Love Me | Series Book #1

TEN

"Three dollars and fifty cents is your change," I grabbed the receipt as soon as the machine spit it out and handed it to the customer, "Have a good night."

There was a thump beside me as a cluster of books landed on the counter. Jennie slid them over to me and tucked a strand of choppy black hair behind her studded ear.

"The returned," she muttered with a tired sigh before returning back to her own errands. With a sigh, I rummaged through the heap and set them beneath the desk, making a mental note to take care of them later. We were only minutes away from closing and only few stray shoppers remained. I discretely slipped my phone out of the pocket of my jeans to check the time. It was five of nine and I prayed that Mason would actually arrive promptly that night. Within the past few weeks, he'd made a habit of picking me up a second priority to his own evening activities. Yet, it was he who demanded that I not ride with anyone else; and that I should be grateful he was kind enough to carve time out of his schedule for me.

Only a few more of paychecks and I'd no longer have that to deal with such troubles.

Jennie returned to my side to secure her register.

"You got closing tonight?" she asked, already having assumed my answer as she pulled her jacket over her small arms. I nodded, surrendering to the fact that my mind had been made for me. I reached for the telephone and brought it to my mouth. My voice broadcasted throughout the entire store.

"Budget Books will now be closing. Our doors will reopen at nine o clock tomorrow morning. Thank you for shopping."

I left the register and started down the aisles before last-minute shoppers could come rushing towards me with apologies . With a sigh, I got down on both knees and began sliding scattered books back into their designated places.

It didn't take more than ten minutes to cover floor the of the store. After all, we were just a little shop tucked into the corner of the mall. It was rare moments like these that I appreciated the Barnes and Nobles business down on the other wing. Sure the competition stood in the way of my ownership of a car, but I'd rather be sweeping the floors here than returning home at 11 pm to close out night shifts.

After shutting down, I started for the back exit. The wind attacked as soon as I crossed through the doors. It carried a dust of pebbles over the vacant lot.

His red Camry was nowhere in sight.

My hand itched for my phone, but I knew it would be of no use. It would only leave me feeling both foolish and cold.

"Why Mason?" I whispered to the air. It was a rhetorical question that I already knew the answer to. Still, I wondered, clinging with hopeless desperation that maybe he'd have a change of heart. I wanted to believe that he wasn't so terrible to purposely find ways to hurt me.

The wind accelerated, leaving my body trembling beneath my unsuitable clothes. I pulled my fleece-clad arms together and dipped back under the outer roof to the store. A metal bench sat to the left of the sliding doors, and I didn't hesitate to occupy it. With shaky hands, I slid my phone from my pocket to see if he'd at least bothered to leave a text.

He hadn't.

The screen announced the time of 9:12, which meant that it wouldn't be long before my parents contacted me. I bit down on my dry bottom lip as I held the device in my hands, my fingers hovering above his name. For a second I contemplated on dialing Chase or Aly.

Mason wouldn't take too kindly to my leaving without him, but it was a school night and a barely begun physics assignment and literature essay awaited my return back in my room.

I continued to bounce my knee up and down, trying to accumulate an abundance of body heat. My hands were nearly frozen to the keyboard as I tapped them back and forth to prevent frostbite. The temperature didn't usually travel below forty, but this night just happened to hold the unusual degrees of twenty-eight.