The Life of Jezebel Firetongue

23

"I can't believe you're making me do this," I muttered unhappily as Jake dragged me through the doors into the cool indoor air.

"Two sets of clothes aren't enough," Jake replied simply, looking around at the stores that lined either side of the building. "Besides, don't girls like malls?"

I shrunk back against Jake, bewildered by the bombardment of people. "Not me," I muttered. Yesterday, after we showered and cleaned up, I explained to Jake that two people were giving me trouble and that was why we were laying low for a few days. After this, he insisted we go shopping for new clothes, claiming that, although we had two sets of clothes each, one set is "not fit for human use" and the other "wouldn't last long."

Now noticing my discomfort, Jake gently put his hand on my shoulder. "It's alright Jez. Nothing bad will happen here."

I eased his hand off my shoulder. Jake looked away awkwardly. "Sorry," I muttered. "It's just..."

"Nah, you don't have to explain." Jake saw something over shoulder and he pointed at it. "Look! It's a photo booth."

"Okay..." I remembered these, but they didn't seem very significant.

"Let's go take some photos!" Jake turned to me. "You've got a dollar, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Jake beamed at me. "Good. Then let's go."

I followed him reluctantly to the booth, pulling out my wallet as we went. "Why is this so important anyway?"

"From what I gather, I just have a thing for photo booths." Jake took my dollar from my outstretched hand and shoved it into the machine. "Now, this thing takes four pictures. So, we'll have one serious photo and three weird ones. What do think?"

"Sure," I muttered unenthusiastically. Jake didn't seem to notice; instead, he pulled me into the photo booth with him and he pushed the button to start the photos.

For the first one, I stared confusedly at the camera while Jake gave me bunny ears. In the second one, we awkwardly leaned away from each other, my mouth frozen in the middle of a, "what?" In the third one, Jake was sticking out his tongue and I was examining my nails. The fourth one was the one I really liked though. Jake gently put his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned my head tentatively onto his. Weirdly enough, during that shot I felt happy, comforted, and maybe even a bit...nervous? I felt a weird flutter in my chest, and I couldn't describe it. Jake was my friend, just my friend. So I couldn't understand was causing all of this.

When we were finished, Jake leaped out of the photo booth to grab the photos. He took them, folded them twice and stuck them in his pocket. I watched, putting the fluttering down to indigestion.

"So...we'll split up and find what we want and meet at...that Starbucks over there when we're done. Okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, nodding. I reached into my back pocket and handed Jake the cash from my wallet. "I expect all the change after you're done. Got it?"

"Of course," Jake replied.

Then we went our separate ways.

The grand total: Three new pairs of jeans, four new T-shirts, one more jacket, and one more pair of converse, as well as a pack of fresh underwear. All neatly stored in one shopping bag.

I sat at one of the empty Starbucks booths, sipping a mug of hot coffee. The smell of coffee was relaxing, and I reflected on how nice it was to not have anywhere to be, if only for a moment. Sighing, I looked up at the table in front of me to see the cashier from Grocers and Goods cleaning up. He looked up and our eyes met.

"Um, hey, weren't you at Grocers and Goods yesterday?" He asked, striding over with a towel over his shoulder.

"Er, yeah," I laughed. "Sorry, I don't know what was up with me."

"Hey, it's cool," he reassured me. "Are you feeling any better today?"

"Yeah, a lot better," I replied.

He looked up and called to the guy behind the counter, "Murphy! I'm taking a break!"

Murphy nodded back at him and went back to organizing pastries. Grocers Guy rolled his eyes and sat down. "Never a dull moment," he joked. He held out his hand. "We never formerly introduced ourselves. I'm Terence."

I shook his hand. "Jezebel. But you can call me Jez," I added.

"Nice to meet you Jez." He took the towel off his shoulder and put his arms on the table, leaning in. "So why were you so upset?"

I blushed, staring resolutely at my coffee. "Just a bad dream I had before coming. It's a recurring."

He nodded, and I changed the subject before he could ask anymore.

"So, are you in high school?"

"College. I got a full ride with some excellent grades."

Surprise flooded through me. "Really?" He nodded, and my mouth formed an 'O' before continuing with a simple, "Wow. What classes do you take?"

"Art and technology." Terence stared at his hands uncomfortably for a couple more seconds, avoiding my impressed gaze.

"That sounds like a contradiction to me," I replied slyly. "You know, the age-old concept of art and the fairly recent concept of technology."

He chuckled quietly, shrugging his shoulders. "It was my parents' idea. They fully support my career as an artist, but want me to be comfortable. Technology is a back-up plan. How about you? High school, or college?"

Glancing at my coffee, I decided to evade the question. "I wander," I murmured vaguely.

"So mysterious," Terence noticed.

"What? I live my life my way," I retorted. His eyebrows raised curiously and I scampered on to a new subject. "How do you live your life?"

"Mostly optimistically," he replied with a smile, and there, there was that familiarity I noticed.

"Are you sure I haven't met you before yesterday?" I asked. He couldn't have been one of my old classmates, could he?

"Nope, I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before," he replied. Something in his eyes shifted.

A small frown kinked at the corners of my lips. "Okay, well it's just that-"

"Hey, Jez."

I looked up and saw Jake standing with a few shopping bags and a confused frown. "Oh, hey Jake," I greeted him. I stood up and gave Terence a tiny wave. "Bye Terence. It was great talking to you."

He looked up at Jake, who had plastered a quick smile to his face. "Um, yeah. Great talking to you too." We began to walk out when we heard, "Wait!" Terence stood up, looking at Jake wearily and focusing back onto me. "I, um, have an art showing tomorrow. Would you, uh, like to go?" He smiled nervously at Jake. "You're both welcome to come."

I opened my mouth to answer when another voice replied. "We'll think on it, but thank you." I turned to see Jake smiling broadly at Terence, who relaxed at the sight.

"Well, here's the address, in case you decide to come." Terence scribbled it on a paper, handing it to me with a shaky hand. "Hope to see you there," he mumbled.

Smiling, I took it and nodded. "Thank you," I replied. Then Jake and I turned and left the store.

When I looked up again, Jake wasn't smiling anymore.

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