2. The Party

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TW: includes (heavy) cursing, drinking, mild violence and descriptions of blood

Two hours earlier

     Children were running around in groups, cheerful music was playing, entitled parents were complaining to the staff, and somewhere the co-manager was yelling at a couple of teens for making out in the storage closet. It was a small children's restaurant called Fredbear's Family Diner that sat in the little town of Badgerview, Utah. The diner was predominantly made up of an open party room with red leather chairs and wooden tables that were always sticky. A small stage showcased two bulky animatronic mascots, a yellow bear and rabbit. Kids would run up to the stage to admire them as they sang and performed. A couple of run-down arcade cabinets and Skee-Ball and Whac-A-Mole games lined each wall.

     Jason leaned against the prize counter, stoned out of his mind. He was waiting for a kid to figure out how many cheap toys she could buy with all of her tickets.

     "Kid, just take the whole case, we've got plenty," he sighed, handing over a box full of figurines.

     "But that's stealing," the girl responded with a confused look.

     "It's only stealing if you get caught."

     "Jason! Don't encourage that!" Kathryn reprimanded Jason and knelt down to help the kid count her tickets.

     "What?! She probably has enough tickets to pay for it anyway, besides who's gonna care?"

     "Seems like you're forgetting what happened last time a kid went home and told his mom your...philosophy on rules."

     "Yeah, yeah, that lady shoulda been grateful! I saved her son from years of stressing over things that don't matter."

     "Yeah sure, grateful."

     "Kat, have I ever gotten myself into something I couldn't get out of?"

     "Yes! On multiple occasions!"

     "That's besides the point." Jason waved his hand at her dismissively. "I just think kids deserve to know that caring about 'being your best self' is a waste of time."

     Kathryn sighed, "Amanda, please help me out, he'll listen to you."

     "I mean they're just hunks of plastic, I don't see why it's that big of a deal," a girl with bushy black hair in a mustard yellow sweater replied while carrying boxes to the kitchen. "Just maybe stop telling kids that stealing every once in a while is good for them."

     "But it is! If they stay all goody-two-shoes, they'll turn out like Kat, stuck-up!"

     "Hey!" Kathryn playfully smacked Jason's arm. "I'm not stuck-up! I'm actually concerned about you getting fired."

     "Awwww, you care about me, how sweet," Jason teased, making a heart with his hands.

     "NO, I just don't like people throwing away opportunities willy-nilly."

     "Opportunities? Yeah Kat, colleges love to see 'Teen employed at a children's restaurant; cleans up vomit and hands children toys'," Jason's voice dripped with sarcasm.

     "Could you stop being an asshole for a sec?" Kathryn gave him a quick glare, and continued, "I'm just saying it's better than no job at all, okay?"

     "You sure about that? This place is a nightmare. The only good thing about it is the fact that we can pretty much do whatever we want here after-hours."

     "Oh god, don't remind me. I had to look in the ballpit this morning for something, it was disgusting."

     Amanda chimed in, "Pretty sure they haven't cleaned that thing since the restaurant first opened." At hearing this, a woman sitting nearby made a disgusted face, grabbed her things, and left. "Hah, well anyway, Kat how are the college applications going?"

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