The Opposite of Love

Ch 18

"I'm Kelly, and this dufus is Jonathan," the young girl said, gesturing to the boy next to her. He wore baggy black jeans, a black hoodie, and a scowl. Kelly was about as opposite as one could be from him: her rainbow leggings, hot pink tee shirt, and multicolor-streaked brunette hair complimented her positive attitude well.

"It's Johnny," the boy corrected, glaring at Kelly before lazily glancing around. "This building seems a little small for all the stuff you sell."

Was that an insult or a compliment?

"I've noticed that, too," I said, taking the comment as simply an observation. I smiled and introduced myself, holding out my hand. Kelly shook it; Johnny looked at it and promptly ignored it.

"Well," I said, dropping my hand, "let's get started, shall we?"

"Absolutely!" Kelly said brightly.

"Whatever," Johnny muttered, fiddling with a shoe on the shelf next to him.

This might be a little more difficult that I had originally predicted.

I decided the best way to begin was with a question. "I learn best by doing. How about you guys?"

"That sounds like me," Kelly said cheerfully.

"And you, Johnny?" I asked after a moment.

"I guess."

"Okay, so how about we all just behave like you two have just been hired here and I'm training you? Is that okay?"

"That sounds perfect," Kelly said enthusiastically.

Johnny just replied with "whatever" again. I was beginning to think that was about the extent of his vocabulary.

"Wonderful. Would you like aprons, or shall we skip that part?"

"Skip," Johnny said somehow both quickly and lazily, and popping his "p" as he did.

Kelly rolled her eyes at him and then told me she would love an apron.

"Right this way."

After Kelly was aproned, I led them to the back room and began working on the things I had been putting off until this moment. I explained what I was doing as I did it and then gave both kids a chance to try it. On occasion, I added a little embellishment: an extra flip or two of a tool here, a backward toss of a wad of tissue paper into the trash there. Kelly enjoyed it all, but Johnny still seemed completely bored.

After a few get-to-know-you questions while we worked, I asked them both why they chose to shadow at The Shoe Shoppe, out of all the places in town.

Kelly was the first to reply, as predicted. "I just love it here. I probably spend as much time in here as some of the employees do."

"So, you buy a lot of shoes?" I asked.

"Oh, no. I am happy with what I already have, and there's no way I would have enough money to buy a new pair every time I come in here. No, I come here to people-watch."

"People-watch?" Johnny asked, sounding genuinely curious. I was surprised: he did care about something, even if it was just a tiny bit.

Kelly seemed flustered at the fact that Johnny was actually listening to her. "I, uh... Well, sometimes, I just..." She was looking intensely at the laces she was tying as if it was the most difficult thing in the world. "...I just sit on one of the benches for trying shoes on, and I just... watch people. The people that come into the store."

"Like a stalker?" Johnny smirked.

"No, Jonathan," she said, drawing out his full name and wiping the smug look off of his face. She seemed to enjoy calling him that simply because he didn't like it. "Like a scientist, making an observation."