-Open- I think I am losing what's left of my mind

[Phoenix]

Born into Nixon I was raised in hell
A welfare child where the Teamsters dwelled
The last one born and the the first one to run
My town was blind from refinery sun

Saturday and Paige was at the movie theatre... Working. It was such a nice day outside and she couldn't even be out there enjoying it like Ally probably was.

That was kind of bizarre. She was mentally complaining about how she couldn't enjoy the nice weather when she herself controlled the weather and natural disasters.

Technically she could enjoy beautiful weather whenever she wanted to, but it was different and much more pleasant to enjoy it when it was natural.

My generation is zero
I never made it as a working class hero

She felt a smirk tug at her lips as she looked down at the cash register to punch in the tickets and price the customers she was currently dealing with wanted. She told them the total amount and wanted patiently as they rifled through their wallets and handed her money. She quickly gave them their change and tickets and told them she hoped they enjoyed the movie.

21st century breakdown
I was once lost but never was found
I think I am losing what's left of my mind
To the 20th century deadline

Paige helped customer after customer, feeling her brain fry up. She got so bored so easily nowadays. Nowadays being since Storm made her first appearance.

As much as Paige hated it, they were forever linked. They fed off each others emotions, and it was getting harder and harder to fight Storm off.

Although very vocal, here at work was the only place Storm was quiet. Probably being so bored of the normal boring working routines, she was probably off resting. The only time she seemed to do so.

I was made of posion and blood
Condemnation is what I understood
Videogames of the tower's fall
Homeland security could kill us all

The flow of customers came to an end. Mainly due to the fact that they had all paid and gone into the movie they wanted to see. Now Paige had a little time to kill before the next flow of customers came in. This was usually when she would take her break, but just as she looked up, she saw her managed coming over towards her.

Paige, I need you to sweep and mop the floor A-SAP. There was a spill over by the concession. I want it all cleaned before the next bunch of customers arrive. He turned and walked away, no further suggestions, comments, or demands. That was how he ran things.

My generation is zero
I never made it as a working class hero

With a sigh of frustration, she went into the storage room, gathering the cleaning supplies and going over towards concession stand.

Usually there was six movies playing at a time, but for whatever reason, the others were undergoing rennovations or something for the week, so there wasn't that many people working today.

She got over to the counter with the broom and started sweeping up the popcorn. It only took a few seconds and she dumped the dustpan. Now to tackle the spilled pop.

Just then she saw someone from the corner of her eye leaning over the counter. Ah, a fellow employee. She turned her head slightly to the side. Great. It just so happened to be the guy who had an over-the-moon crush on her and felt it was his duty to constantly pester her. How sweet was that?

Heya. She said, not wanting to be rude.

Hey there Paige. How's it going? He asked, trying overly hard to be all smooth and whatever it was guys enjoyed trying to do to impress girls.

Uh.. Not so great. As you can see, I landed the duties of cleaning. Paige said with an amused grin at him. She threw the mop in the pail and swirled it around before pulling it out and wiping the pop off the floor.

The guy grinned. That's too bad. Can I help at all? He asked, a knowing grin on his smile.

Paige smiled sweetly at him then threw a rag in his face. Yah. Can you clean the pop off the counter? That'd be a big help, thanks!

The boy looked confused for a moment, holding the rag in a hand before nodding and turning away to clean the counters, clearly disappointed, but obviously not planning on giving up anytime soon.

She knew that wasn't what he meant at all, but she didn't want to think of it any other way. It was disgusting. When she turned her back to him, she felt her whole body shudder. Ew. She took a deep calming breath, and contined mopping the floor.

21st century breakdown
I was once lost but never was found
I think I am losing what's left of my mind
To the 20th century deadline

[Sinclair]

"We're late!"A girl squealed as she burst through the door, followed closely by a boy- her boyfriend, and another girl. Last to enter was Chesh.

"It's all your fault, Snow,"The boyfriend of the first girl declared. His name was Derrick, and it was obvious that Chesh was not impressed by him.

"Please don't forget it's my father paying for it. I'm sorry he did not break any traffic laws to cater to you three- you heard him, he said he was sorry and offered to give us money to watch another movie."

"Yeah, leave him alone,"his date offered defensively, making Chesh smile in her direction. Derrick mumbled something about not everyone's father being a doctor, but Sinclair couldn't hear his exact words, so he didn't press the matter.

"Thank you, my dear. I appreciate that."Chesh stated cheerfully before he moved past all of them, "Alright, so each of you pick something." Chesh told them,"And we should make it inside before we miss too much." He spun around to face them, walking backwards as the ring leader of this little parade. They were among the few in the lobby- in fact, so few that the workers were doing the cleaning while waiting for the rush. Chesh had been to enough movies to know how it worked, not that it took much to guess.

"So, I know you have a soft spot for skittles, Sara dear. And Bailey, ah, gummy bears, right? And Derrick, you prefer popcorn?"Chesh questioned.

"Right,"Bailey, the girl that had defended him before, agreed. The other girl, Sara, gave a nod of approval while Derrick seemed disappointed by Chesh's memory. Chesh took a lot of time getting to know people and paying attention to them; knowing what they liked was easy. When they told him, he did his best not to forget.

As Derrick and the girls moved toward him, he continued to take steps backwards. He stopped for a moment as the silence fell between them, and then Derrick seemed to decide that he needed to step again, so Chesh took it as an indication that he, too, should move back which is exactly what he did.

"Snow, w-"Derrick began to interrupt. Neither of the girls seemed to be paying attention to him until Derrick spoke, and he had the striking suspicion that Derrick didn't really want to stop anything. By the time he spoke, it was too late, Chesh had already took a step back and bumped into the theater worker. It really was no big deal, but Chesh spun around anyway, his eyes full of concern that may have seemed exaggerated at best, though he was sincere. In fact, with Chesh's sudden spike in emotion, some may have felt the effects of his power, as if the room had suddenly filled with the intangible feelings his expression revealed.

"I'm so sorry!"Chesh offered quickly. Bailey was laughing and Sara was watching Derrick with a smile as he smirked. Then, Derrick told them to come on, and the two girls began walking toward the theater that was printed on the ticket they'd gotten earlier in the day. Chesh heard them, but he didn't show even the slightest hint of it. At the moment it was fair to say that his undivided attention was centered on Paige.

[Phoenix]

Paige wasn't paying attention to the people who came in. They skipped the ticket counter, and that was her department, so she wasn't needed over there yet.

They went to the concession and ordered food, which meant that the guy who had been hitting on her, Jeff, was temporarily distracted by his job.

Paige finished mopping up the floor and pushed the bucket aside and used another rag to wipe the side of the counter, cleaning the last of the pop.

Just as she stood back up, someone bumped into her. Good thing she had moved the bucket to the side, other wise she would have fallen into it or knocked it over, both which would have been highly unpleasant.

Although she had no way of knowing that there was someone behind her, she turned around. Sorry. Yah, apologizing for being the way. Her boss had taught her the customer was always right, and sometimes the customers were real pricks and would yell at her for not moving.

She was relieved that he apologized. At least it meant he was nice enough that she wouldn't have to deal with a scene. That's fine. I should have been more aware of where you were. A weird apology and acknowledgment of his, but it was the best she could come up with.

To avoid having an awkward staring contest with him, especially since now that Jeff had dealt with the customers, was slowly making his way over, Paige turned back around and bent over to pick up the rag she had dropped when she had been bumped into.

[Sinclair]

Ah, the number of movies where the source of humor was two people bonking heads . . . He would steer clear of that pitfall, even if he had wanted to help her. She didn't seem to require his assistance, she was capable. And Chesh was not going to force his helpful nature on anyone- it only bothered them, it seemed.

"No, it was my fault. My friend, Derrick, he has it in for me. Ha. I probably sound ridiculous saying that, actually."Chesh murmured with a chuckle, taking a step back as if to distance himself from what he'd said. It didn't do much good, so he followed by the next best thing; explaining. As he did so, his power slowly blended into a feeling of happiness, though he definitely wasn't intentionally radiating it.

"I mean, it was my fault, of course. He didn't force me to bump into you." There was no use explaining that he wouldn't have moved and bumped into her if it weren't for Derrick, so he left it at that. Still, he felt bad about it, even if she seemed fairly alright. And though he knew he should probably walk away now before he did something else that made him look like a total moron, he felt it was necessary to speak again, oblivious to the other worker who was approaching them.

"If it's any consolation, I promise, it won't happen again."Chesh offered. Then again, he may never see her again, so that wasn't saying much. And even if she did come to harm, Chesh's father would patch her- and anyone- up if Chesh took them to him, so they really were in no danger as far as Chesh was concerned.

[Phoenix]

Paige stood back up having collected her cloth and turned back to himt.

She didn't understand why the other boy was making such a big deal about it. He wasn't an angry customer, they had both apologized. That should have been that and he gone on with his friends to see the movie they clearly paid for, and Paige should get back to work and dealing with Jeff. That last one made her shudder.

Though it was weird how he kept apologizing, Paige gave a small laugh. It's alright. It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone.

By now Jeff gave up on trying to be stealthy and was standing right across from them, separated only by the concession counter. Is there a problem? Sounding less then friendly. He sounded much like a security guard who was getting ready to chuck someone out of a store.

No Jeff, it's fine. Paige said, looking at Jeff. Did you finish cleaning up that mess yet? She asked in her usual polite tone, but inderneath of it, she was warning Jeff that he could get in trouble for being rude to a paying customer. And she meant trouble by the manager, like a deduction on his payment, or possibly being fired.

Jeff frowned and turned away going back to finish cleaning the mess. Paige knew Jeff would return the instant he finished with the mess. She turned back to her main focus. Sorry about that. He's just protective of his friends.

And easily made jealous. She thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes. Having thought this to herself seemend to wake Storm up.

Oh are we having fun yet? No Storm. Just a work mishap. Go back to sleep.

[Sinclair]

Ah, the logic of the movie. Had she asked him, he would have admitted that first of all, they weren't that great of friends, and second, he'd seen the movie already. The only reason he was here was because they'd invited him, and he didn't have a reason to say no. Besides, it had sounded like a fun idea, going to a movie with other people. And now, why was he standing here instead of going in with them? That one was harder to answer. Maybe he was projecting his disdain in a less than obvious way, or perhaps he was just curious about the girl in front of him. Whatever it was, it wasn't strong enough to keep him there in front of her much longer. She didn't seem to want him there, and he didn't have much to say.

But before he could back away and say something polite to get away from the situation, someone else was speaking to him. Chesh was noticeably intrigued by the voice, so he turned his full attention to Jeff. He couldn't tell if this boy was honestly suspicious of his intentions in the theater, or if he was just being rude. Either way, Chesh wanted nothing to do with him. And confrontation was not his strong suit, though he didn't back down in the way of meeting the boy's gaze. Then Paige spoke, saying things were fine. That solidified his idea that maybe he shouldn't be out here. Chesh took an unintended step back- small, but present. Now was the time to go do something else. He couldn't really leave them, he was their ride back to their homes. So he wouldn't do that to them.

Before he could, Bailey and Sara came out of the theater, leaving Derrick inside, before rushing to Chesh. Chesh appeared mildly surprised and uncomfortable at first before he smiled at the two girls.

"Let's get candy, Chesh! We have to bring Derrick back some popcorn, he's saving our seats."Bailey said cheerfully as she wrapped her arms around his arm. He would have said Derrick was just too lazy and would rather have the girls do it than waste his time or energy, but now was not the time or place to say such a thing, no matter how true.

"Mhhm,"Chesh agreed, pulling a twenty dollar bill from his pocket before handing it to Bailey. She was quick to squeal and let go of his arm to take the money. She and Sara both wasted no time turning to Jeff to order the box of skittles, gummy bears, and large popcorn with the money. Chesh's gaze left them, looking around the theater lobby almost vacantly for a moment, for somewhere to go and something to do. He noticed an arcade game which made him smile. That would do. With that idea in his mind, he continued to smile while watching the girls, waiting for them to finish and then disappear into the theater.

[Phoenix]

The girls came out and one of them wrapped an arm around Chesh, reminding Paige she was at work. She picked up the mop and bucket and went back over to the ticket counter and put it on the other side while the customers were buying their treats. No sense dumping the water yet, she'd probably have to clean another spill shortly.

Now that the mess was cleaned and most of the customers were in the theatre and there was nobody else seeking tickets, Paige could take her break.

However she noticed Chesh eyeing the arcade section of the theatre. You need the theatre coins to play the games. She told him. That was another part of her job of selling the movie tickets. She also exchanged coins for the arcade games.

She went behind the desk and reached under the counter, pulling out the bag of coins. Did you want some? Of course he'd have to pay, but she might as well tell him they were available for purchase.

[Sinclair]

Bailey handed Chesh back what change was left, something that surprised Chesh, though he didn't say it. Without saying another word to him, they went back to the theater, leaving a bit of a popcorn trail in their wake. Chesh didn't notice, he had lost interest in them entirely at this point.

Paige's news that the games needed theater coins was news to him- he'd never bothered to play them before. So he smiled. guessing that they'd be either a quarter or fifty cents each. Either way, he pulled out a few remaining bills from his pocket- a five and two dollar bills.

"Yeah, how much?"Chesh questioned before adding, more curious than anything,"Any fun games over there?" He didn't think that she would know what he would find enjoyable and what he wouldn't. That was just his way of asking if she liked the games and what ones she liked if she did.

[Phoenix]

Paige opened the bag. Twenty-five cents per coin. Most of the games take 4 coins. A few takes 3, and others take 6. How many do you want? She asked, opening the cash register so she could put the money away when he handed it over.

Mmmmmm, any fun games? Well her idea of fun might be lame to him so she decided to point out the kind of games they hand. Well they have the claw machine, a few car racing games, some snowboarding simulation game. Air hockey. That pretty much summed it up. The pinball machine and DDR games are pretty fun. They can keep you busy for a while. She grinned and winked at him. I sometimes play them on my break. Don't tell.

[Sinclair]

Chesh was definitely interested in the snowboarding simulation and the race car games, but not the claw machine. It was a fun game when he had a girl to impress, but he knew the game was unfair, not really worth the money. It would be simpler to go out and buy another stuffed animal from the store. Pinball wasn't really his thing, and Dance Dance Revolution wasn't his favorite, but he'd been known to play it when his companion enjoyed it.

"Oh, of course not,"he chuckled, noting the wink and the grin. Obviously it wasn't exactly a covert secret, but it was an amusing comment all the same."Perhaps I could challenge you to a DDR match when you're not busy," His offer was one that sounded more polite than overly enthusiastic, but it really could be a lot of fun to play DDR with someone, be it her or one of the others who were present in the theater or who would appear later.

Perhaps he should have brought more money, or perhaps he shouldn't have given it so freely to his companions because hearing that the games would cost about a dollar each was a bit discouraging. Not that he was too alarmed- life went on, right? And five games would be enough for him. He'd probably be bored by then, anyway.

So, simple math, Chesh realized that he would be able to get twenty coins with his five dollar bill and then four more with each additional dollar. Since he didn't really want to buy any candy or soda, he figured he'd just as soon spend it on coins. If he had to, he guessed he could get money back- or if not that, maybe he could take the remaining to be used at a later date. Whatever happened, he hadn't changed his mind about how many he wanted.

"Twenty four, please,"Cheshen answered, handing her six dollars. He wasn't sure what he needed to keep the last dollar for, really, but he did it anyway. He tucked the seventh dollar back into his pocket.

[Phoenix]

Paige took the money and put it in the register and opened the bag and counted out the coins and handed them over. There you go. She said with a smile, remembering the number one rule of the work. Always smile.

He offered to play a game of DDR with her and she pulled her watch out of her pocket to check the time. Technically she could take her half hour break now. I'm not busy now. I have a thirty minute break. Let's play. She said, taking a handful of the coin and throwing them in her pocket. She came around the counter and led the way to the arcade section of the theatre.

She didn't care if he wasn't entirely in the mood to play, she just wanted to challenge someone. She usually played against another worker, but Jeff was the only other guy here, and she didn't feel like challenging him.

[Sinclair]

Chesh took the coins she handed him, putting them into his pocket so that he didn't drop them by mistake. When she checked her watch, he figured that must be a sign that she wanted him to go away now, so he took another step backward, getting ready to turn around and walk away as he had been ready to do earlier. Then she spoke.

Chesh was not expecting that at all. He'd offered, yes, but it still surprised him. Worse yet, he didn't pride himself on being much good at it. He could keep up with, and even surpass the every day 'casual' player, but her? She probably had a lot of time to play the game, to get good at it.

Good thing he wasn't really competitive. He was the kind of person who would let the other person win, just to be kind. He got more enjoyment out of watching the reaction of the other person than winning, anyway.

"Alright,"Chesh agreed, following her lead toward the arcade, looking around as they got nearer. Though she'd already told him, he wanted to make sure that he knew what was around him, what was available as it were.

[Phoenix]

Since Paige was ahead of him, she reached the game first. She took out her handful of coins and slipped them into the machine on both sides, so he wouldn't have to use any of his yet. Hey, she was the one who worked here, might as well pay for him. And it wasn't like he'd tell on her for slipping a few extra coins into the machine which hadn't been paid for.

She jumped on the designated area, gesturing for him to the do so on his side. Easy, medium or hard? And you can pick the game. She offered. She played nearly every weekend so it wasn't like her picking the game was some big treat or whatever.

[Sinclair]

{My muse is dead. But if I am determined enough, I can pull off a post! So that's what I'm going to do. I'm sorry if it's lame.}

Chesh wasn't thrilled that she paid for him, but it wasn't the worse thing that had ever happened. He certainly wasn't going to argue about it with her. He'd make it up to her later, that was for sure. Besides, it was sort of nice to have a friend willing to be as kind as he was to everyone else.

Chesh did not want to take the easy way out and he did not want her to get bored because it was too easy, so though he thought it just might mean his ultimate demise, he smiled and answered.

"Medium."He said. Since he was picking the game, he decided it would be easier to just push the medium setting. Then he scrolled through the games, reading a word or two to get an idea. He ended up clicking one when he was halfway through the list, just because he didn't want to waste any more time looking. Then, with a look of surprise, he looked down at the floor and moved onto the designated place as she had indicated.

[Phoenix]

She grinned as she watched him scroll down the list so carelessly and just seeming to pick a song at random (we'll say for the sake of keeping things un-complicated he selected closer by Neyo ) before hopping onto his section.

As they waited for the game to load, she looked over at him. Sooo are you a big fan of Ne-yo? She figured it would be alright to ask him a question or two before they started. The thing seemed to take forever to load up. Do you play much?