Sonder • Book 2 In THe Reality Series

Luke

"Do you have the lime green speedo in a size extra large?"

Looking up from the fish print moo moo I was folding, my eyes scanned the empty knick knack crammed shop before landing on a rather large, rather sweaty man stood near the bathing suits.

"What you see is what you get." I replied in a voice which I hoped sounded somewhat sympathetic.

"Maybe you can help me then." said a wide woman wearing a bathing suit beneath a coverup which just barely managed to cover her crotch and rear end.

My eyes landing on a patch of curly, dark hair poking from beneath her bathing suit I forced my gaze upwards to her face.

"How can I help you?" I questioned, feeling as if I were talking to some sort of villainous fiend since her face was shadowed beneath her nearly foot long visor.

Eagerly, as if she'd expected me to say no, she held up a post card with a butt naked old man on it.

"Do you have stamps?"

"Stamps? I can tell you where to get stamps!" An all too familiar voice rang out.

Annoyance leaking from every pore, I watched as my dad dropped the stack of boxes in his hands before striding forward towards the woman.

"The mystic market three stores down has stamps." He informed her, "Tell her tony sent you and she'll cut you a deal."

Grinning, flashing his uncomfortably white teeth, my dad reached up and smoothed down his bleached blonde hair which was a sharp contrast to his burnt, bus son looking skin.

Tall, built like Jonny Bravo, buff on top with a miniature waist, and child like twig legs, his physical appearance summed up the small beach shop which we owned accurately.

The place was a pit. Dingy and swelteringly hit three hundred and sixty-five days a year, the small shop was what I envisioned hell to be.
A small shoe box of a building with lights too bright, sand covered tile floors and shelves and racks and displays of shit.

Shitty t-shirts saying things like, "I went to Heck Ville!" "What the Heck Vill?!" "I had s Heck Of A Time In Heck Ville." and my personal favorite, "Mommy And Daddy Made Me In Heck Ville. Shitty trinkets like shot glasses, shovels and buckets, breast shaped mugs and sun faded magnets. Shitty souvenirs like stale key lime pie, expired  coconut clusters, star fish plucked from their homes and dried, which had been sitting there since my birth and "I went to Heck Ville bongs". There was also shit, in the most literal since of the word. An entire corner of the store was reserved to poo themed gag products, included but not limited too, fake dog poop, a fake log to leave in the toilet, shit flavored candy, several,   "I pooped today!" pins, magnets and visors, there was even a crap scented candle.

I hated the store, with a passion hotter then the devil's gaping ass hole after eating a bowl ghost pepper salsa, however several times a week my dad called me in, promising me money which he never followed through with.

It wasn't that he actually needed me. He could run the store alone, a toddler could run the place with ease, however when he was out wining and dining the barely legal girls vacationing in town, someone had to be left in charge of the pit.

Here's the thing about my Dad, he's literally the most disgusting guy on the planet. He's like all the bad parts of Donald Trump, the white guy one of the Kardashians has kids with and Justin Bieber,  rolled up into one like a blunt, and smoked by every corny eighties movie actor ever.

I hate going to the store and having to engage in awkward, forced conversation, however a job was a job and it was easy work, so I put up with it.

Finishing folding the stack of moo moos on the counter, I looked up to make sure my dad was too busy flirting with the woman on front counter to pay me any attention, before pulling my phone from my pocket.

As expected I had several missed texts.

"Are you not coming to school today?" My best friend, Calum questioned.

"You missed it, we had burritos for lunch." My other friend Michael informed me.

As well as a variety of others, mostly from Calum.

Sighing, I glanced back at my dad and finding him still preoccupied, hastily typed a reply.

"I'm working the out today."

Immediately, a row of bubbles appeared as Calum types his rebuttal.

"That's the third time this week!"

"I know :("

"You should move in with me. My dad would skin me alive and make a new couch if I skipped school."

Smirking, I started to reply when I was startled by a large hand on my shoulder.

Confused I looked up to find my dad, only realizing that he took my phone when my eyes wandered to his hand where it was held.

"Kids and their cell phones." He laughed, "This is my son Luke. Luke, this is Rachel."

Tensing my shoulder I looked up to the small, dark haired, womanly built woman stood In front of me.

Her skin was milky,  her lips a dark shade of pinkish red like a pomegranate and her wide doe like eyes were a warm and inviting chocolatey color. She looked like Snow White.

I wondered if she was. We got that a lot, the Disney world cast members spending their weekends payed out like beaches. It was interesting certainly but also felt vaguely wrong. It was Prince Charming and Li Shang doing it in the hotel my Mom owned, while Bell, Ariel and John Smith got it on down the hall, that ruined my child hood.

"Nice to meet you Luke." Rachel greeted, her voice too high pitched, syrupy and perfect not to be a Disney princess.

"Hi." I answered, wondering why my Dad was introducing us.

He was probably going to marry her. He'd done that before only to get a divorce a month later. Snow White seemed to pretty for that though, she was classically beautiful while the other women were just hot.

"Rachel just moved in nearby." Dad informed me, "She's going to be working your school?"

Immediately I frowned. There were s few older people trying to get their degree at my school, however none of them were actual adults and none of them were even remotely attractive and all of them had scars and dents in their arms from shooting Heroin.

"Isn't she a little old? I demanded.

"Luke!" My Dad yelled, while Rachel burst into laughter which seemed to echo through the small store like music.

"I'm a teacher." She informed me, still giggling, "Not a student."

"Oh." I said slowly, wondering what class she taught, probably an elective, she looked like an elective teacher.

"I'll be teaching art." She informed me, seeming to read my mind.

That made since, our school went through art teachers like Hogwarts ran through Defense Against The Dark Arts teachers.

"Do take art?" She questioned.

I nodded.

"Well then I'll see you around Luke." She said kindly, "Thank you Mr. Hemmings,  for the directions."

"Please call me Tony." He chucked, flexing his biceps as he flattened his hair, "And anytime."

Blushing, Rachel waved to me before slipping out of the Pit, the bell above the door jingling behind her.

The enchanting aura which clung to her, disappearing with her, I turned to the stack of golf  tees in front of me and began folding. The humid day somehow a little less mundane then it was before.