Adapted for Da VIP Academy — "Late Shift" (short story excerpt)

Deion counted the register twice because the second count was the one that let him sleep. Outside, the parking lot lights buzzed like trapped insects.

His mother had worked this same shift for nine years and never once complained where he could hear it. He used to think that was strength. Tonight, wiping down a counter no customer would notice, he decided it was something quieter than strength — a promise she had made to somebody and refused to break, even when the somebody was only herself.

He turned off the lights. The dark smelled like bleach and cold coffee. He thought: I am not stuck here. I am passing through here. Then he locked the door, twice, because the second turn was the one that let him sleep.

The repeated detail of counting and locking twice mainly creates a tone that is

• A.frantic and panicked
• B.careful and quietly determined
• C.bitter and resentful
• D.playful and light