"Joe, check out the changing rooms one last time!" Miranda sneered across the store while she finished emptying the register.
"But I thought Candice was gonna get the ladies' changing rooms!" He called back concerned.
"Don't be a baby." The older woman laughed. "You're not gonna see anything, now get in there! I don't wanna stay later than I have too."
Joe sighed, but knew better than to argue against the manager. Especially since he was the newest and youngest employee at the store. He was 15, and working at Dicks to try and make extra money for his family. Their mother had passed away years ago, leaving him, his older sister Gina and his younger brother Alan. Their dad was a drunken deadbeat, so him and Gina were working hard to keep them all going and to help Alan have a normal elementary student life.
Gina would've been in college by now, but stayed behind to help her siblings. Joe felt awful about it which is why he started working double shifts to help her out.
"Ugh, I just want to get out of here." He whispered to himself.
BRING
Joe checked his phone.
Gina: Hey, where r u?
Joe: Finishing up. Coming ASAP
He put away the phone and took a deep breath. He was a teenaged boy after all, so the thought of going into the women's changing rooms felt a bunch of different emotions.
"Hello? Anyone still in here?" He called out, just making sure he wouldn't accidentally scare anyone.
After no response was given, he sighed and began to move swiftly through the rooms. He was opening them up quickly, glancing inside, and then locking them behind him. He did this for about two minutes, not finding anything in any of them. Finally he reached the last one and sighed.
"Of course, how could I think people were actually considerate to retail workers." He chuckled as he entered to grab the items.
There was a sports bra which he blushed a little holding and a slightly stretched out pair of yoga pants. They seemed to match, so Joe figured whoever the big butted rude person who tried them on at least had good taste. He was about to walk out when he realized that there was something else inside the changing room.
Lying almost underneath the seat inside was an old, polaroid camera.
"What the hell... what's this doing here?" He wondered, picking it up with his other hand.
He examined it, wondering how the lady who was in here could've forgotten it. It possibly looked at least a little expensive. He held it under his arm and walked out of the changing rooms. While he hung the bra back up on a rack, he wondered more about the camera. Who had left it there and why? Maybe they didn't want it? He hung the yoga pants up then looked at the camera again.
It had a bunch of random words on different buttons that didn't make sense, but Joe figured since it was so old it was probably defaced by some kid at some point.
"Still, even if it is a bit busted... could be worth something to some collector." He thought, hoping that it could be worth anything.
He walked over towards lost and found, pretending to place it inside. He made sure he was just out of the camera's view then stuffed it into his backpack. He was lucky he brought his bag with him since he came here straight from school. Joe then walked back out, and then him and Miranda locked up the store before going their separate ways.
"So, how was your day?" Gina asked, trying to show interest but clearly sounding exhausted herself.
"Eh, fine, standard whatever day." He sighed, brushing his brown hair to the side.
"Joe... is that a bruise under your eye?" She asked concerned.
"Yeah... I uh, walked into a shelf at work." He muttered.
"Joe." She flatly repeated.
"Ugh, fine. Some kids made fun of me for working so many jobs so I taught them a lesson after school." He admitted.
"Joe, you can't be doing that. If the school found out you'd be kicked out! You need this Joe, education is important!" Gina scolded.
Joe finally made eye contact with his sister. She looked tired. Her messy blonde hair was tied into an unkept bun, her makeup was almost non-existent. She was still wearing her waitress uniform with her old jacket on top of it. Joe felt guilty immediately and looked down in shame.
"I know G.... I'm sorry." He said sadly.
"Look... it's ok to defend yourself just, be carful alright?" She sighed before driving off towards home.
During the ride, while Joe stared out the window, he suddenly recalled the camera he had found in the changing room.
"Oh, hey, I found this thing at work... think it'd be worth anything?" He asked, showing her in the rearview mirror.
"Joe, that thing looks like old junk, it'll be worth nothing to pretty much everyone." She scoffed, continuing to focus on her drive.
Joe felt upset, but also wasn't surprised by this fact. He knew it'd be a longest anyway. He held it gently, figuring at least he might get some entertainment out of it.
After getting home, Gina immediately collapsed onto the couch, nearly falling asleep until Alan ran up to her. She smiled upon seeing her baby brother, lifting him up with glee.
"Hi Alan, how was school today?" She asked.
"Fun! I made a new friend! She's really nice." He giggled.
"Aww, good for you buddy." She laughed, ruffling his dirty blonde hair.
Joe smiled at the two, then watched as Alan ran back over to the floor where he was drying some pictures. Joe's smile faded as he turned to see his fat, balding father snoring on his recliner. He was drooling a little, and had an empty beer bottle in one hand. Joe had some... strong negative feelings towards Frank, which is part of the reason he had started calling him Frank to his face.
Joe looked back down at the camera. It was a polaroid, which meant it would produce a physical picture once the photo was taken. He figured it'd be fun to take a few pics around the house and of his family. He figured one day child services may come or that Gina would leave or any other number of issues would happen, so it'd be good to take some pictures now.
He then aimed at _________ and took a picture, unaware that reality itself would change as that person would magically transform.