𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 ༊*·˚ 𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧

𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞.

|ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ| ʏᴜᴍᴍʏ ɢɪɴɢᴇʀʙʀᴇᴀᴅʜᴇᴀᴅs & ᴜɴʀᴇǫᴜɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴄʀᴜsʜᴇs

Two hours of tireless searching later...

  I settled into the revamped employee lounge, now a makeshift rehearsal space for Austin and Ally, and my gaze locked onto the piano as if it concealed cosmic secrets. After an entire afternoon of combing through the store's every nook and cranny, my efforts bore no fruit. Not a trace of my beloved iPod—it vanished as if it had grown tiny legs and scampered off on an epic journey. I could have filled a stadium with the tears I fought back, mourning its disappearance. But weeping? That was off the table, especially after my last outburst had left my manager with a nervous tic and my paycheck in shambles from covering the damages.

  Resigned, I unleashed a sigh hefty enough to flatten a parade float and decided to drown my sorrows. I reached for my trusty Strawberry Kiwi Capri Sun; its liquid is more divine than ambrosia. Each sip whispered life's secrets into my soul. But my culinary escapade didn't end there. A gingerbread house, wildly misplaced in spring, beckoned me from the fridge—a sugary siren call I couldn't resist.

  Stumbling upon such a confectionery anachronism should've perplexed any sane person. Yet, there I was, on a mission to anesthetize my emotions with a candy-coated binge. My former therapist would be having a heyday watching me spiral into these saccharine coping mechanisms. But let's face it—impending dental woes and a few pounds were the least of my concerns. Gumdrops, peppermints, and malted milk balls became my allies in this mad quest for equilibrium, even if it meant enduring a dentist's scolding worse than a sailor's tirade.

  As I indulged in solitary bliss, demolishing the gingerbread abode bite by bite, I reveled in a confectionary nirvana. It was my tiny triumph amid a sea of setbacks. But of course, tranquility was but a fleeting guest. The door burst open, and I turned, my heart sinking at the sight of my solitude's saboteurs. Remember my claim of unassailable bliss? Scratch that. They were the exception—masters of my undoing.

  Enter the twin agents of mayhem. There went my cherished isolation. With my break nearly over, I belted out a resounding "No!" stretching the syllable to its limits to underscore my absolute disinterest in their upcoming antics. And for good measure, I added a vehement "Hell no," gesturing them back to their point of origin.

  But Dez, true to his nature, had already launched into his antics. I tensed as he approached, sniffing around me like a hound on the hunt. Suppressing the urge to push him away, I remembered the legal headaches that would follow. Austin, ever the enabler, sealed our fate by closing the door, oblivious or indifferent to the brewing storm.

  Dez, undeterred by my withering glare, continued his peculiar quest. He nudged me aside with the subtlety of a wrecking ball, sending me grasping for the piano for balance. As I steadied myself, a cacophony of notes erupted. "Found it!" he exclaimed, unfazed.

  Austin, ever supportive, marveled, "Your nose is a marvel!"

  Internally chanting "Lawsuit, Vesper, lawsuit," I bit back my fury and fixed them with a scowl to keep my composure.

  Dez, addressing Austin as though I were invisible, declared, "It wasn't the scent of the book that led me here," disregarding my presence entirely. I focused on the word "book"—Ally's songbook—and demanded an explanation. My gaze darted between them, trying to discern if they realized how close I was to throttling them.

  Yet they continued to ignore me as if I were part of the furniture. Dez, grinning, revealed, "I used it as the roof for my gingerbread house." It all clicked; the gingerbread house was his doing. That explained its presence in the fridge in May. A wave of anger and disbelief crashed over me. How had my insatiable hunger blinded me to the fact that Ally's songbook was repurposed as a pastry shingle? My musing was interrupted by an uncontrollable burp. My hand instinctively thumps my chest. My face flushed with embarrassment, realizing I had just burped in front of them. Their shocked expressions only heightened my wish for the earth to swallow me whole.