The Wolf’s Pool Club was finally open for business, yet it was hard to say whether it was a success. The place was busy, and Gary was hardly able to catch a break as he was busy serving people and answering their questions. There was a good flow of income coming in at the same time.
The reason Gary found it difficult to call it a successful opening or not, was because ninety percent of the customers were from Austin’s school. At first, when some of them arrived, they had a worried look on their faces. They had even asked who they were facing and what school they were going up against now.
It quickly became clear that Austin hadn’t actually explained the situation to them at all. Since their school’s top dog had ordered them to be here, they had naturally expected there to be a fight. Regardless, after they realised that it wasn’t a call for a big fight, the teenagers decide to stay, playing a few games of pool and buying some snacks. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, but all the Howlers could do was hope that they liked it enough to decide to return.
‘I guess…that’s the power of a real leader right there.’ Gary thought. He looked at the room filled with around twenty high school students who had all come just because of Austin.
The cash register was constantly going off, and since it was busier than they had expected, even Marie had to help out as a waitress, as she had a couple of cokes and snacks on a tray. She went ahead and placed it down on the table between two sofas. As the high school girl went to bend down, two boys sitting down on either side were eyeing up her legs, and the skirt she was wearing.
The high schoolers exchanged looks, before one of them imitated hitting her back side, leading the other to giggle at the gesture.
“Here’s your food, I hope you enjoy it.” Marie said with a smile. To those who knew her, Marie seemed like a completely different person. She was all smiles, talked politely and was generally a pleasure to be around. It was the complete opposite of the commanding girl who had drilled them what they needed to know like a drill sergeant.
As soon as Marie turned around, though, she felt some had whacked her on her back. Immediately, the boys behind started to laugh and whistle. As for Marie herself, she remained slightly frozen, clearly unsure how to react.
The boys continued to laugh at each other until one of them felt someone grab them by the wrist, lifting them off the seat to a standing position. It was so forceful that he thought his shoulder was going to be dislocated.
“What the hell did you just do?” Gary asked.
“Are you crazy, man? You’re hurting me! Let go! I’m a paying customer, you have no right to treat me like this!” The student yelled, and the others turned, looking like they were ready to jump in at any moment.
“So what? That doesn’t give you the right to do that! What…what if that was your sister, or your mother?” Gary asked. Just thinking about it made the green haired teenager’s blood start to boil. Marie’s small body frame made her have a similar resemblance to Amy, and it was because of this, he was reminded of an unpleasant scene.
“Are you her boyfriend or something?! If you want to simp for her, don’t get me involved. It was just a little tap, she wasn’t hurt or anything. She can just ignore it, and I didn’t hear her complain either!” The harasser didn’t show any signs of remorse.
However, it was clear from her reaction that she didn’t like it at all, and the student’s tone was just annoying Gary further.
“GET OUT!” A voice from the other side resounded throughout the pool club. As for who it was coming from, it was Austin. The other guests were making way for him to get through.
Seeing this, the high school student grinned. “You’re dead now.”
Gary was unsure what to do, while he wanted to teach that guy a lesson, Austin was the one who had called them all over. Not to mention, it would cause a big problem if the two of them were to fight.
When the large high schooler arrived, he grabbed the student that Gary had held up by the collar.
“Not him, but you, dipshit!!” Austin clarified, pushing his forehead up against his.
“As for the rest of you, no one is allowed to treat them like this! These guys are a part of my group, you understand?! What he did was no different from harassing my little sister!” With that said, the latest member of the Howlers dragged the offender by the scruff of his neck and opened the doors.
“You can come back once you know what you’ve done wrong! You better have a sincere apology ready for her!” Austin clapped his hand as he threw him outside, and slammed the doors shut.
There was silence in the room when Austin turned around. No more laughter and cheer.
“The show is over, everyone, go back to having fun again. Let’s forget that idiot!” Austin shouted.
It took a while but eventually things returned to normal, only that Kai told Marie to stay behind the counter, as the rest of the boys picked up speed. After everyone got served, things started to quiet down in the place.
By the time new customers came in, they had somewhat gotten used to the process, making things quicker and there was no need for them to go back and forth between Marie. The initial impact of a full place with the students made the place look popular, attracting even more customers.
Eventually it allowed Gary to take his first break. He sat down by the bar, where Marie and her mother were working, while watching the rest have fun.
Kai, Innu, and Austin had started playing against the others, and it looked like the blonde teenager was making some bets playing against the others. To nobody’s surprise, a few minutes later, money was being exchanged, all of it going to the Howlers.
“Thank you.” A soft voice eventually said. It was so soft that it was barely audible with all the surrounding noise.
“What did you say?” Gary asked, as he hadn’t been sure he had heard correctly. While he was not too far away, it had been hard even with his enhanced hearing. Having already found it hard to muster her courage to say that to him once, Marie’s face was turning red.
“I said thank you!” Marie repeated herself, slightly louder this time, her eyes fixed on the glass she was currently cleaning. “… and I don’t just mean today. I’ve yet to thank you for saving me that time with the black colour gang. Sorry, it took me so long.”
“Oh that, well, yeah, I mean, those guys deserved it and so did that pervert.” Gary said, a little embarrassed himself now. After all, this was the first time he had ever been praised for doing something ‘heroic’.
Now that she had reminded him, the first time he had seen Marie had been when those black colour gang members had been picking on her. Usually, Gary wouldn’t have thought twice about colour gangs picking on anybody, but the strangest thing had been that it had happened during the day.
‘Maybe I should ask?’ Gary thought.
******
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