The Haunted (24 page)

The bells over the door announced my arrival, and Uncle Bob came running from the back. His gray hair was standing up at weird angles, like he’d been pulling at it, and a ring of sweat lined his collar.

“Abbey, I’m so glad to see you.”

I noticed several customers were already in line with impatient looks on their faces, while a brunette who had her back to us was busily scooping away.

Uncle Bob motioned for me to follow him, and we went over to a small supply closet. “One of my freezers quit working, and I have to run in to the city to find another one.” He reached for a box that was sitting on a shelf, and pulled it down. “There are some shirts in here, part of the uniform
and all, so you can choose your size and use the bathroom to change.”

He stuck one hand in the box and lifted out a bunch of shirts. “Here’s an extra large… an extra large… another extra large… Damn it, are these all extra large?” He rifled through, scanning tag after tag. “I thought I had some more sizes in here.” He looked at me in defeat.

“Don’t worry about it, Uncle Bob,” I said. “An extra large is fine.”

He smiled at me and handed over a shirt. Abandoning the box to the floor, he hustled me out of there. “After you’re changed, I’ll show you around the counter area.”

The shirt was a hopeless disaster. I pulled it on in the bathroom, and it hung to my knees, the sleeves practically going to my wrists. I tried to tuck it into my shorts, but that bulged in all the wrong places.

Finally, I just tucked in the front of the shirt and tied the back into a knot. It was the best I could do.

As soon as I exited the bathroom, Uncle Bob shuffled me off to the counter. He directed my attention to the tubs of ice cream lined up in a cooler beneath a clear lid. “Ice cream’s here,” he said. “Scoopers are kept in a water trough there.” He
pointed behind him. “The counter has all your toppings: peanuts, sprinkles, M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces, coconut, gummies… Hot toppings are kept in the warmers.”

He opened the lid of a small silver pot, and I saw a long-handled ladle bobbing up and down in some brown goo.

“Caramel,” Uncle Bob said. I nodded, and he leaned down to open a mini fridge located under the countertop that held the silver warmers. “Your cold toppings are kept in here: whipped cream, marshmallows, strawberries, pineapples, et cetera.”

The brunette girl turned to us, and my heart sank.

It was Aubra Stanton. A cheerleader from school.

I had a momentary flashback to that first day of school last year, when Principal Meeker had announced Kristen’s death to everyone during an assembly. Then Aubra and two other cheerleaders had stood up and acted like they were her BFFs and said they would miss her
soooo
much.

They hadn’t even gotten her name right.

A tortured groan slipped out of me before I could hold it back, but Uncle Bob must not have heard, because he turned to her with a big smile on his face. “Aubra, this is my niece, Abbey. She’s going to help us out. Abbey, Aubra will show you the ropes. She can take care of the cash register while you handle the customers.”

Rumbling noises suddenly emerged from the room where the freezers were kept. Uncle Bob cast a worried glance in the direction of the sound.

“That’s the freezer giving up the ghost. I’m gonna have to go check it out. Will you two be able to hold down the fort?”

No, Uncle Bob. Don’t leave me here with her!
“Sure,” I said instead.

“Absolutely,” Aubra replied.

Uncle Bob gave us both a wide grin and then disappeared into the back.

Aubra and I turned to face each other, standing off like two skittish gazelles in the middle of a pack of lions, waiting to see who would make the first move. Aubra looked me up and down. “You look kind of familiar. Your name is Abbey?”

Here we go…
“Yeah, we go to the same school.”

“Oh.” She tossed her head. Clearly now
she
was the lion and
I
was the gazelle. “And you’re the boss’s niece, huh? I hope that doesn’t make you think you’re going to get any special privileges. Cuz you’re not.”

Right. Because I’m sure she’s never used her position on the cheerleading squad, or her short skirt, to get special privileges.
“I’m not—”

“Whatever. Look, just stay out of my way and do what I say,
comprende
?”

“Yeah, sure. Okay.” I sighed. The doorbell chimed, and a man and a little boy walked in.

Aubra sneered at me, muttered, “Nice shirt,” and then stalked away to go greet them. I looked down at my baggy shirt and pushed the sleeves up. This day needed to go by
fast,
or else I wasn’t going to make it.

I slipped behind the counter and waited while Aubra smiled and chatted up the man. He kept cocking his head to one side and bragging about his ride—probably a flashy red sports car that just screamed
midlife crisis!
—while his kid ran grimy fingers over the window that covered the ice cream tubs.

Finally, Aubra glanced over at me and told me to grab a scooper.

I reached for one, trying to fling off the beads of water that clung to it without spraying myself in the face, and stood by the cooler.

“What kind do you want, Billy?” the man asked.

Billy pressed his dirty face against the glass, then finally said, “Chocolate.”

Aubra glared at me. “You heard him. Are you going to scoop?”

I leaned down over the chocolate, digging the scooper into ice cream that was hard as a rock. I tried again, angling the
scooper a bit more. That was unsuccessful too. So I started hacking at it. Eventually, little slivers of ice cream started flaking away, and I gathered several of them into a pathetically small ball.

“I want vanilla!” Billy suddenly yelled.

Pausing, I looked over to Aubra. “Vanilla with chocolate? Like two scoops?”

But the dad was already shaking his head no. “I told you only one scoop, Billy. Do you want vanilla
instead of
chocolate?”

Billy stomped his foot and shook his head too. Apparently, he wanted both. The father knelt down in front of him and took what seemed like forever to calm him down. My back was
killing
me from staying bent over, and the flakes of chocolate I’d managed to hack off were starting to melt.

“We’ll take vanilla,” the man said, standing to face Aubra.

I didn’t know what to do with the ice cream I already had, so I tried to put it back. The scooper refused to give it up though, until finally Aubra gave a disgusted sigh and reached over to take it out of my hand. She threw the scooper back into the water trough and told me to get a new one.

Fresh utensil in hand, I bent down to get the vanilla.

“Watch it!” Aubra cried. “Your sleeves are getting into the ice cream.”

I looked down and saw my sleeve trailing through orange sherbet
and
mint chocolate chip.
Impressive
.

My cheeks flamed, and I pulled back. Aubra took the scooper from my hand again and scraped out a perfect ball of vanilla ice cream. Lifting a small cup from a nearby stack, she released the ice cream and handed it over to the boy. “Sorry about that,” she said to the dad. “She’s new.”

An obligatory eye roll and a sympathetic glance (directed at her, not me) passed between them, and she went to ring him up at the register.

I made my way to the bathroom to go clean up. Once safely inside, I told my mirrored reflection that this was only for a couple of weeks. I just had to keep reminding myself of that.

I blotted off my sticky sleeve with a damp paper towel, then tried to dry it the best I could. Finally, I rolled both sleeves all the way up. I looked like some wannabe jock heading to the gym to work out, but at least I wouldn’t be dangling my shirt into the ice cream anymore.

Making my way back out, I saw three more people lined up, and Aubra gestured impatiently for me to come over. It took several tries, but finally I got the hang of the scooper and was able to dish up the ice cream without any major mishaps. Aubra
worked the register, and for anything more complicated than a triple scoop, took over my duties. We even managed to make it through a Little League baseball team that came in without anyone getting
too
upset.

After a couple of hours had passed, Uncle Bob came out and told us that he’d man the counter while we took a fifteen-minute break. I followed Aubra out to a little sitting area in an alley behind the store. I kept my distance from her, though, and she did the same.

Taking out my cell phone, I checked the time and saw that I still had three more hours to go.
Wonderful.
I scrolled through my missed-calls folder and noticed a strange number listed there. Was it Caspian? Had he used a pay phone or something to call me from?

I hit redial and listened with bated breath as it began to ring. A female voice picked up. “Hello?”

Well, I wasn’t expecting that.

“Hello?” I said. “Who is this? I mean, this number called my phone, and…”

“Is this Abbey? It’s Beth. From school.”

Right. The same Beth whose call I hadn’t returned before. I was completely embarrassed. “Oh God, Beth. Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t call you back.”

She laughed. “No big. I thought you’d appreciate the tip if you’re ever stuck with the Wilson kids again.”

“Oh yeah, I do. Those kids will eat you up and spit you out.” Aubra turned and glared at me, but I just looked the other way.

“Tell me about it. So listen, Lewis and I are going to a movie on Saturday night. Do you and Ben want to come?”

“Oh,” I said. “Ben and I aren’t—”

“I know,” Beth said. “We’re not a thing either. I’m giving Lewis a test run. Try before you buy. He’s cute and all, but does the boy have
stamina
? I need to know these things.”

I laughed. “Okay, I get it.”

“So will you come? I’ve already asked Ben, and he said yes.”

I hesitated. Beth was being really nice, but would Ben get the wrong idea? Would
Caspian
?

Beth must have heard my pause. “Please, please,
please
? You can’t leave me alone with him, girl. What if it doesn’t work out and I need a quick excuse?”

“Let me check my schedule,” I said hesitantly. “Okay?”

She let out a whoop of joy. “I’ll be calling you, girl. Wednesday. Don’t flake on me.”

“All right, all right. I’ll talk to you then.”

She said good-bye, and I closed the phone. A movie
did
sound like fun. But what about Caspian? I wanted
him
to be there with me. Not Ben.

Aubra interrupted my thoughts. “We have to go back sometime. Come on.”

Reluctantly, I stood up and followed her in. A line of customers had formed in front of the counter, and Uncle Bob was frantically waving to us. I paused for a minute to roll my falling sleeves back into place and then went to grab a scooper. Only two hours and forty-five more minutes to go.

When the customer traffic finally died down, Uncle Bob came out of the back room and said that he’d found some new freezer parts he needed to go pick up. He’d be back in an hour. Two, tops.

I watched him go, feeling abandoned and slightly hopeless as I turned back to Aubra.

She exhaled loudly and said, “The store will be dead for a while now. Prepare to be bored out of your mind.”

Leaning on the counter, I stared out the window at all the people walking by and willed them to come in and prove her wrong. But she was right. Only twenty-two minutes had passed, and I thought I was going to die of boredom.
This must be what it’s like for Caspian
.
Watching every second crawl by with nothing to help pass the time. No wonder he likes to read
.

Finally I couldn’t take it anymore, and I glanced over at Aubra. She was texting furiously on her phone. “Does anything need to be done?” I asked. “Like the floors swept, or napkin holders filled or something?”

“No.” She never even looked up.

I wandered out from behind the counter. I thought about going back to Uncle Bob’s office and hanging out there, but I felt bad about leaving Aubra alone.

Grabbing a bottle of cleaner and a roll of paper towels, I headed to the tables. They weren’t really all that dirty, but it was something to do. I cleaned each one and the chairs, too, taking my time to make sure that every speck of dirt was gone.

The doorbells went off again and I looked up, happy to see a customer at last. But my happiness vanished when a guy in cargo pants and a looks-vintage-but-costs-five-hundred-bucks T-shirt walked through the door. A silver Rolex gleamed on his wrist.

His hair was different, black now instead of the carefully highlighted blond spikes, but I still recognized him. It was the jerk I’d met here once before during Thanksgiving break.

Aubra squealed and came flying out from behind the counter. The boy smiled at her, flashing a perfect dimple.

Immediately my hackles rose. I really did
not
like this guy.

“Baby!” Aubra cooed, jumping into his arms for a hug. He
held her at a distance, being sure not to let her press too tightly against the front of his shirt. Aubra composed herself and flipped the
OPEN
sign on the front door to
CLOSED
. She glanced over at me. “Time for another break.”

I wasn’t going to argue. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t run the cash register on my own.

She started to walk away, then said sharply, “Abbey, come on.”

I looked up at her, surprised. “Me? I’m, uh, fine here. You two go ahead.”

Aubra planted both hands on her hips and gave me a cold glare. “You can’t
stay
out here.” She paused, and I could almost hear the “stupid” she wanted to add in there. “If people
see
you, they’ll think we’re
open
. Come on.”

Dropping the cleaner onto the table, I followed both of them. When we came to the room that held the freezers, she tossed her hair and said, “We’re going in here. You can go wherever. Just don’t go out front.”

I nodded and headed to Uncle Bob’s office. At least he had a couch in there.
How long is this “break” going to last, exactly?