I haven't seen Ross in a few days. I've been picking up extra shifts at the bookstore in attempt to save some money for Christmas gifts and for the upcoming semester. My loans for classes are already taking a beating out of me and I need to afford books somehow. Ross has been at his family's house often, his mom asking to see him every chance he can. I don't blame either of them, the connection they have is too cute for words.
When I'm not working, I'm at the apartment attempting to hang out with my roommates. Kayla tells me all about Chance and the wonderful dates they go on. She seems beyond happy and it only makes my heart grow warmer for the two of them. Rocky and Liv decided to stick it as "friends with benefits" then they started going on dates, but insist they want to keep the same label. They're hardly ever home since they found the two boys, I miss hanging out with them all the time, but I'm more than happy for them.
As I picked up a double at the bookstore, my shift being from 9 AM to 9 PM, I find anything to keep myself occupied. My feet hurt. My head hurts. The coffee brewer from the little café has set off the alarm twice since the new kid still won't get the hang of it. All of the books are organized until people come in and decide to shove the book they examine into the wrong genre.
My manager left and allowed me to run the store tonight. Thankfully it was a quiet Wednesday and nobody really came in.
I rearrange the new collection of books we have, sorting them near the John Greene books. I only have forty minutes left until I close up and I couldn't be more thankful.
I glance over at a suspicious girl standing near the poetry books. I peer around the corner to see her slip one of the white covered books into her side purse and head toward the door. I groan to myself and approach the front entrance.
"Hi," I say, attempting to give her a friendly smile. "Could you please go pay for that?"
Her eyes widen. "Excuse me? Are you accusing me of stealing right now?"
The $13.99 book sits inside of her purple bag. I nod, "I watched you. And I know I can pull the several security cameras and show you how obvious it was. Let's not make this difficult, Miss."
"No! Absolutely not. I didn't steal. Now move!" She screams at me.
What battles do I want to fight today?
I cross my arms. "Empty your bag. I'm not playing this game. If you have nothing suspicious in there then there's nothing to worry about. Just hand me the book and you can be on your way - as simple as that. I won't call the cops."
You can tell she wasn't changing her mind. That's why I didn't stop my coworker when he pulled out his phone and dialed three quick numbers, putting the phone to his ear.
All of a sudden I feel her hands shove me, the door I was standing in front of flings open and I go flying outside of the store, landing hard on my bottom. I watch as she sprints down the street, making a quick left.
I stare at my coworker and shrug, saying the name of the street she turned down. He walks over and helps me up, the shoppers inside looking at me as if this was the most intense thing they have ever witnessed.
I look at my coworker and pull the door shut, "I'm gonna go clean up. Sorry everyone, we are going to have to close up a few minutes early and get this settled." I smile, walking toward the employee lounge.
Pebbles and dirt are covering my palms, red streaks decorating the lines. I wash my hands, making sure to get rid of any and all dirt, blood and anything else I managed to get on me. I turn around and look at my jeans, a rip through the bottom of my butt. I roll my eyes and pull down my shirt as far as I can so nothing shows.
Thirty minutes later, we have the police record all filled out. They have the security cameras already sent to them. I sit in the office alone once the cops and my coworkers leave. I record the shoving on my phone and go to lock up the store.
Once I'm outside of the main door, twisting the key and making sure three times it was locked. I hear someone approaching me. I take a long inhale in preparation to what can possibly go down.
"I was going to surprise you after work then I saw the cops leaving. Are you okay?" Ross says, pulling me into him.
I laugh. "It was too long of a day. It was all good until the last hour of my shift. Some girl tried stealing and once I confronted her, she shoved me onto the ground. But I'm okay! Just a little scraped up. My pants got ripped," I put my hands up as proof, the pebbles still leaving their indents. "Look at the video, my reaction is so funny."
Ross stares at me with bewilderment in his eyes. "Um, okay. Come in my car though, it's too cold." I show him the video and I laugh at my reaction. "You act as though you didn't just get pushed. Like you could give a fuck less." He smirks, looking at me. "Such a badass," he murmurs.
"Mmm. So what are you doing here?" I ask, feeling his hand place onto my thigh.
He pouts. "I forgot you had such a long shift today. I wanted you to come to a party with me."
I lean forward, putting my fingertip on his pouted lip and pulling it down gently. "After my night, I don't think I can handle anything else. But have fun!"
"You sure you won't be mad if I go without you?"
I nod, "absolutely. I'm gonna call it an early night. I'll see you soon?"
"Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow and we can try to figure out some plans," Ross replies.
I nod and go to exit his vehicle. He grabs onto my arm, pulls me in closer to him and slowly places his lips on mine. I close my eyes, allowing the warm feeling to take over my body. I kiss him back, allowing the kisses to last ten seconds. "Bye," I smile and walk back toward my beat up old car.
I go home and greet my two roommates. "Hi Hayley," Liv says as she wiggles on her pants to bring them to her hips.
"Going to the party?" I ask, looking at both of their appearances. They both nod. "Okay, have fun! Be safe. I'm going to shower and go to bed. Call me if you need me!"
I head into my room and do exactly that. I take a shower and clean up my room before climbing into the warm blankets. I am out in minutes.
I groan as my phone shrieks in the middle of the night. I roll over and look at the caller ID. Ross.
"Hey," I answer. Sleep thick in my voice. "Are you okay?" I glance at the clock. 2:23 AM.
He answers quickly. "Yeah, I'm sorry for calling you. Liv is so drunk and we are outside your apartment. She can't find her key. We can't get in."
I hum in response, pulling myself out of bed and to the front door. I open it slowly and Liv yells, "Hi Hayley! I missed you so much. I wish you came tonight." She leans forward and hugs me, stumbling into me at the same time. So drunk.
I smile, running my hands over her hair. "I missed you too. Now do you want to take a shower or go to bed?"
She shakes her head, "I think I wanna go to sleep."
I look up, seeing both Rocky and Ross observing me. I smile at them. "Okay, come on. We'll help you. Also, where's your key?"
"There's so many mysteries of the world. I guess my keys are now part of it," she mumbles back. She grips my hand and walks next to me to her bed. I laugh and watch as she looks at me with wide eyes. "I'm gonna be sick," she says. I watch her sprint into the bathroom and I follow suit. I hold her hair back and lean against the wall, having done this so many times.
I smile and reply nicely. "How about a shower now? It'll probably sober you up. I'll leave the door cracked and I'll be waiting for you to make sure you don't slip. How does that sound to you?"
Liv nods, "mm sounds good. Thank you. I love you," she starts pulling off her clothes.
"I love you. Please yell if you need me okay?" Liv nods in response to my question so I head out into her room.
I look up at the two boys who look just as tired as I probably do. "You guys don't have to stay," I say, looking between the two of them.
Rocky sighs, "she begged me to stay the night with her. So I'll stay."
I glance over at Ross, his hair being pushed back under a baseball cap. "Rocky's my ride. I was gonna sleep on the couch or I can sleep with you since you're awake now," he smiles at me.
I nod at him with a smile. My name gets screamed only seconds later so I make my way back into the bathroom. "I'm done. I don't know where my towel is," Liv says. "I have many mysteries of the world clearly."
I laugh and find her towel in her bedroom. I grab some pajamas for her to wear. "These good?" I ask once going back into the steam filled room.
"Ooh they're sexy, I like." She replies to the red shorts and tank.
I roll my eyes and wait for her to change. The amount of times all of us have done this for us roommates is a lot. The first time we were all drunk so we were of little help to each other, but Kayla went to shower and she fell. She had a concussion for a bit so now whenever anyone gets drunk, we make sure to watch close. She walks out of the bathroom with me and into the bed.
I say my good nights and watch Ross follow me into my bedroom. "Do you want a toothbrush? I definitely have an extra one. Let me just check." I say, heading to my bathroom.
He grabs onto my arm and pulls me into his chest. "I'm sorry and totally not sorry that we woke you up," he smiles and kisses the top of my head.
I squeeze him in a hug before pulling away to find a toothbrush. Ten minutes later, Ross asks if it's fine if he sleeps in his boxers to which I responded that I don't mind.
We lay in bed just as the clock hits 3:30. "Do you know where Kayla is?" I ask, my head resting on his shoulder.
"She's at Chance's," he mumbles back.
I nod in response. "Do you need to leave early tomorrow?" I lean my hands onto his chest, looking at his face. "I'm only curious, not mad."
Ross shakes his head slowly, "nope. I'll be in this tiny ass bed with you all night."
I smile and lean down, not hesitating to gently kiss his lips before laying back down to sleep.