CHAPTER NINE: ROXY RACEWAY

We entered the hallway that led into the Raceway, which was decorated with speakers, tires, motorcycles, and trophies. Lots and lots of them trophies. At first, I thought those trophies were real, but since this was a family-friendly establishment, something told me that those were just props. It would've been really cool if all of those trophies were real instead of props. I could only guess that the trophies belonged to Roxanne since it was her raceway after all.

As we inched closer to the entrance door leading into the Raceway, I noticed that Roxanne seemed to be in deep thought, as if the wolf was thinking about something. I couldn't help but wonder what the wolf was thinking. She could be thinking about anything as far as I knew and was aware.

For one, she might've been thinking about the things I said to her. It didn't seem likely for some reason. If I were to think that were to be the case, then that would make me very self-centered as that would make me look like I cared more about what I said to her than what she truly was thinking about. So, that being the thing that Roxanne was thinking about was out of the question.

The only thing that seemed logical was that Roxanne might be thinking about how I was going to react to her raceway. It seemed likely that she would be thinking about that sort of thing. People react to things differently than others so she might be thinking that I wasn't going to react to it very well. That could mean that there were a few people who didn't react positively to her raceway. But why someone would hate her raceway was beyond me, but there could be a few reasons as to why that would be the case.

That was when I thought back to the nightmare I had a few nights ago. It took nearly everything I had to not stop dead in my tracks. I was going to the very place I had seen in my nightmare where I saw Lisa's dead body and Roxanne Wolf standing over her lifeless body, the wolf coated in her blood. Why it didn't click in my head until just now was beyond me.

'I've been waiting for you… Patel.' The voice from the dream echoed in my head, sending chills down my spine.

The idea of there being a connection to it all came back to my mind; how there could be something evil somewhere in the Mega Pizzaplex, how it might be evil enough that it was aiming to take control of Roxanne, and how it might be connected to my sister's disappearance. All of it sparked a feeling of unease and fear in my gut.

There was no way in hell that I was going to mention any of this to Roxanne. God only knows how the wolf would react or even feel about it all. For all I knew, it might scare the poor wolf and the last thing I wanted was for her to freak out. Something deep within me told me that not saying anything about it and keeping it to myself wasn't the smart thing to do and that there will come a time when I will have to tell her about it.

'No,' I thought. 'I'm not going to mention anything about it. It was probably just a nightmare, nothing more. Overthinking the whole thing wouldn't be the smartest idea. I just have to try not overthinking it so much.'

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I bumped into something. I took a few steps back and tried to get my bearings. When I did, I looked to see that I had bumped into the entrance door of the Raceway. I must have been so lost in my thoughts that I wasn't paying any attention to my surroundings.

"Mihael, are you okay?" I heard Roxanne ask, her tone sounding a bit worried. I looked to my left to see her looking at me with a slight frown on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Roxanne," I replied. "I just got lost in my thoughts and wasn't paying attention."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "You didn't damage yourself, did you?"

I mentally rolled my eyes amusingly. I found it a little weird, but also slightly funny that she used the word 'damage' instead of 'hurt'. Humans can get hurt, but not damaged.

Thinking about it much more deeply, I guess humans can, in a sense, get damaged when it comes to certain injuries. Like, there was brain damage, kidney damage, liver damage, and even lung damage. So, in a sense, humans can be damaged depending on the circumstances.

"I'm very sure, Roxanne," I reassured, waving a hand dismissively. "I didn't damage myself."

Roxanne stared at me for a moment before seemingly accepting that I was fine and not damaged.

"If you say so," she said. She then pushed the door open and gestured for me to enter, giving me a big smile as she did and her tail wagging excitedly.

I nodded and with that, I fully entered the attraction. My jaw nearly dropped at the sight.

The Raceway looked exactly how it was depicted in that commercial I saw a few days prior, only now I got to see it in its full glory. The room itself had to be about the size of a football stadium decorated with purple neon lights. On the ceiling were 4 large screens, which if I had to guess allowed the guests to see the racers more clearly when they raced through the track. On the side of the room were rows of red bleachers with a large golden statue of Roxanne Wolf holding a flag in the center. On another part of the wall was a huge decal of Roxanne, depicting her in a cartoonish fashion wearing a racer's jacket and a pair of sunglasses holding two black and white racer flags in each hand.

To say that I was amazed by the sight would be an understatement. To put it simply, I was awestruck. The commercial that aired on TV didn't do the raceway any justice whatsoever. To see it with my own two eyes was like seeing something truly amazing for the first time, depending on what it was that I was seeing for the first time. Whoever had this thing constructed did a fantastic job on it.

I was keenly aware of Roxanne walking over to my side as I continued to stare at the raceway in amazement.

"So, what do you think of my raceway?" she asked, sounding hopeful. I finally took my eyes off the raceway and looked to see Roxanne looking at me with hopeful eyes.

There was no doubt in my mind that Roxanne was sincerely hoping that I liked her raceway. If she was also afraid that I wouldn't think very positively about it, she didn't have to worry about that.

I looked back to the Raceway, awestruck by the mere sight of it. To be honest, Roxy Raceway looked way cooler, amazing, and beautiful than the Lobby. It was nice to be amazed by something completely different for once instead of being amazed by the same thing over and over again until it gets too old.

"It looks beautiful, Roxanne," I replied. "Truly an outstanding sight to behold."

The reaction she gave was absolutely adorable; Roxanne Wolf gave me a bright smile, her hands intertwined and were over her chest, and her tail was wagging happily. Honestly, Roxanne probably had no idea how cute she was right now, especially with her tail wagging happily like that.

"I'm so happy you think that," she said, continuing to act so cutely. Then, the happy attitude vanished as her bright smile turned into a frown, her ears lowered, her tail tucked itself between her legs, and she was pushing her index fingers together as she looked down at the floor. "Not everyone thinks the same way you do."

I frowned at this. Thinking back to when I was guessing what she was thinking about how I would react to her raceway and how there might've been people who didn't react to it nicely and hated it. This partially confirmed what I was guessing and I didn't like it one bit. In fact, I hated it.

"Do people not like your raceway?" I asked. While I had a gut feeling about what the reply would be, I still wanted to ask.

Roxanne looked up from the floor and made eye contact with me, her expression turning sad. "Well, I do have a lot of fans who love my raceway, but I've had people come to me and say how very 'ugly' my raceway looked, how it was nothing compared to the other attractions, and how it was going to be nothing but a failure, doomed to get shut down. I don't understand how or why people feel that way."

Hearing all of this, I was disgusted. Those weren't people who hated her raceway for no reason; those were people who were only saying that as a way to make dabs at her insecurities. I knew because I had dealt with people like that growing up. It absolutely boiled my blood that people thought that it was okay to say things like that to others. To me, it was despicable.

Her frown slowly turned into a soft smile. "I'm glad that you don't think it looks ugly and all."

I gave her a soft smile of my own. "Anyone who even thinks it's ugly is either jealous or saying those things just to make you feel bad. I really do think it looks beautiful.

Her smile grew, to which mine did as well. "Would you like to sit with me at the bleachers?"

I felt my heart leap into my throat at that question. I didn't know what to say or think. What I did know was that Roxanne had asked me an innocent question. There wasn't a meaning behind it, right?

I snapped out of it quickly. I had to answer the question. She was waiting.

"Sure, I love to," I replied. She gestured for me to follow her and I did just that.

It was so bizarre to be walking through the very raceway that I saw in both my nightmare and on TV. I felt so tiny by both the size of the raceway and the room itself. I was very aware that there were a number of attractions that were probably way bigger and cooler than this, but I didn't care. In my eyes, nothing would be cooler than this.

We reached the bleachers and Roxanne sat down. She looked at me and patted a spot to her left. I stared at her for a moment before I decided to sit down right next to her. She seemed pretty happy that I decided to sit down next to her for some reason, but I decided to not think too much about it.

There was a brief moment of silence, the two of us doing nothing but surveying the Raceway.

"Mihael?" she said suddenly.

I turned to face her. "Yes?"

She began playing and twirling with her hair as she stared at me for a moment. "I want to say… Thank you."

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

"For coming with me to see my raceway," she replied. "I was nervous that you might say 'no' and say that it was a dumb idea. It means a lot to me that you like my raceway and think it's beautiful. None of the previous security guards liked it and they all thought it looked ugly."

As soon as those words left her mouth, the things that Kyle said to me, as well as the story that Peter told me last night came rushing to my mind. With Kyle, he mentioned that the previous guards were fired because of how horrible they treated her. If I had to guess, they must have said really nasty things about her raceway, other than calling it 'ugly'. It must've been one of their attempts to weaken poor Roxanne's self-esteem.

From what Peter told me, he said that a previous security guard tried to bludgeon her with a roughneck hammer. From that, it could only mean one thing; one of the reasons that they were fired was because they'd tried to decommission her, scaring and traumatizing the poor wolf in the process.

I leaned a little close. "The previous guards?"

Roxanne became extremely uncomfortable with the question. "Yeah, the previous guards that worked here. They…" She hesitated. "Never mind. I don't want to talk about it. Forget I said anything."

Forgetting anything that someone had mentioned to me about stuff like that was something that stuck with me. Whenever someone said anything that reminded me of something that was said previously, that tiny bit of information would act as another puzzle piece and that piece would connect with the other pieces collected and stored within the depths of my mind.

However, I would drop the subject since clearly, Roxanne didn't want to talk about it. Things like that were sensitive topics to her and I wasn't going to push for more information, especially since she stated that she didn't want to talk about it and asked me to forget about the whole thing. I wasn't going to forget, but I was going to drop it, out of respect.

"Okay, we won't talk about it," I said. "I won't force you to tell me anything since it makes you uncomfortable."

She smiled warmly at me. "Thanks, Mihael."

I nodded and with that, we both continued to survey the Raceway in complete silence. I had no idea what time it was, but honestly, I just didn't care at the moment. I was at Roxy Raceway with the one and only Roxanne Wolf, who was undoubtedly the mascot of the attraction since it was named after her. To have an attraction, like the raceway, named after you really has to be an honor. If not, then I didn't know what else it could be.

I turned my attention to Roxanne and saw that she was in deep thought again. While I wasn't a mind-reader like the vampire Edward Cullen, I sometimes wished I knew what others were thinking about. However, the very thought of reading some random person's mind and seeing, as well knowing things that I wasn't meant to see or know sounded like an invasion of privacy. While it did come with benefits, it wasn't really worth invading an innocent person's mind like that.

"Roxanne?" The sound of my voice seemed to snap Roxanne out of what she might've been thinking.

"Yes, Mihael?" she asked.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked. "I saw that you were in deep thought, thinking about something. I'm curious as to what it was that you were thinking about just now, and it's totally okay if you don't want to talk about it. I won't force you."

Roxanne instantly became uncomfortable at the question. I instantly felt regret for asking. Something told me that it might've had to do with the previous security guards. Roxanne was probably thinking about that sort of thing. Sometimes, I hated how my curiosity got the better of me. It always landed me in all sorts of trouble.

"I'm sorry," I said, regret present in my tone. "Forget I even said or asked anything."

"No, it's okay," Roxanne said. "I was just thinking about how you are much different from the past security guards."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked before I scolded myself within my thoughts. 'Are you fucking kidding right now?! When am I ever going to learn to keep my mouth shut?!'

There was a pause before Roxanne responded. "What I mean is that you don't treat me as badly as they did. You don't call me bad names, you don't say how much of a failure I am, you never put your hands on me, and you… don't…"

I could see oil beginning to build up in her eyes as the wolf began shaking. Whatever it was that she was going to tell me, is clearly not only upset her, but it also frightened the poor wolf pretty badly. I really didn't like seeing her like this and I sure as hell wasn't going to have her tell me what else they did to her. I wished I really didn't ask anything about what she was thinking.

"Roxanne, don't tell me what else they did," I pleaded. "I can see it is upsetting you so you don't have to tell me."

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around me and then began hugging me tightly. I instantly wrapped my arms around her and gently patted her back in hopes to comfort her. It was heartbreaking to see Roxanne like this.

I wasn't prepared for what she was going to say next.

"They… they would smack my… my… in front of…" Roxanne wasn't able to finish her sentence before she began crying. It didn't take me long to understand what she was going to say.

Though it may look like I didn't show any reaction to what she said on the outside, on the inside, I was seething with rage. How could someone do that to her and do it right in front of hundreds of guests and children?! I could only hope that the guys who did that to her got their comeuppance as something like that would definitely earn you a trip to the hospital, especially if that was done in front of a large group of kids.

I did my best to comfort her. I could tell that the wolf was trying her best to keep herself under control and keep herself from sobbing hysterically.

"Roxanne, don't finish that sentence," I said softly. "I know what you're going to say, so please, don't say it. You didn't deserve to go through that. I'm sorry it happened to you."

Roxanne was now choking on her sobs, which only fueled my anger for what happened to her even more. How those former guards thought it was okay to do that was beyond me, but if I had to guess, it must've been an attempt to embarrass and humiliate the poor wolf. Now, I was really hoping they got their asses kicked for it.

As Roxanne continued crying and hugging me tightly while I tried my best to comfort her, I thought back to when she said that I was much different from the other guards. I couldn't connect it to anything, so I thought back to the solo performance, her telling me how her friends had convinced her to show me her raceway, and then her asking me if I wanted to see her raceway. I felt a slight connection, but it really wasn't enough.

I then thought about how she wasn't acting like the narcissistic and confident wolf Kyle said she would behave as, how she acted like she didn't know what to do when I offered her my hand for a handshake, and how she reacted when I stupidly told her about the things Kyle said to me during my interview. I first saw it as Roxanne trying to overcome her shyness and nervousness toward me, but when I thought back to her statement about how I was different from the other guards and how something deep down told me that there was something more to what was going on, all of the pieces had come together.

'I was just thinking about how you are much different from the past security guards.'

It all hit me like a freight train. All of it wasn't her attempt to overcome her shyness or nervousness towards me; it was all Roxanne's attempt to see if I was different from the others. If I had to guess, she must've come up with this plan after I apologized to her about the things I said to her during my first night shift.

All of it made sense. Because of her past experiences with previous guards, she wanted to see if I was like them or maybe worse than them. I understood completely. If I was in Roxanne's position, I would have done the same thing. While I had my answer, I wanted to hear it from Roxanne. I wanted to hear her side of the story so that way, I can get a much better understanding of the mystery behind her motivation to go through with her idea.

"Roxanne, I need to know something and I want you to be honest with me here," I said. Roxanne mimicked a sniffle and a hiccup, her body spasming as she did.

"W-what?" she asked. I took a deep breath as I continued patting her back gently.

"Were you inviting me for a solo performance and asking if I wanted to come to see your raceway in an attempt to see if I was different from the past security guards?" I asked. The second those words left my mouth, I felt Roxanne stiffen, her crying stopping instantly.

While I took her reaction as an answer, I waited to hear it from her. At first, nothing happened. She didn't say anything nor did anything. I continued to wait as I continued patting her back. I was going to give her all the time she needed to reply or do something.

Then, I felt Roxanne slowly begin shaking and whimpering. I hugged her tightly as I continued patting her back. I knew what was going to happen and it was going to get emotional.

"Roxanne…" I think me saying her name did it.

"YES!" she screamed, her voice full of emotion. "YES, IT WAS! I WAS AFRAID THAT IF I ACTED LIKE MYSELF OR DIDN'T GET ON YOUR GOOD SIDE, YOU WOULD HURT ME!"

After that, she began sobbing hysterically. I felt my heart ache painfully at this. All of this was done out of fear and that made things more heartbreaking. While I knew it was a very bad time, I wanted to know her side of the story.

"Roxanne, tell me everything," I said as softly and as comfortingly as possible. "I want to hear your side of the story. I promise that nothing is going to happen to you."

Roxanne Wolf continued crying for a moment before I felt the telltale signs of her trying to get herself under control. She sniffled and she hugged me a little more.

"On the night before you came in for your shift, we were in our green rooms, relaxing after our performance when we received a message from Kyle to come to see him in the Lobby," Roxanne began to explain. "When we got there, he informed us that he hired a new security guard and that they were going to be here the next night for their first night shift. I was horrified when he said that, and I voiced my objection. Kyle had reassured me that he had a good feeling about the new guard and that nothing bad was going to happen. I didn't believe him, not after all of the bad experiences I had.

"All day the next day, I grew nervous and scared. I feared that they would be just as bad as the others. It made things difficult for me as the day flew by. I was hoping that Kyle was kidding and that it was just a joke. I preferred that than anything.

"That night, after our performance, my worst nightmare came true when Kyle came to our green rooms and told us to follow him to the Lobby to meet the new guard. As he led us to the Lobby, I grew more nervous and scared that it was going to go bad. Freddy saw this and he tried his best to reassure me that everything was going to be okay. It helped me a little bit, but I wasn't too sure.

"When we got to the Lobby, I was surprised to see that it was you who Kyle hired as our new security guard. Kyle called out to you as we walked over to you. He introduced us to you and do you remember how I just stared at your hand when you offered your hand for a handshake, Mihael?"

"Yes," I replied. I will never forget that night. She was staring at my hand like the wolf mascot didn't know what to do. But now with all of the pieces together, I had a better understanding as to why.

"Well, I didn't accept the gesture because I was afraid that you were going to hurt me if I accepted," she continued. "After Kyle left and you went to go do your rounds, I decided to follow you, making sure I kept my distance so I didn't alert you to my presence. When I followed you to Rockstar Row, I saw that you were checking the security cameras on your Faz-Watch. I became confused when I saw that you were starting to panic. My curiosity got the better of me so I walked over to you and well, you know how that turned out."

It took everything I had to not cringe at the memory. I wish I could just forget about what happened, but I knew that it was impossible to do. I was going to live with what I did for the rest of my life.

She continued. "At some point in the night, my friends knocked on the door and asked if I was okay and why I was crying. I didn't want them to know what happened, so I just screamed at them to go away and leave me alone. They insisted, wanting to help me, but I didn't want them to see me in the state I was in, so I continued screaming at them to go away until they did. I hate pushing my friends away, but I didn't want to see how weak I was.

"The whole day, I feared that I would see you again. I was hoping you wouldn't show up that night so I didn't have to deal with you making fun of me since you knew about my insecurities. When I couldn't take it anymore, I went straight to Kyle and asked him if you were coming for your shift that night. He explained to me that you weren't going to show up and then he left. I was relieved to hear that you weren't coming that night. I thought that you got fired and that I would never have to see you again.

"The next morning at 6:30 AM, our two technicians, Ben and Ian, came over to my green room to do maintenance on me. I really hate those guys as they always make fun of me; saying how ugly I am, how a robot such as myself should be nothing but a pile of scrap metal, and how I was the worst and not the best and that no one loves me. I always try to prove them wrong, telling them that I was the best and that they had no idea what they were talking about. Ben snapped at me, saying how worthless I was, that no one ever truly loved me, and how everyone thought that I was the worst animatronic in the Pizzaplex."

She began whimpering, her body beginning to shake again. "That broke me. I didn't want Ben to know that he got to me, so I kept quiet until they finally finished and exited my green room. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I broke down crying as I failed to reassure myself that they had no idea what they were talking about.

"Then, you showed up and told me that you wanted to talk to me. I wasn't happy to see that you came back and even had the guts to say that you wanted to talk to me. When you refused to leave, I waited for the inevitable moment where you would make fun of me for being so weak and pathetic… but you didn't. Do you remember the things you said to me that day?"

"Yes," I replied. That was something I wasn't going to forget either.

While I did see it as the cheesiest thing I'd ever said, I was really glad that it helped her. I had no idea how much the words meant to her and it seemed like I was going to find out.

"After you said those things to me and apologized, I felt like I had found someone who understood me, to know that someone felt the same as I did. I was so relieved and happy to know that I wasn't alone and that I forgave you.

"After you cleaned me up and went to meet up with Kyle, I saw how you were different. I wanted to see how different you were, so I came up with an idea that if I got on your good side and did not behave like myself, you wouldn't try to hurt me like the others.

I felt Roxanne begin to slowly relax as her body stopped shaking and her whimpering came to a stop.

"After I thanked you, I watched you the entire day. I saw how serious you got when the parents told you that their kid got lost. I loved how you took it seriously and found and returned the kids to their parents. I couldn't help but praise you for what you did. It was nice to see that someone cared.

"Sometime after the performance and all the guests left, Kyle sent us a message to come to meet him at the Atrium. When we got there, he talked about how we should thank you for the hard work you did. I saw it as a perfect opportunity to both thank you and see how different you were, so I suggested to them that I invite you to my green room for a solo performance. They were all horrified at first, but I talked them into letting me do it. Eventually, they reluctantly agreed and I went off and that's when I found you in the Lobby talking on the phone.

"After you got off the phone, I asked if you would like to come to my green room to see me perform. I was so happy when you accepted and how you reacted while you watched me play. After you left for the night, I was so grateful that nothing bad happened to me.

"After a while, I left my green room and met up with my friends. I told them how it went and they were so happy for me that it went so well. That's when Freddy suggested that I show you my raceway when you come in. I loved his idea and I asked Kyle when you were coming in. He told me that you were coming in at 8 AM, but had a feeling you were going to come in early before he left for the night. All night, I grew impatient as I waited for you to show up.

"When 7 came, I couldn't wait any longer. I charged out of my green room and towards the Lobby where I found you standing there completely still. I didn't think much of it and came over to ask if you wanted to see my raceway. I was happy that you accepted and well, you know the rest."

There was a moment of silence as everything sunk in. This all cleared up everything that happened the last few days. It also confirmed the things I had suspected of happening beforehand. I didn't know how to feel about having all of the things that Roxanne told me. While it did give me a clear picture as to what happened and what was going on in her head, I didn't know whether to see it as a good thing or a bad thing or as both or in the middle. It was hard for me to tell.

"Roxanne…" was all I was able to say.

"Mihael…" Roxanne whimpered before she began sobbing softly. "I don't know how you figured it out, but I don't care. I know that it was very foolish, but I wanted to see if you were different from the others. I wanted to trust you, Mihael so that's why I did all of this." Her sobs grew in volume and she hugged me more tightly, making it a little harder for me to breathe. "Please, don't hurt me! Please! Don't end up like them, I beg of you!"

She began sobbing hysterically as I felt a few tears escape. I hugged her back tightly, despite me slightly struggling for air. This was something I wanted after my apology. I knew that she was being honest; she wanted to trust me, but her fear of me becoming just like the old guards were keeping that from happening.

Well, she didn't have to fear that any longer. She had enough of dealing with those kinds of people and she didn't need to suffer or go through that anymore. I was going to be the person she needs; someone she can trust and comfort her in her time of need.

I cleared my throat. "Roxanne, look at me."

Roxanne hiccuped and released me from the tight hug. I released her from the hug as well and we looked each other in the eyes. Oil stained her cheeks and if she was real, I had no doubt that her eyes would be bloodshot due to how hard she had been crying. I held her left hand in my right and rubbed it softly.

"I will never hurt you," I began to say. "Don't ever think that what you were trying to do was foolish. I understand that what you had been through was terrible and that you were just trying to see if I was way different and can be trusted." I reached out for her other hand and held it to my left. "You can trust me, Roxanne. I will never do the things that they did to you. I know what it's like to be bullied since I've been bullied myself growing up. You have my word; I will never hurt you or become like them. Don't ever be afraid to talk to me about these things because I will always listen.

"And about you acting like yourself; don't ever change that. Roxanne, your personality is what makes you unique and beautiful. If you want to act all confident and call yourself the best, go for it. By telling you to stop being yourself is like me telling you to give up a part of yourself. We all love you just the way you are, Roxanne. Never forget that."

Roxanne stared at me, obviously taking in what I just said. Oil began building up in her eyes as a hopeful expression formed on her face. I gave her a warm smile.

"Do you mean that?" she asked, hope present in her tone.

"Yes, I mean it," I replied with a nod before I hugged her. "You're beautiful and awesome. Never forget that."

Roxanne began whimpering before she proceeded to return the hug. She began crying as I began patting her back gently. I had a feeling that this meant that she was now beginning to trust me and that alone was a great feeling. To know that my words helped her was the icing on the cake. I could feel the oil staining my shirt, but once again, fuck the T-shirt right now. T-shirts can either be replaced or washed and at this point, I only cared about letting her have her moment.

"Thank you, Mihael," she whispered. "Thank you."

I didn't say anything. I just allowed her to have this moment to know that she will always be loved greatly and there will always be someone there for her.

It took a moment for Roxanne to calm down, but I had no problem with waiting for her to get a hold of herself. She sniffled and the both of us released each other from the hug. We stared at each other, the both of us giving each other a warm smile. She looked so cute, despite the oil-stained cheeks.

"Thank you, Mihael," she said, sounding grateful. "It really means a lot to me."

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

"Just out of curiosity, why do you keep calling me by my full name?" she asked. "I'm so used to my friends and other people calling me Roxy that it's weird hearing you call me by my full name."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I prefer calling you by your full name. It sounds cuter that way."

She looked away, her right hand over her mouth shyly. If Roxanne was a real person, I had no doubt that she would be blushing bright red at that moment.

"Oh, stop," she said. "You're going to make me blush."

We both chuckled lightly before we proceeded to stare at each other for a moment. I wish I had something to clean her face off because the last thing we needed was for Roxanne to walk around with her cheeks all stained with oil. It was a good thing I got here early when I did for her to show me her raceway and to have her explain everything to me.

A small beeping sound snapped us out of it. I looked at my Faz-Watch and saw that I had received a message. I checked to see that it was a message from Kyle. Curious, I tapped on the message and began to read it out loud.

"Mihael, it's me, Kyle. How's everything going with Roxy? Did she show you her raceway yet? If so, come see me in the Lobby. It's almost 8 AM and the guests will be arriving soon. See you there. - Kyle"

I looked at Roxanne and saw that the wolf mascot had a disappointed look on her face. Something told me that she didn't want me to go, but deep down, she knew that I had to go so I could get ready for my shift and watch over the guests, as well as the kids.

"Looks like it's time for me to start my shift," I said.

"Can't you stay a little longer?" the wolf mascot asked, the question sounding like a plea.

As much as I wanted to do that and say yes, I couldn't stay a little longer. I didn't want to get in trouble and that was really the last thing I needed. Then, I remembered that I was working both the day and night shifts. That would work in my favor.

"I'm really sorry, but I can't," I said. Before she could object, I lifted a finger as a way to let her know that I had something else to say. "However, I do have something to tell you though and I think you might be very happy about it."

She gave me a curious look. "What is it?"

"Well, last night, Kyle asked me if I would be able to cover both the day shift and the night shift today," I began to explain. "I told him that I would and do you know what that means?"

The curious look on her face turned into one of excited hope. "Wait, does that mean…"

I nodded my head in confirmation. "Yep, I will be here all night, and that means that you, me, and all of your friends can do so many things together."

I added her friends to it because one of my goals was to try and get along with the others and get to know them as much as I was getting to know Roxanne. While Roxanne didn't show any reaction to me adding her friends to it, she was absolutely beaming with happiness at the idea of me staying here all night.

"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed happily. "Well, I won't hold you for much longer." She wrapped her arms around me and proceeded to hug me once again. "See you later, Mihael!"

"See you later, Roxanne," I said, returning the hug before we broke it off.

With that, I got up from my seat and exited the raceway with a happy skip in my step. I couldn't help but feel excited about what me, Roxanne, and all of her best friends are going to do for fun together tonight. Something told me that tonight was going to be great and that was something I was counting on.

Author's Note:

After a long while, here is the ninth chapter! :D

For those that have been wondering why Roxanne did what she did, all of it has been revealed in this chapter. I hope I didn't make the scenes too cheesy as I'm not the best at writing comforting moments. Also, remember how I said I was going to take a 3-day break? Well, I spent those 3 days working on the first seven chapters and added new content to them before beginning work on Chapter Nine. For those that haven't seen it, go check them out. :)

Chapter Ten is going to take a LONG time to make as it's going to feature the characters having a game night. If you guys have any ideas on what they can do, let me as I love to hear your ideas.

That's all for now. Thank you so much for reading the chapter, all constructive criticism is appreciated, and I will see you guys next time! :)