I shake my head, hoping to shake the negative thoughts from my mind.
Cherry calls me on the cashier phone. “Is Vincent coming?”
“I haven’t heard from him.”
“Weird. I’m about to close out, so I’ll be over there in a second,” she says, and we hang up. I’m starting to dread this party, but Cherry assured me it would be a small gathering.
“Hey,” someone says behind me. I turn around to ring them up and stop. It’s Casper purchasing a coke and a candy bar. He’s wearing his Alabama hat and a long-sleeved thermal type of shirt and jeans.
“Hey,” I say, feeling guilty because I promised Vincent that Casper and I would only be classmates. “You can’t keep doing this. You know I have a boyfriend.”
Casper arches his dark eyebrows. “Buying a coke and a candy bar? What does that have to do with you having a boyfriend?” He chuckles and I feel myself smile.
I close the till drawer and give him his change. “Are you going to see a movie?”
“Yeah. Thought about it. Wanna come with me? Or do you have to work all night.”
“Yeah. Gotta be here till midnight,” I lie. I feel awful but if Vincent finds out I saw a movie with Casper, it won’t be good.
He nods and as he starts to walk away, Cherry comes up and turns off my light.
“Time to party,” she says exuberantly.
I want to hurt her.
Casper raises his eyebrows and I close my eyes, embarrassed.
“Oh hi.” Cherry turns to him. “Have you come to terrorize Megan again?”
“No. You girls enjoy your party,” he says and walks away.
I sigh. “Casper.” I catch him as the sliding glass doors open. He turns with an amusing grin on his face. “I’m sorry. I—”
“Nah, it’s cool.” He shrugs. “I get it. Have a good night.”
“Yeah. You, too.”
“Why are you apologizing to him?” Cherry asks.
“It’s nothing.”
“Well, there may be more people coming than I thought. I’m gonna go change.”
“Like how many more?”
“I don’t know. Here, I brought you some clothes.” She hands me a bag.
“I have my own.”
“Yeah, but you should wear my halter. Vincent won’t know what hit him.” She smiles. “I sorta stole your so-called party clothes and put them in my car.”
“Maybe I should go home. It’s obvious that Vincent isn’t coming, and I don’t wanna be a third wheel.”
“Oh, come on. It won’t be bad. Please come. You promised.”
I don’t remember promising to go and I’m not sure why she wants me to go so much. I know what will happen. She and Luke will be hanging out and I’ll have to fend for myself.
“Please?”
“Fine,” I say feeling the dread.
“Yay! I’ll meet you out front.” She practically skips toward the bathroom. I’ve never seen her so excited to go to a high school party. Especially one where she doesn’t know anyone. I’m feeling ornery and anxious.
I grab the till out of the drawer and walk toward the office, stopping in front of the sliding doors. I see Casper walking to his car, and I check to make sure there isn’t a manager nearby. The doors slide open, blasting me with cold air as I step outside. I really hope they don’t think I’m stealing this till full of money.
“Casper,” I call. I feel guilty for lying to him and I really don’t want to go to this party alone.
He looks back and makes his way toward me. “Yeah.”
“Do you wanna come to this party tonight?”
“Do you want me to come? Or are you being nice?”
“No. You should come.”
He thinks for a minute. “Sure.”
“Okay. Wait for me while I go count this and change.”
Butterflies multiply in my stomach as I count my till. I’m so nervous that I have to recount. When I’m finally done, I grab the plastic bag that Cherry brought me and pull out a deep red cotton halter dress, which is clearly for summer, and black tights. It’s like twenty degrees outside and she wants me to wear this? I brought my black boots so at least my legs will be warm. The dress barely comes to my knees. Thankfully, my coat is long enough to cover it. My hair is still straight from this morning and doesn’t look bad. After shoving my work clothes into the plastic bag, my phone rings.
My heart skips when I see Vincent’s name. Maybe he can join me at the party. Except I invited Casper. Crap. “Hey,” I answer.
“Hey baby.”
“Is everything okay?”
He sighs. “No. But it will soon.”
“Is it your mom?”
He doesn’t answer for a moment. “Yeah. Look, I’m really sorry, but I can’t come tonight. Can I make it up to you?”
“Of course. Do you want me to come over or something?”
“I would love that, but tonight’s not good.”
“I hope your mom gets better.”
“Me too. I miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“Call me later. I love hearing your voice.”
“I will.” Guilt lands on me. Vincent’s with his mom and I’ve been upset over him not responding over some stupid party. A party that I invited Casper. I hate that Vincent’s mom is sick. He’s had to deal with so much in his short lifetime. It’s not fair. I wish I could be there for him more. I’m not sure about attending the party with Casper now. I know for a fact Vincent will hate it if he finds out. But I don’t want to go to the party solo, and for some reason I kinda want to spend time with Casper. Which is wrong on so many levels. I need to go home.
I walk downstairs to meet Casper but the words I need to say don’t come out.
