Her Name Was December

Day 3

On December 21st, Greyson arrived at the bookstore at his usual time, ready to take on the afternoon shift. What was peculiar was that the blonde-haired girl had shown up before he had. She was sitting in her usual seat, her eyes moving from left to right, speeding through every page. She was holding her hand to her face again, chewing on the hem of her sleeve.

While Greyson was taking off his jacket and striped scarf, the morning clerk, Emily, was equipping herself to go out into the cold. Emily was short and sort of chubby, with oval-shaped, wiry glasses and her light brown hair cut into a bob.

"You know who she is?" Emily whispered to Greyson. She nodded toward the girl, who was immersed in her work. "She's been sitting there for a few hours now, and she didn't listen to me when I told her to stop writing in the books."

Greyson kept his eye on the girl as he replied, "I have no idea. She's been in here the past couple of days, though."

"Creepy." Emily said, buttoning up her thick lavender coat. She picked her purse up off of the desk and pushed it up her arm and onto her shoulder. She pushed past Greyson, who was still watching as the girl scribbled something on the bottom of the page.

Emily twisted the door handle. "Well, I'm out." she said. "Kyle is a little late, if you couldn't tell. That boss of ours, right?" she scoffed and pushed her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose. "See ya."

"Yup." Greyson said, heading to his work post. He leaned against the back counter, careful not to knock over the display of books behind him. He looked over at the girl- somewhat against his will, but also because he subconsciously wanted to. This was the first time he had noticed how pale she was. Her skin was so light that her face seemed to glow, and her cheeks were naturally flushed pink. She looked as innocent as a child, tapping her foot against the ground and nibbling on the sleeve of her sweaterdress between her fingers. But, the downturned corners of her bright pink lips and the endless pools of silver that were her eyes proved otherwise. Greyson could practically see the troubles she'd faced in the faint frown lines of her forehead. He could also see the slip of paper that was left on top of the register.

Hey, Greyson.

I sorta got distracted earlier. There's a stack of books on the cart that didnt get stocked on the shelves yet. it would be great if u could get that done for me. thanks! -Em

Greyson sighed, looking at Emily's handwriting. It was tilted to the left, and all of the 'i's were dotted with hearts. Her signature was a little too fancy- the end of the 'm' twisted and curled all the way around the 'e'. Typical Emily, Greyson thought, crushing the note in his fist.

He threw the wad of paper in the trash and walked over to the cart. There were about a half dozen books stacked in a pile. The store's books were organized first by genre, and then by author. He rolled the cart around the shelves and alphabeticalized the books as best he could, sneaking glances toward the table diagonal from the counter as often as possible. Greyson's boss soon came through the back door.

"Sorry I'm late." he said, slapping Greyson hard on the shoulder.

Greyson winced. "No problem, Kyle."

"Did you manage to screw something else up while I was off?" Kyle said, only halfway sarcastic. Greyson ignored him and put the last book on the shelves. On his way back to the register, Kyle tapped him on the shoulder. "Who's she?" he said, pointing to the girl.

"Not sure. She's been hanging out here the past few days." Greyson replied.

Kyle shook his jacket off, and his eyes widened when he saw her scratch her pen across a page in the book. "What is she doing?"

"Taking some sort of notes."

"Did she buy that book?"

Greyson scratched the back of his neck. "Not yet, no."

"Not yet?" Kyle asked.

"She's been writing in a different book each day." Greyson told him. "She always pays right before she leaves."

Kyle shook his head. "This is unacceptable." Greyson stood awkwardly with his hands at his sides. "Go tell her to stop."

Greyson's eyebrows perked up. "What? I-"

Kyle cut him off. "You should have done it earlier, Greyson."

Greyson let out a low growl and sighed as he walked over to the table. The girl's face was covered by strands of blonde hair, and she didn't look up, even when Greyson stood next to the table. His hands were curled into sweaty fists that hung at his sides. "Hey." he said, rubbing his thumbs across his other fingers.

She seemed startled, pulling her hand away from her face quickly and setting them both in her lap as she looked up at Greyson. "Hi." she said.

"I, uh... You can't write in the books." Greyson said, a little too quickly.

The girl's eyebrows furrowed together. "What's you name?"

Her voice was smooth and perfectly high-pitched, but Greyson was surprised at how strong it was. It fit her really well, but at the same time, it didn't. "Greyson." he told her, and he wondered how well his voice fit him.

"Why havent you told me this before now?" she asked him.

"My boss just sorta made me." Greyson said, pointing towards Kyle's office with his thumb.

She nodded. "Okay."

Just like that, her pen was flying across the notebook once again. Greyson stood there for a moment, in silence.

She let her pen down and looked up at him with her arms crossed. "Anything else?" she asked.

Her eyes were so clear that they were nearly translucent. Greyson wondered how it was that they could still seem so cloudy. "What's your name?" he asked her, fists tightly clenched.

She laughed a little. The giggle echoed through Greyson's head and soothed him a bit.

"My name is December." she said. She looked back down at her book, and then gripped her sleeves even tighter.

Her name is December. Greyson thought, grinning as he walked back to the counter.