Charlotte's Story

Flea Market

Renee's POV:

"Do you want to come with us?" Mandy, Ryder's twin sister, had asked one Sunday after lunch.

"No, she wouldn't want to come," Ryder said, giving her a stern look.

"Go where?" I ask Mandy, helping them pick up the dishes from the table.

Mandy had cooked tuna and noodles for Sunday lunch, the whole apartment smells like tuna, but it was her favorite dish.

"This swanky flea market, it is open on Sundays, but it has some terrific finds. Like.." her eyes dart around the apartment. "Oh... That" She points at the dining room table I was cleaning off. "Fifty dollars"

My mouth dropped open; the table was handcrafted, deep rustic wood. When I first saw it, I imagined it came with the apartment, that no college student would be able to buy it.

"It had to take forever to get it up here," I said to her, still in shock at the price.

"Oh, it did. Josh and Ryder had a heck of a time doing it. Come along, it'll be fun. I'll have someone to talk to."

"Fine," I sigh, acting like she was making me jump off of a cliff; she sticks her tongue out at me and smiles.

There was a knock at the door; I walk over casually, throwing on my sweatshirt; it was the first thing I had purchased, pulling off into the gas station to fill up my car one last time before entering Portland. The letters USM caught my eye, and I had been wearing the sweatshirt faithfully.

Daisy was standing outside, "Hey stranger," she steps into the apartment without an invitation. I had learned with Daisy that she didn't call when she was coming over; she just showed up. "What are you up to?" She asks, eyeing everyone standing in the kitchen, getting ready to head outside.

"Just leaving" I cringe inwardly, wanting to go shopping with them all. "I could stay behind" I look at Mandy dreadfully. I wanted to go with her.

"Oh no. Your barbie friend can come along," Mandy said, yanking on my arm, pulling me along, Daisy following right behind me.

"Barbie friend?" Daisy let the words hang there for a brief second before smiling. She was wearing a tight pink dress that flared at the bottom just above her knees with black high heels; her hair had big curls all throughout it.

She hardly dressed even one-tenth this vibrant in current day form.

"Everyone, my Barbie friend is named Daisy," I call out, waiting for the elevator to reach our floor.

Daisy and Mandy made fast friends, talking about each other's articles of clothing on the elevator ride down.

Ryder leans toward me, rolling his eyes at both of them. This was becoming normal for him; if I was in the room and he thought something was odd or annoying, he would make a face to me, letting me know exactly what he was feeling. Every time he did this, I would get butterflies in my stomach. 

The flea market was held in an old abandoned warehouse; the lights partially worked, leaving some vendors almost entirely dead. The smell of fried food floated all around from the food truck that was parked outside.

Ryder walks up to me, tapping me on the shoulder. "Here," he hands me a small white bag, "it is hot," he said, taking my hand and making me grab onto the top of the bag instead of the bottom, so my fingers wouldn't get burnt.

"What is it?" I peer into the bag.

"Dessert" he is waiting for me to pick up the little brown balls coated in powder sugar and eat them.