Sober (A Septiplier Story)

Chapter 8: I Am Bread

(Mark's POV)

Ever since Felix and Marzia's visit, I haven't felt like myself. I felt empty and numb. I had no idea what I did during my blackouts, but now I know I did drugs. If I could do that, who knows what else I have done. Jack tries to pull me up and make me feel better, but I push him away. He gave me my space, even though I knew it hurt him.

I threw myself into finding myself a job, hoping it would help me out of this depression. After being denied at a local flower shop, I was nervous about the next one. After a quick walk from the flower shop, I arrived at Game Hub. Inside the store was arranged with wire shelves stacked with video games, consoles, and accessories. There were many people milling about browsing the titles. A young man in a red polo approached me.

"Welcome! What can I help you find today?"

"Actually, I saw that you were hiring and I was hoping the position was still available?"

"Yes! It is still available, but in order to consider being hired, you need to take a test. So you have time to do it now? It takes about an hour."

"Absolutely, let's do it!"

"Great! My name is Ken by the way, I am the manager here at Game Hub."

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Mark." Ken led me to the employee break room and sat me down in front of a laptop.

"Alright, I will get you signed up and we will get started. First and last name?"

"Mark Fischbach" he typed into the computer. He turned it to me with the test pulled up.

"Alright, start with question one and choose from the multiple choice. The last question is a paragraph where you explain what games mean to you. Come find me when you are finished."

He left me alone and I got to work on the test. The questions were simple: I needed to know information about past and present consoles, game recommendations and features, and be able to tell the difference between different models. I have been playing games since I was eight years old and my father bought me a GameBoy and Pokémon. I finished the test after only 40 minutes and went to find Ken. He was helping a costumer, so I waited by the register.

"Can I help you sir?" a teenaged girl with pink hair piped up from behind the counter. Her nametag read "Olivia".

"No thank you, I'm just waiting for Ken."

"Are you applying for the job?"

"Yeah, I just finished the test."

"I hope you did well, this is a great job. Everyone is so nice and you get 25% off."

"All done Mark?" Ken was finished and noticed me.

"Yep, all done."

"Alright, let's go see how you did." I sat across from him in the break room. He took the laptop and typed on it for a moment.

"Alright, the computer is grading the test. Aha, okay Mark, you got a...holy shit..." his face turned serious.

"What is it?"

"You got a 98%."

"Really? Wow, that's great!"

"I have never seen anyone get higher than 85. As far as I'm concerned you're hired!"

I perked up, "Really?"

"Yes, when can you start?"

"Tomorrow if you I can."

He thought for a moment, "Tomorrow would work, I could have Olivia train you. Yes, can you come in at 10?"

"Yes, of course. I do need to be honest with you though. I am a resident at Glenwood Sober Living House. I am 72 days sober but I need to have Wednesday nights off for therapy that is mandatory."