Chapter 2
"We're going to be back at the end of the day," My parents told me, walking to the door. "You're free to do whatever you want."
I nodded, following them there. As soon as the door slammed shut and I heard the car drive away; I grabbed my bag, jacket and wallet.
Jake heard my footsteps moving past the living room and yelled, "Be back by seven or I'll started searching for you!"
I peered into the room and couldn't see him. He was probably lying on the sofa. And I thought he couldn't pay attention to anything beside his favorite shows.
How he sensed my presence inspite of the two men shouting obscenities at each other on the television screen, I have no idea.
I pushed the front door open and sucked in some fresh air. This hadn't been forbidden by my parents. I had been given a free pass to do anything I wanted to today.
I set out to explore the neighborhood, pulling out my phone while walking. I had installed a GPS app (that I hoped I could understand) on it. I was immediately excited upon discovering that there was a music store nearby and decided to head to it. Although I nearly ran into a lady walking her dog, I managed to navigate my way easily.
I knew at once that this wasn't one of those shiny new stores whose windows screamed SALE at you no matter what the season. A grin spread across my face since I didn't like those kind of stores anyway.
As soon as I pushed open the door, the bell at the top tinkled, announcing my arrival. Once I took in my immediate surroundings, I came to a conclusion.
The store was beautiful.
There were so many racks of CDs, Vinyls, T-shirts and instruments; I didn't know what to look at first. I wandered around, losing myself in the one thing that I loved more than anything in the world, feeling like a kid who had just walked into an amusement park for the first time.
Among the scattered CDs on a rack nearby, one in particular caught my eye. Vampire Weekend's album Contra. I loved this band, but for some reason, could never find any of their CDs. I put my hand on it at the same time someone else did.
I looked into the eyes of the individual who had dared to grab the object of my attention.
They were filled with determination. The boy who hadn't let go of the album was shockingly thin, but quite attractive. If guys who looked like they spent all their time behind a computer screen were considered attractive.
"Let go," I growled.
"You let go!"
He was equally determined.
"No."
We pulled it between us, but I was just as strong as him, so neither of us could claim the album. All of a sudden, a strange, calculating look came into his eyes. To my surprise, he smiled.
Then he rammed his elbow into the shelf next to us.
I gasped, just as everything on the shelves started to fall over. I let go of the object I had been clinging to and tried desperately to stop all the disks from crashing on the floor. My hands were aching, but I managed to hold everything. I looked up just in time too see the boy cash in his purchase and walk out.
I had just been duped by a New Yorker.
While I struggled to get up, a worker at the store hurried over to help me.
"Let me guess. You tried taking an album that Jasper wanted."
"If you mean the guy who stole the album that I saw first, then yes, I guess I did. Does he do that to all customers?"
