ғʀᴏᴍ ᴘᴏʀᴛʟᴀɴᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟ.ᴀ. » ᴅᴀɴɪᴇʟ sᴇᴀᴠᴇʏ

Chapter One

Thursday, June 14, 2018

The gentle ring of the bell above the oak entrance door of the bookstore reaches my ears.

I raise my head, looking away from the computer, to greet whoever has entered.

"Hi, welcome to the Roselane Bookstore. Can I can help you?" I say, a phrase I've recited for almost a year now, directed toward the girl that just entered. She pushes a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and turns over her shoulder when she hears my voice.

"Hey, I recognize you!" she says brightly, approaching the desk I'm standing behind. "From church."

"And school," I add, smiling a little.

"That's right. But you just graduated?"

"Yes," I nod, "no more high school for me."

"Wow. I still have one more year. I would say you're lucky, but I know the responsibilities don't stop just because you get a diploma."

I laugh, never having heard anything more close to the truth.

"My name's Anna Seavey," she says.

"Kai Merta," I say. She grins.

"It's nice to finally match face with name."

"Yes, it is," I agree.

She pauses for a moment, so I continue.

"Well, do you need help with anything?"

"Yes, actually," she says, digging her arm into the bag hanging on her shoulder. She pulls out a book and sets it on the counter. "My mom came in here the other day and bought this book. She researched and found out it's part of a trilogy and wanted me to pick up the second and third if they're available here."

I turn to the bookstore's computer and pull up a new tab in front of the word document where I was recently editing my book.

I ask Anna the name of the book, search what trilogy it belongs to, and plug my findings into the Roselane Bookstore website, discovering that both books are on the shelves.

"Thank you, I'll be back in a minute," Anna says with a smile after I've told her what section of the small store the books are in.

In moments, she has disappeared from my sight, enveloped by tall shelves containing nothing but the lives, adventures and romances of thousands.

Most people look at a book and see just that—a book. I've always been one to see more. I see the emotion sewn into every page, the thought of development put into each character, and the difficulty of getting the chemistry of the entire piece to flow together perfectly.

Another ring of the entrance bell pulls me from my thoughts. A boy who appears to be around my age walks in. In the seconds he doesn't see me, I survey his tall figure and short brown hair.

The same surprise of recognition that I felt when Anna walked in courses through my body once again.

Staring at his profile is like... passing a stranger on the street and doing a double take when you realize you've seen them before, yet you know nothing about them. You don't know their name, life, or story. All that you do know is that you've seen them in the midst of some inconspicuous, seemingly unimportant occasion that your brain decided to remember, without your conscience's full awareness.

The boy's eyes roam over the space in front of the bookshelves opposite me until they lock in on me. He smiles.

I immediately feel self conscious of my faded sweatshirt, black joggers, and messy hair that I barely bothered to pull into a ponytail earlier this afternoon.

I start to look away from him, feeling sheepish about my appearance and demeanor, before scoffing at myself inwardly.

He's just a guy. Don't act differently just because he walked in.

I look up and return the smile.

"Hi, welcome to the Roselane Bookstore. Can I help you?"

A polite smile remains on his face as he moves closer to me.

I finally will myself to make complete eye contact with him, my breath nearly catching in my throat as a result. He has the most stunning blue eyes I've ever seen.

"Yes," he says, in response to my offer for help, "I'm looking for—"

"Your sister?" I intercede.

Surprise resides on his features before he says, "Well, yeah. How did you know?"

"Your eyes look similar," I say. "And she just came in a few minutes ago, so I guessed."

The boy nods.

The nagging feeling that I've seen him before remains in the back of my mind as I come to my senses and introduce myself.

"My name's Kai Merta. I know Anna from school. Well, I did, I guess, when I still went. I— I just graduated, so," I finish awkwardly. My face heats up and I look away from the boy in front of me, embarrassed.

He seems to sense how uncomfortable I just made myself feel because he shoots me a reassuring smile. His eyes remain kind, calm.

"I'm Daniel," he says, before tacking on, "Seavey," at the end, which was entirely unnecessary and a little humorous.

I try not to laugh as I say, "Figured."

"Why're you in here?" Anna asks Daniel as she reappears, two books under her arm.

He lets out a light scoff, but the smile pulling at the corners of his lips betrays him.

"Wow, very kind. Nice to see you, too."

She laughs as she sets the books down in front of me. I smile inwardly, wondering briefly, like I always have, what it would be like to have a sibling.

"You told me to come find you in that clothing shop down the street when I finished. I was just surprised to see you in here instead," she explains to him. He hums in response.

I pull Mrs. Seavey's selection towards myself and go through the process of checking them out as Anna speaks up again.

"I love this little bookstore; it's so cute," she comments, turning on her heel to glance behind her.

I set the books back on the counter in front of her after she hands me a twenty dollar bill.

"One of the biggest factors in deciding to work here was how different this little shop is from all the others in Portland. There's no artificial lighting or tile floors or metal bookshelves. It's just kind of... cozy."

I'm not looking directly at him, but I feel Daniel's eyes on me. I almost start blushing again because 1. a tiny sliver of my creative, appreciate-everything side just escaped me, and 2. every time I start blushing, I become obsessively aware that I'm blushing, and while I'm trying to force myself to stop, that makes it worse.

"I completely agree," Anna says as she places the books in her bag. "Well, we've got to get going, but it was nice to officially meet you!"

"I agree," I say, smiling, "and I'll see you at church."

"We'll have to sit together sometime in the future. I'd really like to get to know you better."

Contentment flushes through me when she says that, excited that she wants to put something towards a potential friendship.

"I'd love that," I say wholeheartedly.

We say our final goodbyes and she moves away, headed for the door. Daniel doesn't follow as quickly.