In A Perfect World

Chapter One

Working ten hour shifts on an 85 degree day should be illegal. Seriously, quote that in the autobiography I probably won't ever finish writing. Or start writing. Either way, it was absolutely ridiculous that I should be standing in front of a desk covered in empty gum wrappers and forgotten receipts thinking about bills to pay, or whether Cassie has enough food for school tomorrow, or if that cute boy earlier was checking out my boobs or my AC/DC t-shirt. Yet there I stood, with my thick hair tied in a messy knot on top of my head to keep my neck cool, staring mindlessly at our empty store.

Apparently CDs and vinyls were only cool because nobody bought them, and owning something that 'nobody owned' immediately made you cool. Not. Honestly, I couldn't give a rat's ass about whether their vinyl player at home made their Starbuck's-drenched hipster hearts happy or not – it just ensured the shop stayed open and that I had a job. But today seemed to be a day that sucked more than the busy ones; slow days meant the hours felt longer and boy did I not need that.

I took a seat, deciding that my feet deserved a rest from all the walking I wasn't doing. It was a long walk home anyway so really I was just saving energy, or contributing to my laziness. It depends on how you saw it. I pulled my second-hand phone out of my pocket and opened the music app out of habit, but then decided to keep it; this store was in the desperate need of some background music. Could even speed up time. We need something upbeat but not too pop-y, with just a bit of rock and heavy instrumental, maybe some catchy bass...

Ding.

I looked up so quickly I nearly let my phone drop to the ground. Luckily, my thunder-thighs were so smooshed together that they provided a lovely little cushion for my phone to land into and even bounce back slightly. Wow, what an ego-builder right there. My thoughts were soon forgotten, however, when my eyes drifted to the young boy whose eyes were scanning the room like a secret agent on a mission.

 He'd just entered the store and I couldn't help but be a wee bit surprised; he couldn't have been much older than twelve. This kid definitely didn't fit into the normal crowd I normally saw prowling around here. He was tall for his age, so skinny that a gust of wind could have knocked him over, and he was wearing a jacket on an 85 degree day. Zipped up.

"Hey, kid," I called out to him, my voice cracking from not speaking for a couple of hours. Fuck, I needed water badly. Or a beer. Hell, I needed a new life, but I'd just settle for an alcoholic beverage at the present moment.

He lifted his head and looked straight at me, his dark eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights. "You need help looking for anything?" I asked, my voice sounding softer than earlier. He stared at me for a second, blinked, and then shook his head. Not a single word left his lips.

"All right," I shrugged to myself, letting the kid continue on his CD-locating escapade. I, on the other hand, decided to plug my phone into the store's stereo system. Chris, our manager who'd ended up buying a music store due to a mid-life crisis, didn't give a shit about what we did to the place. We just had four rules – remember to lock it up after our shift, keep the place looking somewhat respectable, no freebies, and don't let kids steal shit.

Other than Chris and I, there was only one other person that worked here. His name was Jackson, or Jack, or Jacko, or Jackie, or Jay, or whatever the hell you wanted to call him. He had more nicknames than he had fingers. Jay was actually a pretty decent person but his problem was that Chris wouldn't let him work the same shifts as me; Jay wouldn't concentrate on anything but trying to get into my pants. Like I said, nice guy, but totally didn't care about his job at all. That was exactly why I got the most shifts.

I wasn't complaining; I needed the money.

Living by yourself in the middle of a city at the age of twenty-one was a lot harder than I'd thought. I mean, I didn't really have much of a choice considering my circumstances, but still...somebody should really lower the cost of living. Bills, rent, food, electricity, it all had to be paid for. I didn't even have my own car. And my sister...well, that was another story. She came before everything and I was blessed to have a semi-decent paying job that allowed me to accommodate for those aspects of my life.