The Bookstore

Chapter Six

        We pulled up to the bookstore, staring at the eerily silent place. Dave fumbled with the keys ahead. I popped open the car door and approached him quietly?
        "Need help?" I asked suddenly, peeking over his shoulder at the keys.
        "Gah!" He jumped, and dropped the keys onto the sidewalk. Dave's hand flew up to his chest. "Dear god, Jane," he gasped. I bent down to pick up the keys. They slid easily into the lock. I held the door open for Dave. Chris stepped up to the door with a smile on his face.
        "Thank y-" I let the door close in his face, a small victory over someone I was barely getting to know. His smile quickly turned into a frown, but was once again replaced with a lopsided grin. Chris pushed the door open. "Thank you." I gave a simple shrug, and strutted away.
        "What are we going to do today?" I asked Dave when I sat on the stools at the end of the counter. He set a box on the table.
        "We got some new books to register and put away," he told us. Chris and I simultaneously groaned. "The sooner we start, the sooner we get done."
        I jumped off of the stool. The scissors sat on the top shelf behind the counter. My hands groped around the smooth shelf until they came into contact with them. Dave and I did this every other week. Even though he hardly had the money to pay for the space rent, he always slipped a few cheap books into the budget to keep the bookstores collection growing. I never agreed with spending the money before paying the rent, but I never complained. New books were one of my favorite things. New new. Not just bought from the store, but just imported from the factory.
        I cut a line across the duct tape, and opened the box. I picked up the first two books on the top.
        "You know how to do this right?" I asked Chris as soon as he'd picked up the next two.
        "Uh, no."
        I signed and went through the steps to registry. "You know how to put them away, right?"
        "Alphabetical by authors last name?" Chris guessed sheepishly. I ruffled his brown hair like a dog might be praised.
        "That's right," I answered. I registered my two and put their stickers on. Hanson? I went around the counter and headed to the science fiction section. It was some novel about aliens.      Go figure. Two eyes peaked out at me from the other side when I slid the books out. Mischievous hazel eyes who belonged to one person. "Go away." I pushed the new book into place. Then, put the rest of them in, covering Chris's eyes.
        "I'm putting books away," he retorted. I heard a few books being pushed aside to make room for the new one. I rolled my eyes automatically. Was that my reaction to everything? "I don't follow rules." My head turned to the side to see him poking out from the end of the bookcase.
        "If I had something to throw at you right now I'd do it." Our eyes trailed down to the pen in my pocket. A smirk formed on my lips. Chris shuffled forward quickly.
        "I don't think so!" He exclaimed, reaching to pin my hands down. I backed up quickly, sliding the pen out of my pocket. An unusual noise escaped. A giggle? He jumped forward and pinned down my arms in my momentary pause.
        "Ugh! Let go!" I whined, squirming in attempt to get away. It started out fun, now it was just getting weird. Uncomfortable even. Was he trying to flirt with me? Oh god, no.
        "Give me the pen," Chris ordered in a low voice. Our eyes met for a split second before I quickly looked away. Eye contact was another thing that made me uncomfortable. I relaxed my hand as much as I could with his over them, letting the pen slip into his hand. "Now, spell pen backwards in Spanish."
        "Just let go," I squirmed again. He smirked.
        "Twenty bucks," he tried.
        "I don't think so," I muttered, finally freeing one hand. I roughly pushed him back with it. He tumbled back, catching himself before he fell. "You're a jerk." I laughed anyway.
        "So are you," he mumbled, looking down at me. My stomach clenched. I pushed past him, trying to get away from the uncomfortable situation. No way he'd been flirting with me. His girlfriend, if I may remind you about her, was like a freaking model. Besides, they were like inseparable. I knew he wasn't a player or anything because she'd been the only girl he'd been with this year. No cheating that I knew of, but it's not like I track what goes on in their lives.
        We grabbed another pair of books, and walked to the computer together. "On a serious note, why do you dislike me so much? Sometimes it seems like you want to be my friend, and then you go act all weird like I'm some kind of disease," he said quietly, tapping at the keyboard. I looked up at him in surprise.
        "I don't dislike you. I'm just not comfortable around people. I'm comfortable around Lily and Greg, but that's really it," I replied honestly. We went back around the register towards the bookshelves.
        "Why are you uncomfortable around people?" Chris asked curiously. I shrugged.
        "I guess I've just always been that way."
        "Maybe we can fix that! Step out of your comfort zone a little, and ease you into it," he suggested cheerfully. I groaned because well, I'd been hearing a lot of 'step out of your comfort zone' lately. What was with people and socializing? Everyone acts like it's such a big deal.
        "My dad said the same thing this morning," I huffed, putting another new book into the shelf. Chris raised an eyebrow. His hazel eyes met mine yet again. The corners of his lips turned upward in a smile.
        "Maybe he's right."