"There. Enjoy. Total is 24.73." Edgar bagged up the Sugar & Spice®™ shirt and handed the shirt, now in a bag to the mom of the little girl standing in front of the cash register.
"Awww, so cute! Thank you. Oh, here is the money. Silly me, almost forget!" The mother of the little girl said.
She handed him a wrinkled $20 bill, as well as four $1 ones.
"Ha, gah! I'm so bad with change. Alright... 62, 63, 64, 65... Hmm..." Edgar watched the woman struggle.
He was annoyed.
Why couldn't she hurry the hell up?
"69, 70, 71, 72... come on, just one more penny!" She shook her wallet.
Edgar sighed.
"So sorry, OOPS!" And then the clumsy idiot DROPPED the money.
Edgar smacked his head.
He was about 2 seconds away from screaming at her.
Remain calm... he thought.
And then he did the most unexpected thing. First, he discreetly grabbed a penny from the tip jar, then he walked around to the exit of the check-out station, out through the swinging door, and near the woman who dropped her change.
'"Need help?" He offered.
"Oh, you are such a sweetheart." She said.
The emo took that as a "yes" and crouched down.
"71, 72, 73... still one short!"
"Here." Edgar handed her the penny he had swiped from the tip jar.
"Oh my, thank you!" She stood up and tried to give him a hug, but he refused.
"Sorry, I don't do hugs." He responded.
"No worries! Anyway, here is the money. Have a great day!" She handed him the money and took her daughter by the hand.
"Bye! Thank you for helping my mom, she probably wouldn't have found another penny." The brown-haired girl who wanted the Piper shirt said.
"Yeah, welcome." He answered.
The mother and daughter pair walked out of the gift shop.
"UGH! WHY IS DOES MY LIFE SUCK?!" He screamed. Colette hadn't shown up or texted him. He had had to work the entire gift shop by himself.
On top of that, he hadn't seen miny Colette.
Where was the little kid?
Probably not hanging out here, at the lame gift shop. He realized.
Whatever. His lunch break was soon.
He was going to go see Tara.
See if he could reverse this.
Or if there was anything he could do.
Because he was at a loss for what to do next.
—(••÷[ʟᴜɴᴄʜ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ]÷••)—
This time, he planned out what he was going to say. He didn't have time to stutter or forget his words.
In and out. This had to be quick.
He needed to fix this broken Colette.
He needed to figure out who the hell miny Colette was, and how she related to actual Colette.
He needed to find out what he had done wrong.
He needed answers.
But most importantly?
He had to fix this.
I mean, it was his fault after all. He was the one that had gotten himself into this mess. Now, he had to be the bigger person and get himself out of it.
Because he cared about her.
He liked her.
Most importantly, he loved her.
I love her... he thought.
He did.
He loved her. He wanted to be with her. He wanted to see his lips on hers. He wanted to kiss her. Start a family. Listen to her stupid jokes. Laugh with her. Smile with her. Cry with her. Listen to her obsessions. Hell, he wanted to be her obsession. He wanted to open up to her. He wanted to let go, and be himself around her.
He wanted her. He wanted every part that came with being her boyfriend.
But he loved her too much to watch her get hurt again. So if she hated him for the potion and never wanted anything to do with him, he would accept that.
It was the least he could do.
But before he became the most dramatic person to ever have existed, he needed to try and actually do something instead of creating scenarios in his head about things that might or might not happen.
Talk to Tara, Edgar. If you don't I'll have to listen to more of your cringe fantasies. And no one wants that. He thought, well his scarf did.
"Jeez, okay." He replied... to his scarf.
God, he was pathetic. No matter how emo he tried to be he was just a tryhard.
Dude, I didn't say insult yourself. I said TALK TO TARA AND STOP WAISTING TIME! His scarf pounded him on the head.
He took a breath in and walked through the mystic spirit's shop.
Ha, it was déjà vu.
This time, he was actually ready. He was going to talk to her and not waste time.
"Tara, come out. It's me, Edgar. We need to talk." He said.
The curtain behind the cash register opened up.
The ancient fortune teller walked out.
Oh, you. She telepathically thought.
The telepathy still freaked him the hell out and so he flinched. Tara seemed to get a kick out of that.
Ha, still afraid I see. She thought.
"Yeah... look. you were right."
Of course, I was right, you imbecile. I have an all-seeing eye for crying out loud. I actually know things, unlike some love-struck 18 year old. She angrily rolled her eye.
"Okay, okay. So I admit it. She changed and is now even more emo than me. On top of that, there is some weird miny version of her who at the same time isn't her but acts and looks exactly like her, and I don't know who she is. I'm scared. I'm confused. Please, Tara. I need your help." Edgar asked, or really pleaded.
Alright. You do need my help.
First, I told you she could change. And in this case, she changed to be like you since you are the one in love with her.
Second, miny Colette, as you call her... I'm not entirely sure where she fits into the story. But she could be dangerous.
"Dangerous? How so?"
She is a literal version of the girl you are in love with, but younger. Something about that is off, Edgar. Think about that.
He thought about it. She didn't seem dangerous.
"She's not dangerous."
Okay. Well, dangerous or not I'm still not sure how she fits into this story. What I do know is that there is a way to get her back. The real Colette, I mean.
"How?" Edgar asked.
Look, you need to listen to me very closely.
"Okay."
Good. In this case, you need to fight fire with fire. Or feelings with feelings. Tell her how you feel. Admit that you wanted to give her a potion. If you do this, it should work.
"Really?"
Yes.
The emo smiled.
He actually smiled.
He knew what he was going to do.
He could get her back.