Sparrow of the Dawn

Basket Case

After I finish my lunch, I go back to work fixing battery displays by the cash register. I can't help but feel weird because I'm not that upset about whatever is going on between me and Jake. I'm more upset about how I've hurt Christa. For someone so lonely, anyone would think I'd try to hold on to any friend I make.

As I'm trying to work up some bad feelings about my situation with Jake, he walks up to my register. I'm a little excited until I realize that he is with a customer. "Give him 20% off this. It's the demo drill, the last one we had," he says handing me the unboxed drill. Jake walks away and I finish the sale quickly and get back to straightening battery displays.

"They're good enough, don't you think?" It's Jake again. "What time are you off today?"

"Um, now!" I say, just noticing the time.

"Wanna hang later?" He asks casually. He's acting as if he didn't just ignore me for an entire week.

"No, I think I'm going to go to bed early tonight..." I answer quickly before walking away to clock out. Does he really think I'm going to want to spend time with him now that I know he's been hanging out with Christa so much that his brother seems concerned? The more I think about this, the more irritated I become. On my way back to the front of the store to leave, I notice Jake is sitting on the floor next to a pile of unopened boxes of products. I approach him and take deep breaths. This is it, I'm ready I say to myself. "So... are we still cool or are you with Christa now? I thought you weren't into playing games Jake," I say. I'm not good with confrontation so I'm pretty impressed with myself.

"That's my business Lex," Jake answers without looking up at me.

"Yeah it's your business but it's kind of fucked up that you're doing this after the night we had. You know, the one where you told me how you felt, or do you not remember that night?" I search for answers in his expressions but find nothing. "And what I told you about my ex—I trusted you Jake, I thought you understood what I meant by all of that..."

He finally gets up from the floor and walks closer to me. "You should keep your voice down, customers could hear," he says. Before I can finish a proper eye roll, he begins again. "You didn't seem as into 'us' as I was at the time, so I backed off. That's it."

"Backed right into Christa," I frown.

"We're friends now I think; getting to know each other," he says calmly.

Now I'm furious. "So I don't mean much to you do I? Are you going to end up being 'friends' with her like you were 'friends' with me?" I don't want Jake to date Christa, but of course, if they were to actually get together, I also don't want him to hurt her. I still care about her even if she doesn't consider us friends anymore.

"This is more like a 'don't put all your eggs in one basket' thing. I need to protect myself too," Jake says before turning around to start unpacking the boxes. I leave the store more angry than sad. On the bus ride home, I keep thinking; don't put all your eggs in one basket?! Really?! I guess I'll need to try and put some of mine in better, nicer baskets.