Is Your Bedroom Ceiling Bored?

4

After you dropped Juliette off at you guys's apartment as you went off to your job at Barnes and Noble in the strip mall. As you drove you listened to whatever came on your shuffled playlist at a low volume. Currently it was "Absinthe" by I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME.

You drove past buildings, watching them as they passed. Glancing at the snow covered trees as you drove by. It was pretty common to see during the winter months, sure. But when you live in Denver, the snow lasts until May some years. It was early May, but still, the snow was a bit surprising given global warming is a thing and all.

Eventually you parked into a parking spot in front of the large Barnes and Noble building that was connected to several other chain stores. You pulled your jacket back on, your nametag in your mouth as the sleeves slipped around your arms. After you got the corduroy jacket onto yourself, you took the name tag out from between your teeth and clipped it onto your chest. You pulled your lanyard that held the keys to the back around your neck and put your face mask on, then you got going inside the bookstore.

You walked in and immediately got met with the warm temperature of the building, causing you to sigh in content. You walked over to the cash register area and walked behind the desk, saying a quick hi the the cashiers behind the brown desk as you passed them, walking into the backroom where the employee lounge was located. You tossed your jacked onto one of the couches before you ran off to the front.

Your job at the bookstore was a cashier, but it wasn't time for your shift to begin yet since you arrived early. So you had about thirty minutes before you had to actually work, but for now, you just walked around looking at the new books that the storage team had put on the shelves.

Walking through the genre's, passing the books you weren't interested in, you made your way to the romance section as you walked over the green carpeting. You always loved a good sappy love story. As you began to arrive to the romance area, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned and you saw her. The girl from the college campus, looking beautiful as ever.

"Hey, you're the girl I bumped into earlier today, no?" She asked, pulling her hand back to her side. You answered quickly, trying not to be awkward as you were overwhelmed by her as your face went hot.

"Uh, yup! That's me." You said, looking up at the taller woman.

"Um, do you work here?" She asked. You weren't on shift now, but you were willing to help her out if she needed something. Especially because it gave you an excuse to talk to her for longer.

"Yeah, do you need help with something?" You asked her. She looked as if she snapped out of thought.

"Actually yes. I was looking for the book 'The Darkest Minds' if you have it." The girl asked. You got excited as soon as you heard the title of the book she was speaking of.

"Oh, I read that when I was fifteen! I know where it is." You said. "C'mon." You added as you began to walk over to the young adult section, the girl following you.

"So why do you wanna read it? Did you see the movie?" You asked her, making small talk.

"Yeah, I watched it last week and thought the concept was interesting." She said.

"If you liked the movie, you'll love the book. In my opinion, it's definitely better than the movie." You said. "I dunno, it just felt like they were missing something in the movie."

"Yeah, I felt like the execution could've been better." The pink hair girl agreed. You two finally arrived at the young adult novel section.

"And it's right..." You began, your finger sliding against the spines of the books, your eyes skimming the titles until you found the black and orange covered book. "Here."  You said, pulling out the book and handing it to her.

"If I remember correctly, it's a little under five hundred pages. If you're committed, you could crunch it in like three to four days." You said. "That's what I did back in 2013." You added on with a soft chuckle. The girl chuckled back.

"Thanks." She said.

"My name's -" You began only to be cut off by the girl.

"(Y/n)." She said. You looked at her confused until she added on "Your nametag." With a small chuckle. "I'm Grace." She introduced herself.

"Not to be blunt, but, may I have your number, Grace?" You asked the tall woman. Her mask was on, but with what you could tell with the way her eyes squinted ever so slightly, she was smiling.

"Yeah, 'course." She said, taking her phone out from out of her back pocket, you doing the same. You two traded phones and made contacts for each other. You set your own name to "Sexy book girl" as a joke. Once you gave each other your phones back, you saw she set her contact name to her actual name. Meanwhile, as she read yours, she let out a snort. "I'm keeping it like that."

"I mean, I don't mind." You joked with her. She giggled and pressed her phone back into the back pocket of her jeans.

"I don't wanna assume anything, but are you...?" She trailed off.

"Am I...? Am I what?" You asked, confused. The pigment of her face went a bit darker.

Grace looked around to make sure no one was around to see, and once she brought her attention back to yours, she brought her free hand up and let her wrist go limp, her eyebrows raising as she hoped you got the hint of what she was implying.

"Oh!" You said softly. She was asking you if you were into women. "Yeah, I am. I mean, I like both." You said.

"You're bi?" Grace asked, her hand going back to her side.

"Well, I don't like to label it. Take what I can get, y'know? " You said, softly laughing.

"Ah." Grace replied softly. Suddenly your phone began vibrating, an alarm. It was notifying you that your job shift started soon.

"Oh, shit! I gotta go, but I'll text you later, Grace." You said.

"Right. See you around." She said happily with a small wave. You softly waved back as you went off toward the cash register area.