Beast of Burden

Time May Change Me

  It was as if the sun and moon had met.  As if the day and night had crossed paths.  When the two teenagers locked eyes in the police station, there seemed to be a dialogue between their irises.  Mike was obnoxiously chewing some gum, watching the girl dully. Jaqueline was analyzing the boy like a predator.  Her eyes narrowed and danced around his features as if his entire being were her opponent in battle. She was the first to break the stillness.

She extended her hand out to Mike and introduced herself, "Hello.  My name is Jacqueline Gonalez.  And you're Mike Schmidt?"

Mike gazed at her curiously, then accepted the handshake, "Yep. That's me.  I haven't seen you around school.  Do you live around here?"

"Oh, I go to a private all-girls school on the other side of town.  That's probably why."
She noted he spoke oddly.  His words seemed to drag on slowly and his syllables were a bit peculiar.  She couldn't quite place it, but he didn't seem as ordinary as he wanted to be.

"Too good for public school, huh?" He chuckled awkwardly.  She frowned in response. Thoughts were racing in her head as Mike wondered if he offended her.  There was a tense silence until Chief Goode approached them.

"I see you two have introduced yourselves.  Good, good.  Now, I'm sure you're both aware of the case you will be working on."

Jacqueline nodded. 

"Pretty simple case, some complaints of poor business management at a local diner.  It's quite a hit with the kids.  It's called Fredbear's Family Diner, I'm sure you've heard of it."

Both of them nodded with faces of contempt.

"You'll be working with my assistant.  I'm sure he's floating around here, somewhere.  I'll introduce you when I find him," Chief Goode explained casually, but he was cursing out that young good-for-nothing in his head.  He was never to be seen except for lunch break. 

"We aren't working with you?"Jaqueline asked. 

Chief Goode shook his head, "Nope.  This is Officer Nestor's case and you two will be shadowing it.  Give your input, observations, inferences.  But of course, all final decisions will go to Mr. Nestor.  Sorry, legal purposes of course."

There was a loud bang and papers fell all over the floor.  The three of them looked over and saw a young lanky man fumbling clumsily over the stack of papers he just spilled.  He sheepishly faced them, clutching a pile of paper.

"And there is Officer Nestor," Chief Good sighed, "Feel free to introduce yourselves."

Officer Nestor dropped the papers in defeat and walked over to them.  He was panting, sweating, and had the expression of someone who was witnessing a trainwreck.

"Hello, students.  I'm Officer Nestor.  You guys will be shadowing with my case?" His voice was extremely weak and shaky.

They nodded, watching him wearily.

"Right, well, they're all yours, Officer Nestor," Chief Goode clasped him on the back firmly, as if he were passing of babysitting duty to him, "Hollar if you need anything."

Officer Nestor chuckled anxiously and turned to face the teenagers once Chief Goode left.

"So..." He stared at them like he was drowning, "You've met each other?"

"Just now," Jacqueline responded.

"Cool, cool," He exhaled shakily, "Well, I suppose we can start the investigation whenever you two are ready.  Usually, especially with cases involving businesses, we go undercover to the business as a civilian and scope out the place, see how they treat customers, and all that.  Why don't you two go down and check the place out, hm?"