Cigarettes

ch. 1

The crisp fall air bit at my cheeks as I walked up the stairs to my favorite place in the world. The local vinyl shop. I do not work here, but my constant visits could have fooled anyone. As I walked through the door, the bell above my head rung. The owner of the shop, Kenny Chennai, waved me hello before resuming his discussion with a customer. My dad and Kenny had been childhood best friends, and when my dad passed away, Kenny took me under his wing. This place is a second home to me.

My fingers softly ran over the spines of the records, and as I was debating on whether to purchase Nirvana or The Foo Fighters, someone yanked open the front door. A boy around my age walked through. He was insanely tall, clothed in all black, and he was coming my way. My head shot down to the records I was flipping through, my face heating up. The store went completely silent, not including the music playing through the speakers. I could hear footsteps coming to stand beside me, but my eyes stayed glued to the albums.

"You should just get them both. It's pointless to decide, they're both awesome records." While I knew he had been at my side, his words made me jump. He spoke slightly too loud for saying something to a person next to him, and his voice was rough. I glanced up at his face.

"Well, you aren't wrong, but I already made my decision." I said, raising my voice to the same volume that he had used.

"Oh, yeah?" I nodded, "What's it going to be then?" He pulled his hands out of his pockets, crossing them over his chest.

I tripped over my words, but managed to choke out a small, "both of them." He remained quiet for a few moments before laughing loudly. His laughter cut through the air with an occasional snort here and there. Before I knew it, I was quietly laughing along. We finally sobered up after what seemed like forever.

"My name is Lilian." I offered my hand.

"The name's Tyler," he shook my hand, "so, Lilian, wanna get out of here?"

I nodded, leaving with a bag of records and Tyler by my side.