The A.T.

Chapter 2

3 weeks earlier:

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

"Are you coming to Phi Kap tonight?" Sarah asked, applying eyeliner in the mirror of our shared room. Her skirt was smaller than anything I'd worn since I was ten. I commended her mentally for her bravery on a brisk March night.

"No. It's Tuesday."

"So?"

"So I have classes all day tomorrow."

"Lame. What kind of loser takes twenty-one credits a semester?" she said, winking.

"See ya, Sarah." She left and I returned to highlighting the next chapter in the chemistry textbook. I swapped yellow for green and flicked on the desk lamp. Sarah always did her work on her bed, but I never could get used to it. Easier to be organized at the desk.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, startling me out of my reverie. I looked at the screen. Mom.

"Hi Mother."

"Hi Honey! How is everything going?"

"Fine."

"Oh good. Did you get the cookies I sent?"

"Yes, thank you, they were very good."

"Oh, I'm glad you enjoyed them. Did you have any tests this week?"

"Yes, two, I think I did well."

"Oh, that's wonderful. It's so nice we've never had to worry about you studying and keeping up with your schoolwork."

"Thanks. Um, Mom, I'm rather busy, was there something specific you needed to talk to me about?"

"Yes, actually. I wanted to let you know that Mr. Percy, Dan Percy, from FoodTown is sick. He's taking an indefinite leave of absence from the store. He's at home now, but they aren't sure if he'll ever return."

"That's too bad, I'm sorry to hear that." Was she implying I'm supposed to come home to visit him? My old boss?

"I was talking to Mike yesterday, in produce? Do you remember him?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he told me that apparently Shawn King is taking over as store manager. Apparently Shawn has all kinds of big ideas on how to restructure the schedule and the assignments to make everything more efficient."

"Huh." This was a really reaching a new low in topics of conversation I do not care about.

"Anyway, your father wanted me to tell you. He said you should call the store right away if you still plan on working there this summer. I don't know what has him so worried, but I told him I would tell you."

My head dropped into my hands. He was right. Shawn. "Efficient".

"Thanks Mom. I'll call him. I'll talk to you later."

"You're coming next weekend for Easter, right?"

"Yes. I'll see you then. Bye."

"I love you."

"Love you too." I pushed the button to end the call and found the store's number and dialed. When it was answered I asked to speak to Shawn. I waited, hearing the loudspeaker in my head which I knew so well.

"Good afternoon, this is Mr. King, General Manager of Foodtown Audubon," he announced confidently.

"Hi Shawn, it's Emily Norris."

"Oh, hi Emily," he replied, unenthused.

"I just heard about Mr. Percy. How terrible. I hope he's up and feeling better soon."

"I hope so too, but it doesn't look good. I've taken over as manager now. I'm implementing a new assignment scheme and rotating schedule. It should cut a lot of waste from our systems and drive lot of new synergies and efficiencies. The district manager is quite impressed. You know, Mr. Percy had been here a long time so it's good to get some new ideas in. Especially with this recession we really need to cut back where we can."

"That sounds great; I hope it does. Look, the reason that I'm calling is that Mr. Percy guaranteed me forty hours a week this summer."

"Hmm. I wasn't aware of that I'm afraid. I know you were always a favorite of his, but new managers often arrive at different decisions. I have the staff schedule all set already. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid the best I can do is offer you to cover call-outs or other last minute emergencies. It probably wouldn't be more than 10-15 hours a week though I'm afraid."

I rubbed my eyes. Jerk. I realized there was nothing I could do. "Alright, thanks Shawn, I'll let you know. Bye."

I clicked the phone off and sighed. Now what was I going to do? Everyone else had summer jobs lined up already. It was too late to take lifeguard certification. Add to that the fact that we were officially in a recession meant jobs were scarce everywhere. There was no way I'd find something decent this late.

I stood up and threw my backpack over my shoulder, and suddenly had an idea.