“Hey, if it doesn't scan does that mean it's free?” The blue shirt sporting teenager spewed out the overused 'joke' with a smirk from the other side of the counter, knowing full well that it wasn't how things worked.

“Ooh no, Ashley. Don't even start.” Aaron warned her jokingly as he totaled his coworker's order. Employees weren't allowed to ring themselves out. The young man tugged on his own blue shirt and slid the candy across the counter at Ashley. “Just eat your stinkin' Snickers bar, I've got a register to run.”

“For which customers? All zero of them?” Ashley asked, leaning over Aaron's counter. 

“Sure, say that now. Just wait until the after school crowd comes in, and I'll let you handle them on your own.” After some thought, he added, “And the Tuesday night tour buses.”

“You forgot to say 'have a nice day'. I'm tellin' Shelly.” Ashley skipped away to her cash register, the only other one, just a few feet away.

Aaron had recently gotten permission to leave classes one period early once a week so he could pick up some extra time at his job at Food 'n Stuff. It meant closing, but he preferred closing to opening any day. His manager, Shelly, was fond of cutting corners when the pay was concerned. Aaron was now working as an unofficial assistant manager with a cashier's wages. On the books, he was a cashier and yet there he stood, fingers drumming on the counter, the store's keys in his pocket and no manager in sight. Shelly took most nights off to play poker, but Aaron pretended not to know that. Yes ma’am, and Right away, he always said. Money was money, and unemployment was scary enough to keep him from complaining. 

Besides, anything to keep him away from the folks, with their cryptic sighs and disappointed looks out of the corner of their eyes. And the questions.

Aaron had started absently fiddling with the box cutter in his pocket when he saw her.

A kid stumbled into view just outside the glass doors, bruised and bloody. It looked like she was standing only by a thread, as if a cruel puppet master was forcing her upright and dragging her along with a single string. 

Aaron's eyes widened at the sight of her. For a moment his legs wouldn't budge, but then he was off in a flash, shouting at Ashley who was frozen in horror, “Stay there!” Aaron threw one of the glass doors open as the bells above him jingled. 

As he approached the girl, Aaron could now see the full extent of her injuries. He held a hand to his mouth and marveled that she was even standing at all. 

“Are you okay?” That was the first question on his mind. *Stupid question, stupid. She's clearly in a bad way, you idiot.* “Kid, what happened? We need to get you inside.” Just as he had begun to lead the poor girl, however, she threw up as her knees buckled. Aaron had barely managed to catch her head before it smacked onto the pavement. “Jesus!” He shouted, his voice cracking. Aaron scooped her up in his arms and with a thought, looked around, trying to see if whoever did this was still around. There was no one, however. He only heard the wind and a car in the distance. 

As he backed up through the front door still carrying the girl, he heard Ashley gasp behind him. He glared at her as he passed, not out of anger but to get his point across. “Stay out here. If anyone suspicious comes looking, you haven't seen anyone, got it?” Her bottom lip shook as she nodded, eyes glassing up already. Not good. If whoever did this did come back, they would see through poor Ashley instantly. In his haste, he forgot to tell her to call the police.

Aaron jogged to the back of the store towards the employees only section. He entered the storeroom, choosing it because of its size compared to the tiny cluttered office and bathroom sized break room to the left. Aaron's eyes darted and his mind spun in circles as he tried to figure out what to do. After a moment that felt more like an hour, he put the kid down gently on the floor for now. Stepping over her, he ripped open one of the huge boxes full of pillows they had gotten off the truck the day before, made a makeshift bed out of them and transferred the girl on top of them. 

Without warning, a tap on his shoulder made Aaron jump like a scared rabbit. Ashley was directly behind him, holding out a pair of broken glasses wordlessly, eyes wide. Aaron took them gratefully, but not without remonstrating her. “I thought I said to stay up front. Go.” As she shuffled away, he started to open totes hurriedly, grabbing bandages and anything else he could find that would help.