Freedom Ignited

3; cherry valance

IGNATIUS' POV

    Levi's got cooler every day. Maggie let me pick the record each morning as we opened the shop, and after a week we had settled into a pretty good routine. I organized the music while Maggie made coffee, then we unpacked shipments of books and stacked them in their places on the shelves.

    The work was easy and the place was quiet, just the music in the background and occasional turning of pages in the lounge area. I liked it here, Maggie didn't talk much and the only other employee came in on my off days.

    I meet Maggie outside Monday morning, actually being early for once. "Don't even think about talking until I have two cups of coffee in me," She glances at me while unlocking the door and I put my hands up in surrender.

    I put a U2 album on the record player while Maggie moves to the coffee maker in the lounge. The rock posters overlapped and plastered the walls, barely readable in the dim light. It was brighter in the back, by the register and the reading chairs, basically it was heaven to me.

    A couple hours later, after Maggie's had her two cups of coffee and a few customers had come in to buy mainstream records, I'm behind the counter, my ass on a stool with my knee propping up my book.

    I'm at the part in The Outsiders when Ponyboy bleaches his beautiful hair when my light gets blocked. "This everything?" I say, folding the corner and looking at the customer in front of me.

    Wavy brown hair to her ass and a pair of hazel eyes to match; she was pretty, a little boring, but pretty. "You seriously don't recognize me?" I took another look at her, slightly tanned skin made the yellow of her sundress stand out, and even though I couldn't see the bottom half of her body, I'm guessing she had a pair of long legs sticking out from under the fabric.

    "Should I?" I raised an eyebrow and scanned the couple of textbooks she had put on the counter. Psychology. The image of a brunette with her nose in a textbook sitting in my brother's bed floated back to me. "You're my brother's girl?"

    Her nose scrunched, "No, Adrian's just helping me study." A blush creeped up her neck as I smirked.

    "Sure." She keeps staring at me, like she's trying to figure me out. It made my skin crawl.

"The Outsiders?" She nods to the beat up cover. I nod, keeping my face blank. "What's it about?"

"There's a few copies on the shelf if you want me to grab you one," I braced both my hands on the counter. She smiled a little, amused with my answer.

"Sure," I nodded and left to get the book. If I was a nice guy, the better option would be to just lend her my copy, ensuring I would see her again. Thank God I'm not a nice guy. .

"$18.56" I said once her items were bagged in a paper sack. Maggie thought plastic was for chumps.

She handed me a twenty and brushed hair out of her face. She didn't look like the girls I had been around before, there was a softer look in her eyes, a quirk in her smile that wasn't seductive or suggesting. I bet she's a virgin.

"I'll see you around, Iggy." And like that she turned and left. I was right though, her legs were long. Adrian was gonna get punched for telling her my name.

Maggie came over a few minutes later and just stood across the counter, staring at me with a glint in her eye.

"Maggie," I looked up from my book again, waiting for her to say something.

"She was interested, the girl that just left." She crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"You feelin' okay?" I shook my head. I talked to her for five minutes, maybe, and not about anything interesting either.