A Paper World

See you at Six

"Ok so I need you to take Susan place at the customer service desk because she is on her lunch break." Shannon, the store manager told Alesa.
" Will do." Alesa said as enthusiastically as she could. In truth she was bored out of her mind. She thought she would walk around and talk about books the shoppers and help them choose books. But so far all she has done was shelve books and stand at the customer service desk answering stupid questions like: Do you have book two of Harry Potter? ( Of course we do its the most popular book series in the world.) Do you sell magazines? ( Yes they are right behind you).
Alesa walked over the the desk and took her spot facing towards the front of the store. A couple minutes went by and Alesa stared to get extremely bored. She debated pulling out her phone and checking Instagram, but she didn't want to get yelled at on her first day. She looked down and noticed that her right shoe came untied. She bent down to tie it and when she stood up there was a guy standing there looking around. When he saw her he smiled. His hair was black like ink and his skin was a light olive color. His eyes were hazel and they looked deep like he was older than he seemed. He had on a light blue T- shirt under an open black leather jacket.
" Um, hi can I help you?" Alesa asked, blushing a little
" Ya actually. On a scale of one to ten. how would you rate The Mortal Instruments?
Alesa was thrown off guard by this question. Why would someone ask her to rate her favorite book of all time. She would have named her cat Jace if she got him after she read the books. She had everything that they sold at Hot Topic. She was pretty much as obsessed with it as a person could get. And on top of that. A fanfic that got constantly got two thousand hits. Some people have said that her fics are better than the actual books.
"Um, well" Alesa swallowed trying to not fangirl. " I...in my opinion, it is the best thing that has been published since Harry Potter. " Alesa to a deep breath, realizing that se said that thing in one breath. " Sorry, I just really like them. The Infernal Devices too which are the backstory books."
" Would you like to show me where they are?" the boy asked. His voice was calm. Like he saw girls that fangirled near him all the time.
" Yeah sure." Alesa looked at the other girl standing at the desk, Amy. She nodded and Alesa turned back around, walked walked out of the Customer service kiosk and in front of the boy and said, "Follow me."
She walked to the teen fiction section and slid into the first aisle of books. Out of habit she walked by Mortal Instruments and slid her fingers lovingly along the covers. She turned around and gestured towards the books. " Here they are. I know the covers looked a little weird but the story is amazing."
" Thank you. And hey, don't apologize for liking something." And with that he grabbed City Of Bones and walked towards the check out.
Alesa was dazed a little. She didn't even get the boys name, and he didn't get hers. She slowly walked back to the kiosk and saw that there was a sticky note where her spot was.
Hey Alesa, my name is Max. Meet you in your living room tonight at six.
"Wait, what?" Alesa said under her breath. She started to feel a little sick. She was wearing a name tag so how would he know her name? And how did he know where she lived. Was he Mels' new boyfriend. Did Mel give him a key to their apartment? That would explain how he knew her name and how he would meet her in her apartment. Alesa slid the note into her jeans pocket. The rest of her day was slow but her mind was racing at one hundred miles per hour. Who the hell was Max. He had to be Mels new boyfriend. That was the only explanation that made sense to her. When Alesa got on the bus she got even more nervous. He didn't look or act like the kid of guy Mel would date. He was too smooth and not very edgy, sure he wore a leather jacket and black combat boots with jeans. But he was way to gentle. When she got home she looked at her watch. 5:45. She unlocked the door and saw that Mel was sitting in the couch watching Sherlock. She paused the T.V. when she heard Alesa walk in.
" Hey do you have a boyfriend named Max? " Alesa asked has she flopped on the couch.
" Nope but I do know a guy named Max." Mel said scooting to a corner of the couch to give Alesa some room.
" Really? " Alesa asked. She was starting to calm down a little. So Max did know Mel. Knowing Mel she probably friend zoned him but they are close enough friends where he has a key the their apartment.
" Yeah, he is a barista at the Starbucks down the street. Why do you want to know?"
" Oh no reason." Alesa said looking at her watch. 5:55. "So what episode?"
" Sign of Three. I haven't cried yet." Mel stretched out putting her feet up on the coffee table
" Well you will." Alesa said.
Mel un-paused the T.V and Sherlock stood up and cleared his throat. At that moment the book case moved and a blinding light came from behind it. Alesa curled up into the corner of the couch and squinting at the light. Mel just kept watching Sherlock like this sort of thing happens every day. A boy stepped out of the light. Black hair, blue T-Shirt, combat boots. It was Max. Alesa looked down at her watch. 5:59.
"Hello Alesa." Max said pushing the book case back in place. " Mel." he said lifting his chin at her roommate.
" Well Alesa you were right about The Mortal Instruments." Max said sitting down on the couch in-between them and gabbed the bowl of popcorn