The Shop

Chapter 7

The drink in Jasmine's hands fell to the ground and the lid cracked, leaving the bubbly soda squirting on the floor. Her eyes met mine and they didn't seem annoyed. It's funny how we keep meeting this way.

"Do I have a stalker now?" Her tone is light and playful, I would be pissed if I were her. My tongue won't form words and I stand there like an oaf not saying anything. 

"Tongue tied because I figured out your dirty little secret?" Her lips curl and play along with a smile. 

"Let me buy you another." I offer and unlike most girls, she doesn't argue on letting me pay for it. 

"I love Coca~Cola." She beams and I grab one from the store's freezer. 

I try to create some small talk as we walk back to the register.

 "So I actually am a stalker you know."

"Is that so?" Jasmine struggles to keep her lips in a straight line to keep from grinning. Is she always so damn happy? It's kind of cute, in a way.

"Yeah, I've figured out your name." Despite Jasmine's best efforts, the corners of her mouth tug and form a ravishing smile. 

"Oh really, then what is my name?" I guess random female names to keep the conversation light and playful.

"Your name is Violet. No dammit, it's Sasha, right? Wait no, according to the recite you gave me at the coffee shop your name is...Jasmine." Her head falls forward and she clenches her fists. 

"Darn it! Now the game is over!" She laughs a bit and I have no idea what games she has been playing. It's very amusing how she tries not to curse.

"What game have you been playing?" By the time I realize it, we are at the conveyor belt, and I'm paying for this shit. 

"Oh well don't think I'm weird because of this. Ok?" She looks kind of embarrassed, what game has she been playing...?

"Oh I already knew you are weird." She backhands my arm with a smile and I laugh at her.

"Ok so, when we met in that coffee shop, I just knew we were going to meet again. Does that sound weird?" Jasmine's face is now red and she is looking down at her converse. I never noticed her outfit, it is plain but it fits her nicely. She is wearing a red, long sleeved shirt with light blue skinny jeans that embellish her butt. Jasmine's thick, wild hair brushes my face but I actually don't mind. Smells good.

"Wow you called me a stalker?" I joke, but Jasmine thinks I'm serious. Her face is blushing and she fiddles with her fingers, avoiding eye contact.

"Hey, I'm kidding." 

"You are?" She let's out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, you are not all that weird." Jasmine gives me the evil eye, but I can see she is relieved. 

"I just thought we would see each other again and have this cool friendship where you wouldn't know my name. I can just imagine if we were best friends, yet you would never know my name.That would be cool right?" I nod my head along with her. With any ordinary girl I would have been bored five seconds into this conversation, besides Tara. But there is something intriguing about Jasmine that I just can't put my finger on.

"Sorry, my mind goes off on a tangent sometimes and I ramble to myself. You probably don't want to be friends now." Once again, I find myself so interlocked in our conversation I didn't even realize we are at the store's parking lot outside. The sky is light and the sun is directly over us, it must be noon. Jasmine is digging through her purse, searching for her car keys. 

"Well that's what makes me so fascinating." She doesn't play on with my ominous word choice. Jasmine cocks her head a little and I can see the young curiosity in her. Fuck she is gorgeous, wait what? No, Tara is gorgeous, I love Tara. 

"No one can ever guess what my next move is." I grin at her and now I can tell she is really lost.

"I decide who I want to be friends with, not you." Jasmine looks surprised at my "Friend" gesture and I walk out of the parking lot, glancing back at her while she is frozen, holding her keys. I swear I saw a smile. A few seconds later, behind me a car door slams and an engine roars to life. I can hear tires pave across the gravel and my feet hesitate, as I make my way back to the apartment building. My mind takes control of my body and I whip back around and jog to the driver window of Jasmine's car. I did it in a knick of time too because her car was about to pull onto the street. Jasmine rolls down her window and leans in, coming closer to my face. I also lean in, then I rest my arm on the window, casually. 

"Can I help you?" She teases and I hold back on my humor.

"Well if this friends thing is going to work Jasmine, there needs to be some way I can contact you." Jasmine's face is priceless as that mouth of hers extends from ear to ear. 

"Give me your phone!" She squeals and practically reaches her hand into my pocket from the car window.

"Slow down there!" I can't even hold back a smile as I fish out my phone for her. 

Handing it to her she demands, "What's the password!" First Jasmine types in 1234, that doesn't work. I feel hesitant on giving out my password but what is she going to do?

"It's 9214" I sigh, Tara doesn't even know my password. Come to think of it, Jasmine doesn't even know about Tara. Regret hits me like a hangover when I remember I met Jasmine yesterday and know nothing about her. Now I'm giving her my phone password. I trust her though, I don't know why but I just do. 

"Is that your birthday?" She asks while going on my contacts list. 

"Nah, it's nothing." Looking down at the ground, I hope she doesn't ask me what the date is. 

"Tell me please. Like Peeta once said from the "Hunger Games", the way the whole friends thing works is if you tell each other the deep stuff." Of course she read the trilogy. 

"Well I didn't watch it so I wouldn't know." Jasmine gasps as she hands me back my phone. My conversation changer worked.

"We have to watch it!" She half asks and half tells me. 

"Fine." I forfeit, and she beams up at me. A car behind her honks and once again we were so caught up in a conversation we hadn't realized our surroundings. 

"I'll text you later." Jasmine chirps and I wink at her. The window rolls up and she waves back at me before the car pulls out of the lot. I'm just left standing there, biting my lip hard trying to fight a smile.