Dr. Horrible's Sequel

Chapter One: Laundry Day

Living in a new city is like waking up in a new country. I feel so stupid walking around carrying my laundry basket filled with dirty clothes that I've put off washing for a week because I don't like being in public. In my old city, I had my routine; work Monday through Friday, laundry in my own apartment on Saturday, and me time on Sunday. I barely had any human interaction during the week, besides my sister calling me every night to ask if I met anyone yet.

And now here I am with a small apartment that I had to sell my car to place the down payment in a city that I know nothing about. Of course I did choose to transfer here. No one else at the Daily Review News would agree to take the higher pay raise, so I jumped on the opportunity not thinking about why no one else wanted it. This city is filled with violence. The Evil League of Evil lives in this city for crying out loud.

My fingers grip my laundry basket tighter as my mind recalls all the terrible news headlines that I read when I was doing research about this city. Why didn't I do that before I accepted the job? A man grumbles something as he walks past me making me jump slightly out of his way. The city's hero was rendered useless about a year ago by a terrible villain by the name of Dr. Horrible. I roll my eyes at the not so creative name. A guy like that sounds pathetic. I lick my lips recalling that he actually killed a girl and now works with Bad Horse.

The laundry mat's sign makes me smile and put all those bad thoughts away as I speed walk towards the building. I sigh as I see a few people folding clothes and using the machines. At least I won't be left alone in here. I walk over to a washing machine and open the lid. It opens further than I thought it would and makes a loud smashing sound as it hits the back where the buttons are. I avoid looking up at the staring people in fear of making things worse.

I dump my clothes into the machine and close it gently. Glancing around I realize that things are going to get worse. I didn't bring money or detergent. Why did I move here? This can't be happening right now. I am going to have to find a new laundromat across town that's even further from my apartment. I'm going to get mugged or murdered.

"Excuse me."

I jump and spin around with my back against the washing machine. My heart starts racing as I realize it's a guy. Great, one more thing to make me feel awkward and nervous. Just don't look into his deep blue eyes or notice how incredibly adorable he looks. Crud.

He holds up a small bottle of detergent. "Did you need some? I...uh, have extra. I mean I'm not going to use all of this." He shakes his head and his mouth twitches. "I mean I wasn't going to just throw it out, I was going to save it for next laundry day, but-"

I smile as I begin to realize he's just as socially awkward as I am. "Thanks."

He sighs in relief and hands me the bottle. As I pour in a cap full, he begins to use the top of the machine next to me to fold his clothes. I sneak peeks at him as I put the cap back on and place the detergent on the divider between the machines.

"I'm Billy," he mumbles under his breath.

I push the start button, but nothing happens. What did I do wrong? Sudden laughter erupts next to me making me jump. Even his laugh is cute. Am I blushing? Billy reaches into his pocket, takes out some quarters and begins to put them into my machine's coin slot. Wow, I really can't come back here. This is too embarrassing.

"Have you ever done laundry before?" He smirks as he continues to fold his clothes.

I nod in reply before adding, "My name is April...like the month."

My eyes grow wide as I realize what words just escaped my lips. Like the month? My people skills have faded over the years. Billy just smiles and nods ignoring my slip up. Maybe he didn't hear the last part. I look at my empty basket as I try to think of something to do while my clothes are washing. Do I just stand here or do I go sit on the bench and pretend to text?

"New in town?" Billy ventures nervously.

I decide to sit on the machine on the other side of mine to talk to Billy. "Yes."

He nods again and licks his lips. "Nice."

My fingers play with my shoelaces as I try to come up with something of substance to say. "This city scares me."

Have you ever wanted to grab your words out of the air and shove them back into the deep recesses of your mind? This seems to be happening with all of my words lately. Billy looks up at me quizzically, scrunching his forehead in the cutest way. He accidentally bumps the bottle of detergent onto the floor. A lady near the dryers gives us a death stare that Billy doesn't see because he immediately bends down to pick up the detergent. His hands shake as he puts the bottle back.

"W-why?"

"Um...the Evil League of Evil resides here." Hasn't he lived here longer than me? He should know this stuff.

"They aren't so bad-"

I can tell he's hiding something. "Bad Horse...the Thoroughbred of Sin? Tie-Die? Snake Bite? Dr. Horrible?"

He twitches and tenses up as I list the names. "They aren't really that active anymore."

I can't help but laugh. "I'm a journalist. I wrote the article about Fury Leika blowing up the senior citizen center a few days ago."

He shrugs and closes his eyes tightly. "It was evacuated before it...blew up."

"Billy," I notice how he pauses slightly at his name. "Is there something you know?"

Before I can ask anything else, he grabs his folded and unfolded clothes and shoves them all into his basket. He quickly mumbles a goodbye and hurries out the door. What was that about? I sigh and look around. He forgot his detergent.