Where Life Takes Us

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

A V E R Y

The aroma of freshly-made popcorn wafted through the air, making my mouth begin to water. My nerves began to get the best of me, as Willow and I entered the local movie theatre. Since I came to Plainview mid-way during the first semester, I was frankly having a difficult time adjusting to my new environment, which held me back from completing my community hours.

Before I started my volunteer hours back at my old high school in New York, I planned out that I would complete at least ten hours ever school year - totalling to forty community service hours required for me to graduate - so that I could manage to balance my school work or extra-curricular clubs and sports teams at the time.

By now, I had only twelve hours completed in total so Willow had offered to help me finish them, considering she had to finish hers as well. Rebecca and Natalie were both planning to finish their until the last minute instead, while Eleanor had originally planned to join us but had to babysit at the last minute which was completely understandable.

"Hey, are you okay?" Willow questioned, placing a hand on my shoulder, as we stood in front of the miniature snack bar of the local movie theatre. We were waiting for one of the employees that were aware that the both of us were there for volunteer work.

I tried to shake off my anxiety away. "Um.. I'm okay, I'm just a little nervous."

I was never really the kind of person who was quite sociable to others, especially towards people I had never met before. But ever since my parents thought I was too much of a cheerful, rowdy kid and throughout the years, I somehow learned to be afraid of my shadow, never stray too far from the sidewalk, and to never draw any attention to myself; those were some of the mottos I replayed in the back of my mind.

It wasn't that much of a big deal to me when I was younger, since I had suspected that it was most likely nothing to worry about. It did seem quite hard to try to become as outgoing and friendly as I was back then, but frankly, it felt as if I was pretending to be someone that I wasn't. When I first moved, it was hard to fit in at school because most people had private enclosed friendship circles, but if it wasn't for Willow, who was slowly trying to help me emerge from my shell and to be the person I was years ago. But back then, that idea seemed nearly impossible to me.

Willow grinned, checking the time on her phone before shoving it back into the pocket of her jeans. "Don't worry, I mess things up a lot too and I'm sure the manager of this place will understand since this is your first time volunteering here. Trust me, it's really fun volunteering here!"

Out of nowhere, a woman who seemed to be in her early forties walked out of the lounge where all the employees and volunteers rested during times where it wasn't as busy as it usually was, especially since there was only one open space to play one movie three times during one weekend. Although there weren't multiple open spaces to play a variety of different movies simultaneously, it was always a packed crowd every weekend.

"Hello, Willow! How are you?" The woman's face lit up in a grin.

Willow smiled back, her eyes twinkling with happiness. "I'm good, how about you?"

"I'm doing great thanks for asking," she replied, nodding her head. "How can I help you two girls?"

"Oh, my friend, Avery Mitchell here and I are here for some volunteer work for our community service hours," Willow answered, gesturing me to the woman.

"My name is Sherry Morgan and I'm the manager of this movie theatre," Sherry greeted me with a warm smile, reaching her hand out to me as I gladly shook it in return. "So, you two are looking for some work around here?"