Shock

-1-

Thursday.
Sounds of cutlery scraping on plates, people discussing the meals they were going to order, smartphones buzzing while relishing the free Wi-Fi our diner offered all reached my ears, but I didn't take notice. After four years of working at the place, filtering out these sounds had become a second nature.
As I was cleaning a stubborn stain of orange juice off a wobbly pink table, I heard a familiar voice calling out my name. I spun and saw Rhonda, the diner's owner, making her way to where I was standing. A worried expression marked her face.
"I just got a call from Willow," she started, pushing a lost stray of curly dark hair from her eyes.
Her hair closely resembled mine, and considering the rest of our physique did so too, people often wondered if I was her kid. But Rhonda, barely in her thirties, was far too young to have a pubescent daughter. Though she was kind of like a second mother to me. I'd been coming to this place for as long as I could remember and had been working there since I was twelve.
"She finally got that audition she was hoping for." my boss continued.
"I'm happy for her of course, but..."
"You've got no one to cover her shift." I finished, now understanding her worried expression.
She smiled grimly.
"Don't even worry about it." I reassured her. "I'll be here."
Relief flooded her features.
"Thank you so much, you're an angel!"
"Always am," I joked, then returned to my work while Rhonda strode back to the kitchen.

Two hours later, my shift was finished. I helped close up the diner and then grabbed my bike to go home.
My house was roughly a ten minute bike ride from Rhonda's. Having ridden this route countless times, I swerved right and left without thinking.
As I turned onto Harper road, I felt my heart rate quicken slightly. Up ahead was Jail park. The official name was Newington Gardens, but locals just called it Jail park, since the place occupies part of an old prison site. Passing it always gave me the chills. I continued onto New Kent Road, then turned left on Greenwalk.
When I reached my place, I jumped off my bike and put it in the back. Then, I climbed up the stairs to my front door.
When I entered, I was greeted by a hyperactive creature, jumping up and down in excitement.
"Hey, Charlie!" He squealed.
"Hey, Cam!" I said while I tried to see what the seven year old was doing. He appeared to be trying to jump from one chair to the next, then back.
Cameron was one of my three brothers. His twin and best friend was Peter, which left Greg, the eldest, who was four years older than me and studying engineering in university. I was hoping to do the same in a  few years. I loved reading his old notes and looking through his textbooks. Couldn't imagine studying anything else.
I stepped further into the living room and closer to Cam.
"And why aren't you in bed?"
"Sugar rush," another voice explained from behind me. I turned to see my father, a tall, forty-something man with jet black hair and hazelnut eyes.
"Aha," I nodded in understanding
"Your mother and I tried putting him to sleep for over an hour. Fifteen minutes ago, we just gave up."
"And Peter?" I wondered. Cam's brother, despite being his best friend, was his exact opposite. Quiet, shy.
"Passed out 'round eight. But if his brother doesn't stop jumping up and down, he'll probably wake up again." He raised his voice slightly at the word 'brother' and gave Cam a stern look. The kid barely seemed to notice.
"Hey Cam." I walked over to him.
"Cam." I repeated. He didn't react. I waved my hand in front of his face. That made him look up.
"You need to go to bed."
He shook his head and continued jumping.
I tried not to sigh. I swear, the kid has the attention span of a squirrel. On crack. In an amusement park.
I closed my eyes, trying to think of a way to get him to go to bed. 
"You know..." I started, "superheroes need sleep too."
"Nah-ah," Cam responded. "Iron man never sleeps."
"I know for a fact that he does. Otherwise, how could he stay awake while fighting the bad guys? Imagine what would happen if you went to sleep right now. You could save all of that energy to use in epic battles later!"
That got his attention. He stopped jumping and looked at me, his eyes glowing. I could practically see the gears in his head turning. 
"I suppose you're right... But where would I keep it?" He tilted his head. "My energy, I mean."
I thought about that. Then I remembered the empty tictac container that had been sitting at the bottom of my backpack for the majority of the school year. I pulled it out and handed it to Cam.
"But how do I do that?"
"Well... You know how heat rises?"
Short nod.
"Energy rises as well. All the way from the tips of your toes to the ends of your hair."
"So I need to put my hair in the box?"
"Not all of it! Just one single hair contains enough energy for over a hundred battles."
That was all I had to say. Cam ran to the kitchen, grabbed a pair of scissors from the top drawer, then quickly walked -he knew he couldn't run while carrying scissors- back over to me. He handed me the scissors and I cut a few centimeters of one single hair for him to put in the container. After that he went to kiss mum and dad goodnight and tiptoed to his room. I followed, equally quiet.
Turns out I could have saved myself the trouble. Peter was already up.
"Hi Charlie," he mumbled in a sleepy voice.
I smiled.
"Hey Peter,"
Cam and I crossed  gazes. He shrugged, as if to say: 'not my fault'.
"Can't sleep?"
He shook his head. "What if she doesn't like her gift?"
I frowned. "Who?"
"Haley."
"Who's Haley?"
I heard Cameron sigh behind me.
"Haley Stratford is a girl in our class who invited Peter to her birthday party which is tomorrow at Rhonda's and Peter bought her crayons because she likes to draw but now he thinks she won't like them." He explained mechanically, clearly wanting the conversation to be over so he could go to sleep and start saving his energy.
I turned my attention back to Peter.
"I'm sure she'll love them." I reassured him.
"And I'm covering Willow's shift, so I'll be there too."
"Really?" His eyes were round and dark, like a doe's.
"Really. Now go to sleep. You don't want to be a zombie at Haley's party, do you?"
He shook his head and forcefully closed his eyes.
"Goodnight," I whispered, and I tip-toed out of the room.

The next day after school, I went to Rhonda's. I walked straight towards the 'break room', which was basically just a janitors closet where employees took their breaks in the winter. The diner wasn't all that big, so the janitors closet was the only place where you wouldn't be in anyone's way. There wasn't that much room, but there weren't really ever two people taking a break at the same time.
I opened the door and practically jumped when I entered. I had not expected to find anyone in there.
Propped up on what appeared to be a bag of potatoes was a boy with honey blond hair, wearing a ninja turtles tee and dark ruined jeans.
"What are you doing?" He exclaimed.
I opened my mouth, ready to go into defense, before I realized he wasn't talking to me. In his hands was a small, silver DS console, which was making bleeping sounds every few seconds and on which all of his attention appeared to be focused. He hadn't even noticed another person entering the room.
I could leave, I thought. I hated small talk. If I'd just back away from the door, slowly, I could ignore this person I didn't know and pretend I never saw him.
Before I could put my plan into action however, the bleeping sounds abruptly stopped.
Uh-oh.
My gaze flicked over to the boy on the potato bag. He was staring at me blankly, likely trying to figure out who this person was who had interrupted his game.
"Hello..." I managed awkwardly.
DS didn't respond, other than clearing his throat.
Okaaay.
I dropped my backpack in the corner -I had gone to Rhonda's straight from school- and left the room. I padded back through the corridor.
Chaos greeted me as I entered the diner. The party had arrived.