The Danger Begins Part I: The Job

Henry Hart.

He's a high school student, thirteen years old, a lifelong resident of Swellview, and just another boring human being.

Henry is now at home with his two close friends - Charlotte and Jasper - in a study session. At least, Charlotte is. Henry and Jasper seem to be easily distracted by their own devices.

"Hey, look what Captain Man did yesterday!" Jasper says, calling attention to his tablet. His two friends on the couch look and see a snapshot of said hero attached to an article, looking soot-stained but still smiling. "There was a fire at a pet store, and Captain Man ran inside, fire blazing everywhere, and saved all the animals. He didn't even get hurt!" He continues.

"Captain Man never gets hurt, he's a beast." Henry comments from his spot on the couch. Charlotte doesn't think much of the distraction.

"Guys, we need to focus on studying." She tries to regain the boys' attention. It doesn't work as they are both enveloped in their own tasks. "When you guys fail this test and flunk out of school, I'll remember this moment ten year from now when you're both cleaning my swimming pool." She remarks. Jasper straightens and walks to the bar in the kitchen, bored. Henry is still on his laptop.

"Hey, do you guys think I could be a foot model?" He plops his foot onto the coffee table, shoe and all. Charlotte looks at him, annoyed, and gives no reply. It's Jasper that speaks next.

"Guys, could we go over the list for my birthday party?" He changes the subject.

"No." Both of the others say simultaneously.

"But I invited 52 people, and nobody's texted me back yet." He complains.

"Maybe because of Christmas three years ago? 15 kids ended up in the hospital, one boy almost died." Charlotte responds.

"Yeah. What made you think it was a good idea to feed people raw sushi from a run-down grocery store?" Henry continues.

"How was I supposed to know that it was ten days old? They had a good deal on the value pack." Henry decides to change the subject and end a potential argument at the same time. He also needs some help.

"Alright! The first person who helps me find an after-school job gets..." He digs in his pockets for anything to use as a reward. "...ten bucks." Charlotte decides to forgo the studying, for now, and play along. She gets up, snatching Henry's laptop away from him, and sits back in her spot. Henry scoots closer to her to see what she's doing.

"Why do you need a job, anyway?" She asks.

"To learn... responsibility, to challenge myself..." Henry says with some thought.

"It's money, isn't it?" Charlotte knows her friend too well to accept that answer off the bat.

"That, too." He confirms. "I just want to do more stuff without asking my parents for cash." Reasonable. Charlotte continues her searching as Jasper makes another interruption.

"Guys, can we PLEASE talk about my birthday?" He pleads. Charlotte looks at him with a deadpan expression.

"Am I gonna have to slap a boy?" She asks, about done with him at this point. Jasper looks at her, afraid, and says nothing else. Henry's mother chooses this moment to come downstairs with a laundry basket under her arm.

"Henry? Can you please tell me how...?" She stops her questioning when she sees the situation downstairs. "Oh! I didn't realize you had company." She finishes.

"We're studying!" Jasper says, trying to justify their gathering.

"Yeah..." Charlotte sarcastically remarks, rolling her eyes. Henry is a little annoyed at the interruption.

"Mom, we're in the middle of something right now." He says. His mom sets the basket down on the coffee table.

"I'm not here to interrupt," She takes out a pair of underwear. "I just have a question about your underwear." She finishes, officially embarrassing her son.

"Mom!" He exclaims, wishing she would just stop there. She does, but Charlotte and Jasper are already interested.

"I'd like to hear the question." The young lady states, pulling away from the computer for a moment.

"What is the issue with Henry's underwear?" Jasper also says, coming from the kitchen to lean against the couch, chin on his hands. Sadly, none of them get to hear it. The front door opens and Henry's sister, Piper, barges in.

"Mom!" She shouts. "Mom!" She gains her mother's attention.

"Piper, we're trying to study." Henry tries to quiet her down.

"Well, I'm talking to Mom." She does not care.

"What's wrong, baby?" Her mom asks, dropping the underwear.

"Jessica unfollowed me!" Piper bemoans.

"No one cares!" Henry states in the same tone of voice.

"Henry!" His mother admonishes him, then turns back to Piper. "Why would she unfollow you?" Henry and his friends try to ignore what's happening in the background.

"Because she posted a picture of us with Allison, so I commented, 'OMG, so gorgeous.' Allison commented back, 'Thanks, ILY.' Jessica got jealous because she thought she was being left out, then she unfollowed me." She finishes her rant. Her mother gathers the laundry basket and starts to head down the hall behind the stairs.

"I'll call Jessica's mom and talk to her, okay?" She says.

"No! That's not okay!" Piper runs after her mom to stop her, leaving the trio in the living room to continue where they left off.

"Dang it!" Henry says as he's looking at the job postings Charlotte is scrolling through. "All these jobs say I need skills." He says.

"So? You have tons of skills." Jasper encourages his friend.

"Name one." Henry challenges.

"You're a great dancer." Jasper shrugs.

"No, I'm not." Henry denies. Jasper just shrugs again.

"You could take some lessons." He says it more as a question, not helping Henry's confidence level. Henry gets a hopeless look on his face.

"Geez. I'm not great at anything, just a big pile of average." He says, his self-esteem not doing so well.

"Well, we're not at the end of the list yet." Charlotte tries to inject some optimism into the mix. "Here," She comes across something. "a store called Junk-N-Stuff." This catches Henry's attention.

"What? Where?" He's never heard of this place.

"It says 'Part-time helper needed for various duties. No special skills necessary.'" Charlotte finishes.

"I need to go get that job!" Henry gets up and books it to the front door... then remembers something.

"Here!" He takes the ten dollars out of his pocket and hands it to Charlotte. "Ten bucks." He lets it go and runs back to the door, again.

"Thanks. Good luck, Hen!" She says.

"Thanks!" He says back shutting the door after him.