Chapter 48

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With all out tickets we were able to buy cotton candy, and a Laffy Taffy that we tried to spilt in half but it was almost impossible. So Zoe took a bite that was more the half, and I ate the rest.

I woke up in my bed, an indent of a body right beside me. Zoe slept here. Light snuck in through the gaps in the curtains. I sat up, my feet touching the cold hardwood floor. I made my way into the bathroom, and brushed my teeth. I looked out into my room. Zoe's jeans and her shirt laid neatly on one of the beanbag chairs. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I headed downstairs. My mom and Zoe were sitting at the table. Zoe eating cereal and my mom drinking her normal cup of coffee. They were laughing about something, neither of them noticing me.

"Good morning" I smiled serving myself a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning" They both greeted me. I noticed Zoe was wearing my clothe, a small smile played on my lips.

"Are you going any where this summer?" My mom asked Zoe.

"I don't know, I'd like to go somewhere with my parents but they're always busy" Zoe replied.

"They've been saving up a lot of their vacation days" A smirk grew on my moms lips. Zoe's eyes brightened.

A couple minutes later my mom was ready to leave, she took her cup and placed it in the sink for me to wash. I walked my mom to the door while Zoe washed her bowl and spoon.

"Why didn't you tell me you guys were dating?" My mom whispered to me at the door.

"How'd you know?"

"It's obvious" my mom said, sounding like a little kid.

"Is it really? Because even our friends didn't notice" She laughed and with that she was out the door. When I got back Zoe had washed my moms cup and my bowl.

"You didn't have to do that" I told her, snaking my arms around her waste, and placing a kiss on her neck.

"You weren't gonna do that" She laughed.

"You're right" I laughed, burying my head in the crook of her neck.

"I have to go to work" She panicked, quickly turning around and giving me a small kiss.

"Bye" she said, and then she was gone.

I called Calum over, and I guess Chloe was tagging along because we he showed up so did she.

"So where's your girlfriend?" He smirked as he walked in and took a seat on the couch.

"Why don't you just say Zoe?" I asked.

"Why not?" He shurgged. Chloe took a seat on the opposite couch.

"Wheres your girlfriend?" I asked him.

"Why don't you just say Karla" he mocked, "She's at her grandmas and she won't be back for another four days"

Calum turned on the tv and we played some video games. Chloe casually sighing and asking to play. After a while she shut up, and Calum gave her one of the remotes.

Zoe's POV

"There's gonna be a shipment of books coming in today" Maggie informed me as I walked in.

"I'm gonna be taking care of my sick grandson, so the store is yours for the whole day" It wasn't gonna be any different she was never here anyway. She placed the store key in my head and told me to lock up at nine. About twenty minutes after Maggie left a truck pulled up in front of the door. A buff man walked with a box and placed it in front of the counter another man followed and they stacked the boxes neatly.

"Where's Maggie?" the first guy asked, his deep voice echoed through the store.

"She's taking care of her grandson" I told him.

"So you're new?" He asked," Never in the last 15 years have I seen Maggie hire someone"

He went to get more boxes.

"How many are there?" I asked the second guy.

"About 15" he shrugged. Neither of them seems to have a problem carrying the boxes. A noticed a sticky note on the Cash register.

'If you have any questions, feel free to call me'

The two men had left. there were about seven stacks of ten. They left them stacked in a way that it wouldn't bother the view from the register on the store. I grabbed the keys and cut open one of the boxes. Surprisingly filled with modern books. I figured she wanted me to place the books on the shelf, so I did just that. As I cut open another box the guy from the other day came in.

"Maggie not here again?" Jared asked. I walked along to the 'S' section.

"Nope, she's taking care of her grandson."

"Oh" He stayed quiet for a moment.

"Do you need any help?" he asked probably taking notice in the stack of boxes.

"I think I'm fine" I said, grabbing the amount of boxes that was possible for me to carry. Which, with my small hands, wasn't much.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah I'm fine" I said, hoping to sound more convincing. I did the same thing over and over again. Grab the books, place them on the shelf and repeat. I could feel Jared's eyes watching me. And with the feeling of people watching me I didn't work well. I knew I was about to mess up. Right on cue I accidentally tripped and dropped the pile of books in was caring.

"Jesus Christ are you ok?" Jared rushed over to me helping me up. He had large hands and a strong grip.

"I'm fine." I said, he had light brown eyes.

"You shaved your beard?" I asked.

He smiled, "you noticed?"

"For some reason, yeah" I laughed.

He gathered the books in both of his hands and went to place them on their rightful shelf.

"See, if I help you you'd get more done quicker" He grabbed the rest of the books that sat in the box.

"But if we get done quicker I won't have anything to do for the rest of the day" I told him as I opened a new box.

"I can kept you company" He offered, bending down. I didn't reply, because I honestly didn't know how.

We got done in at least 35 minutes. He helped me take the box out to the front so they could be picked up by the garbage truck.

"So how do you know Maggie?" I asked him as he sat on the stool behind the counter and I sat on the counter.

"I used to come here all the time ever since I turned 8, and she noticed I came here a lot so she kind of helped me pick out books and stuff" He shrugged.

"And now I'm a sophomore in collage and I still come here" He chuckled, "are you in college yet?"

"I'm starting this fall" I told him.

We talked about ourselves for a while, he told me about Maggie and the store and himself and I found out quite a lot. This store was basically an inheritance from Maggie grandpa, and that's why some of the books are so old. The books sell for cheaper then they should be but only a couple people come, but she still manages to make a fair amount of money by the end of the week. Jared, was studying English and was hoping to become a high school English teacher. He was also studying Greek mythology. Which was one of my favorite things to learn about. He worked part time at the Publix near my neighborhood. He also had recently gotten out with a relationship on a girl he really loved, but she cheated on him.

"I'm sorry" I told him as he finished telling me. He said the books make him feel like he's there and there's nothing else to worry about.

"Reading the words on the pages takes the stress away immediately because I'm not here in Florida, I'm in New York during the 50s or Chicago in the future" He explained, "I feel like such a nerd"

"You're not, I feel exactly the same" I comforted him, "that's mainly the reason I applied for this job."

We continued to talk, until a customer came in. Jared got up and browsed for a book once again and then left leaving me by myself.

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