Ugh. Why does it have to be Casper? Can’t I dream about Vincent?
“Hey,” Cherry says with a wide smile as we enter the café near the mall. It’s packed, but for once it’s nice to be one of the kids out enjoying their day. These days are rare for me.
Once we’re seated at a table and the waitress takes our drink order, Cherry stares at me, wide-eyed, eager for details like a Labrador waiting for a treat or something.
“We have any dreams last night?” She waggles her eyebrows and nudges me.
I swallow hard. “Of Casper?”
She recoils. “No, Vincent. Tell me what happened.” She props her elbows on the table.
“We went out.”
“And,” she presses.
“Then he took me home.”
Cherry’s smile immediately fades. “What happened? You don’t seem as happy as I expected. Was he a jerk?”
The waitress returns with our drinks and we order sandwiches and fries.
“No. We had an amazing time, and he kissed me.” Cherry squeals at this. “But then he left in a hurry. Just left. I don’t know what I did.”
“What? Was it a good kiss?”
“I thought so. But what if it’s me? What if I’m a terrible kisser?”
Cherry presses her lips together and thinks for a moment. “I don’t think he’d flee like that if you were a bad kisser. What happened the rest of the night? Was there something that happened that made him run like that?”
I hesitate, not wanting to tell her. “Casper.”
She looks at me confused. “What?”
I tell her what happened, and she laughs.
“You threw your coke on him? That is priceless.”
“He keeps messing with me. Vincent saw us talking. But if that really bothered him, why would he kiss me in the first place?”
“Hmm, true.”
Maybe he had to check on his mom. But even that doesn’t seem right because his phone never went off. “I don’t know.”
“He’s a very shy guy. I wouldn’t worry. Maybe send him a text telling him what a great time you had.”
“Maybe. Oh, you’ll be happy to know I’ve started writing.”
“Yay!” She smiles. “I wanna hear all about it.”
“It’s about a couple running from the bad guys in search of a Jewel that will save their lives.”
“I can’t wait to read it.” Cherry smiles and the waitress brings our food. I’m starving, but my stomach is still wound up from last night and everything else.
“Luke works tonight.”
“You gonna ask him out?”
“I thought you were gonna drop hints?” She gives me a puppy-dog look.
I roll my eyes. “Wimp.”
“It should be the guy’s job anyway.”
“I’ll tell him you said that.”
“Yes. Wait-no. Don’t say that. He’ll think I’m demanding.”
“You are a little.”
“But he doesn’t have to know that.”
“He will if you two start dating.”
“Not in the beginning. You gotta release small bits of crazy at a time.” She smiles innocently.
I laugh, shaking my head.
Afterward, we head to work where we count our tills, still trying to come up with a good enough reason why Vincent left. But neither one of us do.
We finish counting our tills and walk out of the office. I hear something hard and plastic crash to the floor and coins scatter. I look behind me and Cherry stands mortified that she had bumped into Luke, sending her entire till and its contents across the floor.
Luke smiles which shows his dimples on his slightly chubby cheeks. He is thin and attractive in that cute-boyish way. I like my men to be a little manlier, but I think about Vincent. He kinda has both looks going for him. Cherry talks endlessly about Luke’s green eyes and how much she wants to run her hands through his thick brown hair. Any time he looks at her, she tells me about it. Which is a lot, apparently. He goes to a different school, so she only sees him at work, but that doesn’t stop her from switching shifts to work with him all the time.
We help her pick up her money and he smiles widely at her. “I’ll see you down there.”
Her face turns so red. It’s cute.
Working Saturday nights suck. I’m at work and all these other kids are out with their friends or boyfriends and girlfriends. They never have to work because their parents pay for everything. And they all have to come into Bailey’s for gum or a Coke before walking around the strip mall. I finish bagging this lady’s groceries and turn to greet my next customer with a smile, but it turns into an annoyed frown. Casper stands with a bunch of gum and drinks. His friends wait for him by the door.
“Hi,” I say, only because I’m required to greet customers. I scan his items without meeting his eyes.
“Not gonna dump the coke on me, are you?”
I sigh.
“I didn’t know you worked here.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” I feel his heated gaze on me, and I try so hard not to look up. “Twenty-four ten,” I say, meeting his eyes.
“How was your date last night?” he asks, and I suspect a hint of jealousy.
“None of your business.”
He hands me money and I take it without touching him. I give him the change and receipt.
“Will you call me tonight?”
“Nope. You’d better go before they start making fun of you for talking to me.”
“I don’t care what they think. Please call me.”
“Sorry. I didn’t need your number, so I threw it away.” That isn’t true. I haven’t gotten around to throwing it away.
He seems hurt, which makes me feel guilty. “Why are you being like this?”
“Why are you being like this? I don’t like you.”
“Sorry I bothered you,” he snaps and
