The Bookstore

Chapter 9

        "Have you heard they're making a movie for one of John Green's books?" Greg dished eagerly. Lily gave a slightly dramatic gasp and leaned in.
        "Which one," she asked, her eyes full of excitement. Greg gave her a huge grin. "It's A Fault in Our Stars, isn't it?" He continued to grin at her. Lily gave a quiet squeal. Obviously her favorite book. Mine's still Before I Fall, even though A Fault in Our Stars made me cry like a kid who scraped her knee for the first time.
        "Jane, we have to go see it with Lily," Greg enthused. "Jane?" I blinked and quickly looked at him.
        "Yeah?" I murmured lightly. I shook my head. "I mean yeah, yeah of course." I turned to look at Lily. She stared at me dubiously.
        "You've been staring at nothing with this dreamy smile on your face for the past ten minutes, Jane. What's up," she inquired. Her uneven bangs rustled as her eyes moved. I squinted at them.
        "You need to trim your bangs, Lil," I stated. Her hand reached up to touch her hair defensively. Greg studied them for a quick second.
        "They're in your eyes, sweetie," he said gently. He narrowed his eyes at me. "Don't think that'll get you out of this, Jane Adeline Reynolds. Who is he? Don't even try to fake me out, I know these things." I cringed when my middle name passed his lips. Lily grinned at me, forgetting about her hair dilemma.
        "You like someone!" she squealed happily. I stared at my two best friends in anguish. They stared back. If there was one thing I hated worse than having a crush on someone, it would be someone else finding out about it. Greg somehow always knows when Lily or myself is indulging in our eye candy of however long the crush lasts. He's a flaming flamingo, that's how he always explains his knowing of our latest crush. I don't think it has anything to do with sexuality more than the fact that we both have a glazed over, dreamy expression the whole day. Sexuality or dreamy crush face, Greg always knew.
        You might be thinking I'm being ridiculous in running through every horrific scenario in my head right as we stared, but trust me-
        "I bet he's a total babe," Lily sighed. Greg waved his fingers dismissively.
        "Of course he is. Boys are cute," he replied like it was obvious. I watched them banter back and forth about my possible crushes.
        "Hunter Ulset?"
        "Way to emotional for her taste. Oo what about Benton Sanders?"
        "Way to antisocial. What about Kyle Oswic?"
        I grimaced at the thought.
        "He's a dick," Greg muttered. "How about-"
        "Chris Hammons."
        Lily and Greg's mouths snapped shut and their head swiftly turned to me in a creepy unison. I looked down at my hands while my face heated up. The silence was too long and far too awkward. "I know," I said quietly, trying to break the silence.
        "Well, I definitely wasn't expecting it to be him," Greg coughed awkwardly. Lily pushed up her glasses.
        "I could write a book longer than the Harry Potter series combined about every mean thing you've said about him," she agreed. The two exchanged a glance. I threw my hands up defensively.
        "A crush is a crush," Greg backed quickly. I tore my eyes away from my hands to look at both of them. They looked sincere enough. A grin broke out across my face.
        "I love you guys," I mused. "Okay, enough of that. A Fault in Our Stars?"

        "Jane, could you come h- agh!" I peeked around the bookcase. Chris sprawled across the floor with a few books spread out around him. I snorted in laughter.
        "Did you just fall off of a chair? You're like twenty feet tall, why do you need a chair?" I laughed, holding my stomach. He glared up at me.
        "Yeah, yeah. I was trying to shelve these books way up there," he muttered grumpily. I stepped up to him and began picking up the fallen books.
        "You couldn't just get the ladder?"
        Chris stood up and brushed himself off. "I couldn't find it." I pointed to the corner behind him. His eyes followed where my finger pointed. "Oh." I smirked again.
        "Did you even look?"
        "The chair was sitting here anyways. So, I thought it'd be easier to just use it," he explained, picking up another book.
        "You're so-"
        "Jane! Chris!" A worried voice called from the front. Chris met my eyes with the same worry.
        "Dave?" I called back, pushing past Chris. I jogged down the aisle. Dave was staring down at papers on the counter. "What's wrong?"
        His old eyes glanced up at us hopelessly. "I just opened this notice that I have 30 days to get all of my stuff out of this lot." I pushed my hair back with both of my hands and turned around to look at Chris. He'd just come to a stop as I turned around. His eyes darted in between Dave and I.
        "What's wrong?" he repeated my question. Chris stared at me as Dave answered.
        "I have to close Bailey's Books."