Freckles.

1

Songs I listened to that have nothing to do with the book:
Sunset Lover by: Petit Biscuit.
Old School by: Urban Cone.
Honeymoon Phase by: TYSM.
The Other by: Lauv.
Down In Flames by: Ella Vos.
Weak- Boonz Tropical Remix By: Halloran and Kate.
I Wonder by: The Him.
Disguise by: Vlera.
Lighthouse- Andrelli Remix by: Hearts & Colors.
Don't Leave by: Snakehips

Day 1, Wednesday

The tiny ridges in his fingers, his brown hair, those eyes, I remember, but does he remember me?

I got up from the bed that wasn't my own, and looked for my articles of clothing that had been strewn across the bedroom. I pulled on my underwear and slung on my shirt, finding my shorts that had been kicked under the bed. I sniffed and ran my hand over my face.

I went back home, got yelled at by my family, cried in the shower, changed clothes, then went to work.
The quiet little record store no one wanted to go into, that has stood here forever. I adjusted my white spaghetti strapped top, and played with a string hanging from the bottom of my shorts, while I was sitting behind the counter at the cash register.
Everything happened so fast last night, memories flashed before my eyes, and I couldn't help but to shake my head to pull myself back to reality.

"Hi, miss?" I heard someone trying to get my attention and I snapped my head up towards them.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I told the boy, I recognized him from school, I don't remember which class though.

The record he held out to me was Metallica, I took it from his hands and rung him up.

"It'll be 10 dollars, nice choice by the way."

"Thanks, I'm getting it for a friend." he smiled as he pulled some crumpled bills out of his pocket. The receipt printed and I handed it to him.

We used the shopping bags from the nearby grocery stores and restaurants, whatever the staff could bring in was on the bag rack. I grabbed one from the Chinese restaurant, it had a big smiley face on it, and put his record in the bag.

"Have a nice day freckles." he smiled when he spoke.

"You too." I smiled weakly as he took his bag and walked out of the shop, I turned away from the register and watched him walk out of sight from the window.

I took the two crumbled fives that were laying on the counter and put them in the register.
I grabbed an old receipt someone had left behind, and started to make a lucky star out of it. I couldn't be left alone with my own thoughts.

Day 2, Thursday

My mom woke me up for work the next day, I pulled my red hair back into a braid, and pulled on some overalls that cut off mid thigh, where they could be rolled up, I settled on wearing my Panic at the Disco shirt underneath them. I studied my freckles in the mirror before deciding to blot on some concealer to hide them, I put powder all over my face and neck so no one could tell. People who knew me would probably notice my lack of freckles, but people who didn't wouldn't see how ugly they are. I slid on my black combat boots and walked to work.

The curve of his back, the space in between his eyes, I bet he didn't even want to look at me that way.

I shoved my headphones on as I sat behind the cash register on the rickety blue chair, swinging my foot back and forth slowly. The chair had worn down because of my bad habit, it wasn't sturdy anymore, and lacked paint at the edges of the stool because I started to pick it off with my fingers.

I noticed him come in this time, same curly brown hair, bright green eyes, different white shirt and tan pants. His shoulders looked boulder than I had remembered, his posture had straightened and he looked in deep thought. He came in swiftly going straight to a section, he pulled out a newer album, a Taylor Swift one. I pulled off my headphones and let them hang around my neck.

"For a friend?" I ask, raising a brow.

"Yeah," he nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Your freckles." he stopped walking towards the counter.

"What about them?" I asked, softly clearing my throat.

"I like them, please don't hide them." he stuttered nervously.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Beau."

"I'm Iris."

Someone came in the shop and time seemed to speed up and I fell back into reality. Beau walked up to the counter, almost teleported to the spot, his body leaving bright colored waves in the air behind him.

"Iris?"

"That'll be twenty." I snapped into reality and softly cleared my throat.

He pulled out his crumpled bills and laid them on the counter. He was about to walk around the counter and out the door.

"Would you like a bag?" I asked quickly, he stopped, looked at me, and shook his head.

"No thanks freckles." he gave a soft smile before tucking the record under his arm, and walking out the door.

The shop door bell rang loudly in my ears when he left. I watched the lady walk swiftly around the shop, she'd clearly been here before, not on my shift perhaps. She had five records, she handed me a one hundred dollar bill, I gave her her change, and she left with the smiley printed Chinese restaurant bag in her hand, swinging lazily at her side when she walked down the street.