to the moon. /m.c./

t h r e e

 I was putting away the last of the books for the day when I got startled by a presence behind me. I jumped and lost my balance, falling backwards onto the ground, books flying everywhere. When I looked up to see who had scared me, my eyes met a familiar pair of green crinkly ones.

"Didn't mean to scare you," he said, crouching down and offering me a hand. "It's just...it's almost six and I was worried you'd forget."

I smiled a little bit and then took his hand and stood. "Don't worry, I just have to put these books back and then my shift's over."

Michael smiled. "Okay. I'll be over here waiting until you're done."

I smiled to myself and grabbed the remaining books, quickly stuffing them back where they belonged. I then made my way over to the employee lockers and changed out of my uniform and into my street clothes. After applying just a little bit of mascara and lip stain, I made my way back over to Michael.

"Hey," I said, smiling.

Michael smiled back. "You look beautiful. Ready to go?"

I nodded and pulled on my jacket. "Ready." We walked outside and across the street into the coffeeshop and sat at a small table. "So," I began, a smile on my face, "did you start either book?"

Michael shook his head. "I was...er...busy last night."

"Oh, doing what?"

He obviously didn't want to respond, and so he looked at me, desperate to change the subject. "Uh, what would you like to have?"

I looked down at my hands, feeling slightly awkward. "Just normal coffee's alright with me." I glanced back up at him. "I started reading Dracula. Just the first few pages, I didn't have much time between shifts today."

Michael smiled at me. "Did you like it so far?"

I nodded. "It's really good."

With another smile, Michael stood and went to the register, ordering our coffees. As he sat back down, he placed his hand on top of mine, sending my heart into a frenzy. "I'll pay."

Once the coffee arrived, we were already deep in conversation, talking about all of the books and music we loved, and I was really growing to like this boy.

He and I ended up getting seconds, which I regretted just a bit for making me hyper.

I was in the middle of reaching for a napkin when I knocked over Michael's cup, spilling coffee everywhere. My face went bright red as I stared at him.

My brain quickly snapped back to reality, thank goodness, and I was now grabbing napkins and helping him clean up. "I'm so sorry about that."

Michael just laughed and helped me clean up the mess. "It's completely fine, don't worry." Then, his phone buzzed and he read the email or text message. "Oh, shoot. I've got to leave. I had a great time, Josie...keep in touch?"

He patted me on the head like I was a cat and then swiftly stood up and left me alone and embarrassed.