CHAPTER SEVEN: THE PERFORMANCE

"Are you almost done yet?" Roxanne complained, her tone sounding very agitated. I was cleaning the last of the oil off her face with a damp rag, trying to be careful so as to not screw up.

"I'm almost done, Roxanne," I said while chuckling lightly. "Just a little longer. Remember to stay still."

Roxanne groaned but did as she was told, sitting still on her purple chair. We were in her green room and I had to say, it was pretty damn cool.

The room was purple with a large star in the ceiling radiating green light. It had race-themed objects on both the walls and floor; four wrenches in different sizes hanging above the entrance door along with different sized tires, and a race cart by the large glass window. A purple couch was pressed up against the wall on the other side of the room with a large neon sign that spelled 'Roxanne Wolf' above it with a huge cutout of Roxanne's head to the right. There was a vanity desk fitted with makeup and a star-shaped mirror that radiated purple light.

To be honest, whoever designed the room for her did a pretty awesome job on it. It was a little bright, but not to the point where it was a little uncomfortable. In my eyes, it was a little strange that these 4 mascots had their own green room, but I wasn't going to judge. If the company wanted to give them their own rooms, then that was fine.

I finished cleaning up the last of the oil off of Roxanne's face and placed the oil-stained rag into a small plastic bucket that was filled with water, which was now black from the oil. I dried off her face with another rag and when her face appeared to be dry, I rested the rag on her vanity desk and looked over my work for a moment.

"Alright, you're good to go," I announced with pride. Roxanne turned her chair around to face the mirror and looked it over. A smile spread across her face as she continued to check her face.

"You did pretty well," she commented. "Though I could've done it much faster than you."

I rolled my eyes, a slight smirk on my face. "Hey, I just wanted to make sure that you looked your best."

She chuckled lightly. "I appreciate that, but couldn't you have done it faster?"

"Hey, you can't rush cleaning. It is an art that has to be done with perfection and proficiency," I pointed out.

She turned to face me and her smile turned into a small smirk. "I could've done it faster than you, slowpoke. You're slow as a turtle."

Usually, jabs like that upset me, but for some reason, it didn't. I kept the smirk on my face and pointed my right index finger at her.

"Would you rather look nice and presentable or walk around with your face stained with oil and have people complain about it?" I added. She seemed to go into deep thought.

"You've made your point," she said, that smirk still plastered on her face. "I still would've done it faster and better than you."

"Sure, you would've," I teased and we both laughed at the same time. After a moment, the laughter died down and Roxanne stared at me, her smirk turning into a small smile.

"Nevertheless, thank you, Mr. Patel," she said gratefully. "No one's ever done something like this for me. You really helped me out."

"It's the least I could do for you," I said. "I would do anything to make sure everything's alright."

Her smile grew a little and I smiled in response. Just like the first time I'd seen her, I couldn't look away. She has no idea how cute her smile was. Maybe it was just me, but Roxanne's outstanding beauty was radiating much more than it did that day. Roxanne Wolf wasn't just beautiful; she was outright gorgeous.

I was also mentally surprised about the fact that Roxanne teased me and I didn't blow off the handle on her. I didn't like teasing in any way, shape, or form, but this was different somehow. What the heck was happening?

A small beeping sound snapped both of us out of our trances. I looked down at my Faz-Watch and noticed a green star next to 'Messages'. I tapped on 'Messages' and saw that there was a message I received from Kyle. I tapped on it and read the message.

"Mihael, it's me, Kyle. I sent you this message to inform you that it is almost 8 AM. Did you apologize to Roxy? How did it go? Come see me in the Lobby. I'll be waiting. - Kyle"

I switched back to the cameras and looked back at Roxanne. She had an almost disappointed look on her face.

"Looks like I have to head back to the Lobby," I said. "My shift is about to start."

"Okay, but before you go, I want to give you something," Roxanne said and before I could ask her, she grabbed a nearby plushie and handed it to me.

I looked more closely at the plushie and realized that it looked like Roxanne. I was awed, curious, and confused as to why she wanted to give me this thing. I looked back at Roxanne, who still had that cute smile on her face.

"What is this?" I asked her stupidly. I mentally slapped myself for asking something so stupid.

"It's a plushie," she said matter-of-factly.

"I know, but why did you give me this?"

"It's part of my programming to give out my merchandise to anyone who comes to see me in my green room," she explained. That made sense. If it was part of her programming, then Roxanne had to follow through with it.

I looked at the plushie and smiled. No one, aside from my mother, my little sister, and Peter Brown, who would go out of his way to buy me presents for my birthday and Christmas despite me telling him not to do that, had ever given me something. Part of her programming or not, it was a kind gesture of hers. While I wasn't one for plushies, I sure as hell wasn't going to discard it. I didn't know why, but I felt very compelled to keep it.

I looked back at Roxanne, whose smile grew just slightly. "Thanks, Roxanne. It's really nice of you."

"You're quite welcome, Mr. Patel," she said.

"Oh, you don't have to call me that," I said before grabbing the bucket. "You can me Mihael."

"Oh…" She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Okay."

"Well, I better head back to the Lobby. Kyle wants to see me. See you later, Roxanne." To my surprise, her cute smile weakened, but it still remained on her face. It was strange; it was like she was disappointed to see me go.

"See you later, Mihael," she said weakly with a small wave. I waved back and with that, I exited her room and headed back in the direction of the Lobby. As I walked, I hugged the plushie tightly to my chest, a strange warm feeling forming in my chest.

After getting rid of the bucket, I made it back to the Lobby and saw Kyle waiting for me, just like he said in the message. It looked as though he hadn't moved from his spot since I went to go see Roxanne. But the good part was that the man seemed to be much calmer than he was earlier.

"Hey, Kyle!" I called out. He looked in my direction and saw a smile spread across his face.

"Mihael," he said as I hurriedly walked over to him. When I stopped about a foot from him, his smile grew slightly. "So, how'd everything go?"

"Pretty good actually," I replied with a smile. "She forgave me and gave me this plushie before I left."

His smile grew. "That's wonderful to hear. It's great to hear that Roxy has forgiven you, considering her past experiences with previous security guards."

I was taken by surprise by this. That was something I wasn't informed about and hearing that made me both curious and concerned. What did he mean by Roxanne's past experiences with the previous guards? Did they do something to her? If anything, did it explain why she acted so shy when Kyle had introduced me to her and her friends on my first night shift? I couldn't help but feel like it connected and I didn't like it one bit.

"What?" I asked.

"What?" he repeated.

"What do you mean by her past experiences with previous guards?" From the change of his expression, he feared that he might have said a bit too much.

"I-it's nothing," he stuttered. I arched an eyebrow. I didn't believe him one bit. I went into deep thought.

I thought back to when he told me about how he had a hard time trying to find the right guard, how I asked him about why the previous guards were fired, and how he became hesitant, resulting in me dropping that topic altogether. As I thought about that, Roxanne's shyness during my first night shift, and what he had meant by Roxanne's past experiences with previous guards, I felt all the pieces slowly come together. My eyes widened slightly and I looked him in the eyes.

"Kyle, did the previous guards get fired because it had something to do with Roxanne?" I asked as casually as I possibly could. His eyes widened and his face paled. Just seeing this reaction alone answered my question. "Kyle, what did they do? Did they do something so bad to Roxanne that you had to fire them?"

For a moment, Kyle didn't say anything. I was expecting this. I could tell that he didn't want to share anything with me, probably fearing I might bring it up to Roxanne. I couldn't blame him, considering what I stupidly did that night. Like, if I was told by my employer that they did something like that, I would act the same way Kyle was right now. So, thinking that if he remained quiet, I would drop it and talk about something else, just like what happened earlier during my interview.

"Kyle, you don't have to tell me about the things they might've done. You can just tell me whether her past experiences were bad or good," I said, hoping it might loosen him up a bit.

It seemed to have worked as I saw some color return to his face and he began to relax a little.

"Alright," he said with a low sigh. "So you see, Roxy… doesn't really have the best luck when it comes to security guards. I won't go into too much detail, but one of the many reasons why many of them were fired was because of how horribly they treated her and for some… other reasons."

I felt slightly sick to my stomach as I thought about how badly poor Roxanne was treated by previous guards. I remembered how the poor wolf looked at my outstretched hand like she didn't know what to do when I offered to shake hands with her. Looking back, it looked as if she was anticipating something else like I was going to hurt her somehow.

As to what the other reasons why the previous security guards were fired could be, I didn't even want to think about that. Although my curiosity was growing at what they could've done, there was no way I was going to ask either Kyle or Roxanne about that. To me, it looked like a very personal thing and I wasn't going to prod them to tell me about them. The best and smart thing to do was to not bring it up and with that, I wasn't going to bring it up anymore.

"I see," I said simply. "Well, you don't have to worry about it being brought up again because I can see that it's very personal. So, let's just forget about it."

I saw the rest of color return to his face and he fully relaxed. He then gave me a soft smile. "I thank you, Mihael. Talking about this since it has something to do with our most vulnerable mascot is very personal. Just don't tell her I said anything about it to you. It will greatly upset her."

"My lips are sealed," I said before doing that motion of zipping my lip. This got Kyle to chuckle a little.

I turned my full attention to the entrance doors and saw a few cars pulling into the parking lot. Some of those cars even had the balls to hog up 2 of the spaces at once. I mentally shook my head at this. They just didn't seem to care, did they? It was honestly really sad to see people do stuff like that, but what could we do? They would learn the hard way, that I was sure.

"Looks like people are beginning to pull in," I announced loudly to no one in particular. I looked back at Kyle and saw him look back at me.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked. To be quite honest, I wasn't, but my desire to keep any kid that stepped in safe fueled me with a strong sense of determination.

I simply nodded in response as people began entering the building. It was then I remembered something.

"Hey, Kyle?"

"Yes, Mihael?"

"What time does my shift end?" I asked. For real, that had to be one of the most important things to know; when you come in and when your shift ends.

"During the days you work during the day, your shift goes from 8 AM to 6 PM," Kyle replied. "So before you go, check the cameras to make sure that there's no one left in the building and if you see nobody, you can go."

I nodded, happy with the answer as I took a slow, deep breath and put on my best confident smile. I had to give this my all. These kids were under my protection now and I wasn't going to let anything bad happen to them. No way, no how.

The morning went smoothly and quickly. Aside from having to deal with a few rowdy customers and a few kids that had gotten lost, it went pretty well. I even had the misfortune of coming across those… kinds of people; the self-entitled and crazy ones that many people had made memes about. I didn't like referring to anyone like that so instead, I'd opted to refer to them as the 'self-entitled psychopaths'. I had no idea why people felt so entitled that it would compel them to do crazy stuff and behave the way they do, but in all honesty, they should be ashamed of themselves because not only do they act so ridiculous, but they did it in a public place where hundreds of people go to, which acts like that is a big no-no.

I was sitting in the Lost and Found, checking the security cameras on my Faz-Watch to make sure everything was okay and everyone in the Mega Pizzaplex was safe. I smiled when I saw that everyone in the building was having fun and genuinely enjoying themselves. I sometimes caught Freddy, Chica, Montgomery, and Roxanne playing with the other kids at some of the attractions, which was cute and heartwarming to watch. I had done my rounds a few minutes prior so I took that time to sit down and watch the security cameras.

A soft tap on my shoulder forced a short scream out of me, my heart skipping a beat. I leaned away a little too much on the chair I was sitting on and fell flat on my back. I grunted as the wind was knocked out of my lungs.

"Mihael!" cried out a familiar voice. Footsteps walked over to me and I looked to see Roxanne Wolf towering over me. She then bent down and picked me up on my feet with relative ease, as if I weighed as much as a tail feather.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked worriedly as she immediately began checking me over for any signs of injury.

"No, I'm fine, Roxanne," I replied, brushing myself off. "Almost gave me a heart attack, but other than that, I'm fit as a fiddle."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure." I then became curious as to why she was in here with me. "Just out of curiosity, what are you doing here?"

She looked away, pushing her two index fingers together. "I came here to talk to you."

"Talk to me? About what?" I was genuinely curious as to what Roxanne wanted to talk to me about.

The wolf mascot seemed really shy and nervous, reminding me of my conversation with Kyle earlier this morning when he inadvertently mentioned Roxanne's past experiences and how she didn't have the best luck when it came to security guards. I then began to wonder what was compelling Roxanne to come all the way here to talk to me.

She looked me in the eyes and a soft smile came across her face. "I just want to say… thank you."

"Thank you?" I asked curiously. "For what?"

"For this morning," she replied. "When you left to go meet up with Kyle, I couldn't stop thinking about the things you said. Sometimes, I wondered if what I was feeling was normal. I never really mentioned it to anyone because well… I believed that no one would accept me or like me. I believed that by being the best, I would be loved, accepted and everyone would want to be me.

"The only one who knew about my… insecurities was Kyle. He would come to check up on me to make sure I was okay and if there was anything he could do to help me. Since I wanted to keep my image, I would tell him I was fine and that I didn't need anything. I didn't want to be seen as weak. I didn't want anyone to know I felt so… alone."

Her smile grew slightly. "When you said that it was normal and even admitted that you go through the same thing too, I felt… understood, like I had someone that I could relate to. I no longer feel… alone. I want to thank you for that."

I allowed a smile to spread across my face. It was nice to hear that my words this morning made her feel that way and that she no longer felt alone for feeling the way she does. Sometimes, all it took was to hear something that you didn't know that you needed to hear to feel so much better.

"You're quite welcome, Roxanne," I said.

"Just don't tell anyone I said this to you," she said, her tone a bit begging. "I have to keep my image, you know."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," I reassured. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you," she said, sounding grateful and relieved. "Well, I have to head back to my raceway. My fans are waiting for me. See you later, Mihael."

"See you later, Roxanne," I said. With that, Roxanne Wolf turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

As soon as she was gone, I went back to check the security cameras to check on the guests and the other mascots to see if they were alright. As I did, I couldn't help but suddenly crave Roxanne's company. It felt really good to talk with someone, but it was strange to me that I yearned for an animatronic's company.

'What in the world is going on with me?' I thought to myself as I continued checking the cameras.

Much like the morning, the rest of the day went by very smoothly and quickly. The only thing that happened was a few kids getting lost and having to be found. Whenever this happened, I treated the situation like the kids' lives depended on it. I refused to let what happened all those years ago repeat so I went and searched for the kids, which luckily, didn't take very long. The parents who had their kids getting lost thanked me and went on their merry way. It felt really wonderful to return kids to their parents, thus ensuring their safety. Whenever I did this, I would catch sight of Kyle or even Freddy, Chica, and Montgomery watching me, winking, and giving me a thumbs up.

Roxanne Wolf, on the other hand, would call out saying 'Great job, Rockstar!' before proceeding to wink at me. Every time that happened, my face would become hot and I would look away sheepishly. I didn't know why Roxanne Wolf said and doing those things affected me so much, but at the same time, I couldn't help but like it.

I was standing in the Lobby watching all the guests begin to leave the Pizzaplex, holding the plushy Roxanne gave me earlier in the day. Some of the kids were begging their parents to let them stay just a little longer, but their parents refused and those kids would bawl their eyes out or throw a very huge temper tantrum as they were being dragged out of the building. Some of them even screamed like a banshee because they couldn't get their way. I had no idea what motivated kids to behave that way, but if they ever had a dad like mine, they sure as hell wouldn't be able to sit down for the next few days.

I began checking the security cameras on my Faz-Watch to make sure that the building was empty of any people and to make sure that the 4 mascots were good. I found them in the camera for the Atrium and they were accompanied by Kyle. From the way their mouths were moving, I was able to tell that they were all talking to each other. I couldn't tell what they were saying to each other as there wasn't any sound for any of the cameras.

Just then, I felt my phone buzzing and ringing in my pocket. I had a general idea of who it could be that was calling me. I pulled out my phone and checked the caller ID. Sure enough, the one that was calling me was my mother. I resisted the urge to groan as I pressed the green phone icon and raised the phone to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi, boo-boo bear!" my mother cooed. I facepalmed at the nickname. No matter how many times I told her to not call me that, she still called me that.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that stupid nickname, but anyways, what's up?" I responded annoyed.

"I'm calling to ask how everything was going," she replied. "How is everything at the Pizzaplex? Are they treating you nicely? What about the mascots; are you getting along with any of them? I want to know everything."

I resisted the urge to sigh. I didn't want to talk about everything that's happened these past few days, but I could tell her about some of the more important events that took place. That would work and it might be enough for her. There was no way that I was going to tell her about that nightmare I had last night, however.

"Well," I began, "my first night shift at the Pizzaplex went alright. Could've gone better, but yeah. My first day here today I took it pretty seriously. As for the mascots, I haven't done anything with them, but I am getting along with one of them, Roxanne Wolf."

"That's wonderful to hear, Mihael!" my mother beamed. "How is she? Is she treating you nicely?"

"She's been a little shy and nervous around me, but she's really nice with me so far," I replied.

"That's good to hear. Do you know why she's shy and nervous around you?" I instantly froze. There was no way that I was going to tell my mother about Kyle mentioning that Roxanne Wolf didn't have the best experience with past security guards. That wasn't any of my business to tell her nor any of hers to know.

"No, I don't," I replied uneasily. From the sound of my voice, my mom would instantly tell that I was lying because I did somewhat know why. She would call me out and I couldn't have that whatsoever. "Honestly, I don't want to talk about it. It's a very personal matter and I don't think it would be right to say anything about it."

I prayed that it would be enough of a reason for her. Rebecca was the kind of mother that wanted a solid reason as to why certain things or events were happening in the first place. By telling her that it was a very personal matter, it might be enough for her to not pursue it and forget about it.

"Okay, baby, I understand," she replied after a very long moment. I mentally sighed in relief, thankful that it was enough of an answer for her. "Well, I gotta go. Please make a habit to call me every once in a while to let me know how you're doing, okay?"

"Alright, I will," I replied.

"Okay, good night, Mihael. I love you."

"Good night, Mom, and I love you too." With that, the call ended and I put the phone back in my pocket.

"Mihael?" came a familiar voice from behind me, along with a soft tap on my shoulder.

I let out a short scream, feeling my heart skip a beat as I instantly spun around, balled my hands up into fists, and swung them rapidly, the plushy dropping to the floor. Standing before me was Roxanne Wolf and she looked to be leaning away from me. I calmed down and facepalmed.

"What is up with people loving to sneak up behind me and almost give me a heart attack?" I muttered under my breath.

"Sorry," she said. I bent down and picked up my plushy.

"It's alright," I said and made eye contact with her. "Anyways, what is up, Roxanne? Did you have a good day?"

Roxanne was surprised by my question. That was pretty strange to me. It was like no one has ever asked her that question about how her day was before.

"It was… good, thank you," she replied, her tone matching the shock on her face. The shock didn't last long as a somewhat confident smile took its place. "After all, all the kids love me. I'm the best, after all."

I smiled lightly. 'You have no idea.' I cleared my throat. "So, is there anything you need, Roxanne?"

She instantly became shy. She looked down at the floor, her arms went behind her back, and her tail tucked itself between her legs.

"Well," she began, "I was wondering…" She slowly looked up from the floor and made eye contact with me. "Do you like music?"

I was slightly taken aback by that question. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that.

"Err what?" I asked stupidly.

"Do you like music?" she repeated. I thought about it for a moment. I really didn't mind music at all. In fact, I liked different genres of music, with classic music being one of them. I would sometimes listen to music while I was in the shower, but that's only when I was in the mood for it.

"I do," I replied and looked at her curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering…" She paused for a moment. "Would you like to see me perform my keytar in my green room? Just you and me?"

Okay, I so wasn't expecting a question like that either. I didn't know what to think. This was all happening so suddenly. Why was she asking me if I would like to come see her play her keytar in her green room with just the two of us? Was Roxanne Wolf trying to overcome her shyness and nervousness toward me? Was this her way of showing me that she was the best? So many questions, yet no answers.

I had to say something. She was waiting.

"Why are you doing this all of a sudden?" I asked softly. I hoped I didn't offend her with that question. Luckily, from the looks of it, I didn't offend her.

"Well," she began, "I wanted to thank you for the things you said to me earlier this morning so I thought that by inviting you over to my green room for a solo performance, I can show my appreciation."

I thought about it. It really did sound like a good enough reason, but something deep down told me that there was something more to all of this. I couldn't think of any other reasons as to why. In the end, I decided that it was good enough.

"Alright, if you say so," I replied. I checked the time on my phone and saw that it was only 5:45 PM. I didn't know what time I was done, but I figured I had enough time before I had to head home. "I've got plenty of time before I have to head home, so sure, I would like a solo performance."

Roxanne beamed with immense joy and gestured for me to follow her to her green room. I nodded and with that, the both of us began heading in the direction of Rockstar Row.

We arrived at her green room and we stepped inside. I noticed Roxanne slightly fidgeting, but I couldn't tell whether it was from excitement or nervousness. We stopped in the center of the room and she turned to face me.

"Looks like we're back here again," she commented.

"Yep, and I was in here earlier today," I pointed out. I looked to see her giving me a warm smile. It looked like Roxanne was beginning to overcome her shyness and nervousness.

"Why don't you have a seat on the couch?" she offered, gesturing to the couch. I nodded my head as I walked over and sat down on the couch and I will say this; it was very comfortable. "Alright, let's do this. Are you ready?"

I nodded. Roxanne grabbed her keytar, which was green and looked like a mixture of a guitar and a piano, and strapped it on. She looked and gave me a confident smile, to which I gave her a big smile of my own. Then, without hesitation, Roxanne began to play.

My mouth fell open and my eyes widened in utter amazement at what I was seeing with my own eyes. I remembered what my mom said the first time we came back to the Pizzaplex about how the mascots moved. She was absolutely right. Seeing this with my own two eyes, I now wished I was at the party and watched them perform that day.

Everything about it was amazing. How human-like Roxanne's movements were, how she played her keytar, and how her hair swayed from side to side as she moved her head. All of it. It was so beautiful. I didn't recognize the song she was playing, but I really didn't care. I only care about what I was seeing with my own two eyes.

As she played, I noticed that she would wink at me at random bits. I would feel my cheeks become very hot as a result. I didn't understand why she would do that, but I wasn't complaining. While it was weird, I sometimes thought that it was part of the performance. If it wasn't, I had no idea then.

After a long moment, Roxanne ended the song that she was playing and gave me a triumphant smile.

"So, what do you think?" she asked. "Did you like it?"

"Like it? Like doesn't even come close to what I'm feeling," I said. "I… LOVED it! That was amazing! The best thing I've ever seen!"

She went wide-eyed and her mouth fell open in shock. "You… you really think so?"

"I do," I replied. "You're the best."

I didn't know why I said that, but I did. To be quite honest, Roxanne was the best and her solo performance was top-notch. Roxanne Wolf then removed her keytar from her neck and walked over to me. I got up from the couch and watched her, waiting for what the wolf mascot was about to do. She then stopped about a foot away from me and stared at me for a moment.

I watched as oil built up in her eyes and she began whimpering. Then, she wrapped her arms around me and gave me the biggest and tightest hug she could muster. I felt her body shaking and I slowly wrapped my arms around her.

"Thank you," she said, her voice full of emotion.

"You're welcome, Roxanne," I said and waited for her to get a hold of herself. After a moment, she regained control of herself and released me from the hug, to which I did the same.

"I'm really glad you liked it," she said. "I was really afraid that you wouldn't like it, but it's a relief you didn't think that I was a loser."

"I would never think of you as a loser," I said, slightly offended by that assumption of her thinking that I would see her as a loser if I didn't like the performance. "Even if you didn't impress me, I still wouldn't think of you as a loser. The effort is what counts and you, my friend, did a fantastic job."

Her smile grew and I saw her tail wagging happily. I checked the time on my phone and saw that it was now 6:02 PM. It was time for me to go home. I couldn't help but feel disappointed that I had to leave, but I knew that I would see Roxanne again, so that's what mattered and what really counted.

"Well, I have to head home," I said. "It's been a long day."

Roxanne's smile weakened a bit, but she nodded, understanding that I couldn't stay here for much longer.

"Okay, I will see you tomorrow, right?" she asked, her tone sounding hopeful.

"I nodded. "Yes. I will be here at 8 AM." I let out a yawn. "See you tomorrow, Roxanne. Thanks for the solo performance."

"See you tomorrow and you're welcome." With that, we waved each other goodbye, and I stepped out of her green room, holding the plushy close to my chest. I began walking away, a slight skip in my step.

As I was walking away, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I let out a short scream before I turned around to see who it was. To my relief, I saw that it was only Kyle. I looked behind him to see Freddy, Chica, and, to my dismay, Montgomery standing behind him. It didn't take me long to notice that they all had smiles on their faces, except for Kyle, who had a straight expression, and Montgomery, who had a hard look on his face. At least he was glaring daggers at me.

"Oh, hey guys," I said as casually as possible.

"Hey, Mihael," they all said at the same time.

"What can I do for you?"

"Well, there's two things that need to be dealt with," Kyle said.

"Okay, what is it?" I asked. I was genuinely curious as to what Kyle wanted me to deal with. I didn't know why, but I didn't mind staying a little longer to deal with whatever it was that had to be dealt with.

"For one, do you think you can cover both the day shift and the night shift tomorrow?" he asked. I didn't know why, but this just took me by complete surprise.

I thought it over carefully. While that meant that I was going to be spending the whole day and all night at the Pizzaplex tomorrow, it did mean that I was going to be paid for it. It also meant that I get to have more time to do things with Roxanne Wolf and maybe, her friends as well.

I didn't know why but just the very thought of having more time with Roxanne made me really excited, loved the thought of it as well.

I smiled at Kyle and in return, a smile formed on his face.

"Sure, I don't mind covering both shifts," I replied.

"That's good to hear," he said.

"What was the other you wanted dealt with?" I asked. He nodded his head.

"Lastly," he began to say, "Montgomery here has something to say to you."

I resisted the urge to tense up. I knew something like this was going to happen. Whatever it was that the alligator had to say to me, I was ready for it. Might as well get it over with, instead of delaying the inevitable.

Kyle stepped aside, allowing the alligator to take his place. He then proceeded to stare at me, the hard look still plastered on his face. I was waiting in anticipation, knowing the repercussions were heading my way. I was hoping that he wasn't going to apologize for his behavior yesterday because quite frankly, I deserved it.

"Mihael," he began to say, "while I'm still miffed at you for what you did, I just want to say-"

I raised a hand, cutting him off. His hard look turned into one of confusion. I noticed that the same thing happened with the others. A look of confusion formed on their faces, obviously wondering why I was cutting him off.

"You don't have to apologize," I said softly. "To be very honest with you, I deserved it."

"Not the part where I threatened to smash you," Montgomery pointed out.

"I had that coming too," I said. This caught everyone by surprise. "I feel like I had it easy and so." I readied my right arm, the plush held tightly in my hand. "Hit me."

He never did. He proceeded to stare at me like I was crazy. I had a feeling that he thought that I was kidding and that I was going to say how it was all just a joke. Oh, how wrong he was. I was going to take my punishment with honor and dignity.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm not kidding. Do it. Punch my arm."

He looked at me for a moment before facing the others. Both Freddy and Chica had uneasy expressions on their faces. Montgomery then faced Kyle. The two stared at each other for a moment before Kyle nodded his head. Montgomery faced me and then punched my arm.

What I was expecting was the punch, but what I wasn't expecting was the intensity of the punch. The impact of the punch was strong enough to where I was nearly knocked off my feet. Honestly, I wouldn't care if I was knocked off my feet. At least I had what was coming to me in the first place.

Montgomery chuckled. "I had to admit; I wasn't expecting you to be all that serious. I was expecting you to chicken out, but I got to say one thing; you're tougher than I thought."

"I wasn't going to run away from my punishment like a coward," I said bluntly. "I did that once. I wasn't going to do it again."

My words seemed to have caught everyone by surprise. They clearly had no idea how much I took Montgomery's words into heart. They also had no idea that my father raised me to take whatever repercussions like a man. That was something my father was VERY strict about.

They all recovered and Montgomery smirked. He was clearly amused by it all.

"So, we cool?" I asked.

Montgomery nodded his head. "Yeah, we are."

"Are you okay, Mihael?" Chica asked, concern present in the chicken's tone. "That punch looked like it hurt a lot."

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Well, with that out of the way, you can go home, Mihael," Kyle said. "See you tomorrow at 8."

"Understood," I said with a nod of my head. "See you tomorrow, guys."

"See you tomorrow, Mihael," they all said at the same time. With that all done, I turned and began walking away, holding the plush close to my chest.

Author's Note:

This was the longest chapter I've written so far for this story. A total of 5,721 words alone. That's insane! :)

From the looks of it, it looks like Mihael and Roxanne's relationship is growing and it's only going to get better. Originally, I was going to have Mihael come the next morning to see them perform, but I decided to have Roxanne do a solo performance for Mihael instead. I understand that this is going a little fast, but there is a good reason why Roxanne did this in the first place and it will be explained in a much future chapter, so don't worry.

Also, I was going to wait till tomorrow morning to upload this chapter, but I figured that I would just get it out of the way so that way, you guys can read it. I really hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. A lot of hard work went into this chapter.

That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter; all constructive criticism is appreciated, and I will see you guys in Chapter Eight! :)

Update: Added more content to fix any mistakes.