The sun warms the asphalt as the tires of Charlie’s car run on it as she makes way to the only empty parking spot remaining in front of the giant building that is Freddy’s. Her steps seem steady as she gets out of the car with a folder in hand. But behind that formality and mannerisms, there is a constant question, why? Why would she do this to herself, knowing fully well the trauma she lived back then? The question would remain unanswered, or maybe it would be answered soon as she steps through that transparent door. As she enters the building, she finds the sound instrumental upbeat music coming from forward.

  The room was filled with star bunting on the upper part of the walls, as well as colorful posters with joyful children filled the space that remained below. Some seats were placed at her right side, almost next to the main counter, and at her left side were some gumball machines, and right in the center of the left wall, there was a door with a sign that said, “employees only”. Right in front of Charlie, was a large blue archway with a large banner above it that said, “Let’s Party!”. It most likely led to the main area, where a strong smell of pizza and frying came from, feeling very overwhelming but of course to the liking of any children that passes by. The floor was a purple carpet, but a trail of checkered patterns led up to the archway and the rest of the floor with the same style. Charlie approached the counter, a little confused at the happiness the air was filled with as she then managed to hear people talking on the next room, and between those mumbles, she heard a soft melody as humming coming from below the counter. “Hello?”

  Charlie tried to look over the counter, which was very colorfully decorated with some led lights. A gasp from a girl was heard from below the counter, and then a quite loud bump as the girl grunted and finally rose to face Charlie. “Auch, hello and uh… Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!” Said the blonde girl composed herself. She was wearing some hoop earrings, and a red uniform that had a badge with her name, black shoulder pads and a black bowtie with some buttons below it, matching the design of the mascots of course. She curved her mouth into a quite lighthearted smile while she still rubbed the back of her head. Charlie takes some seconds to read her badge before speaking.

  “You alright uh, Miss Jessica?” Asked Charlie to the girl in front of her. “Just Jessica and yeah, thanks for asking. What can I help you with Miss…?” “Uh, Charlie, and I was here to see Mr. Miller?”Charlie says as she remains standing, steady, and quite attentive. “Oh! You are Charlie! Marla has talked about you, a lot in fact.” The two girls shake hands, Jessica with a little more of enthusiasm. “Yes, Mr. Miller just told us a while ago he was expecting you, follow me this way.” Jessica walks her way out of the counter through the side as she finishes speaking, leading Charlie up to the archway, as the sudden green spotlights roaming around the dining area hit Charlie. She feels one of them hit her eye and covers her eyes right on time, uncovering them to catch a good look of the place. Both adults and Children seated on different tables or booths around the place, a purple carpet holding most of these as if it was some kind of deluxe area.

  People were talking with each other, laughing, playing around, while in front of all remained two stages, one, the bigger of the two, was in the front wall, facing the tables for all to watch and admire whatever would come out of its red giant curtains, and the other one with the purple curtains, a little more further away into the left side of the room, was left alone, with a sign standing in front of it saying, “SORRY – out of order” this being the cause of its loneliness. At the back of the room, right where the two girls were headed at, was a small place that had a neon lighted sign that claimed almost screaming with such bright lights, “Prizes!”. At each side of the prize corner, there was a door that was only for employees to go through.

  Jessica opened the door for Charlie to go first, and as she thanked Jessica, Charlie felt quite the sudden shift in energy as she saw the dull gray walls of the hallway. The only things that could decorate the hallway were doors on both walls, leading to more rooms, and the checker pattern with red borders going across the bottom of the walls. “Alrighty then, Mr. Miller’s office is the right door at the end of the hallway. Good luck, Charlie! I think you’ll need it.” Said the teasing girl. “Thanks, Jessica, nice meeting you.”

  The two waved goodbye until Jessica shut the door behind Charlie, leaving her alone in the long hallway, where the only sound that could be heard was the muffled music from before and a strange array of beeps coming from the door on the right side of her. She continued walking towards the end of the hallway, where she found an emergency exit door, and at each side of the hallway one door. One of them led to what seemed to be some kind of surveillance room, but the door was nowhere to be seen. The room seemed to also lead to another hallway at the other end. And as for the opposite side to that, there was the manager’s office. At that point, Charlie wasn’t sure of what would be the outcome, but regardless of that, this job was her only opportunity to sustain herself. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

  A muffled voice from inside answered. “Come in.” Charlie then opened the door, expecting to see someone waiting in front of her, but there was no one. The room was somehow even more dull and blank than the hallways. For a manager’s office, it was very empty, only having the main desk and some file cabinets behind, as well as a chair in front of the desk. “Uh, hello?” Asked Charlie to the empty chair behind the desk. A man then surged from behind the desk. “Oh, excuse me, I was reaching for something down there.” Said a man in glasses, a slight smile comes across his face, but it was so slight it seemed as if he wasn’t putting any effort into smiling. “Pleasure to meet you, I am Dave Miller. And you must be…” “My name’s Charlie Emily, I am the one who contacted you for the job.”

  The two shake hands, but that slight smile faded slowly as Charlie said her name. The man seemed like he had his fair age, he had a very light beard and some white highlights in his well-ordered hair, making his age more noticeable, and his pale-yellow shirt looked quite messy, but had a very well-done navy-blue tie. He stared at Charlie for some seconds, as if analyzing her aspect to remember it well, or maybe to reminisce something. He then appeared to compose himself and signaled Charlie to sit down, which she did a little cautiously while leaving the folder on top of the desk.

  “…Well, it is a pleasure… Miss Emily…” Muttered the man. The name entered and exited his mouth as swiftly as butter, but he licked his lips as if tasting it in some way. Charlie shifted in her seat, clearing her throat waiting for Mr. Miller to begin the interview, but even though he turned his eyes away for a second, they came back to Charlie while he unconsciously leaned forward as his stare became fixed in Charlie entirely. “Well… as your… friend, Marla, told me, you are looking for a job very urgently, right?” Dave asked with a straight face, only rising his eyebrow as he ends the sentence. “Right… yeah that is true.” Told Charlie to the nodding man, who was taking in every word, and analyzing it like some kind of computer, thinking what response to say from the repertory of the many he has. “Well, you see, throughout the years, here at Freddy’s we have always had a season in which we lack staff. This year, it is not as bad as others but… we have had our fair problems with guards.” This time the effort is a little more noticeable into that curve one could call a smile on Dave’s face, while Charlie attempts to listen a little more focused. “So, that is why I am giving you the kind offer to prove yourself this exact week on the job!”

  Charlie becomes a little surprised, shifting in her seat once more as she raises an eyebrow, doubtful of the offer but at the same time, wanting to accept it. “Wait, so… does that mean I’m…” “You are, partially hired! Come, I’ll introduce you to the team if you wish…” Charlie, with a flicker of confusion but slight happiness in her eyes, stands up, a little shaky. “I would like to, sir.” Said the girl, nervous to her insides. She glances back at the folder on the desk, raising an eyebrow but dismissing it. “Alright then, I suppose you have met Jessica already.” Asked Dave to the girl as he stood up from the chair. “Yes, she was the one to lead me to your office in fact.” “Alright then… oh by the way, your office is over here, you can check it tonight.” The two then begin to head out of the office and begin their path down the hallway. Charlie’s confusion becomes more prominent as Dave mentions tonight. “I’m starting tonight?” Asked Charlie. “Ho, you sure are, Miss. You know, the quicker the better after all.”

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  As they reach the door that leads back to the dining room, silence becomes present for a while between the two, no word exchanged and neither a gaze from Dave back to Charlie. This man was something of a creepy guy. His way of walking was quite secure of himself, almost serious even, but his mannerisms showed some more joy than what he appeared to have, even for an old man like him. “Well, let’s talk about your conditions while we are at it. All you have to do is to look at the monitors, check if everything is going as it should, and if someone manages to break in then, you know, give them a warm welcome.” The two went through the archway, meeting in the entrance room with both Jessica and Marla talking, who also was wearing the same uniform as Jessica. “Charlie!” shouted Marla. “Marla!” Shouted Charlie back to her.

  The two hug each other warmly while Charlie waves at Jessica, who waves back as well “Did you get the job?” Asked Marla with a smile on her face. “Well, short answer, she did.” Said Dave to the three girls over there. “Aye! Congrats!” Said Jessica to Charlie. gets out of the counter by jumping over it but bumping her head once more, grunting and rubbing the place where she was hit. “Are you okay?” Asked Marla to the girl still rubbing her head. “Yeah, happens more often than you think…” Answered Jessica. “Well, time to meet the team, Charlie.” Said Dave as he heads towards the “employees only” labeled door, turning the handle slowly while the other two girls lead Charlie towards the door, inviting her to meet everyone else.

  As soon as the door is opened to the employee’s lounge, people can be heard talking over each other, almost screaming even. There were small groups that had a very different color of uniform, although all of them had the same base design with the buttons and the bow tie. The ones with a beige uniform and an apron with the face of a yellow chicken were presumably the cooks; there were a dark red-haired girl, a man with a beard, a boy with black hair and another girl with black hair. Then the ones with the grey uniform which, surprisingly were only two, a red-haired boy and an old man with a beard. And finally, there were two that remained from the staff members apart from Jessica and Marla. One of them would be Lamar, but who would it be? Dave would frown at the extreme amount of noise they were all making.

  “Alright people! Better make some silence over here! The show will begin in just some minutes. While that happens, I invite you to meet our new member, Miss Charlie Emily!” Dave then gestured his hands towards the girl, who now looked quite small in front of all these people. Everyone turns around to look at Charlie, who feels a little pressed by all the eyes on her. She thinks to herself for a second on what to say, and then lifts a hand to wave a little low.

  “Uhm, hi.” Muttered Charlie. “Hi Charlie…” said everyone almost in unison. The different tones of voices coming from the many people in the room echoing in Charlie’s ears as she suddenly feels shrunken. Marla then puts a hand on her shoulder, a little comforting to Charlie but not quite enough. “Oh, by the way, that is Lamar over there. Let me introduce you to him.” Says Marla as she points to an Afro-American boy at the back of the room. “Oh uh, alright then.” Marla leads Charlie by the shoulder still, but before they walk across the room to trade glances with the people, Charlie turns her head to Dave. “Thanks again, Mr. Miller.” “Remember to not let me down, Charlie.”

  A small awkward laugh comes out of him as he shuts the door behind the three girls. Marla then begins leading Charlie to the back while Jessica follows them from behind. The small yet very crowded room kind of reminded her of a clown car, but there was still enough personal space for people to feel comfortable. She could see some clipboards at the right side of a wall, some shelves filled with books that probably were untouched in a long time. She could see a table with some chairs, people seating there, mostly the cooks. The three girls passed by a vending machine and some file cabinets while Charlie traded glances with some of the other people, doubting if waving or saying hi, while out of nervousness her attention shifted shortly to a brown rounded clock with what seemed to be some kind of bear ears and a little top hat. It was barely morning still.

  Finally, they got close to the two boys at the back, one of them was looking for something in between the shelves while the red-haired one playfully hit him with his elbow as he crossed his arms and leaned back with a quite cocky grin on his face, while resting his head onto his arms. The boy then turns to the three girls, holding something behind his back. “Well, Charlie, this is Lamar, my boyfriend... Lamar, this is Charlie…” Charlie waves at the boy, who then pulls one of his hands away from his back with a slight smile across his face, while Charle lifts her hand as well to shake his. “Well, it is a pleasure meeting you finally. Marla has talked a lot about you!” Said Lamar, then shifting his focus back to Marla, now with a slick expression.

  “And I believe these are yours, lady…” He pulls out a bouquet filled with roses, to which Marla’s face reddens on sight. “Aww” said Charlie and Marla almost in unison at the kind sight. “Lamar! I-You-Uh…” A slight smile comes across Marla’s face, but she tries to cover herself with her hands, only to grab the bouquet afterwards. “…Thank you” Lamar softly giggles while the boy next to him looks away in a cocky, almost taunting, manner as he scoffs. As Jessica and Marla notice their look shift to very fair and square amusement. “Oh right, and this is Carlton over here.” Said Jessica, letting some space for Charlie to greet the taunting boy.

  “Pleasure to meet you Charlie, I hope you get comfortable with the team over here.” Jessica raises an eyebrow while both Charlie and him shake hands as well, something to which Carlton takes notice. “What’s the matter?” Asked the apparently formal boy. “Yeah, you are not smooth Carlton.” Jessica stares at him with a defying glare in her eyes, wanting to retreat Carlton herself but being slightly pushed by the boy as he strolls a little closer to Charlie, who rises an eyebrow. “Heh, she is just trying to be funny, Charlie...” Before he could continue, Jessica placed a hand on Carlton’s shoulder, making him trip with his feet just a little as he now remains further from Charlie. “You know what Charlie, why don’t you go with Marla over to the lockers to see if there’s any uniform for you?” Marla just nods and begins to lead Charlie away, who seems quite unfazed and quite weirded by the recent interaction.

  As they leave, Marla turns to look over at Carlton only to stick her tongue out, mocking him away. Lamar pushes him with his elbow while Jessica remains there with her arms crossed. “What did I do?” Lamar shook his head, crossing his arms as both Jessica and him look down to Carlton. “If you are trying to be kind, try to look a little less…” Jessica took the same position as Lamar, shifting her voice to a more authoritative tone. “Pretentious? Cocky?” “Correct.” Answered Lamar as he nodded slowly. “Aw come on, it was just the first impression. I’m gonna show her off a little more of my charm afterwards…” “Yeah, if you call whatever you do charm, then you are quite lost, Carlton…” Answered Jessica, rolling her eyes over.

  Charlie opens an unlocked locker door, only to close it as soon as the glance of no uniform appeared. “What’s up with that Carlton guy?” Marla leans against the door, her expression a little unamused but shifting into a lighter one as soon as she lifts the bouquet still in her hands. “Oh just, don’t mind him. Not in a thousand years would he get to reach your ′romantic standards′, that being if you have any. Which reminds me of something… or maybe, someone, in fact.”

  Charlie stops before opening the next locker, turning to look at Marla with a stern expression. “Let me guess… ′Charlie, Charlie, I found this guy that you might be interested in.′.” Charlie rolled her eyes over as she spoke. “Look, hear me out first. The guy is kind of cute, I’m not sure about his personality in general but, he seems nice and all.” Charlie shakes her head slowly, turning back to opening the locker and finally glancing at a purple uniform hung at the back, along with a shiny badge resting on the shelf at the top. “You know I’m really not looking for anything right now, especially now that I’m entering university.” Marla rolls her eyes, walking up to Charlie and taking a glance along her to the uniform. “Oh, stop lying to yourself. I know very well, ever since we met, you wanted to experience something like this!” She lifts her bouquet, pulling the uniform away from Charlie’s sight. Charlie sighs, taking the uniform into her hands as well as the badge from the locker. “Come on, just give him a try! When you see him, go, and say hi to him and try to see if you two can set up anything...?” Charlie takes a glance at the purple, slightly worn-down uniform, then at the gold badge in her other hand, noticing the face of what seemed to be a bear. “I promise nothing, you hear me. Nothing.”