The Perfect Angel

Chapter 12: Probably A Mind Reader

Chapter 12

Janice sat with Peter on her left and the Trainers on the opposite side of the counter. There were no costumers coming in so they decided to just sit and talk. Sidney was yet again telling stories of her rebellious young teen years. Peter laughing and Jay smiling down at the same black book he was reading when Janice first started working at the Sunny Lane. The way Jay angled it away from everyone else made Janice wonder what the book contained.

There were no words on the book or on the spine. The cover and back looked like a smooth hard cover. From where Janice sat, she could see the top right corner of a page. It was blank but the page itself looked either old or a light brown. The way Jay rubbed his finger along the pages made Janice wonder if the plain book had any pictures or designs on the pages. Maybe it was a drawing book? Janice thought to herself.

"So where yah from, Peter Owens?" Jay asked Peter's alias name without looking up from his book.

"Up top from Hickridge." Peter answered. Jay let out a low whistle.

"Wow. A six hour drive for little old Janice?" Janice felt offended at Jay's joke. Was he really joking though? This bugged Janice. How was she supposed to help Jay with whatever reason if he didn't even like her? She never had this problem.

"She's worth it. We've always been close, till I moved, of course. But then she moved closer, with that boy of hers, and it only made sense to come and visit her,"

"Does that mean you don't like Jeremy?" Jay raised an eyebrow and gave Peter an amused smile. Since when, Janice thought, did he ever hear Jeremy's name? Oh wait, in homeroom and their free period. It seemed like memory fades with age.

"It's not that I don't like him. He just gets on my nerves." Janice gave a loud laugh at their inside joke. Peter actually loved Jeremy, but he did get on his nerves sometimes. Jeremy has that affect on people.

"What's so funny?" Jay pouted.

"You don't want to know." The two beings said at the same time.

"Why? I want to know too!" A new voice said as they bounded up to the group. "Peter! My man!" Jeremy cried and gave Peter an over excited hug. He chucked and pushed the boy away.

"Jeremy." Peter nodded. "You haven't changed a bit." He sent a wink to the younger boy.

"It hasn't been that long." Jeremy said bashfully. The group broke into giggles at their joke.

"You guys are weird." Jay said with a scoff. Sidney nodded in agreement.

"Hello there, Sidney! How are you?" Jeremy sent a thousand watt smile at the elder woman who gave him a little grin.

"I've been just fine, dearie. And you?"

"I like snow." Was Jeremy's response, completely ignoring Sidney's question.

"It's snowing?" Janice asked with excitement.

"Yeah. I was trying to call you. The mall should be closing in about..." Jeremy had looked down at his watch when a loud metal lock clicked from somewhere in the mall, scaring Janice out of her skin. "right about now!" He said without making the effort to actually say the time.

This surprised everyone. How long have they been talking? Janice was eager to see the snow once again so she hurried to pack up the store. She helped, along with Peter and Jeremy, to push the racks of clothes against the wall while Jay counted the small amount of money is the cash register. Sidney grabbed everyone's things and waited patiently by the store, grateful for all the help. Once everyone was done, they shut off the lights and taking their belongings. When everyone was situated, Sidney closed the metal gate and locked it up.