polaroids | awsten knight

polaroid sixteen

The sixteenth polaroid was taken at a bookstore downtown.

You called me up and asked to go on an adventure. The word "adventure" to you meant something incredibly different to everyone else's definition. You would call me to go on an adventure and end up bringing me to a Dairy Queen.

We left my house at noon and took a bus to a subway station. The plan for today was to have fun. We both had no idea where we were going. One thing we knew for sure is that if we got lost, we could call Otto and he'd be able to tell us where to go.

The subway dropped us off downtown, driving away as soon as our feet touched the platform, making our hair blow due to how fast it was moving. You still wore the blue wig I bought you. Although, I was thinking of buying you another as soon as I saved up enough money.

We got out of the station and the cool June air hit us. It was hot but not too hot. People bought their dogs outside for walks and also some were going for jogs. Everyone looked happy.

Large buildings surrounded us like we were just ants in this small world. They made a barricade around the city, showing us the streets we were able to walk down.

"Where to first?" You asked like you had any idea where anything was down here. If we walked in any direction we'd be the same amount of the lost feeling if we walked in any other direction.

I pointed off right, where some other people were walking. The majority of the citizens headed that way so my first guess was that was where main attractions were. I wouldn't be surprised if we found a shopping mall on our route.

You slid your hand into mine and swung it back and forth. You were so cute when you showed affection. Gripping my hand so tight, you pulled me closer to you and put your arm around me.

There was something about being with you without anyone we know around like we were free. Yeah, they're our friends but it's a feeling of relief where I can kiss you as many times as I wanted without our friends saying it's gross.

When I kissed you, you would always smile. Yes, you'd smile after I kissed you but if it was just a small peck, I could feel your lips curling.

We walked passed a few stores now. There were some areas that only had homes, then suddenly broke into hundreds of stores, but we took the back roads and didn't look at those stores.

The way we went to had smaller shops. Family owned or shops that were inside someone's home. Clothing, video games, movies. Everyone had something to give away.

Walking in the backroads got boring and we turned on to a street with stores down its entirety. There were more well-known places like GameStop, a cinema, Forever 21. All of these places made us look in the window but we never went in.

That was until there was an indie bookshop in between all these high-end brands. Rent must cost a fortune here.

You never did read books, and that was something you were proud of. The longer you went, the more of a bragging right you had. All this time you hated reading until I told you my favourite books.

It felt wrong for you to hate something I adored; like you were cheating. Of course, I told you that you didn't need to like everything I did, but you insisted. You wrote down books I kept on my nightstand, the ones I'd carry in my backpack when I slept over at your house more regularly.

We entered the bookshop and the first thing I noticed was the smell of old books. Not so old books, but more of the new book smell. It didn't make sense for these old books to smell new; maybe they've never been touched in a while.

I said good morning to the cashier and she smiled back. You carried a backpack with you, and you pulled out a folded piece of paper. On it was the list of my favourite books. You must have known we were going to pass by a bookstore.

I left you to venture off for all of the books, while I popped in my earphones and looked for a new read. There hasn't been much I've been interested in lately, so I wanted to find someone who worked there to give me a recommendation. Who knew Travis worked there.

He was stood on a ladder putting books in their place. "Hey, Travis!" He looked down and smiled. My first assumption for him would have been that he works at a bookstore. It would just make sense.

"Hi, Caroline!" He got off of his ladder and put all the books down. "Didn't know you came around here."

"I don't," I laughed. "I didn't know you worked at a bookstore." There's a lot of things I don't know about Travis. I know he gets nervous in front of large crowds, but I can't go deeper into that because I'm spitballing that one.

Travis and I spoke for a few minutes until I realized this is his job and I probably shouldn't interrupt him. "Do you have any books you love? I need something else to read." With that, he led me to the horror section.

Pulling out a book, he handed it to me. "Bag of Bones. Everyone loves Stephen King." He was right. I was never into horror before I read a Stephen King novel.

I thanked him and said I'd talk to him once again when I was leaving. I went up the stairs to find you since I couldn't find you on the floor I was on. Upon the second floor, you were in the young adult section. The floor creaked and you whipped your head around to see me.

"Hey, I can't find this wallflower one." You had your legs crossed on the ground as you looked under T. The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

I took one look at the P section and pulled out the book. "If it starts with 'the', then you look at the first letter of the second word." I gave it to you to look at the description.

"Can you summarize the book for me?" You didn't want to read how someone else talks about the book, you wanted what I thought was important.

"Charlie's a freshman. He's scared of starting high school, but he meets these sweet seniors, Patrick and Sam. They help him through everything because Charlie has bad anxiety and depression." I went on for longer about my favourite book. I thought you fell asleep listening to me, yet I looked at you and you wanted me to continue.

"Anything else?" You asked, flipping through pages. "Don't spoil anything, I just wanna know if you missed out on something."

I had to think. There's a lot in this book, some parts I didn't pick up on until my second or third read. "Well... Charlie's best friend kills himself. That's what started this downfall." Something triggered you. You tucked the book underneath your arm and avoided eye contact. Suicide was a bad topic for you, yet you kept the book?

You bought the book and I said goodbye to Travis. On the way home, you started reading it. I was reading it with you by leaning my head on your shoulder. I would finish the page before you so when you were done reading the page, you could flip it without asking.

When I got home, I texted you. You had already texted me multiple times about the novel. It was cute how you fell in love with it as quickly as I did.

I put my wallet down on my dresser but noticed it was a bit thicker than it usually was. Inside was a Polaroid of the bookstore. You snuck it into my wallet while I was talking to you about the book. I love you.

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