Free Fall (Harry Styles)

Chapter Four

My week proceeds as usual. There are no more run-ins with asshole celebrities and constant the calls and texts from Oliver have begun to slow. Since their interaction on Monday, Marley has been absolutely amazing. Every night after work we order take out and me, Marley, adn Fenway cuddle and binge trashy television. Days at work are slow but it's better that way. It's finally Friday and I find myself sitting in the reading nook in the corner of the store, re-reading one of my favorite books Of Mice and Men. When I first read this book, I was in seventh grade and automatically hated it solely because it was assigned reading; as much as I love reading, nothing makes me hate a book more than when I'm told I have to read it, especially as an angsty 13 year old. As I sit in a beanbag, enjoying the tale of friendship, I hear the little bell on the door ring, singnaling that a customer has come in. I get up and walk to the front, pleased to see the usual group of high schoolers that always come by after school on Fridays. I immediately recognize them: Finn, a tall and lanky boy with dark hair, Arabella, an extremely tall girl with long blonde hair littered with streaks of bright blue dye, and Iris, a sweet and very short girl with dark brown hair, almost black, and bright green eyes. All three of them travel in a pack, all wearing dark clothes to show how angsty they are and how much they claim to hate the world. But in all honesty, they are such sweet kids and they really remind me of myself when I was their age, especially Iris.

"Topanga! We missed you!" Iris exclaims when she sees me. They really are such sweet kids. "Iris! Finn! Arabella! My favorite high schoolers! I've missed you. How have you been? How's school? Still kicking your asses? And still giving your teachers a hard time I'm guessing?" I respond with a smile and a playful tone; they are one of the reasons I love my job. "Oh don't even get me started," Finn sighs, "Iris got kicked out of class for calling America the armpit of the world." I immediately bust out in laughter and Iris blushes. "I know as an American I should be offended but I can't disagree with that," I laugh at the thought of a teacher having to kick out a small spunky teenager from class for saying something so silly. She wasn't wrong though, especially with all the political shit going on back at home. "Well I'm glad to hear you all are raising hell. So, tell me about the books you've been reading. I see you came back with annotations," I gesture to their books filled with bookmarks and post-it notes. I always recommend them books every Friday and every following Friday they return with their thoughts and bring me the books they have marked up so I can see their thoughts. "Um, ya about that... why the fuck didn't you tell me Taylor Jenkins Reid was going to rip my heart out and shit on it?!" Arabella says in reference to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo that I had recommended to her. I let out a loud laugh and we go sit in the book nook and talk about the three different books they each read as I soak up all their youthful wonderment and their undeniable love for literature.

After about an hour, the three kids leave and I return to stockpiling our recent shipment. "Oh Topanga, you've been working to hard!" Mr. Grant says as he strolls over, "it's a Friday! You should be out having fun doing whatever you kids do. The shop is a ghost town, why don't you leave early and I'll lock up?" I immediately recognize this as an attempt by Mr. Grant to get me to go out and make friends that aren't old bookstore owners, my roommate, or my cat. "I see what you're trying to do Mr. Grant and it's not going to work!!" I retort, seeing through his words. "How about this: if you leave early, I won't complain about you aging me by calling me Mr. Grant? I think that's a fair trade!" He responds and I chuckle. "Fine," I give in, "but only because you gave me a deal I can't refuse. You know me too well!" I relent, pack up my stuff, wish Mr. Grant a good weekend, and begin my walk home. When I get home, I immediately go and cuddle with Fenway, she always smells like fritos and is my own personal heater. "Hi beautiful girl! I've missed you so much," I whisper to her as she purrs and stretches herself on the couch. "How was your day?" I ask as if she can reply. "Well my day was good, thank you for asking! I saw the kids and read Of Mice and Men for the hundredth time." I lay with Fenway for a bit and play with her but I am immediately ignored when I turn of her floppy fish toy. "Wow I see where your loyalty lays, Fen." I take advantage of Marley not being home from work yet to take a long and well-deserved everything shower. I blast my playlist that's comprised solely of Rainbow KItten Surprise as I completely cleanse myself of all the stress from the past few days. At least once a week I let myself take these absurdly long showers where I absolutely pamper myself; I put in a hair mask, exfoliate my whole body, shave my entire body of the ha--ir that always seems to grow back 5 minutes after shaving, and just let myself relax in the way-too-hot water. After my shower, I dry off and moisturize my whole body, wrap my long brown, almost black, hair in a towel, put on my fuzzy robe, and slip on my bright orange fuzzy slippers. I make myself a cup of tea, how Biritsh of me! and lay on my bed and open up a book of poems, a new arrival the store had gotten that week. As I read, Fenway nuzzles herself inbetween my armpit and my bed, purring with content.