Candy (Jalex)

Candy

"im sry"

"we r dn"

"nice 2 kno u"

He saw the first one and dismissed it.

He saw the second one and called her.

He saw the third one and broke down sobbing into his pillow, his bedroom window open, his neighbors out and about in the apartment complex courtyard.

That was the longest text he got from Tay.

And the last.

To say he was absolutely crushed was a terrible understatement. Alexander William Gaskarth was beyond crushed, indescribably obliterated by the message. Every fibre of his being hurt, filled to the brim with guilt and wishful thinking. She'd told him that she loved him, but now he was simply "nice to know."

The words stuck in his mind like a knife in warm butter, tainting all his memories of her. Spier and Greenfeld Ice Cream, where they'd had their first date, was now Nice2KnoU Ice Cream. Jock Strap Pharmacy, where he'd gone out at three AM in December to get her cough medicine, was now Nice2KnoU Pharmacy. Maryland State Beach, the place their graduation party had been held? Nice2KnoU Beach.

Everywhere they'd ever gone, ruined by one heavily abbreviated phrase.

Later that evening, he'd called Rian.

"Alex, don't get yourself down over this," Rian had said. "You're a great person, with a lot of great qualities. You can sing real good. Tay doesn't know what she's missing. You're just nice to know, you know?"

Alex had hung up on him and continued his sob-fest until he was too tired.

That stupid fucking message. It may've been irrational on his part to obsess over it so, but he couldn't help it. Tay's parting words to him stated he was nice to know. Nothing more.

He called in sick to work the next day and bribed himself with candy to get out of bed the day after.

If he'd had a car, maybe he wouldn't've found work to be such a grueling task, but he was broke as fuck and walked everywhere. To his office on the other end of town it was.

And he'd stop by Nice2KnoU Sweets on the way home, like always.

Nice2KnoU Sweets (formerly Bubble...Pop! Sweets) was a gaudy, bright, downright ugly store. Its exterior design featured eye-melting neon polka dots on a blazing yellow background, with a few chibi faces here and there for good measure. It would've served as a very good military-grade blinding weapon.

Alex pushed open the pink-tinted glass door and glanced around at the selection of candy. The new gummy shapes didn't quite pull him in; neither did any of the hard candy displays. His eyes settled on the chocolate shelf.

Chocolate was what he got every time he went to this particular candy store, and maybe that made him boring, but who cares? It was chocolate. It tasted good. And it treated Alex better than any girl.

He strode across the store and picked out a small assortment and a bag of chocolate coins for good measure. Nothing else on the shelf screamed his name, so he decided that would be it. He made his way through the labyrinthine candy displays toward the register.

The cashier was one of those trashy punk kids. Alex recognized him from many previous candy runs; he was the guy who was never seen in public without at least one earbud in.

Alex placed his candy on the counter. The cashier looked up and smiled blandly. "Cash or card?"

"Um, card," said Alex, and handed his card across the counter.