𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐓 (X-Men ~ Peter Maximoff)

Pay Cheque

The bell on the door chimed, informing Jennifer and Will that the last customer had left. It was a relief, neither of them had been able to take a break all day due to how busy the store was, but unfortunately, they still had plenty of work to do. Falling into the routine they had picked up within the past few days, Will heaved a box of records onto the counter which Jennifer immediately started to empty as he went into the storage cupboard to grab another.

Trudging around with arms full of heavy sets of music was not the most enjoyable experience in the world, but after spending a day of smiling and being polite, Jennifer was grateful to have some time to herself. Of course, she had time to herself when she finished her shift, but without a task in mind her thoughts travelled to worry and 'what if's', which was not an ideal state of mind.

The process of unpacking and stacking records and cassettes went smoothly for about an hour, the only stops being to change the record that was providing them background music. Just after that hour though, all work was temporally halted when Will asked an unexpected question. "Why don't you attend school?"

Removing her eyes for the shelf before her, Jennifer rested the records in her arm  against a shelf and turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

Continuing to work, Will shrugged absentmindedly as if to say he didn't know, but a moment later he replied, "You've worked her a week full time, while everyone else your age has been sitting in class learning. Shouldn't you be there instead?"

Jennifer frowned, unsure how to answer. She hadn't considered going to school, her plan being to get out of the town and the country as soon as she could, but in hindsight, it would take her ages to earn enough money to go anywhere. "Well, I mean, I just moved her and I'm still settling in so.."

Will nodded in understanding. "Of course, you need time. Try and get in soon though, don't want to miss out on too much stuff, do you?"

"I thought you didn't care about grades," Jennifer joked, reminding him what he had said earlier that week.

"Ah, ah, ah," Will tutted while shaking his finger. "The shop's employment system doesn't care about grades, I think they are very important."

With a small laugh Jennifer thought about the original conversation. School didn't sound so bad – it certainly wasn't something she missed, but Will was right, she couldn't throw what was left of her life away while waiting for it to get back on track. The only downside was that she would have to change her shifts, which meant she wouldn't make as much money, resulting in having to spend longer in Maryland. But overall, it seemed like a good idea. "I'll try and get in for the new year."

"What's that, three weeks away? That should give you time to adjust," Will agreed, before whipping round with a suspicious look on his face. "You'll still work here though, right?"

"Of course," Jennifer laughed. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

With an exaggerated exhale of breath, Will went back to working. "Thank God, I don't know how this store survived without the extra pair of hands."

With that, the conversation lapsed into silence, a silence that really shouldn't have be considered silent as it was interrupted every five minutes by the two. These 'mini-conversations' weren't particularly interesting, but it prevented them from being bored out of their minds. Everything from hobbies to current world events that they hadn't mentioned the previous nights were brought up – and apparently over a thousand people had been protesting against mutants in the capital, which answered one of Jennifer's original questions.

Two hours soon passed, allowing Jennifer to finish her shift. After receiving five ten dollar bills as her pay cheque, Jennifer emerged from the shop for the first time in ten hours, the winter wind scoring her face with its sharpness within the first few seconds.