I head back to the fridge to see I only have about three pounds of the dino-nuggets left. I walk over to my desk and check my wallet where I placed it… 30 bucks… fuck. Guess I’ll ask Moe for a job if I want to not starve; I make myself a plate of dino nuggets with some Sweet Baby Ray’s trying Fang’s technique. Pour enough to cover each one but not drench. After I finish my dinner, I take a quick shower. I grab my phone and wallet and start heading toward the outskirts of Skin Row, only a few blocks. I call Monarch, and he’s there within a couple minutes, screeching to a halt in front of me, leaving skid marks on the road. He looks at me with that friendly smile that he had when he sped away last time. “Where you headed?” He glances around me with that smile disappearing for a moment before returning. “Where’s your other half?” I try to return the smile, “She went home a bit ago, and I’m headed for Dino-Moe’s.” “Good choice, kid, best pizza around.” He gestures towards the backseat, “Hop in, and we’ll get goin’.” I get in the beaten-up rusty taxi, and before I can buckle, he’s already pulled out, trying to get away from the ghetto that is Skin Row as fast as possible. “Yeah, I’ve been there before with Fang.” “Oh?” He glances in the rearview mirror at me, raising an eyebrow, “On a date?” I pause; why does he want to know? “Kinda…Moe thought it was and hooked us up with a free pizza and a candlelight dinner, but we were there looking for a venue.” “For what?” He glances at the rearview mirror and back towards the road again. “Well, for Fang, she plays music.” Without Fang here to kick his seat, I guess he can talk to me casually for once. His grin grows larger. “Getting yourself a rockstar, Anon? Good for you, kid.” I wonder how he knew that she played that type of music, but then again, Fang looks like, well, Fang. “So, how’s business?” He sighs a little; I guess it’s suffering. “Well…actually, the business has been improving because I’ve been driving you two around, free advertising. Has been a little draining, though.” A moment later, he screeches to a halt in front of Dino-Moe’s, “We’re here, enjoy yourself, kid.” “Thanks, Monarch.” I leave 15 bucks on the seat and close the door before he pulls out to go…somewhere. I walk into the Dino-Moe’s and am greeted with the smell of fresh pizza… damn you, Moe, for making such good pizza. I meandered a bit before hearing my name, “AY, ANON!” I swivel my head around to see Moe walking towards me carrying two plates. “How’s…you?” he has the same expression as Monarch had, looking for Fang I think. “She’s not with me tonight, Moe, sorry.” He looks a little disappointed, “Don’t be sorry about dat, Anon; I was just looking forward to seeing ma Lucy when I saw you.” He looks over my shoulder. “Stay right here, yeah? I’ll be right back.” I nod before he carries the food to a table; I look around Moe’s and see a neon light up of a T-rex with a chef’s hat…huh. “So, you’re here to eat, Anon?” I jump a little, surprisingly sneaky for a T-rex, but then again, the restaurant is bustling. I turn towards him, “Uh…no,” as much as I want some pizza. “I was here to see if you could give me a job, actually.” “A job, huh?” A slight grin comes over his face. “Yeah, yeah, I could do that.” He scuttles off before returning with a mop and bucket. “I could always use another hand cleaning up after closing. As long as you don’t blow up my restaurant, bada bing!” He laughs heartily as I hear a voice from the kitchen, “BADA BOOM!” “GET BACK TA WORK, JERRY!” I checked the time, 7:33 PM. “Hey, Moe, when does this place close?” “Closes at eight on weekdays, so perfect timing for you. You can get to cleaning the bathroom, alright? Just make sure no one’s in there before you start.” He pats me on the shoulder with his tiny arm and gestures towards the mop before walking back towards the kitchen. - - - …As Naser parks, I can’t help but feel nervous; what’s Dad gonna say? Fuck it; maybe Anon was right. How bad could it be? Naser looks back at me, “You ready to head inside, Fang?” I nod a little; I can’t stay here forever. I get out, closing the door softly behind me. As Naser and I reach the door, he throws a look of sympathy my way as he opens the door. I hear a distant gasp and feel a tight hug; it’s Mom. “Oh my goodness, I was so worried. How are you, baby? Are you hurt?” She looks me up and down. I laugh a little, “I’m okay, mom, I’m okay.” She sniffles a little, looking up at me teary-eyed, “Good.” She wipes her eyes and pauses a moment looking at me. “Now go talk to your father. I’m sure he’ll be relieved to see you.” She smiles as she guides me deeper into the house. Dad’s sitting in his chair, looking at me with an annoyed expression. “Sit down, Lucy.” He should know to call me Fang…but I keep it to myself; he probably doesn’t want to hear that right now. I start sinking into the couch and look at my Dad with “sorry” written in my eyes. “Where’d you go?” His expression doesn’t change. Fuck…did Naser tell him? I need to come up with something fast. “I was at Naomi’s for an end-of-the-year project. Big stuff.” Nice. He nods a little while, maintaining eye contact, “You didn’t answer any of my or Naser’s texts or calls. Why?” “My phone was dead. I didn’t bring my charger.” Double nice. He crosses his arms, “And why’d you need to sneak out?” Fuck… uhhh… “Well-” Mom butts in, “Oh, leave her alone. She just got home; let her settle in a little, at least.” Dad huffs and pauses a little before continuing, “We’ll talk about this later.” Holy shit, thank you, Mom. I get up and start heading towards the stairs before Mom stops me, “Where are you going, little miss? I just finished dinner.” Twice in less than ten minutes…whatever. I follow mom into the dining room, Naser and Dad following behind. I sit down at the table and start digging into the homemade meal. Dad starts speaking again, “So...” Mom shoots daggers at my Dad, and he sighs. They start talking about Naser, and I zone them out instantly. Before long I’m done with the soup and walk upstairs. I close the door and feel something resisting, I turn around and see Dad standing in the doorway. “Sit on the bed, we need to talk.” His voice is low and gruff. Enough to send chills down the spine of anyone. Without a second thought I go and sit on the bed, he follows sitting next to me. The bed creaks threatening to break as he fully puts his weight on it. “So, where’d you really go?” I start sweating, “I went to Naomi’s.” He notices my nerves, “Stop lying.” “I…went over to Anon’s place…” Fuck…I’m sorry, Anon. His facial expression shifts to unadulterated rage. “We didn’t do anything, Dad. I just-” “You just run away from home with no explanation? Your mother thought something bad happened, I almost filed a missing persons report! You're lucky your brother confirmed you were okay and at that boy’s place.” He looks me up and down and I can’t help but feel tears build up in my eyes. “All I want to know is why? Why’d you run away?” I can’t tell Dad what I was going to do, not him, never. “I just…I don’t know…” I put my head in my palms trying to hide my tears. I hear him sigh after a moment and get up. “Just…don’t do it again, I love you Lu-” He pauses “...Fang, I love you Fang.” He slowly closes the door behind him. I can’t help but break down then and there on my bed, if only Anon was here…he’d know how to calm me down. Fuck, I miss him already and it’s only been what? An hour or two? - - - I take my seat at one of the tables, wiping my brow; mopping is more challenging than it looks; that thing with water has to be five pounds… I get back up after a short rest and head toward the kitchen, “Hey, Moe? I finished the bathroom. What should I do next?” He speaks without looking up from what he’s doing; it looks like he’s washing dishes? I can’t see. His body is blocking his arms. I don’t know how he even would, the same way he cooks with those toy grip things? “Sweep up whateva’ you can out there and then mop after that. Put the chairs on the tables before you do all of that.” “Alright, and thank you, Moe.” He nods, “Of course, kid, I’ll pay you once you’re done with that.” I thought this was going to be a weakly paid thing, but I guess not; he’s paying me out of his pocket, literally. Fifteen bucks an hour for sweeping and mopping is pretty decent. Seeing how this place gets so much business, I can see how Moe can pay me like that. I pick up the chairs one by one before starting to sweep up whatever grime and dirt the customers brought in… Before long, the restaurant’s floor is spotless, besides a few chips in the floor’s tile here and there. I glance at my phone and see it’s around 10:30 PM. Time flies when you’re cleaning, I guess. I did kinda just go on autopilot. I walk around the restaurant admiring my work, ensuring I, in fact, swept and mopped the floor and didn’t half-ass it. After examining my pro mopping and sweeping skills, I head back to the kitchen to see Moe slumped in a chair. I tap his shoulder, and he jumps up, “HUH? WHO? WHERE?...oh, it’s just you.” “Sorry, Moe, I just got done.” Looks like Moe’s usually by himself after closing. I could’ve sworn he said something about some company when Fang and I were here. He gets up with a grunt, “Alright, let’s see how you did.” He walks over to the dining room and starts inspecting my work. After walking back and forth between the rows of tables, he stops in front of me. “Very nice job, kid,” he reaches into his wallet. “What’s the time right now?” I look at my phone again, “10:40”. He pulls out two twenty dollar bills and places them in my hand, “Extra ten for the bathroom, you’ve earned it…wait right here.” He runs into the kitchen and grabs some leftover pizza from someone who didn’t come to pick it up. “Take this too; I saw how much you two liked it last time and didn’t want to toss it.” I thank Moe before heading out the door. “AND SEND LUCY MY REGARDS!” I flash a thumbs up through the window. I should call Monarch. I wonder if he operates this late. Welp, we’re about to find out. The phone rings for a moment before he picks up, “Where am I going.” “Dino-Mo-” Before I can finish, he cuts me off. “Be there in a minute.” He hangs up before I can say another word. I hear his engine from a bit away a couple minutes later. Looks like he catches some air as he comes over the hill before stopping in front of the Dino-Moes. I hop in, and he looks at me, “Headed home?” I nod, and he looks at the road. I quickly buckle up and hold the pizza box tightly in my lap. Surprisingly he doesn’t speed off this time. But before I know it, he’s using the whole speedometer. He goes past his usual stopping point and brings me in front of the complex. He looks at me in the rearview mirror, “What? This is your place, isn’t it?” “Uh, yeah, I didn’t expect you to drop me off here.” “Well, take it as a thank you for the fifteen bucks. The usual fee is sixty cents a mile just so you know.” “Well, thanks, Monarch.” He nods as I get out with the pizza in hand and start towards my room. I close the door behind me, set the leftover pizza on the bed, and grab a couple slices before putting the rest in the fridge. I collapse on my bed and decide to check my phone. I should check up on Fang. - - - I feel my phone buzz as I strum one of my guitars softly, a text from Anon? I feel a smile creep over my face as I open up the message. “U up?” “Yeah, what you up to? :V” “I just got home from Dino-Moe’s. Your uncle gave me a job.” “Now you can stop leeching off my money, lmao.” “More like Naser’s money, so how did talking to your parents go.” “>:V It was okay. Dad interrogated me, but nothing worse than that.” “That’s good. Glad your Dad doesn’t treat you liike how he treats me like*” “Liike” “Shut up” “No >:V” “Anyway, anything else happened after you got home?” “Nothing much, Naser and I talked about what I did at your place.” “... what’d you tell him.” “Nothing weird, I promise, just how we went to Dilo-Mart and Spencer’s and how we saw Trish.” “He talked about, ya know?” “No, not yet. I don’t know if he wants to, honestly.” “Alright, well, see you at school tomorrow?” “Yeah, I got a ton of stuff to catch up on, according to Naser.” “Alright, goodnight Fang. I love you.” “Goodnight, I love you too.” I turn the phone off with a click and let out a sigh; I put the guitar back on my wall and flop on my bed. This feels…off… I toss and turn to no avail. I quickly realize I’ve gotten used to sleeping with Anon… fuck, this kinda hurts. Whatever. I’ll see him at school tomorrow and everyone else. I really don’t look forward to seeing Trish despite her being my best friend; maybe Anon was right. She has controlled me a lot and treats my band like it’s hers. I’ll talk more with Anon and see how he feels…I don’t know how he’s put up with me. What a dweeb… I wake up to my alarm blaring. I slap it, turning it off, and stretch myself out. First day back to school since prom; here we go. I take a shower, eat whatever mom makes, catch a ride with Naser to school, and check my phone. No new texts from anyone; I wonder how Anon’s doing. - - - Combat roll, headbutt floor, cereal, a quick shower, and I’m ready to head out. My walk to school goes pretty typically, besides me nearly forgetting my backpack… somehow. I spot Fang and Naser getting out of the Nascar in the parking lot. I jog to meet them. “FANG!” I yell out and wave as I walk toward her. She turns, giggling, and waves back. As we talked about last night, the bell rang, yelling at us to get to class. First-period English, just gotta get through Naomi’s bitching, and then it’s a free ride through today. As I head to class, I hear the orange menace approaching. “ANON!” Raptor Jesus, save me. “Anon! How are you?” Remain calm, and don’t lose your cool. “Hey Naomi, I’m doing alright.” “How’s Fang? You two kinda disappeared after prom….” She looks at me with a sympathetic plastic look. “Well, she’s better than she was a few days ago. How’s Naser?” There’s silence… weird; that usually works. “Naomi?” “Huh? Oh, sorry, I spaced out; yeah, Naser is… okay.” …something’s off; she usually goes on and on about Naser… whatever. I guess I won’t prod too much. We walk into English and take our seats. Apparently, I haven’t missed much besides a few study guides for finals, which should be a piece of cake. As I’m halfway through the last study guide packet, the bell rings, and everyone filters out of the classroom. Math time… with Trish and Reed, shit. As I walk into math, I instantly feel Trish’s glare and Reed’s finger guns in my direction. Once again, I take my seat and have some homework and study guides to catch up on… I watch as a wad of paper misses my head by mere inches and lands on my desk like a mortar shell. I unwrap it to see today’s homework and a note with the past few days’ answers. I turn slowly, and Reed gestures for me to move to them. I sigh and walk back to sit with them. Reed speaks up after taking a swig of… whatever’s in that flask. “Yo, what’s up, man? Haven’t seen you since prom.” I smile a little, “I’m doing fine. Catching up so far has been a breeze, just study guides.” Reed rubs his neck, “Yeah, all the teachers are trying to prep everyone for finals.” I glance at Trish, she’s looking away, spacing out and back at Reed, and he shrugs. He leans in and whispers. “I dunno, man, she’s been like this for the past couple of days; been in her own head a lot more, I guess.” I whisper back, “I probably had something to do with that; I’ll tell you later, though.” He nods, leaning back in his seat, “So, how’s Fang? Haven’t talked to them or seen them either. Not since what happened at prom.” I sigh, “Yeah, she’s…fine. Better is the right word.” He looks at me confused, “What do you mean?” I think over the past few days. “She’s just feeling better, man, I dunno.” He nods a little more with a smile, “That’s good, man.” He glances down at my stack of papers and packets, “Might want to get on that.” I spend the rest of the period catching up on old homework and study guides with plenty of time to spare. Reed and I talk about PachyStation and X-rox until the bell rings, signaling lunchtime. On my way to the cafeteria, I spot Naser and Naomi talking; she looks sad… that’s rare. Is she… crying? Naomi walks away, and I decide I should ask Naser what’s going on…