Sarah spent the next few days before starting her new job watching some of the other videos on Dreamtube. Her own video seemed to be getting a lot of views and comments, most people saying her dreams were almost like movie. The other videos mostly consisted of people falling, or losing their teeth, or even a few naughtier dreams, those rated mature. It was so very interesting to look at other people's dreams to see inside their heads. It was like seeing a part of a person that you normally wouldn't get a chance to see. Even if Sarah didn't know these people, she felt as if she was growing closer to them.
Sarah uploaded a couple of her other dreams to Dreamtube as well. One of them took place on a hiking trail she often climbed with a few of her friends. It was a pretty average dream for as far as Sarah's dreams were average. She took the paths that she knew so well up to the top of the mountain, where there was a little building waiting, that Sarah always called the castle. There they had a picnic before Sarah laid down to rest in her dream, waking up in the real world.
Dreams like that were why Sarah loved dreaming so much. They were interesting while not being scary. They were extremely calming, and when she woke up she felt fully energized and ready for the day.
The night before she started her new job though, Sarah could not sleep at all. She tossed and turned all night. Sarah was very nervous about starting a new job, having to meet new people, being in a new situation she had never been in before. She had been trying to not think about it, but she was going to have to work with a lot of people now. She was going to have to talk to them, she was going to have to be not so shy anymore. Sarah didn't know if she was capable of interacting with others on some kind of normal level, but she had to try.
On very little sleep, Sarah got up that morning and got dressed for her orientation at her new job. She wore nice clothes, still wanting to make a good impression on her new bosses and employees. Her mother was still sleeping when Sarah left, she often was asleep until noon. Sarah left quietly, not wanting to disturb her mother's rest.
When she arrived in front of the department store, Sarah was almost overcome with fear. She sat in her car for almost ten minutes, watching the seagulls in the parking lot and trying to calm herself down. "Everywhere else in the world has pigeons. We get seagulls." Sarah muttered to herself. She finally was calm enough to go inside for her orientation.
After meeting with Debbie again, Sarah wondered to herself why she had ever been nervous. Debbie gave Sarah her work badge, showed her where and how to clock in. She showed Sarah around the store, while giving her some of the basic rules, which were all in the rule book she also gave to Sarah. Finally she showed her to the employee break room where Sarah could keep her things while she was working, and where she could spend her breaks if she so chose to. For the rest of the shift, Debbie told Sarah she would be learning how to use the register.
Sarah was nervous at first at having to talk to customers, but Debbie helped her through it. She told Sarah to politely greet each guest, how to scan the items, how to fold and bag their clothes, and how to make change if the customer had cash, or how to take debit and credit cards. Sarah didn't like interacting with the customer's much. She had a hard time making eye contact with them. It took a lot of effort to talk to these complete strangers, but Sarah managed to do it.
When her shift was over, Sarah was down in the break room collecting her belongings from her locker. She turned around and saw another girl, one she recognized as another cashier. "Hello! You're new here aren't you? I'm Jenn." The girl smiled at Sarah. She was taller than Sarah, with hair long and black. Her eyes were also dark, they almost looked like they were black as well. Still she didn't look imposing, she looked friendly.
"Oh hello. I'm Sarah." Sarah said nervously looking at the papers in her hand to avoid making eye contact.
"Well it's nice to meet you Sarah. If you need help with anything just let me know!" Jenn bounded out of the room with more energy than it seemed necessary. Sarah giggled slightly at the overactive girl. Perhaps she would be able to make friends with the people at her new job. Perhaps they could all help her overcome her shyness.
Sarah went home that night and ate dinner alone. Her mother was working overtime the next few days, her store was doing inventory and that always seemed to take forever. Sarah realized that she would probably have to do similar things at her own store. Sarah wondered if she would be able to do all the things that was required of her.
That night instead of reading a book before bed, Sarah went over her copy of the rules for her new job. They weren't very interesting and Sarah was sure she wouldn't break them. The one rule that bothered her was the fact that you couldn't wear jeans to work. Everyday at the factory Sarah had worn jeans, and now she could never wear them. Sarah loved jeans, they were so comfortable and easy to wear. Sarah thought to herself, well at least I don't have to wear a uniform or something.
That night Sarah slept much easier, all of her nervous energy from the day before seemed to have vanished. She closed her eyes gently to fall asleep, and when she opened them again...
"Hey Sarah!" Jeff was driving his car down the highway. Sarah was sitting shotgun, and in the back were her friends Lisa and Devon. "Are you ready for the state fair?"
In the back of her mind Sarah remembered talking about this at the picnic she had in her dream the night before. "Of course!" Sarah exclaimed.
Lisa and Devon giggled from the backseat. Lisa was blonde with green eyes, while Devon was a red head covered in freckles. Recently Sarah had seen a change in her two friends, they seemed closed to each other. Sarah wondered briefly if they were dating each other now? Sarah never saw one without the other recently. Sarah looked at how close they were sitting together, and felt a little jealous. Sarah had never had a boyfriend. She had never really wanted one before either, but seeing other people happy like that, well Sarah wanted a bit of that happiness for herself.
The arrived at the fair, and spent quite some time driving around looking for parking. They finally parked in the back of a lot, pretty much as far away from the fair as possible. The sun was shining brightly and it was very warm out so Sarah didn't mind the walk. She let the warm rays of the sun soak into her skin.
Sarah and Jeff walked slightly in front of Lisa and Devon. Sarah glanced behind her and noticed that they were holding hands. Jealously flamed up in her heart again, but Sarah tried to quickly stop it. She didn't want to be jealous of her friends, she wanted to be happy for them. Jeff seemed to find something wrong in Sarah's disposition, because he grabbed Sarah's hand. "I don't want you to get lost in the crowd!" He said as he took her hand. Sarah thought that was a funny excuse, especially since Jeff was always holding her hand. She wondered if perhaps there was some more meaning behind his hand holding.
The fair was fun. Lisa and Devon wandered off somewhere by themselves, so Jeff and Sarah spent most of the time together. Jeff bought a couple of tickets, and they rode the ferris wheel together. Sarah wasn't exactly fond of heights, but she knew she was safe. Everytime the ferris wheel reached the top Jeff would point out all the things around them. "Look Sarah! You can practically see the ocean from here!" Sarah looked where he was pointing, and in the distances she could see the beach with the tide slowly rolling in.
After that Jeff got them both some funnel cake. Sarah loved to eat funnel cake, but it always seemed to be so messy. The delicious taste of the dough with just powered sugar on top made Sarah forget about being clean and just enjoyed it. She didn't care if she got a bit messy, they were at a fair having fun after all.
There were a bunch of stalls set up where people were selling various things and a few games. There was a balloon dart game set up, the prizes were a bunch of cute stuffed animals. Jeff tried his luck at this game, throwing the dart with more force than Sarah thought it needed. A balloon on the side popped and almost made Sarah jump. Jeff actually won! He picked out a cute stuffed cat and handed it to Sarah. "I don't need a stuffed animal, and I know how much you like cats." His face seemed to turn slightly red as Sarah took the stuffed cat and smiled brightly.
"Oh thank you Jeff!" Sarah hugged him tightly. He took her hand again as they continued to walk through the stalls.
Day turned to night almost too quickly for Sarah. She was having so much fun that she didn't want this day to ever end. Devon and Lisa joined them again as they walked towards a hill just outside of the fair where everyone else seemed to be heading. They all sat down together, and looked up towards the sky. Soon the sky was lit up with color and noise as the fireworks display went off. The colors all collided together, greens oranges and reds all mixing together in the sky. Sarah loved the fireworks, even if she didn't like the noise all that much. She was distracted from the display in the sky as she looked over to her side and saw Devon had his arm around Lisa. She saw his face looking at Lisa, and then he went in to kiss her. Sarah looked away quickly, not wanting to interrupt the intimate moment. She looked up at the sky as the fireworks finale went off, the whole sky alight with brilliant colors.
After the show was over, they all started to walk back to the car when Jeff suddenly pulled Sarah to the side. "Sarah come here real quick." Jeff took her hand and they almost ran behind one of the stalls. "Sarah" he said once they were out of sight of everyone else. "There is something I need to tell you."
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