And here is the third chapter of INYOURSHADOW!! Since I'm writing this a few months before posting it I have no idea whether you guys like it or not. That doesn't make any sense. But whatever. Ignore my blabbering. Please read, comment, and spread the word! On to chapter 3!! :DD
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"HI, WELCOME TO PEAR-TUNES!"
Bill arrived at work in a rush, a whirlwind of black hair and jeans, as he dumped his bag in the back room and tore his coat off. He quickly straightened his uniform, which was a T-shirt with the record store's logo on the back, and pinned his name tag on the front. He stumbled to the front of the store while jamming the stupid hat that all the workers had to wear on his head. He ran into someone and immediately started to apologize.
"Bill! You're almost late!" the person trilled before he finished apologizing.
"Lena?" Bill raised his eyebrows. "Isn't this your day off?"
Lena rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, but old Betty said this'll make up for the last time I missed work." she said with obvious disgust.
"Serves you right. How many times have you missed work again?" Bill teased.
"Shut up, Bill. Like you haven't skipped work every once in a while." she muttered displeasingly.
"Let me think. Oh yeah, I haven't missed a single day of work. Except public holidays." Bill said proudly.
"Whatever. You're in charge of cashier 4 today." Lena said as she walked to the store room at the back of the store.
Bill grinned tauntingly at her and hurried to cashier 4 near the front of the store, right past the jazz and world music section.
Bill had started working at Pear-Tunes a couple of months ago, when the summer holidays had started. Since he graduated from high school before the summer, he had been scouting around for work and this was the only place that would take him in with all the other high schoolers looking for jobs. But he was extremely happy that he was accepted, since he had dreamed of working at a record store since he discovered his love of music.
He removed the 'Counter Closed' sign from the counter and switched on the cash register. Then, he waited for the first customer to pay for their things. He examined his painted nails for any chips in the paint and ran a hand through his dyed hair, all the while thinking about Tom. He fingered Tom's untidy scrawl on his palm and smiled to himself. He did think it was kinda weird that he was thinking of another boy, almost obsessively, even though he wasn't gay. But there's nothing wrong with gays though, he thought quickly, as though there were people listening. Of course not. A woman that looked to be in her twenties approached the counter, holding the latest chick-flick in her hands.
"Good morning! Welcome to Pear-Tunes!" he said cheerily, positively beaming to the woman.
"Hi." she said, pre-occupied with trying to find enough cash to pay for the movie. She placed the DVD on the counter, then rooted around in her purse until she found enough to pay for it. Bill scanned in the barcode, then took the woman's money, placing it into the cash tray and sliding it closed. He stuffed the DVD into a bag for the woman and handed it to her, hardly concentrating on his job. Instead, his mind was on Tom, and the possibility of them being twins. The word gave him a tingly feeling in his stomach. All his life he'd always wished for a sibling, and now maybe he'd gotten one. And Tom didn't seem too bad a sibling either.
"Thank you, please come again!" he chirped as the woman smiled at him and left the store.
The constant stream of customers kept him busy for the rest of the day, but he still couldn't stop thinking about Tom.
After what seemed like the thousandth customer, he slammed the cash tray shut and handed the customer his bag.
"Thank you, please come again." he repeated, plastering a fake smile on his face. His jaws were aching from smiling so much, and he needed to sit down, he was so tired.
"Hi, welcome to-" the words got stuck in his throat as he got a good look at his next customer.
"Tom?" Bill asked.
"Bill?!" Tom exclaimed, shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"I work here, silly. Why else would I be here?" Bill laughed.
"Oh, right, sorry. It's just, I come here a lot and I've never seen you before, so..." he trailed off.
"Really? I've been working here for a while, so I'm surprised I haven't seen you before either."
Tom shrugged, and placed the CD he was gonna buy on the counter. He took out his wallet from his jeans pocket and flipped it open.
Bill grabbed the CD, scanning it's barcode.
"Hip hop? Doesn't surprise me." Bill muttered as he forced it into the too-small bag.
"What was that?" Tom asked, looking up from his wallet while holding a few bills.
"Oh, nothing." Bill said innocently.
Tom smiled and took the bag from him.
"Hey, my break is in 15 minutes, so maybe we can meet up in the cafe downstairs or something..." Bill said hopefully.
"Oh yeah, sure. I'll see ya in 15." Tom grinned as he left the store. He looked back at Bill and grinned, and Bill smiled sincerely at him.
"I sure will." he mumbled under his breath, as he grabbed the next customer's CD, fake smile back in place.
