I decided to show Ray my second most favorite place in the town. The bookstore. Ray had never been to the bookstore and never met Ms. Green.
"Ms. Green, this is my sister Ray. Ray this is the loveliest bookstore owner, Miss Tara Green." I introduced them.
Ray blushed for some reason then smiled happily.
"Hey sweetie. Zack, show her the store. I have some work in the market. Look after the store while I'm gone." Ms. Green said.
"Got it."
I showed Ray my favorite parts of the store including the small sitting area. She paid attention to everything.
"I can see why you like this place. It just gives out a very... calm feeling. The interior is designed in a way that everything just feels so relaxing." She said.
"I have very good taste," I smirked.
"Then recommend me a book. I'll buy any book you recommend me," she said.
"I have a procedure. Your have to answer a few questions before I recommend you anything," I said.
"What is your age?"
"You know this one."
"It's part of the procedure." Ray looked annoyed.
"I turn fourteen in December."
"What was the last book you read?"
"Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe."
"Rate the book on a scale from one to ten."
"Six or seven maybe," she said.
"What genre appeals most to you? Contemporary, Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Young Adult Fiction, Adult Fiction, Science Fiction, Non Fiction, Poetry, Action, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Tragedy, Thriller, Biographies or Autobiographies."
"You remember that many genres?" She asked her eyes wide.
"That's all I can think of off the top of my head." I said.
"Okay, Contemporary and Young Adult Fiction, I guess. Maybe horror and tragedy too."
I looked at the shelves and found the book I was looking for. I handed it to Ray.
"The Astonishing Color of After," she read the title. "What's it about?"
"Read the back of the book," I said. She did.
"Looks good to me," she said after reading. "I wanna buy this one."
She stuck around for a little more while, reading the book before she went to hangout with her friends.
My relationship with Ray had significantly improved. We were good friends now. We could talk about stuff. It would take a while to be comfortable to share our secrets and stuff but we still were on really good terms.
When I look at it, things haven't really been going downhill ever since the breakup. Ms. Green arranged a book release, Colin got a job at his dad's restaurant, I developed a good relationship with Ray and I made new friends like Katy and Jenny.
Things were going pretty well then why couldn't I just forget about her. Everytime I did, all the memories I had about her came rushing back to me. I couldn't get her out of my head and the sad part was that she could.
***
The weekend was approaching. My plan with Colin, Katy and Dale was coming up and my mood was better. Talking about Audrey with Ms. Green helped me but it was still hard to forget her.
On Saturday night, I left with Colin to the club. Katy and Dale were already there when we reached.
The club was called 'Unknown' to give it a mysterious sound. It was a dark place illuminated by various lights. Music blasted from the speakers. Since it was a weekend, many college students and other people came to party. On the left, was the bar and on the right, black leather sofas were lined up with a small tables. The middle was where the people danced.
"Hey! Glad you could make it," Katy said when she saw Colin and me.
"Hi! I said I would come. This is my friend Colin," I said. Everyone introduced themselves to Colin then we started talking.
"So you went to the same college as Zack?" Dale asked.
"Yeah. We've been friends a long time, since we were five maybe." Colin answered.
"That's a really long time," Katy said.
"It sure is. What about you two?" I asked.
"We met at the newspaper. She was kinda sad about a breakup and I decided to help her," Dale said.
"He bought me ice cream and we watched Tangled at his apartment," Katy explained.
The conversation went from meeting to relationships. Katy had a serious relationship with a guy before he broke up with her after college. Dale broke up with his ex around the same time. I told them about Audrey and for the first time, I didn't feel a knife stabbing me and my emotions.
"Let's get some drinks," Dale said.
"I can't have drinks. I'm going to drive," I said. "I'll get a soda."
"It's okay. Let's get the others some drinks and you a soda." Dale said and we headed towards the bar.
I spotted Jenny standing near the bar, sipping a mocktail and looking at the people dancing. She looked at me and smiled.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I came with some friends." I introduced Dale and Jenny. "What about you?"
"It's my friend's birthday. We came with a group of friends but they all ditched me for their boyfriends and girlfriends." She said.
"You can hang out with us." Dale offered.
"I don't wanna interrupt you guys. I was just gonna go." She gave me a small smile.
"That's utter nonsense. Zack's friends are invited. You're invited. End of discussion." Dale said.
We went back to the place we were sitting and had to introduce Jenny again.
"Wait, you're Jennifer Maxwell? Are you by any chance Caleb Maxwell's sister? The basketball player?" Colin asked.
"Yeah. He's my eldest brother. How do you know him?" She answered.
"He's the guy who beat our school at every sports competition till the time he was in high school. That's why you looked familiar! You look like him." I said.
Jenny laughed. "Yeah. He's very good at sports. I look like him too. That must be it."
Very soon, we changed the topic and we all were joking and laughing, each of us telling the craziest prank we'd pulled.
"Once, I called my friend and told her that it's an RJ from a radio station and that there was a love song dedicated to her by this guy she absolutely hated," Dale told us laughing.
"The things she said to me. Oh God! She should have washed her mouth with soap!"
"Okay, so there was this guy who acted all high and mighty in school. My best friend and I decided to pull a prank on him. We offered him orange juice except we mixed salt in the drink." Jenny said. "His face when he spit that drink on his friend was so memorable."
We each told our own stories while laughing like maniacs. Jenny looked comfortable talking to us and had become good friends with Dale. It was around one in the morning that I got a text from my dad.
When are you coming
back? It's getting late.
"We should probably go home. I got a text from my dad. It's already one," I said.
"That's a good idea. My stomach's hurting from all this laughing," Colin said.
"How did you guys come here?" I asked Dale, Katy and Jenny.
"Katy and I took a taxi," Dale said.
"I came here with my friends," Jenny said. "Damn! I'd better call a taxi."
"You all can come with us. There's plenty of room in the car for five people, right?" Colin looked at me and asked.
"Right. We can drop you home. You guys are coming with us," I said.
After a little bit of convincing, they all agreed and we went towards our car. We decided to drop Jenny off first since her dorm was the closest destination. After dropping off Dale, Katy and Colin, I went back home.
Dad had probably fallen asleep waiting for me. I saw light coming from Ray's room. I knocked and entered her room. She sat on her bed with a book in her hand. The book she bought from the store.
"Why are you up so late?" I asked.
"I didn't want to put it down," she said sheepishly while pointing at the book.
"I know the feeling. Good Night, Ray," I smiled.
"Good Night, Zack," she smiled back.
Author's Note
What do you think of this chapter? Let me know what you think. I love reading your comments. Feel free to correct any typos or grammatical errors. We're more than halfway through the book and I wanna thank all of you for showing so much support to me. It means a lot to me.
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