Take What You Need {L.H.}

The Windows

Annabelle hated when her mom made her close the shop.

Not that she would ever say that to her mom. But compared to the other jobs her mom asked her to do, this was by far the most demanding. There were so many things to check, as well as counting to make sure everything was there. Inventory was probably the longest part of the process.

She figured that if she was going to be here, she might as well have some company.

"What do you hate today?" Luke asked.

"I like sharpies." Annabelle said, turning the key to lock of the coffee shop's front door.

"Woah. And here I thought you hated everything under the sun." Luke sounded genuinely surprised to hear this.

"I like sharpies." Annabelle smiled to herself. She walked behind the counter, looking for the remote to the widow curtains.

"Why sharpies?"

"When I was 7, my best friend had a collection of every sharpie color in the rainbow and she told me I couldn't have one because I was a peasant, so I stole one when she wasn't in the room. I kept it until it completely dried out as well. I guess that kindof started everything."

Annabelle pressed a button on the remote, expecting the curtain of the first window to come down. It stayed exactly where it was.

"So your love for sharpies has spurned from thievery?" There was a traffic sound in the background of wherever Luke was. It reminded her of the sounds coming from outside the window currently.

"Yes! Have you not gone to an office supply store and stood there, looking at how many choices there are?" Annabelle went to the window of the shop, having to manually attempt to bring down the window's blinds.

"I can honestly say I have not. But continue telling me about your nerd bag." Luke chuckled.

Annabelle heard a slightly muffled sound of cars honking in the distance of the window pane at the same time there was a similarly delayed sound in the background of wherever Luke was.

"I hope you notice that you zone out alot."

"Sorry. I have this short attention span, a product of being born in this generation." Annabelle tugged once more on the string, forcing the blinds to finally comply. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief and moved on the the next window.

"Are you suggesting that short attention spans are common now?"

"Yes! Do you realize that it's harder to concentrate on anything longer than the length of a vine now?"

"But alot can happen in 6 seconds."

As Annabelle mulled this over in her mind, she looked outside the window while she tugged on the string for the next window pane. She watched as a tall blonde kid, on the phone, walked past without looking into the shop's windows. She watched as he talked into the phone, almost simultaneously as she heard Luke's voice saying something about a vine he had just seen not too long ago.

"No..." She half whispered after Luke finished asking her if she was still there.

"What do you mean 'No'? You just answered didn't you?" Luke laughed and she watched as the boy outside the window inaudibly laugh at the same time.

"I mean yeah. I just... found a fortune cookie under a table and I didn't agree with the fortune."

"Was it funny? Funny fortune cookies are literally the best."

"Not really." She said, trying to make sense of what just happened.

"Well you have to tell me what it said." Luke said. He sounded a little bit overeager in Annabelle's opinion.

"FIne. All it said was 'Look out for objects.'"

"Hey, did you hear baout the guy who got his in the head with a soda?" Luke chuckled at his own joke's beginnings.

Annabelle figured she should take a crack at the joke this time.

"That it made him more Sprite-ly?" She said, smiling to herself.

There was a pause.

"Well I was going to say he was lucky it was a soft drink, but that works too."

{A.N.}

Well thanks for joining me on this journey of bad puns and cheesy jokes. :)

((THis one might be my worst pun yet, but my sister laughed at it and that's what matters.))

oh my god 2k. that's hella rad. thanks for reading.