East Chapel Academy

Chapter 19- Nia

"Mm," Maya pretended to think about it for a moment. "No."

Tasha rolled her eyes. Maya gave her a cheeky grin in return. A shrill ring came from Tasha's phone.

"Fuck," she said under her breath. "It's time for me to go back to department store hell." She stood placing her bag in the crook of her arm. Taking a sip of her drink she said, "I'll see you bitches later."

Maya wiped her mouth with a napkin before tossing it on her tray. "I should get going too. We just got in a new shipment of Taylor Swift CDs, and Jerry scored some really dope vintage vinyl records at a yard sale." She stood from the table. "Do you want to come back to the shop? We just got a couch in the break room if you want to chill until I get off."

"I'm good, I'm going to walk around for a little while. Maybe shop." Maybe I would find a few accessories for my car. I'm only a few weeks away from not having to bum rides and take the bus anymore.

"Okay, but I'm still taking you home, right?"

"Yes." I took the bus this morning, but the Jefferson Heights bus is not a place you want to be after sun down.

"Text me what store you're in, and Tasha and I will meet you there."

"Later, skank," she called to me as she walked away.

"Bye, whore."

Before I started my little impromptu shopping trip I got a smoothie from the over priced juice bar in the food court. Almost nine bucks for a bunch of fruit blended up in a cup. Capitalism at its finest.

I ambled around for a while going into a few stores. I planned to buy a few air fresheners and some stickers to go on the back of my car, but instead I bought a few shirts and a pair of jeans. It was an honest mistake.

"Nia! Hey, Nia!"

I heard someone call from behind me as I passed a store front. I took an headphone out of my ear turning around.

Thomas waved at me from a comic book store, To The Maxx. I waved back. He motioned for me to come in.

Stepping inside, I looked around.Shelves of comic books lined the store, and old arcade games had been stuck in the back corner.

Thomas stood behind a glass case of older comic books. He had a large book shelf filled with vinyls stood behind him.

"Hey, Thomas," I said setting my bags on top of the glass case. "I didn't know you worked here." He wore a pair of light wash jeans and a striped shirt. He wasn't as muscular as Marcus but he was just as tall, a pair of thin glasses framed his brown eyes.

"I work on the weekends, and some days after school," he explained. He looked at my bags. "Are you doing some shopping?"

"Yeah, just trying to decompress after work," I said. "I work at Barnes and Noble."

"Oh, really. How is that?"

"Hectic, sometimes. But I get a discount, and I'm surrounded by books so I can't complain." People can get a little crazy when new Funko Pops come out or a new John Green novel is released, but for the most part it's a chill place to work.

"It's the same here," he admitted. "Nerds are serious about their comic book releases."

I chuckled. "I bet." A familiar song played from the record player behind the counter.

What I want, you've got. And it might be hard to handle. But like the flame that burns the candle. The candle feeds the flame.

"Are you listening to Hall and Oates?"