Outback Streakhouse

Chapter One

JJ had no idea what he'd gotten himself into.

For as long as he could remember, JJ was a bit of a troublemaker. It wasn't his fault, he claimed, because trouble always found him. That never passed well his his parents, but what else could he say?

Just like most other college students, JJ was broke. This wasn't high school anymore, so he couldn't just mow lawns and expect to be able to afford a phone bill and pay for college. This was his last year before graduation, and he knew those student loans would catch up to him in no time. He needed a job. A real job. He just didn't realize he'd be desperate enough to apply at Outback Streakhouse.

Streakhouse. With an R. That's not a typo.

It was an up and coming business, similar to Femboy Hooters, a franchise that overtook the original Hooters. That meant that his job was to walk around in a revealing outfit and serve customers. In his defense, it was the only place that would hire him. Either a place wasn't hiring, or they didn't want a struggling college student to slow down service. Femboy Hooters was also hiring, but he didn't feel like wearing a miniskirt and thigh-high socks.

His shift started right after band practice, so he had to sprint to his dorm, throw his saxophone on his bed, and quickly change into something presentable. A marching band uniform isn't exactly a killer first impression outfit. A hoodie and khakis were good enough. After a few tries on the ignition, he finally got his junk heap of a Honda Accord to start, and may or may not have gone a little over the speed limit on his way to work.

When he pulled into the parking lot, he was honestly kind of amazed, despite the fact that he had been dreading his first shift for the past week. The neon sign was already lit up, and he could faintly see the overhead table lights inside the dark windows. Reluctantly, he forced himself out of the car and up to the entrance. As soon as he opened one of the glass double doors, he was met face-to-face by a very tall person in a mask, making him nearly shriek.

"You're almost late," the figure, who had a deep British accent spoke, quickly pulling JJ aside so they wouldn't block customers trying to leave.

"Almost-?" JJ looked the figure up and down. He thought he himself was tall, coming up to around 6'4", but this guy was on a whole other level of tall. He had to have been at least 6'7". He was very lean and wore a completely black suit, his skin almost as pale as printer paper and his hair and eyes almost as dark as his suit. He kind of resembled Victor Van Dort from The Corpse Bride, with his sharp, gothic features.

"You're the new guy, if I'm not mistaken. Come with me. We need to get you changed. The Boss won't be happy if you're not on the floor by the time your shift starts. We only have..." He produced a pocket watch from his blazer pocket. "Three minutes! My God, you're late! You're going to get us all in trouble on your first day!" Before JJ could even speak, he was grabbed by the arm and pulled through the restaurant, surprised at the strength the tall man possessed. While passing through, he saw a server, shirtless, walking very quickly through the sea of tables.

Before he knew it, JJ was dragged into a back room, stumbling when the tall guy, who could've been a Tim Burton character to be honest, let go of his arm. "Shirt off, now. Put these on," the Tim Burton character said, chucking a pair of shorts at him with fishnets going down to the knees that were too short for his comfort zone. "And these." He threw a very see-through fishnet shirt and a spiked collar at him as well.

"What- I'm so confused, what am I even supposed to do?" JJ said, looking at the revealing clothing in his arms with pure disgust.

"Follow my lead when we go back out, but please, please, just hurry up. There's boots over there to match with the outfit, and I'll find your nametag." The Tim Burton character dug around in a metal filing cabinet.

As embarrassment kicked in, JJ turned away from the cosplayer and changed into the "uniform" he was given. He felt naked. He might as well be shirtless, considering the fishnet "shirt" wasn't hiding anything. He didn't have abs, but he didn't have a gut either. Either way, he was still self-conscious. The shorts were also very tight, and he felt like an idiot in his big black boots and spiked collar. Suddenly he was regretting all his life decisions.

The Tim Burton character quickly came over and looped JJ's nametag pin through on of the fishnets on his shirt, JJ feeling the cold metal on his skin. He looked at it, seeing it said "Diego" instead of either "JJ" or "Jason," his actual name. Then the cosplayer took JJ's glasses, setting them aside on a table.

"Um, I need those to see. Also, my name's not Diego, it's Jason. People call me JJ-" he started, getting interrupted.

"We're given fake names to seem more appealing to our customers. You said on your resume that you're Puerto Rican, so the Boss gave you a Latino name. Also, no glasses allowed. Bring contacts next time. Now let's go," the Tim Burton character said, pulling JJ, who was half blind and absolutely terrified back out into the dining area. "Okay, just stay close to me. You'll learn what you need to know soon enough-"

"Victor!" The cosplayer froze at the voice. "Victor, you tall, emo ass Brit, where the hell are you?"

"If I die in the next five minutes," the Tim Burton character leaned down and whispered to JJ, "my name's Reggie, not Victor."

"Who is that?" JJ whispered back, spotting a very angry-looking man with dyed white hair coming towards them.

"The Boss," Reggie replied. "Don't speak unless spoken to. Act like you enjoy being here. And whatever you do, for the love of God, don't make him angry-"

"Victor! Where the hell have you been?"

"Ah, Marshall!" Reggie straightened up and put on a polite act. "How are you?"

Already, JJ felt like going into horrible lifetime student debt was a better option than this.