Chapter Text
Welcome to sugar springs. Home of dirt, grass, and half a mall. A mall that has about 20 stores max (plus a food court), and is basically run by toddlers.
Almost everyone between the ages of 15 and 20 wanted to work at the mall. It was the coolest place to work in town, and you got varying amounts of street cred depending on what store you worked at.
17 year old Nox Durand was no exception, but he didn’t want to work at the mall for ‘street credit’ towards unworthy strangers whom he didn’t care about. No, he wanted to work at the mall because he wanted to work at the absolute best place in this horrid town.
Hot Topic.
He’d crafted the perfect resume in advance, as one should when in a professional setting, and filled it with his many talents. Talents that surely make up for absolutely no job experience. He was very neat and efficient, perfect for keeping a store clean and stocked.
Nox walked through the mall towards the east side, where Hot Topic sat towards the end of the hall. In between Sephora and Famous Footwear, across from Claire’s. He took a deep breath and gathered his confidence.
As he entered, he was heavily reminded why he wanted to work here. It was so him. The perfect job. The store was filled with clothes and items he liked, playing decent music, and had so many belts. It even smelled perfect.
He made his way to the counter and asked the edgy looking cashier if he could give them his resume and if they were hiring. They told him that they would take the resume but no promises on hearing from them any time soon, Nox nodded and walked out.
Surely he’d be accepted, now all there was to do was wait. He could do that.
3 days later, Nox got a call. He was in the living room reading a book when his phone started buzzing, displaying an unknown number. He’d trolled and blocked every scam call he’s ever gotten and is definitely off the list by now, so it had to be Hot Topic.
He calmed himself and answered the phone as coolly as possible, putting it on speakerphone for his sister Violet, who was embroidering in the chair across from him, to listen in.
“Hi! Is this Nox Durand?” a cheerful voice asked.
Nox was sweating, though he doesn’t know why because he’s so well put together. “Yes, this is he.”
“Perfect! My name is Silvie, and I’m calling to ask you about potential employment at Sugar Springs Mall. Now, you gave your resume to the Hot Topic store, but they are completely full at the moment. They passed your resume along to us because we’re short staffed.”
This confused Nox, and it showed so on his face. This isn’t Hot Topic? Who could it possibly be then? He looked up to Violet for guidance, and she’d paused her needlework to nod at him, encouraging him to speak.
“Oh… T-then may I ask what business this may be instead?”
“Claire’s Stores Inc! We were very happy with your resume and would take you as soon as possible if you’d agree to it, no interview required. The mall is locally owned, so many things like this are allowed some wiggle room. Everyone who works in-store at Sugar Springs Mall gets the same perks, so the experience wouldn’t be much different than at Hot Topic!” Silvie’s voice was chirpy and soft at the same time.
Claire’s? Absolutely not. He’s seen that store many times, and it looks like a 4 year old threw up glitter glue. He is not working there. He was about to tell the lady on the phone just that before a sound caught his attention.
It was Violet, snapping her fingers at him. He looked up to make eye contact. Very intimidating eye contact. His sister always had a stern look on her face, but this was ten times worse than usual. He looked at her confused for a moment before she mouthed the words ‘Say. Yes.’
Sure, he didn’t want to work at Hot Topic just because it was cool. He also wanted money. Actually, Violet wanted him to have money. Actually, she wanted him out of the house doing things and not being dead weight. If he had it his way he would be at the house reading and binging chocolate all day.
Before he had a chance to think it through or even try to argue, his mouth was moving for him. “Yeah sure, that sounds great. When could I come in?” He grimaced at his own words. There’s no coming back now.
“Oh great! Thank you so much! You could start training at 9:00AM next Monday. Does that sound good?”
“Mhm.”
“Alrighty! See you Monday!” Silvie bid her goodbye and Nox hung up the phone.
“Claire’s?? Vi, I cannot work there.” Nox stared at Violet who suddenly couldn’t look anywhere but her embroidery hoop.
“You can, and you will. You cannot spend all summer cooped up in here. It will be good for you.” Her voice was flat and even, leaving no room for debate. She’d learned this skill early in being the primary caretaker for her brother years ago. ”Go meet people, learn new things, whatever teenagers should be doing. I do enjoy that you are knowledgeable and well read, but you should be sociable as well. And it will teach you some responsibility.”
She continued “This might even be better, you don’t know what kind of hooligans are going into that other store. I know Silvie well, she’ll take good care of you.” Somehow this didn’t comfort Nox, but he didn’t say anything more. It was useless to try.
Before he knew it, the Monday Nox was dreading had arrived. He walked through the mall, almost in shame. No one knew where he was going to be spending the next 9 hours, but he did. He was anything but excited.
It was like rubbing salt in the wound that Claire’s was right across the hall from Hot Topic, so he could stare from afar but not enter. Evil.
He walked into the store of glitter, pompoms, and overpriced clip-on earrings, looking for a worker to help him figure out what to do. He’d worn something simple, just a pair of black jeans and a purple top. If he were working at Hot Topic, he could wear much better outfits and still be within an appropriate dress code. He couldn’t even wear a statement belt in Claire’s without feeling unsettled.
He’d eventually found a young woman wearing the Claire’s nametag. Silvie. She couldn’t be many years older than Nox, and she was as cheery looking as she had sounded. She was very welcoming to Nox and showed him around the store.
They spent the day going over everything Nox would need to do during a shift, manning the cash register, restocking items, and opening and closing duties. Silvie explained that the two of them would work together all week, with Nox shadowing her until he could work the store by himself.
It was simple enough, though Nox isn’t very fond of the thought of having to pierce little kid’s ears any time soon.
After closing together, Silvie waved Nox goodbye with a big smile, Nox waved back and made his way toward his car to go home. On the ride, he convinced himself that this wasn’t so bad. He doesn’t know anyone in town too well anyway, and he could use some spending money.
He told Violet just that over dinner, which made her look pleased.
Nox worked the rest of the week like Silvie had explained, slowly getting more confident as the days passed. “Ok! I think you’re doing great! Well enough to work alone if you’d like!” Silvie told Nox after they closed on Saturday. Nox nodded “Yeah, I think I should be fine.”
“Ok, perfect! We’ll have to work out a schedule that fits us best, but for now how do you feel about working four days a week: Monday through Thursday?”
“That’s fine.” Nox stated flatly. It’s not like he had better things to do, anyway.
His first few days working alone didn’t go without incident, as is the nature of customer service, but it surprisingly wasn’t too bad. Nox felt like he might even be enjoying this. It was different every day, and he got to talk to people but not actually talk to them. He could live with pleasantries and small talk here and there.
Things were going well, but his his free time Nox would occasionally stare across the hall to Hot Topic, because it would be way better over there. It wouldn’t be just fine, it would be great.
The work wasn’t horrible but the reputation was horribly embarrassing. If you were a tall, lanky, goth teenage boy, you would be embarrassed working at Claire’s too. His eyes burned everywhere he looked, everything in that store was a different offensive color.
Oh, and the time a kid threw up on the floor wasn’t fun either.
Oh, and when kids scream and cry while getting their ears pierced was far from it. Though Nox couldn’t really blame them, they were getting their first piercings with a crappy piercing gun. Disgraceful.
It was Thursday, his last shift of the week. It was midday and the store was empty, as it often is on weekdays. Nox was in the middle of his favorite pastime (watching Hot Topic) when he noticed a peculiar person walk in.
It was a boy, a short one, with bright golden hair and an even brighter smile. He was wearing blue jeans, a bright pink and orange tee shirt, and converse. Looking closer, Nox noticed the shoes were sparkly.
He dismissed the boy, he’s probably buying someone a gift. He could never imagine someone who looks like that would like anything in Hot Topic for himself. He belonged in the store Nox was currently in.
He continued watching.
Nox wondered what he was buying there.
Nox wondered who he was buying for. Friend? Family? Partner?
Nox’s mind cleared of thoughts instantly when the boy came out again. Maybe he could see what he had and answer some of his questions.
To his surprise, the boy didn’t come out carrying anything. He didn’t come out alone, either. He was with the cashier, the one Nox had given his resume to just weeks before.
They were talking, though Nox couldn’t figure what about. At least, not until they turned around and looked at the store, the cashier started pointing to the posters and displays in the window.
Then they reached into their pocket, pulling out a small item and handing it to the blonde boy. Despite his mind telling him that this was creepy, the urge to be nosy reigned supreme over Nox. He tried to make out what the object was, but when he finally did his heart sank.
A name tag. The little idiot just clipped it onto his stupidly obnoxious shirt.
Why would he have a nametag? Nox knew every worker at Hot Topic and their work schedules. (just out of observation, not creepiness.) The boy had to be new. But how could he be? Nox had just applied there and was turned down.
This boy who he didn’t even know, but knew was undeserving, stole his perfect job.
Nox continued to watch as the boy gave the cashier a winning smile and shook their hand. Pure rage burned through him like wildfire.
Everyone look at this fantastical art of the boys by @half-deadmagicperson on Tumblr! thank you sm magic I love you to death aawwwwwh look at them
