6teen Fan Fiction ❯ 7teen: Mega Mall Madness ❯ Depth, Debt, and Determination ( Chapter 1 )

CHAPTER ONE

The next day, we all met at The Lemon. I had just come from Comic-Cavern after talking to the repairmen I had called. “Well… what's the verdict?” Jen asked. I took my seat on the stools near Caitlin and sighed as I gazed at the clipboard I was holding. “It's not good.”

The wires had been completely shorted out. The plasma-screen was all cracked and watered down, and all the marquis-lights needed a new circuit. “I gotta replace the whole thing, or people won't be as attracted to my store anymore. I could lose half my profits! UGH!” I slammed my head down on the lemon. Caitlin patted my head, and she offered to help me pay for a new one, if she won on Mega Mall Madness next week, but Jude wouldn't hear of it. “I broke the picture-screen… I'll pay for it.” he stated. “Cross my heart, and hope to live.”

“Don't you mean die, Jude?” asked Wyatt

“No. `Cause I don't wanna die.” replied Jude. It pleased me to know that Jude was willing to pay-up, I was going to hold him responsible anyway, and I needed help because if I had paid the total amount myself now. That would put in a tough spot, what with my rents, my bills, my management, and worse… I'd have to postpone all dates with Amelie for the next few months.

“Relax bro… I can handle it.” said Jude. “I mean how much can one simple screen cost? A few fifties… or maybe hundreds…”

I handed Jude the clipboard, “Read it and weep.”

Everyone else leaned in, Jen and Caitlin gasped. “Whoa!” cried Jonesy. “Aaa-aa-aah…!” Nikki cried in a half daze. “That much?!” asked Wyatt. Jude was speechless until he stuttered “Fa… Fa… Fi… Fi… Five… thousand… DOLLARS…?!”

I nodded my head. “You thought it would be cheap?” The picture-screen was no ordinary box. It was a special kind that needed to be connected to my desk-computer, and also to all the other circuits of the all the marquis lights I had in the store.

Jude checked his pockets. All he had was paperclip, a shoelace, and an old piece of gum. “Dude…! I think I swallowed too much.” he whimpered. Luckily he worked two jobs, he promised somehow he'd come up with the money. “For both our sakes I hope so.”

Luckily everyone agreed to help pitch in what little they could offer from work. Even Jonesy, who had just recently, “Scored a gig with helping set up the Mega Mall Madness set, which means… guess who gets to see it all behind the scenes?”

“No, way!” smirked Jen. “But why would they let you work for them?”

What could Jonesy say? “Guess they heard of my good looks… stunning charm… ability with heavy lifting.”

Nikki laughed at her boyfriend, “Yeah right… or they probably have sympathy for the most fired person in the history of the mall.”

We all shared a small laugh, but Jonesy was not impressed. “That's it… laugh it up. Just don't forget who might be able to sneak you all in to meet Davis Rooftech in person.”

The girls all leapt up with shock and glee. “Okay… seriously? I take it back now.” Nikki said finding it hard to control herself. Jonesy pecked her on the cheek and then he was off to meet with some of his supervisors.

Caitlin was still so excited about going on the show. “I wonder who I'll be competing against, or who I'm competing with.” she wondered aloud, but just then she got her answer, “Well, well… it just had to be you, Lemon head.”

That voice only belonged to one person. “Trisha?” snapped Caitlin. Much to all our horrors, Trisha was indeed going to be one of Caitlin's opponents on next week's program. She and the gorgeous hunk she was with. A tall and rugged guy with tan skin and dark hair, but pretty much a dim smile on his face. “Isn't that right, Tad?” asked Trisha.

“Yeah, sure… whatever.” Tad simply snorted.

Caitlin was not impressed, and her anger spiked worse when Trisha warned her, “That new car is mine, Caitlin. So you might as well just call in sick while you can. But don't worry. I'm sure they'll still have something for you… in loser class.”

Mandy and Gwen laughed with her, and all four of them went away. Caitlin was so mad she squished a lemon in her hand. “Ooh! Of all the people!” she groaned. We all felt just as outraged as she was. “Don't let it get to you, Caitlin.” Jen said. “You can beat her.”

We all shared that statement, and Caitlin agreed she would spend all her free time of the week planning, practicing, and preparing. “I'll show her who the best shopper is around.”

…

Over the next few days, that's just what happened. Caitlin worked on her footwork. Her grabbing. Her ringing a bell, pretending it was her buzzer-device. Her eye coordination. Jen even gave her questionnaires her on all the kinds of histories and products of shopping there was. Caitlin didn't miss a single answer.

Nikki even persuaded The Clones to let Caitlin practice in the Khaki-Barn, The Clones were way obliged as they were fans of Mega Mall Madness.

…

Meanwhile, Jude was working like a real dog at both the ice-rink and Stick-It. He made sure to put himself in for double overtime, and not to give himself even a lunch break… even though he was the boss both ways, and just like Me Jude took home whatever little of money he made… the problem was he wasn't getting many customers due to his crazy running about and staying focused, and bye the end of the first few days. He barely made just under five hundred bucks. “Ah, man!” he cried. “Not even close.”

Still, he wasn't going to give up. He was planning to keep on going and going until he had enough money to help me replace the picture screen. He only hoped he didn't make a promise he couldn't keep.