Accessory Wars

Chapter 4-Ki

            Unlike most of my coworkers, I liked the morning shift. I worked at the local grocery store so it meant less people around while you tried to restock shelves. Kids were the worst. Always in the way, the jerks. I pulled my flatbed cart full of cereal over to the breakfast aisle and hoped my own bowl of cereal lasted until lunch. At least it had fiber. My body worked robotically, cycling the cereal already on the shelves to the front and adding the new to the back. Working at the store helped me pay for my first two years of college and we got a ten percent discount on all purchases. Can't say no to cheaper food.

I hummed to myself, letting time pass by on its own. My mind shifted to what I should make for dinner when I got the feeling someone was staring at me. I ignored it and tried to work until said feeling came into view. Oh, great. You again.

"Um, hey," the lanky blonde stranger greeted. He adjusted the rectangular frames on his face, making me notice the large amounts of freckles across his nose. "I'm...I'm sorry about the other day. I didn't...I mean I didn't really..." He stopped and shifted his gaze to the floor. I took another look at the weirdo blonde. He stood at what I guessed was around six foot five, making me feel like a toadstool. His eyes were still rather bloodshot and heavy, dark bags hung underneath. He looked like he got about as much sleep as I did. He wore a blue, yellow and white plaid button up shirt, quite the mouthful to say, and a pair of dark blue jeans that covered up his slightly tattered shoes. You know the pair. The black and white ones with flat bottoms and fabric around the ankles? Yeah, those shoes. At least they matched his glasses. His hair curled in a lot of different directions and reminded me of wheat. For some reason, I wanted to know how long it was when flat.

I shuffled my feet and returned to stocking sugary cereal. I couldn't believe I used to eat the stuff all the time for a snack. "It's fine," I snapped at him, realizing I sounded more mean than I needed to be. I glanced at said blonde and he looked hurt. He shifted the backpack on his shoulder, adjusting his glasses again. "You didn't know, did you?"

"What?"

"You didn't know you were an Elicit."

"Ah, oh. No. I didn't," he replied. That explained the school photo. The guy pursed his lips. "I'm Jay. I figure the least I could do is give you my name." I gave the guy a look. He certainly didn't look like a Jay. Maybe a Cole or Sam, but Jay? That's a jock name. This guy was lankier than a willow tree. Seeing how skinny he was made me feel even more self-conscious of my two hundred and sixteen pounds of pudge, made worse when you factor in how short I was. Where was a baggy sweat shirt when you needed one?

"What did they do to you?" I asked, a bit curious but mostly out of spite.

Jay dug into his pocket and pulled out a card that looked a lot like mine only with a holographic E in the corner instead. "Two nights in jail," he muttered, staring down at the card in his hand. "I was so stupid. I didn't even consider..." He stopped.

"Yeah, you didn't," I retorted. I changed to a new kind of cereal, cursing as I fumbled a box. "Why did you do it, anyway?" I failed to hide the waver in my voice.

"I don't know. My mind just went blank for a moment." He shoved his ID back into his pocket. "Look, I'm sorry!"

"Saying it more than once isn't going to make it mean any more." Damn it, I fumbled another box. What was with me this morning? I blamed it on the lack of sleep. I let out a huff and shoved the new boxes of cereal on the shelf. Maybe I could slip out for my break. How long had I been at work? Two hours. Crap. "Look, do you need something? I'm kind of busy here."