Charlie watched the last customer leave the store. He
locked the door behind them and let out a sigh of relief. Normally he only
worked a few hours after school, but since it broke up for the spring, he had
been working full days. He was only serving at a corner store, but he still found
the longer hours mentally exhausting.
Now that the doors were closed, it was time to clean
up. As the daily routine went, Charlie took the iPhone from his pocket and put
in the earphones. Unsure what music he was in the mood for, he set the playlist
to shuffle. Grabbing the broom from behind the counter, he was ready for his
autopilot to kick in as he finished up his shift.
Nodding his head to the beat of a song, Charlie’s
bubble of escapism was soon burst by a thumping at the front door. Startled, he
looked up, noticing that every panel of glass along the front of the store was
shaking from the impact.
Squinting against the afternoon sun, Charlie
recognized his life-long friend, Marina, silhouetted at the door. Charlie took
out his earphones.
Noticing that she now had his attention, Marina
grinned widely, pointing excitedly to her mouth with both hands.
Charlie smiled in reply to her obvious elation.
He knew why
Marina was excited. She had been anticipating this day for weeks. He didn’t understand her excitement, but he shared
it all the same.
Today was the day Marina had her braces put on.
“Come ‘round through the back and show me,” Charlie
yelled, pointing to the back wall.
Marina shook her head. Charlie frowned, confused, but she
simply pointed off to her left, down the street.
“Ok,” Charlie said, nodding in agreement.
“Half an hour,” he added, pointing at his wrist as if he
were wearing an invisible watch.
Both of them had lived in the same houses in the same
town for as long as they could remember, and ever since they were old enough to
roam solo, had declared the local headland “their place”. For this reason,
Charlie understood that it was the only scene Marina would stage such a reveal.
Marina grinned once more and ran off in the direction she
gestured.
“Women,” Charlie sighed to himself, shaking his head.
He put his earphones back in and set about completing his
tasks so he could join her.
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