3. Spider Mouse
"Jathro."
"What?"
Lexi smiles at her friend's confused face. "Your name badge is on upside down again."
Jathro clucks his tongue as he sighs and rearranges his name badge. "I don't see why you people always make such a big deal out of it. Maybe I'm trying to be less mainstream to fit in the theme of the workplace?" He gestures around The Ringed Moon with one hand, whilst the other grips yet another mug of tea. It's his third since the start of their three hour shift.
It's an old building, The Ringed Moon, with a high pointed roof and cracks in the paintwork. It's only been a few years since Lyzera, their boss and Varg's significant other, had moved her company in and set up the indie music shop, filling it with vintage posters, incense candles and rows upon rows of vinyl records from every decade imaginable (there's even a sign in the window that reads Vinyl Is Forever, one that Lyzera had made Jathro slave tirelessly over until it was perfect).
Lexi picks again at the thread of her jumper, leaning against the counter, nudging her best friend's shoulder. "Hey, at least you won't have Lyzera on your case all the time."
"I wish the same could be said for you," Jathro replies. "Seriously, what are you going to do if Varg gets down on one knee and all that stuff? What will you do if she becomes your step sister?"
"Hm. Leave home and come stay with you?" She glances at him hopefully, causing him to grin.
"You'd be sleeping on the living room floor if you did. Besides, do you really want to go from putting up with Lyzera everyday to putting up with my mother everyday? You know how she feels about that friend of yours, Lexi." He pulls a face as he takes on an impersonation of his mother. "Now, really, my child, you should think about getting yourself some nice, normal friends; I don't trust that blonde girl."
"She honestly couldn't be worse than having Lyzera breathing down my neck constantly. And it's not like Varg will do anything about it. He's absolutely smitten with her, so whatever I say will be deemed ridiculous."
"Hey, look on the bright side," Jathro replies. "At least you're entitled to family discounts on everything in stock, and you're guaranteed to keep your job. Lyzera will never sack you whilst she's with your brother. Whereas, I, on the other hand..."
"Oh, come on!" Lexi gives him a playful shove as the familiar sound of the bell above the door resonates through the air, a gust of the crisp afternoon breeze sailing over in her direction as a gathering of about five or six people spill their way into the warmly lit shop. "This place couldn't survive without you, Jathro, and you know it. Who else would -?" She stops suddenly, freezing in the middle of her sentence as her eyes wander over to the gaggle of what appear to be students now flicking their way through the display cabinet closest to the door.
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
"Lexi?" Jathro blinks, his lips curling in an confused smirk. "Lexi, what are you - Lex', what - Are you hiding -?"
"Shh!" Lexi hisses, tugging at the bottom of his shirt, sending him flying with the force of her grip, almost spilling the leftover liquid still in his cup. "Get down here!"
"Wh - Hey!" He ends up half sprawled across the floor, running his hands through his hair and pulling a face at her as he sits up. "What the heck was that for? What are you doing?"
Lexi nods towards the group who've just entered, keeping her voice hushed. "It's him. It's that boy from the tube this morning - the one I completely embarrassed myself in front of!"
"What? No way!" Jathro snorts loudly. "I've got to see this!" He moves to stand, but Lexi clamps her hand down on his arm, reducing him to a crouch, his eyes being the only thing visible above the counter. "Which one is it? There's a lot of them."
Lexi mimics his position, sitting on her knees so that she could peer at the small crowd. "Him. Over in the corner. The one next to the boy with glasses."
"Where? Oh, no, wait, I see him!" If she wasn't holding on to him right now, Lexi suspects that her best friend would have been clapping in excitement. "You were right, you know. He is attractive."
"Jathro!"
"What? C'mon, you can get a proper look at him now!" He nods towards the boy in question. "What do you think?"
Lexi risks another gaze in the aforementioned boy's direction; he's moved away from the rest of the group, the one in glasses a few paces behind him, chatting away about something that Lexi can't quite hear - not that the boy looks particularly interested anyway, only giving polite nods as a way of reply. He's too busy searching through the stock, pulling out a vinyl every now and then, using the back of one hand to push strands of his fringe away from his eyes.
"Well?" Jathro nudges her.
"He's alright, I suppose," she mumbles.
"Alright? He's a bit more than alright; I mean, I'm not into that or anything, but I'm comfortable enough in myself to admit he's good looking."
She returns her eyes across the room. The boy in question frowns suddenly, eyes leaving the record currently in his hands to flicker over in their direction. Lexi quickly ducks down behind the counter again, dragging Jathro with her a second later when she realises that he's still trying to get a good look.
"You think he saw us?" She asks.
"Nah." Jathro gives a shrug. "And, even if he did, what does it matter? A pretty girl like you staring at him probably made his day a whole lot brighter."
"Too bad I'm not a pretty girl, then."
Jathro lets out a melodramatic sigh. "Stop that this instant, Lexi. You have the Nekross family genes; all of your lot are stupidly, ridiculously attractive."
Lexi simply sticks her tongue out in response. She knows that Jathro's heart is in the right place, but he's her best friend. He's under obligation to compliment her, just as she is to him.
"What on earth is going on here?"
Jathro releases a high pitched shriek at the sound of the voice. Lexi resists the urge to let out a groan, as she glances up. Lyzera is peering over the counter, purple hair hanging around her face, her arms folded, unimpressed.
"Hello, Lyzera."
The older woman lets out a noise of exasperation. "Lexi, would you mind explaining just what you and Mr Kooth are doing down there?"
"I...I dropped something," Lexi replies.
"We were dusting!" Jathro says at the same time, still sounding fearful, making his best friend dig him in the ribs.
"Yes. Jathro, um, was dusting, and I, uh, dropped something, because, um...I thought I saw something...move?" She winces. That's a terrible excuse, even for her.
"Really?" If Lexi isn't convinced by her own lie, Lyzera certainly isn't. "And just what exactly was it that you thought you saw?"
"A spider," Jathro jumps in.
"Mouse."
"A spider...mouse." Lyzera's eyebrow rises towards her hairline. "Well. It appears you two think that we have something of a mutant hiding in our shop, don't you?" She flashes them a sarcastic smile. "In the future, Lexi, dear, maybe you should spend less time crawling around on the floor and more time doing your job." Lexi can almost here the unspoken I shall be telling your brother about this at the end of that sentence.
"Yes, Lyzera," she mutters, rising from her crouched position and helping Jathro to his feet too.
"Phew." Her best friend sags against the counter once their employer has gone. "That was close."
"Hm," Lexi agrees, glancing over at the group of students again. Almost all of them are gone, milling around on the pavement outside, laughing and shoving each other; the boy from the Underground incident is still there, however, along with his friend with the glasses and another blonde boy. The blonde is holding the door open, tapping his feet impatiently and rolling his eyes.
"Come on, Clarkey!" He says eventually, his tone irritated.
"Tom?" The other cleans his glasses on his shirt before placing them back on his face. "You coming?" The boy - Tom, as Lexi now knows - takes one last look at the display in front of him, before stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket.
"Yeah," he says after a moment. "Coming."
He follows them out of the shop without looking back once. Lexi feels her chest heave with relief.