Between Emails

two: zoom calls and late night run-ins

~ noelle ~

After my eventful time with Oliver, nothing exciting happened afterwards. I had two more classes and then I went off to work.

I worked at a local bookstore 'BooksNBooks'. I went there a lot with Grandma when I was little. That's how we ended up befriending Freya Augustus — the owner of the bookstore. Lovely woman she is. As soon as I turned seventeen, she offered me a job.

It's usually pretty quiet, not only because its a bookstore but also because not many people come here. Now that you can read and buy books online, people much rather do that than come all the way here and not knowing if what they're looking for is here or not. That and the whole audiable apps— you don't even have to read, since other people do it for you.

I dread the day Freya closes the bookstore for good.

I finished the two homework assignments that two teachers managed to give today before pulling my phone out, only to find a text from Aspen, my best friend.

Don't forget our zoom call at 9. I have so much to tell you!!!   -A

Aspen and I have been friends since preschool, when some kid pulled on my pigtails. She pushed him and made him fall. From there I knew Aspen would always have my back. 

Aspen was one of those gifted athletes. In high school, she was in both, volleyball and track teams. They had different training schedules so she managed to do both, and her dedication wasn't left unnoticed by scouts. She ended up receiving a full ride to a university is Minnesota for her dedication, amazing skills and her sportsmanship.

I decided to stay behind to be close to my grandma, in case she ever needed me, and that meant being far from Aspen. That's why we decided to have mandatory zoom calls once a month. They were a must and neither of us could cancel or reschedule unless something big happened, for example, that Aspen had a match that day, or that my grandma was in the hospital. Other than that, there were no excuses.

I would neverrrr. I have some tea too.  -N

It was January and the snow was still decorating the city, alongside the freezing breeze that made your bones tremble. That's what happened to me at least, when I closed the bookshop at 8pm and made my way to the supermarket. I needed to buy some food for my zoom call—sleepover thing with Aspen.

I could barely feel my face when I arrived at the store. It was pretty empty, apart from the employees. No one wanted to leave their houses in this freezing weather.

Hm— what should I buy?

Chocolate – check

Popcorn – check

Ice cream  – check

I knew Grannie had vodka hidden somewhere around the house, so I already had my drink. Now, I needed to find a few things for Grandma.

Eggs – check

Milk – check

Oats – uncheck

I probably passed through every aisle at least once looking for my grandma's favorite oats. She loved them with a passion and she ran out of them this morning. I know that there wasn't much left to do, especially in this weather but the idea of my grandma eating something else that wasn't oats... made me feel guilty.