wrapped books | lrh {rewriting} | joseph is dallas, rewriting still in process

0.6

I walked down River Street, and looked down at my phone.

I checked the address that Calum had texted me, making sure that I was at the right place.

Figures this street was named River, everything here was named after it.

I walked past store after store after store :

The River's Gymnasium.

River's Ocean Aquarium.

The River's St. Homemade Bakery.

River's Florists at Best.

I cringed at all their names. Not liking how alike they were. But I stopped walking when I found the store I was looking for.

The Old One.

It was out of place compared to the other stores on this street.

I liked that.

The sign above the store had the words The Old One written in a white, cursive font. The doors were glass and so were the walls that separated the inside and outside.

I could already tell that it was a lot bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside.

I walked in and a little bell jingled. I saw a curly-haired boy, that didn't look that much older than me, sitting on a stool behind the counter.

He didn't notice me walk me in because he was looking down at something and was probably reading a book or something.

Walking up to him, I cleared my throat so he could acknowledge my presence. He looked up at me, I noticed that he was just staring at the ground, not reading a book.

The place looked like it rarely got any business, I guess that's why his facial expressions made it seem as if he found it surprising to actually have a customer walk in.

"Oh, hello," he stood up and smoothed his shirt down.

He was wearing a band-tee with a black vest over it. The vest had the same logo on it as it did outside the store. "Welcome to the The Old One. I'm Ashton," he said holding a tag -that was pinned to his vest with ASHTON written on it - between his two surprisingly long fingers. "How may I assist you?"

"Hi, I was wondering if you have books in my types of interest?" I said, hoping I didn't sound stupid.

Jesus Christ. I'm embarrassing.

I just asked if they had books that I'd like in a bookstore.

Oh wow.

"You looking for a specific book?" He asked, and shifted awkwardly on his feet.

I haven't thought about that before I came in. Damn.

"Uh, no actually," I bit my bottom lip. "more like a specific..." I paused and looked around the store. It was bigger than I'd expected, "genre?" I said in a tone that sounded like I was questioning him.

"What genre?" He asked.

I paused for a long time before answering him in the same questioning tone as before, "Young Adult Fiction?"

What is wrong with me? I should've thought about what I was gonna ask for before coming in. Idiot.

I want to die.

Someone shut me up.

"Well, we have a great selection of books over there," he nodded towards an aisle of books, "and you see that guy over there?" He pointed at a boy with blond hair, I nodded, "he'll help you out," he flashed me a smile, which I found adorable, and I smiled back at him.