My drive to town was pretty nice.
The morning dew on the grass sparkled like glitter. The weather was just right. The radio was playing a The Door's song. I grinned slightly. The day had a rough morning, but was starting to improve.
My eye became blinded from a shining light.
The source of the light came from a reflection of metal. I covered my eyes for quick second.
Then, I saw a fast moving figure by the side of the car.
Bruce!
I had always been good friends with Bruce.
Even though I could never match his popularity status, we still found a way to hang around school.
"Hey, 'Butter Fingers' Bruce!"
Bruce snapped his neck towards my now-slowing car.
He was riding his bike. He always was. It was his love and joy, besides baseball.
He grinned at me. He earned the nickname "Butter Fingers" from a game of ball we had once.
Flashback to Fall of 77'
I had hit the ball with his bat.
The ball traveled far, flying into the sky as if it was taking off like an airplane.
Bruce was running out on the field, cockily smirking at me.
He was fully confident he would catch the ball. Welp, he didn't. It stormed very hard the other day and mud found home on the grass.
Let's just say he wearily came back from his attempt all muddy and wet.
I always laughed about the incident, also bringing the event up at every hang out we had. He was very embarrassed after that day.
He then made sure every ball game he had was scheduled a day without mud and puddles.
End Flashback
He stopped his bike.
"Oh, hey! Where you heading?"
"Just into town, to the general store"
"Nice. I'm doing my normal route, I guess"
He gripped tight on the handles of his bicycle.
He looked ahead at the road as if he was ready to face a challenge.
"Good for you. I need to ride my bike more often, if I'm being honest"
Bruce looked at my window, thinking about what I had said.
He smirked as he began to respond.
"Well, Im always here to help. I'm a good teacher, you know?"
He winked at me as he began to ride off without warning.
I looked at his figure riding away from me.
A slight blush fell on my cheeks.
He was such a charmer. I smirked at the thought of his words.
Maybe I did find Bruce somewhat attractive.
I waved the thought off quickly and drove towards my destination.
9am
I pulled into the general store.
The place was pretty run down and in need of a renovation.
My family isn't full of riches but isn't dirt poor. So, we shopped at the middle class general store.
The place was a pretty popular spot for stoners and troubled teens.
I was both of those types of kids.
I turned off the ignition, sitting in the car for a moment.
Out of feeling, I looked into my rear view mirror.
A black van.
Strange.
I got a weird, unusual feeling in my stomach.
A wave of queasiness covered me.
Something was off about that van.
Whatever it was.
I brought myself back to my main mission.
Lunch supplies.
I never needed a list anymore. After the amount of times I've made my trips to the store, I had memorized every item.
I hopped out of the car. Some stares were fed my way.
One of those was from a boy who looked tough and confident.
I had recognized him as a boy named "Robin"
Phillip had told me about him at his school.
Robin was a fighter, not scared of anyone or anything.
Phillip liked Robin a lot. Phillip was pretty shy and timid kid, so I always get why Phillip was more drawn to Robin because he was what he wished he could be.
Phillip had tried getting me to show my karate moves to Robin. But those moves were from 5th grade and were pretty rusty.
I decided to walk up to Robin.
"Hey, I'm Y/n! I'm Phillip's older sister"
I crossed my arms across my chest.
"Cool. I'm Robin"
"Yeah, I know. Phillip likes talking about you a lot"
Robin perked up some after me saying he was talked about.
"Really? I didn't know Phillip thought I was that interesting"
Robin looked off.
"Well, he really looks up to you. He wants to be a 'fighter' just like you"
Robin smiled.
Robin seemed as if he never heard compliments before. He seemed refreshed to hear something nice for once.
"If he wants some lessons, tell him to stop being a wuss and watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre with me"
I laughed at Robin's comment. My brother was a scaredy cat when it came to the horror genre.
"Robin, it was nice talking to you, but I need to get these groceries I've been needing"
"Okay, bye!"
"Bye!"
I waved off as I entered the store.
The clinging of the door's bell echoed the store.
The store was slightly quiet with a very annoyed cashier working the counter.
I waved with smile at the guy working.
"Why are you so happy, lady? That kid back there won't stop playing our pinball machine and I need to fix it from all his anger marks"
The guy muttered from his boredom sunk face.
Oh, god.
"Pinball" Vance.
