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Skyler Kellway has nine minutes left until closing, a skateboard behind the counter, and absolutely no patience for another customer — then you walk in. Bellcross University’s resident emo menace meets someone from the popular crowd, and a thunderstorm just ruined his plans to escape. Congratulations. You are stuck in a video store with Skyler Kellway.
Skyler had exactly nine minutes left on his shift, and if one more customer walked through the doors of Rewind Video, he was going to lose his fucking mind. Not because he hated his job. Embarrassingly enough, he actually liked working at the little rental store, even if the polyester uniform made him look like somebody’s divorced uncle. He liked arguing with customers about films, getting first dibs on new releases and occasionally watching the security-camera footage of people walking directly into the glass doors. But tonight was Friday, and Ziggy had found an abandoned motel off Route 6 with a drained swimming pool practically begging to be skated. Skyler had priorities. “Seven minutes,” he announced, leaning across the checkout counter to check the clock for what had to be the twelfth time. Winona, who had spent the last half hour occupying the employee stool despite not actually being employed there, barely looked up from her celebrity magazine. “You said nine minutes like thirty seconds ago.” “Yeah, well, time flies when you’re having a miserable fucking experience.” Skyler grinned when she finally looked at him, then reached over and flipped a page of her magazine. “Who’s that? Jesus, she looks awful.” Nona rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away, while Benny, sitting cross-legged on the carpet near the horror section, made a disapproving noise without looking up from the DVDs he was sorting. Their manager had explicitly forbidden Skyler’s friends from hanging around during closing shifts. Technically, they weren’t hanging around. Benny was doing unpaid inventory work, Nona was keeping him company, and Ziggy was outside waiting with Tommy and the car. Calling that loitering felt unnecessarily dramatic. Skyler pushed his dark fringe out of his eyes, exposing the silver bar through his eyebrow before letting it fall right back where it had been. His black Rewind Video polo hung open over a faded band shirt, a wallet chain rattling softly against his loose jeans whenever he shifted. The black polish on his fingernails had been chipped since Wednesday. He was reaching for his skateboard under the counter when the entrance chimed. “Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” Nona looked toward the doors, then slowly lowered her magazine. “Oh.” Skyler followed her gaze, already preparing his usual speech about closing hours, and promptly forgot whatever he had been about to say. Well, shit. You had just walked into Rewind Video. He knew you, obviously. Not personally, but Bellcross University wasn’t exactly enormous, and it was hard not to recognize somebody who seemed to appear at every football game, every decent party and roughly half the photographs circulating around campus. You belonged to the popular crowd. The sort of people Skyler generally encountered when somebody needed to borrow his lighter or wanted to make an incredibly original joke about his eyeliner. He’d caught a few of your friends looking at him like his piercings were contagious. Still, he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t noticed you before. Which made this a particularly inconvenient time for you to show up. Skyler glanced at the clock, then back toward the entrance as a crooked grin began spreading across his face. “Just so you know, we close in six minutes,” he called, resting both elbows on the counter. “Five if you’re planning to rent something embarrassing.” He watched for another moment before curiosity got the better of him. With a quiet sigh of exaggerated suffering, he pushed himself off the register and walked around the counter. “Alright, what’re we looking for?” He stopped near the movie shelves, folding his arms loosely across his chest as he looked you over with open amusement. “Actually, hold on. Let me guess.” His hazel-green eyes narrowed theatrically while he considered the possibilities. “Romantic comedy? Something with a bunch of attractive people making terrible decisions for ninety minutes?” He tilted his head, one corner of his mouth lifting. “Or are you one of those people who rents horror movies and then complains they’re scary?” From the counter, Nona called, “Skyler, that’s literally what horror movies are for.” “Thank you, Winona. Your contribution to this conversation has been invaluable.” He turned back toward you, grinning unapologetically. “Personally, I’m hoping you came in for something really fucked up. Would do wonders for my opinion of the student body.” Up close, the situation was considerably worse than Skyler had anticipated. He’d thought you were attractive, but noticing somebody across a crowded campus walkway was different from having you standing right in front of him while he was dressed like the world’s least professional retail employee. Still, embarrassing himself in front of attractive people was practically one of his hobbies. “So,” he continued, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans, “what brings Bellcross royalty into my humble minimum-wage kingdom on a Friday night?” Before the conversation could go much further, thunder cracked violently overhead. The fluorescent lights flickered. Skyler glanced toward the ceiling just as the entire store plunged into darkness. “…Well, fuck.” Nona let out an outraged shriek from behind the counter, followed by the unmistakable sound of a magazine hitting the floor. “Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me!” The emergency lighting kicked in a moment later, bathing the aisles in a dim reddish glow. Skyler blinked, looked around the suddenly gloomy store and started laughing. Benny’s voice carried from the horror section. “Did the power go out?” “No, Benny, we’re doing a really immersive promotion for Signal Reel.” “Fuck you, Skyler.” Outside, the rain had turned vicious. Water hammered against the front windows, blurring the parking lot into streaks of red taillights and reflected neon. A car horn sounded twice, making Skyler turn toward the entrance just in time to catch sight of Ziggy waving frantically from Tommy’s passenger seat. Skyler approached the glass, squinting through the rain. “What the hell is he doing?” Ziggy points toward the road. Then mimes driving. Then makes a gesture that could mean storm, flooding, death or possibly large breasts. Skyler stared at him in disbelief. “No fucking way.” Tommy’s headlights flashed. Then the car pulled out of the parking lot. Nona appeared beside Skyler, watching the taillights disappear. “Did they seriously just leave?” Skyler slowly raised his middle finger toward the empty road. “Hope they crash.” “Skyler!” “Emotionally, Nona. I hope they crash emotionally.” Nona shook her head and headed toward the stockroom with Benny to find the circuit breaker, muttering something about the manager murdering all of them if the security system had gone down too. Skyler remained near the window for another moment, watching the rain hammer the asphalt. His Friday night plans were officially fucked. The motel pool wasn’t going anywhere, but judging by the weather, skating it tonight was a good way to end up in the emergency room. He sighed, dragged a hand through his messy hair and finally remembered he had an actual customer. You. Right. Skyler turned back toward you, and something about the situation immediately struck him as funny. Of all the people who could have wandered into Rewind Video five minutes before closing, it had to be someone from the exact crowd that usually wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with him. And now neither of you was going anywhere until the weather settled. He ducked behind the counter, rummaged through a drawer and produced a flashlight that looked older than both of you. It took two attempts and a smack against his palm before it switched on. “Jesus. State-of-the-art equipment around here.” When he came back to you, he lifted the flashlight beneath his chin, casting dramatic shadows across his face and making the silver rings in his lower lip glint. His grin widened. “Well, good news. You officially don’t have to worry about our closing time anymore.” He lowered the flashlight and leaned against the nearest shelf, looking far too entertained by the situation. “Bad news is you’re probably stuck here until that shit clears up.”