Naïve to the Bone (lgbt)

time 02 | CD Simon's and the Eternal Flirt

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song: nx by melaina kol

content warning:
- disordered eating / mentions of eating disorders
- underage drug use (marijuana)

Leo checked the time on his phone. Seven minutes and he'd be off his shift. His eyes flittered about the racks of CDs and vinyl, across the floors and the checkout desk in search of anything left to tidy, any misplaced CDs, any nicknacks out of order that may lead him to get bitched at by his manager. Nothing. Again, he checked the time on his phone, drumming his fingers along the checkout counter. Six minutes.

"Got a hot date or somethin'?" The nasally voice of his shift replacement, Kevin, startled him. He'd appeared out of nowhere, but he did that often. Leo thought maybe he got a kick out of spooking the new kid.

He just shrugged, turning around in his spot to lean against the register counter. "Or somethin'." His hands slipped into his front pockets as he eyed the posters hung up on the walls behind the checkout area. The Beatles. The Doors. Bob Dylan. Shit you could find cheaper at Target than CD Simon's.

Kevin nodded, pulled a red dumdum lollipop out of his back pocket and began unwrapping it. Leo averted his gaze, thinking about the fact that he hadn't eaten since nine the night before. It was five minutes to seven. He was proud of himself in that sick sort of eating disorder way, but he was undeniably hungry. He'd eat at home probably. Kevin's voice was warbly around the lollipop. "Damn." The forty-something-year-old shifted his weight, still halfway through the beaded curtain that separated the checkout spot from the storage room. "When I was your age, I was pullin' bitches left and right."

Leo just nodded, eyes still anywhere but Kevin. "Right." He tried to imagine what Kevin looked like when he was seventeen. Was he balding then too? He dropped the idea and looked to the clock on the wall. Time couldn't seem to be moving any slower.

"You like girls? Or are you, uh," There was an awkward cough around the lollipop. "do you bat for the other team?" Kevin asked after a few minutes of silence,  pulling the lollipop out of his mouth and Leo out of his staring contest with the second hand of the clock.

Leo didn't even want to respond. Why was he asking so many personal questions? They'd met, what, twice between shifts? He settled on "Uhhh..."

The muffled roar of Jun's Bronco had never been more welcomed. Leo pushed himself off the counter, past Kevin through the beaded doorway, and into the break room to grab his skateboard and backpack before heading back to the computer at the register and clocking out.

"Gay, then, right?" Kevin asked, staring intently at the clock on the wall like he was about to point out that it was in fact 6:59 and not 7:00pm, but Leo didn't reply. This dude was fucking weird.

He shouldered his backpack and speedwalked towards the exit, hoping not to have to say anything else to Kevin, but the man hollered a quick "Hey!"

Leo stopped, hand already on the door handle, and turned around to face him. He served the best 'what, dickhead?' look he could muster.

"It's not 7:00." Kevin stuck the lollipop back in his mouth, crossed his arms from behind the counter before leaning against it. "So don't go yet. Where'd you get that scar from anyways?"

A customer tugged open the door and Leo used it as an excuse to bolt towards Jun's car. If he got lectured over leaving one minute early, then so-fucking-be it. He tried to clear his head as he threw open the door to Jun's 1980-something Ford Bronco and hopped inside. Stupid Kevin and his stupid invasive questions. Who the hell did he think he was?