The Record Scratch Romance

Lonely

You jolt awake that morning to the sound of your alarm, your hand reaching out to hush your cell phone. You groan as you push yourself out of bed. It's time for another day of work at the ice cream place you work at.

You get ready for the day and begrudgingly pull on your apron, which is decorated with ice cream cones with these tiny eyes that are supposed to be adorable, but you find them beyond alarming. 

You toss some leftover pizza in the microwave in the oven, because who said pizza wasn't breakfast? As you wait for it to heat up, your phone rings. You see your friend, Lisette, is calling you. "What? It's 8 am, Lis," you mutter.

"I know, I know. I was just double checking you were coming to that party, and you still want me to pick you up from work. Rough day at the office, so I'll be unable to check my phone much until I get off."

You let out a sigh. She'd been telling you about this party for weeks, and you didn't even know who was hosting it, nor did you know if you even wanted to go. Truth be told, you had planned to sulk in bed while watching Todd in the Shadows videos until you fell asleep. He was the only reason you would spend your salary every month on YouTube Premium.

"Do I have to go?" you question.

"As your friend, yes. As someone who knows you, yes again. I'm not letting you stay cooped up for another week. I know Anthony--"

"Please," you groan, "I don't want to talk about him anymore."

"Okay, but maybe you should move on? Find someone else to crush on for once. Plus, him and Deanna haven't made things official yet, so maybe you still have a chance. Maybe he'll even be at this party."

God, Anthony, the guy you'd crushed on since high school. He'd stayed in town and gone to university like most of the people in Etherwoods, and he was even pursuing his doctorate currently. While you'd tried out community college, but ended up dropping out. 

It was hard to get over him when you used to share every playlist with him, and virtually every song you listened to held a memory of him. And just like Lisette had encouraged, you'd tried to put the moves on him, but he'd told you---and you should have known---that the two of you would only ever be friends.

"I don't know how that's supposed to motivate me," you scoff.

"Please, please, just get drunk for once! I'll be there to catch you and hold your hair if you throw up or whatever. I don't wanna go alone."

"Alone? Aren't you friends with most of them?"

"Okay, but not like how I'm friends with you. You're the only one I'd let see me in a compromising position."

A grin spreads across your face. "I'm flattered."

"Good, does that mean you'll come?"

"No, I have nothing to wear unless you want me to show up in pajamas?"

"I'll cop you something on my way, I'll use the company credit card."

"You're allowed to?"

Lisette sucked her teeth. "No, not at all. But it's worth it since now you'll come out with me."

"I never said yes."

"But you meant to," she said. "I'm coming to pick you up, and that's final. Don't make me waste gas money on you, bestie."

"I'm not--" The phone line cuts off, and you let out a sigh. It seems she was taking you hostage for another day.

You take your piping hot pizza out of the microwave and eat it as you start out the door. You climb down the stairs of your apartment complex, taking in the drab scenery. You'd managed to get a discount on the apartment from a student bonus, but the landlord still didn't know you'd dropped out. Was what you were doing probably illegal? Mayhaps, but you were safe for now.

You glance at your phone for a second, and when you do, your foot misses a step. You gasp as the pizza falls from your hand, and you lose your balance.

You're anticipating the concrete to smash you in the face and contemplating if the injury won't be too bad that you'll go into debt over a hospital bill, but for some reason, that fantasy is cut short.

Instead, a pair of strong arms hold you in place. "Are you okay?" the person asks.

You blink, regaining your footing, your eyes centering on the person before you. His voice was so smooth with a warm lilt to it. You can barely make out their features, but you know it's your downstairs neighbor. You hardly ever saw him, but when you did, he always wore a dark hoodie that covered most of his face and body. You were sure he was a serial killer of some kind, but thankfully you'd never had the interactions with him to prove it. But now he was in front of you, and he'd somehow caught you as if it was some kind of rom com. 

Maybe it was.

You clear your throat. "Yeah, I'm okay. That's my bad." If he was a serial killer, you'd do very well to proceed cautiously.

He picks up your phone and hands it to you. His fingers graze against yours and a chill flits down your spine. You shake off the feeling. Nope, you were not going to catch feelings for a potential murderer.

"Thanks," you say.

"No problem."

You swallow and see the pizza sitting on the floor. "Is that yours, too?" he questions.

You feel your face burning up as you kneel down to get it. "Um, I guess not anymore."

He makes a sound that almost sounds like a laugh, but the moment's gone before you can decipher it. He nods at you before walking towards his apartment and shutting the door behind him. 

You're sure to give yourself a firm face palm. Perhaps you just earned yourself a spot on his list. You shake your head and make it over to one of the trash cans and drop your pizza inside. So much for a pizza breakfast.

You start walking past the conflict. This day couldn't get any more agonizing, could it?