Runaway

Chapter 14

© Sweetslover8 2014. It is illegal to copy and/or steal.

~Uploaded February 24th, 2014

Well the day certainly was entertaining, that's for sure. Brody, Heath and Noah were complete dummies, but their fun became mine. They joked around often, nudging each other with their elbows and shoving each other around playfully. But even though I was really starting to enjoy hanging out with them, there was one thing keeping me from enjoying the work entirely.

One word: boxes. I thought that the work itself wouldn't be too hard but damn! Those things were heavy. It took two Willis brothers to move even one of them to the back room from the front door where they had been dropped off. Apparently, it was all of their winter stock. Skis, skates, and all that jazz, plus a few general sports items.

When they arrived, I went for one of the larger boxes. I've been feeling useless since I arrived in Silver Creek and that didn't cope with me too well. But when I lifted it, I felt like Atlas, having to support the weight of the world on his shouders, and nearly toppled over. Or in my case, having to lift a box as heavy as a tank. Who knew skates could weigh so much? Thankfully, Brody was there to grab the other end of the box and keep me from falling into the bike rack. That would have been embarrassing, not to mention it would have hurt.

"Whoa, there!" He caught the other end of the box easily. "Careful, these things can be heavy." I rolled my eyes in amusement.

"No shit, Sherlock. I hadn't figured that out from almost falling."

"Glad I cleared that up for you", he replied as he helped me carry the box to the back. Or rather, I helped him. Actually, I don't think I was doing much of the work and that just made me feel silly. So as he took over, I went back to the front and looked for a reasonably sized box to carry. I found a medium one with "Jockstraps" scribbled on the side of it in Sharpie. Eww... Nonetheless, I carried the box to the back room.

The back room of the store seemed more like a warehouse than the tiny closet space you'd expect. It had those huge industrial lights hanging from the ceiling and had rows and rows of sports equipment, all alphabetically organized according to the sport. I wasn't sure where to put the box, so I just put it in the "General" section beside the mouth guards and protective goggles. All of those reminded me of the dream I had this morning. Only it wasn't a dream; it was a stinking memory.

"Dani?" I turned and put on a smile for Heath, the second eldest, as he came in with Noah carrying long boxes. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah", I lied as I flicked an imaginary piece of fluff from my shirt. I still hadn't changed out of my sweaty jogging clothes. I really needed a shower. And a sandwich. It was almost noon and I was starving. "Just lost in thought, I guess." I nodded to the boxes they were holding. "What's in there?" There wasn't any handwriting on these boxes.

"Just a little surprise", Noah grinned mischievously. "You can ask Brody about it. I'm sure he'd be glad to fill you in." I slowly nodded and scooted past them to do just that. I maneuvered around the store, being careful not to knock anything over and found myself back at the cash register.

"Brody?", I called out, having no idea where the guy had gone. He jumped up from behind the counter and it took all of my willpower to not grab a baseball bat from off the rack and throw it at him. Or whack him upside the head for catching me off guard.

"Yeah?", he said as he wiped down the counter with a cloth, cleaning the glass display case showing an impressive collection of fly-ties, hooks and a bunch of other fishing things I couldn't name.

"I was just wondering what boxes your brothers were carrying in just now. They weren't labeled."

"What box-" A look of realization overcame his face and he smiled, obviously looking forward to something. "Ohhh, I get it." I was about to ask him what he meant, again, when the bell rang as the store door opened. Nolan came strolling in.