It was around 7:30 am, and your alarm clock was blaring. Annoyed, you hit it and try to go back to sleep. Suddenly someone taps on the door.
"Y/N, You need to get up honey.."
You hear your mom's voice and begrudgingly open your eyes. She opens the door slowly. She smiles and walks over to you. You roll over onto your back and smile weakly back at her. She sits on the end of your bed and looks at you.
"Remember honey, you've got to pick up that video for Samuel's birthday," she reminded.
Turning your head to look at her better you nod your head then look at the clock. 7:54 am.
You yawn and stretch your arms, "Do I have to do it now?"
Playfully rolling her eyes, your mom gets up from your bed. She pulls on your hand, trying to drag you up from your tired state.
"Mom..! Stop it," You laugh, "I'll get up okay!"
She chuckled, "Good now hurry up, the party starts at 10."
You nod and turn to get your clothes.
"Oh! and please pick up some balloons for him,"
"Okay mom..!" You say, slightly annoyed.
The door closes behind her with a click. Walking over to your closet, pondering about what to wear, your brother comes to mind. Samuel is turning 10 this year, wow it seems like he was 5 yesterday. Unlike your friends and their siblings, you and your brother have always been close. Sam was more like a friend to you than your younger brother. You were excited for his party as he was. You guys have only been here for a week and he's made so many friends. Sam was always like that though, social. He made friends quickly. You sometimes wished you could be like him in that aspect. Unlike him, you took longer to make friends and open up to people. It's not like you didn't want friends, you just got so anxious around new people. That's why you didn't want to go to the video store. Interacting with new people makes you feel insecure. But for your little brother, you decide you ignore your lack of confidence and go out.
You grab your messenger bag and walk out of the bedroom.
"Y/N You're up!" You hear someone yell. It's Sam
"Sam! Happy birthday!" You chirp back. You go over and hug him.
"Where are you going?"
You smile and pat his head, "Nowhere bud, I'll be back in an hour. Bye mom, bye dad!"
You step out the front door and close it behind you.
Walking down the sidewalk, you notice that there are a lot more people out here today than you would've thought. Ignoring it though you continue towards the video store. You've never been to the video store, you had no idea how it even worked to be honest. Your family isn't very well off. You live in a two bedroom trailer that could probably be considered junk. You made the best of it though and you guys were all very close due to your struggles. But this was a point in your lives where you all felt comfortable with your money. Both your parents had jobs and you babysat on the weekends. You had managed to save about 300 dollars, and you were putting it towards your college fund. You knew it was impossible to be able to save enough to go right after highschool. Hell you were graduating senior year in 2 months. But you knew if you worked all summer you might be able to save half and pay the rest with help from family.
You were so lost in thought that you almost walked past the video store. You look up and squint your eyes at the large 'Family Video' sign on the front of the store. You exhale and push against the door and walk inside. The interior of the store was colorful but not bright. There were shelves lined with VHS's and there was a four corner check out counter in the middle. Two workers stood in the middle of it. A girl with short hair about an inch or two above her shoulder. The other was a guy with longer brown hair. They both wore dark green jackets with the 'Family Video' logo embroidered onto it. You wasted no time walking up to the counter.
In your head you kept repeating, 'Get the movie and get out. Get the movie and get out.' Not long after you walked up there, one of the workers came to your aid. It was the guy.
He was pretty tall, so he had to look down to talk to you. You looked up at him and felt intimidated and almost forgot what you were here for. But luckily he spoke first.
"Hey there- welcome to Family Video, what can I help you with?"
"Erm Hi," You breathe, and try to gain your courage to speak. You look down at your feet and continue, "Do you have, um Badlands available?"
One thing about your brother was that he loved crime movies, for a while he actually wanted to be a detective. You knew he would like this movie to watch for his birthday and that he would be happy.
"I'm sorry, we actually just had someone rent it out," The man said, "Is there anything else you might like?"
You sigh and think for a second, "Uhm, may I use your phone?"
"Yeah of course, follow me," the brown haired guy waves his hand, to call you over. You follow him around the counter to the opposite side.
"Here you go," He says and gives a weak smile. Then leaves to go to the front of the counter.
brrrring brrring brrring
The telephone rang at your house for what felt like forever. Suddenly it stopped and someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Samuel?" you asked.
"Y/N? Did you need mom?"
"Yes I do actually,"
He yelled for mom, and the phone got passed over.
"Hello?" Your mom asked
"Hey it's me Y/N, Badlands is rented out. Erm..what do I get Samuel instead?"
"Hm, Do they have Kingkong?"
"I'll ask,"
You raised your head up to look for a worker. You noticed the guy looking at you and you waved your hand for him to come over. He walked over to you and leaned against the counter.
"Yes?" he asked
You averted your eyes from his and looked towards the left.
"Oh I was uhm, wondering if Kingkong was available?" You asked quietly.
"Let me check," He said with a polite smile, and walked off.
A few moments later he came back with a VHS in his hand, "We got it."
A smile crept across your face but you quickly suppressed it. You hung up the phone and followed him to the front.
He talked some with the other girl working while you stood there awkwardly. He walked back in front of you.
"So is this Samuel your boyfriend?" he said half-jokingly.
Your face went pink and you laughed softly, "No! Ha.. Samuel's my brother, it's his birthday today."
"Oh nice," he chuckled awkwardly, clearly embarrassed from the previous question, "He likes action movies?" he jiggled the VHS in his hand.
"Uhm, yep," you answered. You kind of just wanted to get out of here quick. You wanted to get this movie and then get Sam's balloons then go home. Your thoughts were interrupted by the guy setting the VHS into your hands. You looked back up at him. He smiled at you.
"Bring this back by Thursday," He said.
"Thank you, um… sir," You replied.
"Call me Steve," he winked, "see you around."
Your face flushed and you quickly turned to leave.
"I think you scared her," the girl worker said to Steve.
About an hour later you were walking back home. It was 9:31. You had the movie, the balloons, and you had gotten Sam a comic book from the store. You tried to focus on Samuel's party but your mind kept going back to Steve from the video store. To be honest he was really cute, but he kind of intimidated you. You couldn't tell if it was from your lack of exposure from talking to boys or just that he had strong energy. You pushed him out of your mind (or at least you tried to) and headed back to your house.
You arrived safely at your trailer. The cars in the driveway meant that some attendees had come early. You sighed and opened the door. Three people sat on the couch, Samuel was one of them. The other two kids were one either side of him. Both boys. The one on Sam's left had short white blonde hair and the other, sitting with his legs crossed, had light brown hair. You waved at them and walked over to Sam.
"Here you go, Sam. Happy Birthday," You smiled and handed the VHS tape to him.
"Oh thanks Y/N..!" He said, getting off the couch to play the tape.
You walked towards the kitchen, it was small and could almost be considered a kitchenette. As you grab a coke from the fridge you hear Samuel.
"Y/N!" He shouts, and holds up a yellow post-it note, "who's Steve?"
You walk fast over to him and sit down with him in front of the television. You snatch the sticky note from him and read it. It was Steve's number. You flush slightly and look back at Sam.
"Oh it's just the guy from the video store," you say.
"Does he like you?" One of the boys asks.
"No!" You shout quickly, probably not making the situation any better for yourself, "He probably just gave me the number in case something was wrong with the video.."
But you knew this wasn't the case. You pondered what you should do. You looked at the clock. 10:02. It was time for the party. You shoved the sticky note into your pocket and joined the rest of the people in the dining room.
A few hours later
The party was over, and everyone started to leave. Sam clung to your side as he was greeting everyone bye. He looked up at you and smiled, then hugged you.
"This party was great, I love you Y/N!"
"Auw don't thank me, go tell mom and dad that,"
You pat his head and walk towards your room. You close the door behind you and hop on your bed. Your eyes dart to the phone. You thought of the note in your pocket, and wondered if you should call him. I mean he obviously gave you his number because he was interested in you. You blushed and smiled slightly. He was pretty cute, and seemed sweet. You get off your bed and sit down at your desk. You pick up the phone and start dialing the number.
