The Day My Perfect Life Ended

Chapter 9

[Madison Lucy Rose]

        The next day, I was tempted to read a little further in Death Note, but I held back out of fear that Greg would walk in and see me. That would be so incredibly humiliating after acting all suave in Lush. In the end, Greg never showed up and I felt stupid for obsessing. I wasn’t some wishy-washy twelve-year-old, for Pete’s sake! Tomorrow, I could stop acting like one and not let myself wait up for a guy. If Greg walked in, I’d make something up like I always did.

        I was totally absorbed in the volume of Death Note I was holding. I couldn’t even pull my eyes from the page long enough to check if my manager was charging at me with the rage of a rodeo bull. I lost track of all time until I heard the pointed cough of a customer who had been waiting too long. I finished the page and reluctantly lifted my head to see myself staring at Greg. Oh my God. I resisted the urge to sweep my book off of the counter like a spastic janitor.

        “Hi Greg.” I said, forcing a smile.“What’s up?” And why do you always catch me in such compromising situations? Greg shrugged nonchalantly.

        “I was walking Luke to work and thought I’d say hi.” He said. “You looked so busy I almost felt guilty.” He added with quiet sarcasm, smiling slightly.

        “Oh, shut up.” I grumbled, mostly to myself. I was so stupid not to realize that yesterday was probably Luke’s day off.

        “So you like that series, huh?” Greg asked slyly. I guess there was no point in hiding it.

        “Oh my God, yes.” I said, in complete honesty. “Max kept nagging me to read it.” I added in less-than-complete honesty.

        “Did you like Louise’s band?” Greg asked. The one that I didn’t even listen to because I was busy hyperventilating?

        “Yeah, I did. I didn’t understand most of the lyrics at the time, though. I like Louise.” I added, hoping I didn’t sound like I was making it up.

        “I can burn you a copy of some of their songs if you want.” Greg offered. “Hope you have a CD drive in your computer.”

        “Maybe a museum will lend me one.” I teased. “What kind of music do you normally listen to?” Though it was hard to tell, I thought maybe Greg looked a little surprised that I was taking an interest in his music. I guess a few weeks ago, I couldn’t have cared less, but I was genuinely curious now. I wanted to know more about him, definitely.

        “I’m not sure you’ve ever heard of any of it.” Greg chuckled. “Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”

        “I’d like that.” I said, not sure if I sounded polite or desperate. I guess Greg couldn’t tell either, because his eyes narrowed slightly. Don’t ask me how I noticed that. Was I obsessing? Yes, I was. I groaned in my head; I was such a ditz around Greg. “I should get back to work.” I blurted out before I could embarrass myself any more. “I’m supposed to be reorganizing the teen romance section.” I made a face to show Greg how unhappy I was to be anywhere near the teen romance section. Greg half-smiled and left. I couldn’t decide if I was happy or unhappy about that, but I got to work anyway.

        “Oh my gosh!” Tiffany exclaimed, checking her phone. “You would not believe what Seth said!” She named one of her many guy friends.

        “What?” I asked. “OMG, is he hitting on you again?”

        “Ugh, what a whore. Everyone knows he’s banging Marissa.” Bridget sighed and pulled out her phone to text someone the news, probably Marissa.