Road To Nowhere - Chapter 2

[ahopper84]

Title: Road to Nowhere
Chapter: 2/?
Rating: R/NC-17
Warnings: Drug use, language, sex... all the fun stuff.
Summary: Zac learns that growing up sucks, but not always in a bad way.



“Zac? Zac, come on, wake up. Zac!”

“What?” I snapped, sitting up and throwing the blankets aside. I hated being woken up; everyone in our family knew that, so it was no surprise Tay jumped a foot back.

“You said you were getting up an hour ago. We’re supposed to be at work in twenty minutes.”

“...Oh.” I furrowed my brow; I vaguely remembered him and me exchanging words, but it was a fuzzy memory, the kind that could’ve been a dream or reality.

“You’re not gonna have time to shower,” he went on, crossing his arms. “Hurry up and get dressed, and meet me downstairs. Five minutes.” With that he left, closing the door behind him. I fell back to the bed, resisting the urge to close my eyes. But my pillows were so soft, my mattress so comfortable, my blankets so warm…

“Shit,” I cursed, dragging myself out of bed. It took me a couple minutes to find something clean to wear; I grabbed my hoodie and headed downstairs, putting my hair back in a ponytail as I went. Tay was already in the doorway, looking down at his watch.

“We’re gonna be late if we hit traffic,” he sighed as I passed him, heading for his car.

“What time is it?” I asked mid-yawn; the sky was purple, stars still visible to the west.

“Quarter to six. I usually work six thirty to one, but since it’s your first day we’re going in a little early. You’ll have the same schedule as me for now, until you can work on your own, then it might change. That won’t be for a while though, probably a month or two.”

“Kay. Wake me when we get there.” I leaned my head against the window, determined to get at least a few more minutes sleep. “I said wake me when we get there,” I repeated, in response to Tay shaking my shoulder.

“We are there.” C’mon.”

I looked up and sure enough, we were across town in the parking lot of Fritz’s Bakery, where Tay, and now I, worked. I tried to rub the sleep from my eyes as I stumbled out of the car and followed Tay. I watched as he unlocked the door, locking it again behind us once we were inside.

“Do I get a key, too?” I asked, smirking.

“Maybe, eventually. Okay, let me give you the grand tour.”

He showed me where everything was, without going into too much detail. Even then, I knew I’d probably forget half of it by the end of the day. I didn’t know how such a small store could have so many nooks and crannies, each one with a laundry list of contents.

“So what am I supposed to actually do around here?” I asked finally, leaning against the counter.

“Just generally help out, for now. Wiping down the tables, washing dishes, moving stock around. We can see about teaching you the register, if you think you can handle dealing with customers. Eventually we might have you helping out with some of the baking, but that won’t be for a while.”

“Who’s this ‘we’? Or did you decide to start talking in third person?”

“I’m not the only one that works here, Zac,” he replied with a laugh. “In fact… ah, there she is,” he said at the sound of the front door opening. A girl walked in, tall and skinny with long, dark hair pulled into a braid that hung over her shoulder.

“There he is!” she cried, grinning at me and coming over. “You must be Zac. I’ve heard so much about you, Tay talks about you all the time.”

“Does he…” I stood up straighter, glancing at my brother.

“Zac, this is Katherine. She works the morning shift with me - us. She’s been here longer than I have, actually.”

“Kat,” she said, holding out her hand. “So, happy birthday, right? I swear, you don’t look sixteen. Honestly, Tay, he looks older than you! Same dashing Hanson good looks, I see.” She smiled and flipped her hair back as she walked past me and over to the register.

“Um… nice to meet you. Sorry, still kinda waking up.”

“Oh god, I know. Trust me, I’m the least morning person there is. If it wasn’t for Starbucks I’d go insane,” she laughed. I smiled at her; I had a feeling we’d get along just fine, as long as Tay hadn’t told her anything too embarrassing.

“Right,” Tay said, looking between us. “Okay Zac, we’ve gotta get ready to open. There’s not a whole lot for you to do yet, so just have a seat for now.”

“Sounds good to me.” I took a seat at one of the tables near the counter, resisting the urge to go back to sleep. Instead, I kept an eye on my brother, as well as Kat. Working with my brother would definitely have it’s perks. For one, Tay couldn’t be too hard on me; we were family, after all. Not that I was planning on totally goofing off, but it wasn’t like he was going to fire me. Our parents would have a fit for sure if he did.

Kat seemed nice, and she was really pretty, too, so bonus points there. I wondered how old she was. She looked about Tay’s age, but it was hard to tell. It was way too early to think about asking her out, but I was definitely curious. I made a mental note to drill Tay for info later, but then second-guessed the decision. I didn’t want to come off as too desperate. I figured I’d learn whatever I needed to in time from the source itself, as long as I played my cards right.

A couple hours went by, the first big wave of customers came through, and I got tasked with lobby upkeep. It was pretty easy; dump the trash, wipe the tables, restock napkins, etc. I didn’t have much time to talk to Kat, who was on the register. I couldn’t believe how busy the place was. The line was pretty much constant, sometimes going all the way back to the door, but Kat kept a cheerful face as she quickly rang each person up, while Tay made coffees and filled pastry orders. They made a great team, I noticed with a bit of a frown. But I reminded myself they’d been working together for a couple years, so they probably had the routine memorized to the point of auto-pilot.

“Okay Zac, finish up those dishes and we can head out,” Tay called from the front. Finally. I was soaking wet and my knees were killing me. I quickly washed the few pans I had left and set them up on the drying rack, then joined Tay and Kat at the front of the store. The afternoon guy, Steve, had shown up just before the lunch rush; Tay had given me a quick introduction before shooing me off to the sinks.

“Best thing about working first shift,” Kat said as she pulled on her jacket. “You still have all day to do whatever you want. You guys hungry?”

“Sure,” Tay answered, beating me to it. “The usual?”

“Sounds good to me,” Kat said, then looked at me. “Oh, sorry Zac. We usually go to TJ’s after work. But if you want, we could go somewhere else.”

“Nah, TJ’s is good. I could go for a burger.” I’d been to TJ’s Burgers and BBQ a couple times; their food was pretty good, but it was a little pricey. Thankfully I’d gotten some birthday cash, so I wouldn’t have to ask Tay to cover me.

“So, what do you think?” Tay asked once we were in his car.

“Eh, it’s not so bad. Kat seems cool.”

“She is,” Tay said with a grin that I didn’t like. I was pretty sure they weren’t dating; they hadn’t acted like anything more than good friends, and a secret like that would’ve been pretty much impossible in our family, anyway . But there was definitely something there.

“Do you like her?” I asked.

“Of course I…” Tay stopped, his eyes going wide. “Oh! Oh, you mean do I like her?” Tay paused, laughing for a minute. I didn’t know what was so funny, but he shook his head.

“No, I’m not interested in her. We’re just really close friends.”

“Oh,” I said, hope rising again. “That’s cool. You guys seem pretty tight.”

“Mhm. She’s great; I just really trust her, you know? I feel like I can tell her anything.”

“And what am I, chopped liver?” I said in a joking way, but I couldn’t help a tiny sting of jealousy. Tay and I had always been super close; people used to joke us being twins separated by a year and a half. He knew everything about me, and I knew everything about him… or at least, that’s how it used to be. I got it, though. He had a lot more on his plate now, between his job, school, thinking about college…

“Don’t worry, you’re still my Zackie.” He laughed and ruffled my hair; I rolled my eyes and batted his hand away, but still grinned.

“Yeah, whatever. Call me that at work and see what happens.” I rolled my shoulders and flexed a little. “So… how old is she, anyway?” I couldn’t exactly ask her, and Tay was my only source of info, like it or not.

“Nineteen. She just had her birthday last month. Wait,” he said slowly. “Do you like her?”

“I dunno, I just met her.” I scoffed, but Tay grinned shook his head.

“Oh man. I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you’re her type.”

“Right, thanks.” I huffed and turned away angrily. How did he know? I mean, okay, he knew her better than I did. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t her type. How would he even know what ‘type’ I was? He probably just didn’t want drama at work.

“Suit yourself,” he muttered as we pulled into the parking lot. I got out as soon as the car was stopped, but leaned against it as we waited for Kat. Tay came around the car next to me; a lit cigarette hung from his lips.

“Thought you told Mom and Dad you quit?” They’d hit the roof when Mom had found an empty pack in his jeans on laundry day a few months ago.

“Yeah, and as far as they know, I did. And if you know what’s good for you, it’ll stay that way.”

“Right…” I grinned, always happy to have something on him.

“Hey, would you rather be working with me, or flipping burgers at Mickey d’s?”

I scowled; he had a good point, and he knew it. He grinned and took a long drag, smirking as he exhaled.

“Lemme get some,” I asked, holding out my hand. He cocked an eyebrow, but passed it over.

“And since when do you smoke cigs?”

I shrugged and took another drag before passing it back. I really didn’t that often, but once in awhile I bummed one off Skyler or one of the other guys at school. I realized Tay was staring at me with a weird expression.

“What? You gonna go all hypocrite on me and tell me ‘smoking’s bad for you’?”

“No… just… nevermind.” He shook his head and stared at the ground while he finished smoking. I really didn’t get it, but then there was a lot about him I didn’t understand lately.

Lunch was good; I found out Kat was an only child, and that she was going to college part-time, but she didn’t know what she wanted to do yet. We talked about our favorite movies, and Taylor only told two mildly embarrassing stories before I kicked his shin, hopefully hard enough to bruise.

When I got home that night Mom and Dad tried to ask me all about my day, but I told them I was beat and scrambled up to my room. I really was tired; it’d been a long-ass day, and lucky me, I’d get to do it all over again the next day… and the next… and the next…

“Zac… did you sleep in your clothes?”

“Huh? What?” I looked up and saw Tay at the foot of my bed. My mouth felt weird, the way it does after a too-long nap. “What time is it?”

“Ten after six.”

“Is dinner ready?” I asked, sitting up.

“Ten after six a.m.”

Fuck.