Bubblegum Boy

[two] Thursday, August 29

[2] Thursday, August 29

                When I saw him the second time he was in the school’s supply section with a kid half his size bouncing around him, crayons and notebooks falling out of his tiny arms. Bubblegum Boy sighs, leans against the cart, and adjusts his beanie.

                “What do you need next, Daniel?” he asks in an exhasperated tone. Daniel shoots his older brother a winning smile.

                “Well, let’s see. Hm. I meed a folder…it says Peechee folder,” he squints at a piece of crinkled paper in his chubby fingers then at the shelves before him. “Ooh, look, an Iron Man one! Can I get this one, Derek? Please? Please?”

                “Put it in the cart,” Derek rubs a hand down his face.

                “Yes!” he pumps the air with a small fist. “Now I need pants and shirts and those light-up Cars shoes. But not the Cars 1, the Cars 2 ones because it has cooler light up colors, okay?” Daniel lists off and starts walking in my direction.

                “Okay, hold up, man, have you seen your closet? You have enough clothes, I promise.” He hurries after the now running boy. He doesn’t see me standing in the junior’s clothing section, folding pairs of jeans, until he practically jams me with the red shopping cart. “Ah, shit,” he curses, righting the cart of socks on his left before looking at me. He’s about to apologize when he realizes who I am and a smirk slowly spreads across his face. “Hey! Bean Girl, right?” Guess he had a nickname for me, too.

                “Oh, goody,” I smile sarcastically. “Bubblegum Boy’s back.”

                “Okay, that’s not even fair,” he protests, though he doesn’t seem very affected by the name. “I’m not chewing any gum,” he opens his mouth to establish his point, revealing rows of straight, white teeth.

                “Yeah, well when I saw you first you were, quite obnoxiously, might I add,” I snap, throwing a pile of size zeros (okay, how the hell are those even thing anyway?) onto a lower shelf.

                “Derek,” a younger voice yells, nearing us, and suddenly Daniel is next to Bubblegum Boy and staring at me expectantly, a clothes and shoes piled up to his chin.

                I scoff. “Derek? That’s an unfortunate name.Then again, bad name for a bad person, am I right?” He twists his lips at me and raises an eyebrow.

                “Derek is a fucking awesome name. What’s your name, then, Bean Girl?” I stand straighter and raise my chin.

                “Nick.” Immediately I realize my mistake in giving Bubblegum Boy the shortening of my name.

                “I knew you were a guy!” he exclaims with a smirk and when Daniel tugs on his shirt he looks down at his younger brother with a questioning gaze.

                “Derek,” he says in a stage whisper. “I don’t think that's a guy, Derek.” I laugh and crouch down to throw an arm around the boy.

                “Now, how did such an adorable boy like you get stuck with a brother like him?” I scrunch my face up at Derek, who rolls his eyes. Daniel sighs dramatically.

                “I ask myself that every day.” I roar with laughter and Daniel giggles while Derek clears his throat loudly.

                “So what grade are you in, Daniel?” I ask the child and he takes a deep breath.

                “Here we go,” mutters Derek but I ignore him as Daniel starts speaking.

                “Well, I was born on January 3, 2008, so technically I should be in second grade, but I would be really, really young, but then I had to take-”

                “Okay, come one, Daniel, let’s get the rest of your stuff,” Derek interrupts and Daniel’s face lights up, barely assessing the fact that Derek slips the clothes out of his arms and carelessly tosses them on a nearby rack. I glare at him but he pretends to not notice. The asshole grabs the younger brother’s hand and starts pulling him in the other direction.

                “Okay! Bye, Nick,” Daniel waves at me over his shoulder. I smile and return the gestures, leaning back on a shelf of bras. They topple over, drawing stares for several different reasons.

                   “Are you fucking kidding me.”

A/N:

There it is. Likey?

Ugh, there's school tomorrow.

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-Nova.