tattoos // lashton

six.

- Luke -

I grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans and a Nirvana shirt, putting them on then grabbing my black converse. Calum started work before I did, so I was going to go buy a coffee from him before I went to work. It felt weird to say that I was going to work. I normally would've been fired by now. It's my second day, if that says anything.

I left the apartment, then went back inside to grab my phone. Then left again, then went back inside to grab my jean jacket since it was kind of cold. I almost left again, but stopped myself to get my lanyard with my name tag. After making sure I had everything, I left the apartment and started walking to Barnes & Noble. Today already sucked and it was only seven in the morning. I don't know why I got up this early. My shift starts at nine. I guess I just planned to hang out with Calum for awhile.

I went to the Starbucks counter when I entered Barnes & Noble. None of the other workers acknowledged me since they knew that I would want Calum to take my order. When he did, I ordered a Vanilla Latte and Calum went to go make it. I looked over at the counter where books were paid for instead of coffee. I expected to see the cute boy that worked there, but he wasn't there.

"His shift starts at ten." Calum said. I jumped, turning back to face him. 

"How'd you know I was looking for him?" I asked. He shrugged.

"I just know. I've known you since third grade, for Christ's sake." He said, laughing. I laughed, too.

"You already know he's not the one, so why have you been asking about him?" Calum asked, handing me my coffee. I took it and gave him a confused look.

"I've never talked to him." I said. He gave me a shocked look. I took a sip of my coffee.

"You haven't?" Calum said. 

"No, I haven't." I confirmed. 

"Then why the hell are you still talking to me? Go talk to him!" Calum said, giving me a shove. I grabbed the counter to keep myself from falling. 

"He's not here." I said. 

"Oh, yeah." Calum said. I laughed. That was Calum. He tells me something and then forgets not even two minutes later. You got to love him, though. It's against the law to do anything other than love him.

"I'm hanging out here until my shift starts." I said. Calum nodded. I went off to look at books while Calum continued to do his job. 

~

I walked into work with a Barnes & Noble bag in my hand. I put my stuff in it then put it in the work room. Michael was already here, sitting behind the counter. He started an hour before I did. It was a Thursday, so we wouldn't get very many customers until later in the day. 

"Hey." I greeted Michael, grabbing a box of things that needed to be put up in the store. He just waved since he was busy with a customer. I started folding shirts and placing them in the right spot. I tried to make it into a game by singing parts from a song by the bands on the shirts. It was quite fun. If it was a show, I would name the main character from the show. I didn't know some of the animes. I would just put those shirts up and move on. 

I kept doing this until a girl came up to me. As soon as she said hello, I didn't like her. I didn't know why. Just something about her gives off this bitchy aroma.

"Will you show me where the Nirvana shirts are?" She asked. I nodded, pointing to a couple spots that had Nirvana shirts. She looked at them.

"You've probably never heard of this band, have you? They're not that known. You might hear their new music when they release it." She said. I looked at her, then at my shirt, then back at her again. Then I realized that she didn't even know that they weren't a band before. They probably broke up before she was even born. I was kind of excited. Was I about to have my first bad experience with a customer?

"I grew up listening to the band." I said. I was going to let her find out herself that she was wrong about everything that she just said. She nodded, but didn't look like she believed me.

"Right." She said, grabbing a shirt and walking away. It took a lot to not slap her, but I somehow managed. I don't know why she annoyed me, but she did. Was she was just getting that shirt for the aesthetic or something? Whatever. I don't even care.

"Dude, I'm sorry you had to just help her." Michael said when she left. I laughed.

"Pity me." I said. Michael laughed.

"I told her. When she was checking out, I told her about how sad I was that I wasn't alive when they were a band. She just looked embarrassed and she said she agreed and then she left really quickly." Michael said. I laughed and hit his shoulder lightly.

"I wish I could've seen that. I've never wanted to slap someone as much as I did right then." I said and we laughed. Then he went to serve a girl with blonde hair and a pink and blue flannel tied around her waist. I went back to playing my song and character game until my shift ended. Michael invited me to go get some food with him, but I declined, since it was pizza night (which was every night besides Saturday and Sunday) at my apartment. He laughed and said he would've chose that, too. I waited outside the mall for Calum to pick me up. When he did, we went to go get the pizza he ordered. 

I was just happy that my shitty morning resulted in a not really shitty day.

~

A/N:

yeah boring chapter 

ily.

-jc