About a month later, Kira and I walk into the quiet lobby of our complex to see Morgan walking out. She's wearing her work clothes: simple yoga pants and a sweater (she changes when she gets there because she's an actress –duh), with her purse over her shoulder and her phone in her hand.
She shakes her head and a brown braid flicks gently back and forth, "Don't go in there." She says.
"Why?" Kira asks slowly, and cautiously.
"I can't tell whose body part are who's." She sounds disgusted. Kira and I glance at each other then follow her out the door.
"Adam." We say in sync as we wave to goodbye to Morgan, "Have fun!" I call to her as we turn the opposite direction and walk down the street (when you live in Toronto, no matter how cool your car is, unless you live ten blocks away from something, you don't even think about driving).
"What do you want to do?" I ask, our homework is close to nothing for most of the classes we take, so we have a few hours to kill before facing the danger at home.
"Um... comics?"
We head over to the comic books store and push open the doors, entering the wild, yet comforting atmosphere. We smile to the cashier (you have to when you're a regular and there's really only one cashier all the time) and I see a slightly familiar mop of white-blond hair over the stacks of books and shelves of movies.
"Hey... isn't that the guy we saw in the street like, two months ago?" I nudge my friend and nod in the head's general direction.
"Oh, yeah it is... you should go talk to him!"
"Yeah whatever, you and Maddi make sure I big deal out of everything..." Then I notice he's over in my section. The section that always has the Marvel comics. My place. "Shoot."
"Ha! Now you have to talk to him! Go on..."
I roll my eyes, I'm actually very good at not talking to people. I avoid salesmen and women in the mall all the time, even the employees at my favourite clothing stores. I walk over to the aisle, my aisle. I inch over to the largest book shelf –the used books and pull a thick volume off the top level. It's an encyclopedia of Marvel characters and villains. I check the price, $27.78. Seventy-eight cents? What's that supposed to mean? But it's cheap, so I tuck it under my arm and turn around to head to the Captain America section. The white haired kid is just on the edge of it, moving closer and closer to the newest issue.
I have to get that comic. I walk over and take a pit stop to check and see where Kira is. A black and red blob of hair can barely be seen at the other end of the store, camouflaging in with the anime novels and posters. I turn back to my task and remember the guy's name just as I reach him. I break my rule to be silent and step up behind him as I see him pick up a specific issue.
"Didn't like that one." I say from just above his shoulder, "It makes you turn on Ant Man."
He turns around so fast I almost drop my book, but when he sees me he smiles, "So we meet again!"
"That's not creepy at all!" I say sarcastically, but when I see his eyes shoot down to the floor I silently punish myself for being mean, "Sorry."
"It's okay, I can be... weird?" He fades out but I smile kindly, or do my own version of a smile, which is more like a sympathetic smirk, but it works.
"Hey, you've seen the people I live with, no issues!"
"Wait, you live with all those people?" his expression is priceless, and I laugh quietly.
"Not the guy, but he eats all my Oreos and plays all my video games so I don't why he doesn't just move in too."
He laughs too, and picks up the comic I left a bad review about, "So don't read this one?"
"Oh no, you gotta read it or else there's a plot hole, I was just warning you."
"Have you read all of these then?"
I nod, "All but this one." I reach around him and grab the latest issue, "I'm a fast reader."
He looks impressed, "I'm only this far, and I think I missed an issue somewhere..."
"Probably not, there's a total plot hole when they bring Quicksilver back from the dead because of the multiple universes... sorry, my inner nerd is showing." Now it's my turn to be embarrassed, but he tucks the slim book under his arm and smiles just as Kira comes around the corner.
"Hey Emma we gotta go, Maddi wants to play Minecraft..." She trails off and an evil smile sneaks across her face.
I take a step back from the kid and nod to her, "Okay. See you around?" I ask him.
"Hopefully... Emma."
I force myself to be civil and mature, when really I'm freaking out from the sudden social interaction coming to a sudden end, I kind of liked talking to him –not like I'll ever tell anyone that- "Okay, see ya' around Jackson."
As soon as I pay for my books and we leave the store Kira punches me in the arm, "I told you to talk to him!"
"I only did it because I had to, he was in my section!" I protest.
"Your section eh? What. Ever..."
YOU ARE READING
You Gotta Love Life... Right?
Teen Fiction"Wake up!" I shoot out of bed only to hit my head on something right above me. Everything goes blurry for a minute and I can't understand what just happened. "Maddi, don't injure her, she has a project due today!" "Ooo who cares about being ac...
