Chapter 1



“You heard me! Its $7.50!”

I looked over to see my best friend Gabby fight with a customer over some t-shirt. I sighed, not again; this is her fifth fight this week. I put my skateboard down and casually walked over to them. It was hard to get this job at Zumies; I wasn’t going to let Gabby ruin it for her.

I smiled at the angry customer, her boyfriend stood behind her trying to hold her back. I lightly put a hand on Gabby, “I'm sorry is there a problem?”

“You’re d*mn right!” the customer yelled raising an angry fist in the air. “I found this shirt on the on sale rack in the back! I’ve tried to explain to this girl five times that this is on sale!”

“I work here” Gabby yelled, “You think I would know what’s on sale and what’s not!”

I looked towards the back, the manager stood there glaring at us. I sighed, “Ok, please quiet down.” I punched a few buttons on the cashier and scanned the shirt.

“Well?” the girl asked impatiently.

I shook my head, “sorry this shirt really isn’t on sale, and someone must’ve accidentally put it in the sale rack.”

The girl glared at me, Gabby leaned back and smiled. “This store is a rip off.” The girl left still furious about what happened.

Gabby smiled and threw the shirt in the back room. I sat in a wooden chair next to the cashier’s and popped open a bag of Doritos. “You really need to stop fighting with the customers.”

Gabby sat on top of the counter and stole a chip. “People need to stop picking fights with me. What were you doing back there?”

“Skateboarding.” Zumies had to be the coolest place to work, not only did we get 50% off of anything in the store, but we also had a place to skate for free. The store connected to a skate park, Gabby and I are usually always skateboarding in the back.

“I thought you needed to work on your skateboard.”

I popped a chip into my mouth, “I just needed to tighten the wheels and grease it up a little.”

A little bell rang through the store; I looked over at the entrance. A whole family who looked like they just got out of an Abercrombie photo shoot walked in. The dad and the little girl walked around excitedly, while two teenagers walked slowly behind them. They had a disgusted look on their face as they stuck their nose high in the air and walked through the store.

Gabby and I looked at each other and laughed silently, they looked very out of place. Gabby did a 180 turn and accidentally bumped into the dad. “Are you guys lost or something?” she asked rudely.

The girl who looked a year younger than me stepped up, “aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Can’t really work when there aren’t any customers around now can you?”

“What about stocking the store?”

I put the bag of chips down and stood up, “that would be my job. I’ve already done it all.”

The dad smiled at me, “is that so? Well you’re doing a good job.”

I smiled, “thanks, I also give out skate lessons.” I looked at the boy; he stood there and stared at me. I didn’t know him well enough to read him, but so far he looked impressed. “Sorry about my friend, we’ve been here since 5.”

The dad looked shocked, “why?”

I shrugged, “you do what you have to do for money. You know how it goes right?”

He chuckled and put a finger on his wide tanned chin. “Say what grade are you two in?”

“It’s our last year.”

The dad nodded, “excellent so you two are saving money for tuition?”

I looked at Gabby sadly, if only that were the case. “Gabby is, I'm not going to be able to.”

“Why not?” the boy asked this time, he looked…concerned.

“She’s probably too dumb” the girl said, she looked at her nails and pretended to fix them.

“Blair” the boy snapped.

I smiled, “its fine. I was always taught to hold my tongue, then again my mom taught me better.”

“My mom’s dead!” Blair snapped.

“So is my dad” I counterattacked. “He’s been dead for two years now. You want to play that game? I can play it better than you can.”

Blair glared at me; I could tell she was trying so hard to think of a comeback. Instead of defending her case she turned around and walked away. I turned to look at Gabby; she had a huge grin on her face. I sighed of course she would be grinning.
I barely ever snapped at anyone like that, living with my mom has taught me how to be patient. Of course every rule has its exception; mine was Amanda and her pack of followers. Ever since the car accident Amanda has been on my case 24/7, you think as a senior in high school who’s in almost all of the clubs at school, she’d be too busy to make my life terrible.
“Don’t worry about her” the boy said staring after her, “she’ll get over it.”
I sighed, “I'm sorry.”
“Don’t be” the dad said, “It’s her fault.”
Gabby smiled and grabbed the bag of chips I left on the floor. Hopping back onto the counter she said, “So what brings you guys in here? You don’t seem like the type to shop here.”
The boy grinned, “Oh? And where do you think we belong?”
“Abercrombie and Fitch, Hollister…those types of stores.” She shuttered just thinking about it.
The boy walked up to me and smiled, I stared into his warm brown caramel eyes. I leaned back slightly; he smiled revealing two small dimples on the sides of his nicely tanned cheeks. “You don’t look like you belong here either” he said smoothly.
I took a deep breath, “what makes you say that?”
He continued to stare at me, if he was trying to read me it wasn’t going to work. I'm not the type of person who reads well with other people. He ran a hand through his soft spiky light brown hair and looked me up and down. Laughing he turned away and took two steps back, “I don’t know. It’s the way you come off, the way you dress…it’s awkward.”
I heard Gabby stifling a laugh, I glared at him. Awkward, I think I would know if I dressed awkward. “Thanks” I said walking over to him, I looked at him fully and rolled my eyes. There was nothing awkward about him…he was utterly perfect. I crossed my arms and walked away feeling a slight pinch of embarrassment. I couldn’t help but be transfixed by his gaze. The way he smiled and laughed still rang in my every thought, haunting me.
“Wait” he said walking towards me, “I'm Logan” he held out a hand and grinned. I stared at it till he awkwardly put it away. “Look I'm sorry if I embarrassed you or insulted you. But take it as a compliment; you don’t need to be here. I can tell by the way you walk, the way you talk, and the way it reads in your eyes.”
I sighed, “What are you trying to do? It sounds like you’re trying to get me to run away with you or something.”
He laughed, “No I'm not trust me. I just…” he sighed, “never mind forget I said anything.”
“Who are you anyways? I know everyone in town…but your family.”
“Ah so you’re popular? See I told you, you don’t…”
I held up a hand stopping him mid sentence. “I was born here; I went to school with everyone. That doesn’t mean I'm popular or preppy or whatever you want to call it. If you want to hang out with the popular crowd go to the pizza parlor. It’s a 15 minute walk from here, just go up the street and take a left at the stoplight.”
He leaned back, “oh…I'm sorry I just thought…”
I held up a hand stopping him again, “next time keep your thoughts to yourself. That’s what gets you in trouble.”
I looked at him one last time before I disappeared out into the skate park.