The background turned into my high school's parking lot, where I first interacted closely with Boss.
"Speaking of Boss," Death said. "When will this memory with Klaus end?"
"Oh!" I exclaimed. "We're not done yet with this memory."
"This is your memory, Evangeline." Death pointed it out with a tone that implied I was dumb. "Why are you asking me that?"
"You're the one who controls the memories!" I replied, offended.
"I don't."
"What?"
"These are your memories, Evangeline." Death repeated, this time with extra emphasis. "You created them. I'm just showing them to you through their level of importance."
"So they're not necessarily chronological?" I tilted my head to the side.
Death furrowed his eyebrows. "You didn't notice after all this time?"
"To be fair, I am mentally ill," I argued defensively. "Being mentally ill can affect and damage your memory quite intensively."
"Fair point,"
We turned our eyes back to the memory of the parking lot. It was already quite late, judging from the setting sun, and everything in the vicinity was tainted orange. There were no longer any cars left in the lot; there were only a few motorcycles. One was the same cheap one with many upgrades we saw before.
Leaning on that cheap motorcycle was the younger me.
I was smoking.
"I've been meaning to ask," Death said. "Is that your motorcycle?"
"No?" I frowned at him. "What made you think so?"
"Because we found you near it for the second time."
"That… doesn't make sense." I furrowed my eyebrows. "Just because I'm standing beside it doesn't mean I own it."
"Now that you mentioned it, it doesn't." Death chuckled.
"You're weird, Death."
"So are you"
"You know what's weirder?" I smiled at him.
"Evangeline!" A familiar voice called out, gaining my younger self's attention as well as ours.
It was Klaus standing in front of their high school building's entrance.
He was a couple of meters away from me, so he shouted quite loudly for me to hear him quite clearly. Thankfully, only a few students left, so I didn't need to suffer secondhand embarrassment.
"Ever since I declined Klaus's offer, Klaus has been bugging me."
Death gagged. "People who can't accept a 'no' are the vilest creatures ever."
"Santa," I said, giving him an acknowledging nod as he jogged toward me.
Klaus frowned upon realizing that I was smoking.
"You shouldn't be smoking on the school grounds, Evangeline."
"So that's why you're here?" I rolled my eyes. "To nag me?"
He shook his head. "Of course not,"
"So, what do you need?" I asked, even if I knew pretty well what his purpose was.
"How have you been?" Klaus smiled.
"We saw each other this lunchtime and asked the same question," I pointed out. "Because you also tried to recruit me then."
"Well," Klaus shrugged. "How are you now?"
"As if a three-hour difference would change my answer," I deadpanned.
"A lot of things can happen in three hours, Evangeline."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but he's right." Death, surprisingly, agreed.
"Klaus," There was irritation in my voice that even a dumbass like Klaus had to notice. "I asked you this for the nth time, but again, why won't you just give up on recruiting me?
"Because…" Klaus drawled. "It has to be you, Evangeline."
"Why is he so desperate?" Death frowned. "His argument doesn't make any sense."
I nodded in agreement. "I know, right? Other students are more responsible than me."
"The majority of those other students also don't have a record as a school thug."
I glared at Death. "I was about to argue that me being delinquent has no bearing, but it does."
"It does." Death nodded.
Going back to the memory, the younger me sighed. I could feel my starting to pity him, desperate for me to join. But I quickly reminded myself to stay strong against his puppy eyes, which didn't suit him.
"I'll change my question this time," I said, my frown deepening. "What's in it for me if I join?"
Klaus appeared taken aback by the change in my question, but he quickly gathered himself.
"There's an AC and lots of snacks in the office," he replied, his eyes shining with hope. "You can hang out there whenever you want."
I raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"
"Wait, there's more!" Klaus interrupted, trying to sweeten the deal even further. "If we're preparing things, there'd be times we'd pull you out of class to help."
"Really?"
"Really!" I beamed. "What else do you want to know about?"
I knew what the most important factor was for me. "Do I have to be at your office most of the time?"
Klaus shook his head quickly. "Oh no! We won't force you if you have to be elsewhere. What we need is manpower for the internal stuff."
"Will I get a job where I won't have to interact with lots of people?"
His blue eyes widened in understanding. "Oh! If that's what you're thinking about, then worry no further! As I've said, we only need help for our internal affairs."
"Like?" I prodded, wanting more details.
"Like paperwork," He explained. "It's stuff that we'd allow you to take home to work on if that suits your preference better."
"I see,"
"So? Was that enough to convince you?" Klaus asked, a hopeful smile on his face.
"Hmmm," I hummed. "Let me think about this again, Santa. I'll find you tomorrow."
His smile grew wider, revealing his pearly white teeth. "Looks like I'll receive some good news."
"Don't get too excited now."
"I won't bother you further then," Klaus said, still smiling. "See you tomorrow, Evangeline."
"Bye, Klaus." I faked a smile, watching Klaus as he waved goodbye one last time before turning his back to leave.
Soon enough, he disappeared from view.
I dropped the cigarette on the asphalt and stepped on it. After ensuring the light was dead, I picked it up and threw it in the nearest trash bin. I returned to lean on the motor, looking at the cloudless orange sky.
"Maybe I should give this some thought," I sighed. "Seriously, this time.