Unhappy

20. Kingsley

Kingsley wandered around the town. He took a longer path to avoid his own home. If his parents saw him, they'd surely take them to be unwound himself. And he really couldn't deal with that. Now he was in a small shopping district, surround with stores and restaurants.

"King!?" Someone yelled. He paused, standing completely still. He was scared. Someone had found him. The only question was who. He slowly turned around... seeing someone standing in front of a record shop.
"Kanai?" He blurted out. The guy ran over to him, and pulled him into an embrace. Kingsley stood still, completely and utterly surprised.
"Come on, let's get into the record shop. Juvey cops patrol this area a lot so we can't be out for to long, since..." Kanai began before slowing down his words. Kingsley knew he was talking about how he was an AWOL. But it was fine. He didn't care if he was seen as a runaway unwind, he was more focused on survival. They walked inside of the record shop. "I can't believe it! You're still alive!"
"Yep... that's me... ha ha..." Kingsley replied. He felt so awkward. He barely knew this person, but he was acting like they were buddies. But that wasn't anyone's fault. Kanai probably just wanted his best friend back.
"I was so worried that you were already gone... but you're here!" He responded. Kingsley shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you work here?" He asked. Kanai nodded.
"Yeah, I thought I could get some extra money, you know?"
"Yeah, that makes sense." Kingsley replied, looking at all the records. It was interesting to him that people even bought them anymore. He paused. "Hey, I really need some help. I need to get clothes for the other kids, some makeup, and some hair tools."
"Oh, you're getting disguises for your gang of unwinds? If I could ask, who could these people be?" Kanai asked. Kingsley thought about it, and decided it would be okay to tell him.
"We've got a kid who's survived being unwound. Well, almost being unwound." Kingsley explained. Immediately, Kanai seemed invested. "Then, we have a girl who's rude and selfish. I'm guessing it's cuz she's a rich kid." Kanai stared at him intensely, listening to everything he was saying. "Then we have the Weeping Angel-"
"YO SERIOUSLY!?" He yelled. Kingsley was immediately grabbed by the arms, and shook around. "SHE'S SO HOT!!!"
"Bro, stop." Kingsley replied, pushing him off. His friend laughed. "Don't just call people hot."
"But it's so true! Have you seen the pictures? Actually, wait, gimme a second." Kanai picked up the remote, and turned on the TV. The news channel came on, Irenes face on screen.

Kingsley started to panic. No way the news had gotten out that quick. "Weeping Angel has become an AWOL Unwind" it read. Irene was already on the news.

"I know it sounds super stupid, but she genuinely looks insanely pretty." Kanai explained. "Actually, could you take me to meet her?"
"Listen, I don't need someone simping over a Showcase Angel." Kingsley replied. "Plus, we have bigger problems now. We have to disguise Irene really well now that her face has been plastered on the news." Kanai paused for a moment.
"I'll help you, but I want to meet your little group." He explained. Kingsley groaned. This guy really wasn't going to give up. But he was his only chance to get supplies in a safe way. Plus, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to just let him come.
"Sure. Whatever." Kingsley replied, putting his hand out to him and shaking. Kanai smiled, and took his hand away after shaking.
"I'm gonna go to the store to buy the stuff. You can help me by covering my shift. All you need to do is sort some stuff in the back." Kanai explained. Kingsley nodded, watching him walk out of the store.

He sighed, and wandered into the back. In the back were boxes piled up in the corner. Then there were racks labeled with things like "Pop" and "Classical". Kingsley wandered over and started picking up boxes and putting them onto shelves.

"Hey!" Someone yelled. Kingsley immediately fell over, nearly face planting, before being grabbed by the shirt. "Woah, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The person helped Kingsley up. He turned around, and came face to face with guy. He had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. His build was generally strong. He stared at him for a moment. He felt like he'd seen him somewhere.
"Uh, it's fine!" Kingsley laughed nervously.
"Are you new here? I haven't seen you before." The guy asked. He shook his head back and forth.
"I had to cover for Kanai. He had to go somewhere." Kingsley replied. The kid nodded.
"Yeah, Kanai can be pretty forgetful. But thanks for helping him out." The kid responded, grabbing a box and walking it back over to the racks.

The two of them began working, putting the boxes onto shelves one by one. One of them fell over, dropping hundreds of Polaroid photos onto Kingsleys foot. He took a moment to put down the box, and began putting the pictures away. But one of them grabbed his attention. It was the kid with another kid. He was black, had really short hair, and seemed very strong.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. That's my box of personal pictures." The kid said, walking over to Kingsley. He looked over his shoulder, and stared at the picture, losing his smile. "Sorry, that was awhile ago. I used to be the school bully."
"What happened?" Kingsley replied.
"That kid right there, Philip Burton. He forced me and a couple of other people to be his friends, and help his bully some kids. But he took it to far, and ended up getting unwound." The kid paused for a moment, looking at Kingsley. "I don't mean this in a bad way of anything, but I'm glad he was unwound. He hurt a lot of kids when he was alive. I wish he could have been changed, but now he'll at least be helping people survive." Everything was silent for a moment.
"People can change though." Kingsley replied. The kid shook his head back and forth.
"Not this kid. I tried everything but he wouldn't stop." He said. Kingsley kept staring at the photo. Fixated on Philip Burton's face. Everything was completely silent.
"Yeah, I guess it was for the best." Kingsley said, throwing the image into the box. "What's your name?"
"I'm Kenneth Shillingford. What about you?" The kid responded.
"Kingsley Alvarado." They shook hands, before going back to work.

About an hour later, they had finished. In the mean time, they played there favorite songs on the record player. They jammed out for a couple more minutes.

"Hey! I'm back!" Kanai said, holding a giant duffel bag. Kingsley walked over to him.
"Thank you so much! I don't know what I would have done without you!" Kingsley replied. Kanai smirked at him. He stared at him for a moment. "What did you do..?" He slowly pulled something out of the duffel bag.
"No. She's not wearing that." Kingsley replied.
"You're telling me you don't want to see her wearing this?" Kanai laughed.
"It's not funny!" Kingsley laughed, pulling the maid outfit from his hands and throwing it onto the floor. It was such a stupid joke. But it made him laugh. That's all that mattered.