'm gaining so much weight so quickly," Mimi reached into Izzy's bag.
"Really? Do you think it might have something to do with that?" Izzy pointed the half-eaten macaron in Mimi's hand.
"What?" Mimi chewed with her mouth full.
"How many of those have you eaten since you worked there?" Izzy asked.
"Um…so I tried all 30 flavors, you know just so I could give an honest opinion on the entire menu. But my favorite flavors have been the raspberry, the strawberry, and the lavender lemon," Mimi tapped her chin.
"Mimi, if I'm not mistaken, it almost sounds like you've eaten like almost 20 a day since you worked there," Izzy asked.
"But they're so good, aren't they?" Mimi reached out for another bag.
"That's a lot of sugar. And your boss might get mad if you're eating all of the stock. You should probably reel it back," Izzy pulled the bag back.
"Ugh…just ring me up please. I have to head back to work," Mimi huffed.
"Okay, but this doesn't sound good. You should be careful," Izzy started bagging up her clothes.
"So should you. Rumor has it you're being creepy towards people here. No one's gonna want to hang out with you if you're being a pervert. Bye," Mimi grabbed her shopping bag and happily skipped off.
"I hate you," Izzy grunted at Yolei.
"What did I do?" Yolei raised an eyebrow.
"I'm going to take my break. I hate you," Izzy took off his name tag and stormed out.
"Yes, you're going to love this lip plumper and it'll work well with this eye cream-"
"Don't listen to that James Charles wannabe, he's just lying to you!" a girl with blotchy skin screamed.
"Gah! What the hell happened to your face?" Tai jumped.
"It's this bogus stuff you sold! What kind of store is this?" the girl hurled makeup containers at Tai.
"Okay Quasimodo, I thought you were supposed to be the good guy," Tai tried to dodge her.
"Hey Tai, can I speak to you for a minute?" a girl with long black hair scrunched her face in a pucker.
"What is it, Miki?" Tai whimpered.
"So funny thing. You know how Blake Walnuts decided to do an all-natural collaboration line with Three Faced? Anyhoo, her whole line has nuts in the product ingredients. Walnuts, peanuts, coconuts, you name it…," Miki bit her lip.
"So? Why are you telling me this now? As you can see, I'm busy having an angry troll throwing stuff at me and ruining my sales," Tai grunted.
"So, she's probably mad because she's allergic to the makeup. Nuts are a popular allergen for many people. We were talking to corporate because some of our staff was saying that they were getting itchy putting the stick on display. We had to send Megumi home," Miki said.
"What are you gonna do? We can't keep this on the shelves!" Tai gasped.
"Yeah, that's what I came here to tell you. We're discontinuing the line effective immediately. In the meantime, I would recommend you offer anyone who suffered allergies to samples of our 3-step oatmeal facial routine. It's not much, but we need to do some damage control," Miki squeezed her microphone.
"Ugh, what kind of idiot would put nuts in a makeup palette?" Tai shook his head.
"Do you know who Blake Walnuts is? I can't believe how some people are famous for nothing. At least the Callie Brenner lip kits are decent for someone related to another useless celebrity," Miki scoffed.
"You! You're the jackass who sold me this foundation!"
"I apologize for your experience. We're going to issue a refund and we'd like to offer you a free sample of our 3-step oatmeal facial routine from Dr. Hart," Tai sighed.
"I do like free samples," the girl calmed down.
"I see that morale has been going down the tube lately. That's not good because we're at a low place in this quarter as compared to last year," Coach Fujieda crossed her arms. "Is there any reason that could be?"
"The sales suck! Everyone's caught on to the fact that we have a 'sale' every day, so is it really a sale?" a girl with long brown hair said.
"Also, it doesn't help when you can't use any coupons. Look at all of the exclusions," Sora held up a paper coupon.
"You can still get a pack of socks for 20 percent off with that coupon, which by the way, neither one of you are doing with your add-ons. Remember, we need to focus more on add-ons, and we're struggling with credit apps too. We're nearing the end of the month and we have less than 5 combined," Coach Fujieda lectured.
"That's not fair! The people who do shop here are high school kids. They can't open up a credit card!" the long-haired girl protested.
"Can't or won't? Some high schoolers are eighteen, but you don't know because you don't ask, Masterson," Coach Fujieda tapped her index finger to her forehead.
"I'm not asking kids their personal info just for a credit card application!" the girl crossed her arms.
"Fine, then you don't want this job. Turn in your jersey and your badge," Coach Fujieda shrugged.
"Gladly," the girl tossed her jersey at the manager. "And here's the stupid keys. I'm going back to teaching girls' soccer at the Y!"
"Huh, looks like it's just the two of us, now. Don't slack off. I can run this whole store by myself, just so you know," Coach Fujieda nonchalantly said.
"I believe you," Sora winced.
"So, how's the job search coming along Davis?" Kari asked.
"I kinda wish I didn't quit my old job, even if I was probably getting harassed," Davis sipped at his smoothie.
"There's no job openings?" TK asked.
"Everyone that is hiring isn't paying. For example, the guy who sells fake car insurance, or the girl who sells the poop tea by the entrance. I believe they're called pyramid schemes," Davis scrolled through his phone.
"Sorry, that sucks," Matt shook his head.
"I just lost a coworker but I don't know if you'd want to work with me. My manager is pretty pushy," Sora sighed.
"What is wrong with all of these managers? They all sound like they have problems," Davis groaned.
"What about the food court?" Izzy asked.
"I filled out some applications and they said they'd get back to me. I don't know if that's true," Davis shrugged.
"It's only been a couple of days. Just be patient," TK said.
"Hey guys," Mimi sadly shuffled over to the table.
"Hey. What's up? You don't look like your normal self," Matt frowned.
"I just got fired," Mimi blubbered.
"What? What happened? You just got this job a couple of days ago!" Sora gasped.
"My boss went to check up on the kiosk and at first he was impressed because like almost all the macarons were gone. But then when he saw that the register was empty, he got really mad…," Mimi cried. "And then I had to pay him back for all of them, so even with my employee discount, I owed him an extra $100 dollars!"
"Mimi! What the hell?! How many did you eat?" Matt gasped.
"I don't even remember, I lost count…," Mimi sniffled. "But my boss called my dad because I didn't have the money and I'm grounded, so I can't hang out after school unless it's work!"
"Mimi, I'm sorry but I told you-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Sora pinched Izzy in the arm.
"It's fine, he was right. Are you like a Virgo or something?" Mimi squinted at Izzy.
"Uh…my birthday is in September, but that doesn't mean anything," Izzy crossed his arms.
"Sure, if you insist," Mimi smirked.
"Hey sisters," Tai plopped down at an empty chair.
"Great, another gloomy girl. What's got your tail in a spin?" Matt muttered.
"I've been busy at work trying to smooth things over. Apparently my store sold some products that literally caused an allergic reaction to half of our customers. As you can imagine, people were mad, as if it were my fault. Look, I just get paid to sell the product.
I can't help if I'm good at it," Tai sighed.
"What was in it to make people break out?" Sora gasped.
"Nuts," Tai gave her a deadpan look.
"Are you kidding? What kind of idiot approved that?" Izzy's mouth dropped.
"I don't even want to talk about it anymore. Today was traumatizing enough," Tai sighed.
"Hey, let me fix up your usual smoothie," TK grabbed a jar of peanut butter.
"No! No thank you! I don't want to see or talk about peanuts for a while," Tai shouted.
"Okay. Going Bananas smoothie it is," TK said.
"Tai, people might hate you for a little bit, but at least it's not because you're a creep. I heard Izzy doesn't know how to behave himself," Matt said.
"What?!" Izzy's mouth dropped.
"Yeah, I overheard some girls at my store saying that you like to…feel yourself in front of the ladies," Matt said.
"Izzy! What's wrong with you?" Sora gasped.
"No! My zipper was broken, but I didn't notice there was a girl in front of me," Izzy put his head down on the table.
"Okay, that sounds more believable," Tai shrugged.
"It doesn't matter anyways. My loud mouthed manager yells everything and makes me look like an idiot, so of course everyone thinks I'm a creep. It especially makes it harder at school when no one talks to you," Izzy huffed.
"I talk to you," Mimi said.
"Yeah, but then you walk the other way when other people are around," Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, I can't have people associating me with a pervert. I'm still new at this school, I don't have a reputation yet. I hope you understand," Mimi put her hand to her chest.
"Yeah totally…," Izzy sarcastically said.
"I don't think he meant that," Davis whispered.
"I really hope things pick up. It sounds like we're all going through a rut," Kari sighed.
"Really? Cause you seem like you have it pretty easy right now. No complaints," Matt said.
"I don't know. I'm happy I have a job, but I don't think I like it. For what's supposed to be a happy store, there's a lot of crying kids and boogers. They give us aprons, but they get dirty fast," Kari winced.
"Ew, that does suck," TK made a face.
"Being surrounded by kids this much, it makes me think twice about wanting to be an elementary school teacher," Kari sighed.
"Hopefully things get better soon. I just think we all need to settle into our jobs. It's never easy at first," Sora said.
"Yeah, but when does it start? I've worked at the music store for a while and I'm still listening to twangy stuff. If I start getting an accent, I'll have to punch someone," Matt clenched his fists.
"I wouldn't suggest punching your boss. He looks like a tough guy," Tai said.
"I heard he messed around with the Yakuza," Davis slurped his smoothie.
"I don't mean like literally, but I'm frustrated…," Matt grumbled.
*buzz buzz buzz*
"Ooh, someone's calling me!" Davis pulled out his phone. "Hello? Yes, that's me! Yes, absolutely! I'm definitely down- I mean, I'm interested and available right away! Thank you so much for this opportunity! Okay, I'll see you in a bit! Bye!"
"Ooh, who was that?" Mimi smiled.
"I just got a job at the food court! Curly Q's!" Davis exclaimed.
"Do I hear free curly fries in the future?" Matt winked.
"I don't know, but we'll find out! I'll catch you guys later!" Davis sped away.
"There's one good thing. Maybe things will pick up after all," Sora smiled.
"Hopefully," Izzy sighed.