Shelf Life - Skye's Summer.

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Shelf Life – Chapter 1:

I awoke to the sound of the breeze rustling through the huge gum tree standing just on the other side of my neighbour’s fence. As big and old as it was, it still didn’t quite manage to block out those first few early rays of summer sun that were creeping through my bedroom window. As much as I wanted to roll over and fall back into slumber, I knew that would be financial (and to some extent social) stupidity – it was the first day of summer and the first day at my new job at the local grocery store.

Sorry, it was silly of me not to introduce myself. The names Skye Matheson and I’ve just turned 16. I live in the sleepy suburbs of Sydney, which is in Australia, and as much as I would love to spend my summer bumming around with my mates or chilling on the sandy shores of Bondi, I desperately need cash. You see, I have the usual teenagers’ problems – a mobile which needs paying off, a shopping habit and the need for food 24/7 and as my parents aren’t willing to fund anything for me, its time to become an independent soul and branch out… or so my Dad says anyway.

I’m woken from my daydream as my mother calls out from the kitchen.

‘Skye! Come downstairs and have some breakfast, you don’t want to be late!’

I pulled off the lime green sheets on my bed (my favourite colour) and staggered, zombie-like, down the corridor to the bathroom I share with my brother, Scott. After washing my face and clearing the sleepy eye gunk from the corners of my eyes, I pulled my wavy brown hair back into a bun and joined my mum in the kitchen, bunny slippers and all.

‘Darling, I know it’s a rough transition into your new job but punctuality is key and…’

Her voice trailed off as I munched and crunched my way through the bowl of Cornflakes that had appeared in front of me and I thought of my new job. Check out operator, check out chick, much better name for it… Will the manager be scary and mean? And what will the other people think of me, being all new and everything?

The rest of the morning went by in a blur of showering, dressing in a horrible canary yellow uniform, complete with the ultimate in awkward accessories – a matching yellow beret. I slapped on a bit of mascara and foundation and grabbed my name badge before running to the car where Mum was waiting to drive me to Bondi Plaza Shopping Centre.

The sliding doors parted for me as I walked out of the heat into what can only be described as an air-conditioned version of tween-vacation heaven. Bluewater Plaza had all the newest clothing and electronic stores and even had a movie theatre and gaming arcade on the top level. All of my friends had been so ecstatically happy when they found out I was working there, especially my best and dearest friend Angela, but little did they know I was working on the bottom floor at the convenience store, rightly named Sandy’s Shopping Shack. The place was the only grocery shop in the suburb of Bluewater and was definitely a shack in the fact that it was certainly in need of a good fix up. I certainly couldn’t complain though – I had a job which would be paying for my holiday expenses and that’s all I needed.

As I walked up to the front desk at the store, my stomach felt as if it was going to explode with thousands of little butterflies but I took a deep breath and approached the young, blonde woman sitting at the desk, who looked up at me and smiled.

‘You must be Skye. Hi sweet, my name is Sandy and I own Sandy’s Shopping Shack here in Bluewater Plaza. Today we will just be learning the basics of the checkouts and serving all the customers that come through but how about we start off with a bit of a store tour?’

I plastered a nervous smile on my face and could only manage a nod as a boy I recognised walked up beside me.

‘And you must be Liam. Well now that you are both here, we can start our little store tour!’

I turned slightly to my right to see a tall, ginger-haired boy with very pale skin and lots and lots of freckles. Liam was a friend from school, although we weren’t exactly what I would called close. We sort of looked and gave each other a little smile and a hello before we followed Sandy’s fast-moving feet off through the aisles.

I certainly wasn’t a stranger to this shop, as my parents and I regularly did our shopping here each week. As we moved from the main store out to the loading docks and the offices, I realised just how big a place this was. Suddenly, and unknowingly to me at the time, we stopped in front of a large area filled with crates and cages full of produce and groceries. I walked into the back of Liam by accident and apologised quickly.

‘Sorry, its kinda dark out the back here and I didn’t notice we had stopped.’

‘That’s alright, you were so quiet I didn’t even know if you were still behind me or if you’d gotten lost somewhere along the way. Glad you’re here anyways’ and he chuckled to himself.

Sandy turned to us both and announced,

‘This is Samuel, but he insists we call him Sam. He is around the same age as you two and works in the produce department.’

The boy, who was obviously named Sam, turned to us and waved. He has dark, tanned skin, lovely cheekbones and a lovely warm smile. Although it was hard to tell under the ridiculous uniforms, I thought I could see just a hint of muscle and this made my cheeks turn pink. He certainly was cute, that’s all I can say.

‘Fresh meat hey, Sandy? Hope for your sake they aren’t as much of a handful as I was a few months ago.’

And with that, he gave me a wink and turned back to his half-unpacked crate. As we moved off again, this time to the offices upstairs to watch some training videos, I was certainly glad of the darkness for covering up my obviously flushed cheeks and saving me from the ridicule of Liam.

 If all the people working here was as gorgeous as Sam certainly was, I was in for a treat this summer!