𝓒𝓪𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻 𝓶𝓮?...𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓶 𝓐𝓯𝓽𝓸𝓷 𝓧 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓃𝑒

     "No, I'm sorry, look. Listen! I don't want mushrooms on the pizza," I said, shaking my head at my little cousin. He folded his arms
and glared at me. Fire burning in his eyes.
"I can do whatever I want IIIII'M the birthday boy, not you." He said, putting it in my face that it was his day. My aunt in the front drivers seat looked at us in the rearview mirror. She seemed to have an already stressed look on her face. My mom put a hand softly on her sister's shoulder and then snapped her head to look at us in the back seat.
"Willow, You're 20, let's not argue with a 7-"
    "I'm 8 now, is everyone forgetting it's MY day." He said while pouting loudly, and throwing his arms up. Gosh, I hate children.
    "I'm sorry, 8. Are you going to sit here and argue with an 8-year-old?" She gave me a stern look and then faced the front windshield again, "Besides, it is his day." this seemed to make Mathew all giddy and turn to look at me. I turned away before he could set off any buttons. The scenery outside of the window was starting to fill up with houses and small buildings, rather than the tall grass and woods I was used to. I looked back inside of the car, it wasn't the best vehicle in the entire world but it's what my aunt could afford. There were chocolate milk stains on the ceiling from when Mathew was little and had his first flip cup with a straw. I sighed as I placed my elbow on the worn door panel, realizing there was going to be no one at the party to talk to. All of my cousins were young besides one, and I didn't really get along with everyone on my moms side of the family. My aunt Cheri interrupted my thoughts as she started talking about how excited she is to set up for Mathew's birthday. Which made him giggle and jump around in his seat. She had been planning this for months, trying to make every detail perfect. There were late nights at our house where her and mom were drinking wine and planning the party until Cheri would get a little too tipsy and start crying and over sharing everything. Since her husband left for some younger woman, she's catered everything to Mathew, turning him into a spoiled brat.
    "When are we gonna get thereee?" Mathew whined while slouching in his seat, which made Cheri take a deep breath as she gripped the steering wheel a bit harder.
    "We're almost there sweetheart, you gotta remember we live out in the country now, it takes us a-" My aunt turned a corner, and excited screams filled the car as there it was, our destination.
    "FREDDY'S !!! IT IS RIGHT THERE MAMA, MAAAMAAA YOU'RE GOING TO MISS IT!!!" Mathew yelled and tossed around in his seat, already throwing off his buckle. Gosh, I can't wait to get out of this car.  Mathew's hand flung toward me as he was trying to see if I had noticed we were almost there. How could I not know with all your screaming. I pushed him away, which made him just yell louder. Cheri winced and pulled into a parking spot not far from the entrance. She felt around for her purse quickly as Mathew jumped up and down in his seat. I looked up at the huge neon sign above the doors to the establishment. It presented Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy as funny cartoon characters and gave them a more friendly look; It contradicted their old sign at the other building that recently closed down, where they used the real animatronics with the beading stares. I rolled my eyes, being friendly was not something the actual robots looked like, but that wasn't stopping Mathew. He jumped out of the car having no patience for his mother or any of us and started to run towards the building. Cheri called out for him as she quickly rushed out of the car which made him fold his arms and wait for us where he was standing. He started to tap his foot. The nerve of this kid. Cheri ran up beside him and my mom walked over to me throwing her purse over her shoulder as I stepped out of the car. As I shut the door and started walking with her I noticed she decided to dress nicely today for Mathews's party, a nice pink flowy top and some tight white pants to match.
    "Mom, don't you think if some kid touches you with his grimy pizza fingers it's gonna leave a stain?" She then looked down at herself and shrugged, obviously realizing she didn't plan for the place, but rather the occasion.
    "These are my nice clothes, besides, I can't pull off black as you can, but I can't believe you wore that outfit to a kids' birthday party, let alone a family pizzeria." She turned up her nose to the clothes I was wearing. I looked down at myself, studying the clothes I had picked out that morning. Skinny black jeans with holes on the knees. okai, I could've picked better pants. I matched it with a black tank top and a sheer long sleeved black lace top that I found at a thrift store. I thought it was on the nicer side of my clothes since my closet consisted of mostly oversized band shirts. I looked back at her and shrugged.
    "I look fine, I mean the pants, a little raggedy sure," I won a short laugh from my mom, "but look at Cheri, shes wearing gold heels and a tight red dress with gold hooped earrings, I think that's a little much for a FAMILY pizzeria." Mom looked at her sister and smiled and shook her head. It made her remember the night Cheri and her stayed up late, sipping wine and picking out the "perfect outfit" that would make her irresistible.
    "She thinks she'll attract a nice rich man, I heard the two men running this establishment interact with some of the customers and they're LOADED I mean look at this place." She looked up at it and I did the same. Loaded huh?
    "Well, we'll see what happens," I muttered and followed Cheri inside as mom ran to hold the door open. The smell is what hit me first, the odor of kids' feet as they ran around shoeless and running and climbing on the jungle gym equipment and ball pits with slides, mixed with a few hints of pizza. Then the lights, all bright colors, and big spotlights lit up the place even though the building had high ceilings and the front windows were on the larger side but highly tinted for effect. I looked down at the floor as I walked more into the room, my converse touching various neon shapes designing the black carpet. Some of the shapes had permanent kid stains. Kids zoomed past and almost knocked into me not caring who or what they run into. I shook my head and kept close to my mom. Cheri's long poofy and curled blonde hair brushed my face as she stopped walking and whipped around to look at my mom and me.
    "It's him !" she whispered and squealed, more towards my mom than me," The owner, Henry Emily !" She elbowed my mom a bunch and pointed in the direction of a tall dirty blonde-haired man. He seemed to be chatting with some of the employees and had an innocent smile on his face. He looked like a well-dressed and refined man, he also had a sort of cheerful charm about him. Cheri then went on to explain that he was right next to the party room that was ours that she rented for Mathew, saying something about 'how it must be destiny.'
    "Let's go, let's go, Mathew, Hunny." She grabbed Mathews's arm and dragged him towards the room as he was wide-eyed and looking at all the games and toys. He reluctantly followed his gushing mom, As I followed slowly behind.
      "mom.." I said looking up at her as she looked down at me, trying to dodge oncoming kid traffic.
     "yes Willow?" She asked as she glanced at me but kept her attention on Cheri.
    "Didn't Henry's daughter just go missing not too long ago...at that old restaurant? Should Cheri be trying to be all over him? That should be the last thing he needs right now..." I asked watching as we got closer and closer to the man. My mom shrugged and kept following, clearly not hearing what I said. I huffed, clueless. Once we reached the room Henry was standing in front of, he turned to us with a bubbly smile and folded his hands scanning all of us.
      "Hello, guys! Welcome to Freddy's, is this the birthday girl?" He asked looking me straight in the eyes. I blushed beat red from embarrassment. It's because I'm short isn't it? Before I could correct him a tall elegant man with brown hair that was styled into a short wolf cut and cold blue eyes walked up and put his hands in his black dress pant pockets. He looked at all of us, his brows slightly twitching as he looked at my overdressed aunt, and then he placed his gaze down at me for a second and looked at the door behind Henry then read a small sign that said "Mathew". A deep husky chuckle came from the man.
      "I think the birthday is for this young man right here." He smiled over at Mathew and he nodded quickly, more excited about the games than the strange men in front of him. His voice was just as elegant as the way he looked. He had a British accent that could melt any heart, or break any heart. Henry laughed and put a hand on the back of his head as his cheeks emitted a soft pink from his mistake.
      "Silly me, I'm sorry young lady." Henry laughed this off even more and turned towards the door he was standing in front of and opened it fully. "You must be Mathew then, happy birthday young man." Mathew ran inside and saw a bunch of his friends and family waiting for him, all full of smiles and cheer, even though he ran passed them to survey the present table. The tall man that slightly saved me from embarrassment was watching me closely, but I wouldn't look at him fully. What's he looking at, maybe there's something behind me. Cheri was flaunting over Henry and was talking and laughing real close with him, brushing her hand on his arm at every joke he made. My mom walked a couple of steps over to her and tried to get her into the room, smiling at Henry and apologizing for taking up his time, which she was quickly interrupted.
      "OH, Henry this is my sister Ophelia, but we call her Leah, and this is her daughter Willow." She pointed at me as I was watching the man beside Henry, taking me out of my slight trance. Henry smiled at us both but looked at me. Not two pairs of eyes on me at once. I started to blush nervously again, I don't like the attention.
      "I'm sorry I assumed it was your birthday a little bit ago," Henry said as the man beside him chuckled a bit, but he kept his eyes on me. "You know you could have your next birthday here if you wanted, I-I could give you a discount." he threw some finger guns at me. Cheri and my mom shared a laugh.
    "She'll be 21 here soon but she's too cool and grownup for anything like this." My mom said watching Henry nervously smile again, he just can't win. The man beside him lifted his brow.
    "21 is too cool for a fun place like this?" He asked addressing me now, he wore a big bright smile, using his charm to potentially sway my answer, which was slightly working. I looked at him fully, watching his cool eyes settle into mine. My mom chuckled and shrugged, thinking I'd have zero interest in places like this.
    "I'd probably just...fill up on pizza and play the arcade games if I were to," I said as I nervously smiled, which made him nod, seeming satisfied.
    "So, who's this man beside you Henry?" Cheri asked as she moved her hair behind her ear. Henry's eyes lit up and turned to his friend and put his hand up in front of him as if he were showing off a new product for TV.
    "This is William Afton, co-owner of this fine establishment." He said happily and put an arm around his partner, which showed how much shorter he was. Henry had to be about three inches shorter. William smiled brighter and looked at Cheri, my mom, and then winked at me.
    "It's nice to meet you fine ladies." He said dashingly.