The Start Of The End

Before I left the house, I checked in the mirror one last time. Today was my interview for a job at Hardy's, this was the only placed that called me back after weeks of applying almost everywhere else. I do not really want to get a job, the thought scares the bejeezus out of me. I have little choice in the matter though, I promised my parents that I would have one before my eleventh year of high school. Honestly, I do not interact well with others. I am very very shy in fact. Which is why I did not like the thought of being stuck with a bunch of strangers and forced to be all smiley and joyful.
When I started getting close to my destination, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach start to flutter. Great. Pulling into the parking lot, I ran through the mental list my father had drilled into me for aceing interviews: smile, eye contact, friendly, hair pulled back, etc. I walked in the door and nervously scuttered toward the front counter to ask the cashier about my interview. She looked me up and down while pointing to a table where a boy sat. I walked over to the table and sat down, sneaking peeks at the boy seated to my right. He was short with black hair and brown eyes. He did not dress well for the interview as I had, he chose to wear jeans and a huge baggy tee shirt with multiple chain necklaces. I now felt horribly ridiculous for wearing black dress pants and a nice black shirt. I debated on saying hello, but he looked to caught up in his game thing to notice me much, so I sat there cursing my father for making me dress so fancy just for a fast food job.
" Hi there, I am Corey. Here are a couple drinks for you guys while we run through what will be expected of you here at Hardys."
I looked up at a blonde haired man in his early 20's. He was nice and I spent the next half hour signing papers with Mike, the boy next to me, and Corey, apparently the assistant general manager of the fine establishment. I finished the last of the paper work and slid it over to Corey.
"Excellent! I bet you are a super fast worker too. That's awesome! Now let's go over the dress code. You will be given two shirts and a visor. You are expected to have your own pair of black pants, a black belt, black shoes and socks. Hardy's is better than most fast food places and you should take pride in your appearence. We do not want some of our regulars walking in to see some boy on front counter with his underpants hanging out. Oh, here is a perfect example of an appropriate appearence. Hey Thomas, come here."
A tall boy that was in the process of stalking napkins at the condiment bar snaps his head up and heads toward our table. He has brown semi shaggy hair that curled slightly out from under his hat. His face is childish and his eyes are chocolate brown. As he gets within the range of our table, Corey's hand snaps out and pulls up his pant leg to reveal black dress socks.
"Wa--h! What are you doing?" The boy's face has twisted up into a crooked grin and he stares accusingly at Corey.
" I needed you to show the new kids on the block how to look superfly in the workplace. This is Nate Gomez and Elisabeth Soff."
He stops looking at Corey like he is a nutcase and his eyes move to Nate, acessing him, and then they slide to me and the butterflies in my stomach flutter a little as my eyes meet his for a second before sliding down again and returning back.
"Hi, I am Thomas. Nice to meet you guys."
"Okay, back to work. Thank you Thomas. I still need to give them a tour and describe what they are going to be doing."
"Hey, anything for you Corey. Have fun."
With that the boy, Thomas, walked back to the condiment stand, without a glance back at the table. My eyes, however, followed him as he finished stalking the napkins and walked back behind the front counter.
The rest of the orientation, as it turned out to be, went by with me in a daze. I walked around with Corey and Nate, made polite conversation, and accepted my uniform, thanked them both, and left. I sat in my car a moment before starting it. That turned out to be alright. I now had a source of income, granted that it was minimum wage and the people there seemed fun. I thought it would be more strict and corporate-like. Maybe this job wouldn't have to be too terribly bad, or at least I hoped it wouldn't.