Will & Indie

1.

Sunshine blonde hair,

Brown eyed gaze,

Something sweet in the air;

I got lost in her haze

What a beautiful thing, love at first sight.

Will Whitlock learned all about that first sight feeling at the place he least expected: Redding's Bookstore.

"Let's go, we have to get to the YA section!" Alice pulled on her older brother's olive green flannel sleeve as she led him towards the back of the small store. Her straight-as-a-pin chestnut brown hair whipped around behind her as she sped past each section.

Will buried his hands in his pockets after being successfully dragged into Alice's bookish dreamworld. "I don't see the hurry. Don't these books all read the same?" He asked, fixing his 80's-inspired glasses. He grabbed a random book off of the crowded shelf in front of him and gestured with it dramatically. "Two 'star-crossed lovers' star in this never-before-seen will-they-won't-they romance plot with more drama than all the Hallmark movies combined. Incredibly unrealistic with just a hint of chemistry between the main characters. They don't kiss until page 5,402."

"Give me that," Alice rolled her eyes, snatching the book from Will's grasp. "What, since you're a writer, that gives you the authority to deem all books that aren't yours 'incredibly unrealistic' with characters that have 'no chemistry?'" She sighed, carefully placing the book back where it belonged.

"Well, when you put it like that, it makes me sound evil." Will shrugged. "I'm not evil, I just know that fiction should be raw and real. And, after a complex editing process and a few mental breakdowns, I'd like to say that mine is just that."

"Mhm." Alice ran her finger across each pastel-colored spine on the shelf. "If your writing rivals Shakespeare or Dickens, then how come you won't let anyone read it?" Alice asked, turning around and giving Will an "I told you so" look.

Will looked everywhere except Alice's hazel eyes, trying to find the proper comeback to match (or even exceed) her extremely high levels of sass, but his mind went blank as he fumbled over his words and ran a hand through his messy dark brown waves. "Well- um... it's just... the public eye isn't ready for such unparalleled genius yet, that's all!" He habitually squeezed the leather-bound pocket journal he carried everywhere he went, as if to whisper in its tiny, nonexistent ears, "don't worry, she didn't mean it."

Alice grabbed a lavender colored book, chuckling as she read its description. "Whatever excuse you need to disguise the fact that you're scared," Alice shrugged. She began waving her brother away. "Go look in the journal section, I know that's where you'd rather be anyway."

Will sighed, giving his sister one last look as he shook his head. "Alright. Don't get kidnapped, Buttons."

"I won't, weirdo. Leave me and my predictable plots alone," Alice laughed.

Will moseyed his way over toward the stationary section, imagining what he could use each journal for as he examined their covers and number of pages.

Just as he closed his eyes and buried his nose in a book to give it the good ol' sniff test, he felt something—or someone, rather—brush into him as they passed by, shoving him head-first back into reality's grip. Will looked around, but saw no one even remotely close to him. He peered around the journal display, but even then, he saw no one except the elderly woman behind the checkout counter.

Will absentmindedly poked a navy leather-bound journal with golden stars embedded in its cover before taking a little stroll down the neighboring aisles. It wasn't until the classics section that he noticed a curious girl with sunshine blonde locks longer than any hair he'd ever seen before. She was sporting a floral bandana over her head, bell bottom jeans, and a brown fringe vest over a white t-shirt. A mustard yellow tote bag hung loosely from her relaxed shoulders. She was turned away from him as she examined the elegant pink and gold details on the cover of Little Women.