I'll Weigh You Down

Chapter 5

My muscles grew sore as I lifted a box of fresh lettuce and carried it to the produce section. There, I found Simon and Morgan tossing a tomato back and forth. I started replacing old heads of lettuce with the fresh ones, when I felt something hard, cold, and wet hit my back. I turned around to see that the tomato that they had been tossing, disappeared. I sighed, putting my face into the palm of my hand.

"Please tell me I don't have tomato all over my favorite blue sweater."

They both stayed silent until Simon cleared his throat.

"Well, I could say that, but if I did, then I'd be lying to you." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. I rush to the women's bathroom. I took off my sweater and examined the large red stain. A woman entered the bathroom in a grey fur coat holding a leather purse, her faded red hair in a bun, a thick layer of mascara on her eyelashes. This was  probably a woman who had money, definitely not from around our town. Because if there's an old saying that goes around where we're at. You're either too dumb to leave, or too broke to get out. She glared at me like I was a heathen, as if saying, put your damn shirt back on.

I put my sweater back on as she went into one of the stalls. I grabbed a paper towel, wetting it down with water from the sink. I swiped my ponytail over my shoulder to keep it out of the way. I struggled to wipe away the substance, putting my arm in an awkward position. I hear the door open, followed by two voices, as I'm approached by Simon and Morgan.

"Um, sorry 'bout the tomato dude." Simon said sheepishly, twiddling his thumbs.

"Whatever, just help me clean this off." I responded, handing Simon the wet paper towel. The rich lady came out of the stall, screaming when she saw Simon. She proceeded to hit him with her leather purse.

"Ow! Calm down you crazy bitch! Sorry Morgan, ouch! You're on your own man. Will you stop hitting me?!" He tossed the paper towel to Morgan before he ran out of the bathroom, being followed by the lady.

"Shouldn't we go help him?"

"Nah he'll be fine." Morgan told me, wiping away the smushy tomato. She was able to get it all off, though there was still a red stain that didn't look like it was going away anytime soon.

"Oof, bad news hun. That's not coming off." She took off her grey Washington state university hoodie that had been wrapped around her waist, replacing my blue sweater with it. The hoodie was definitely more comfortable than my sweater. Of course I have no idea where it came from, but the faint hint of a man's cologne peaked my interest, giving me some what of an idea. Could Morgan have actually met someone?

"Are you sure this is your hoodie?" I ask, suspension strong in my voice. "Because last time I checked, you didn't smell like a jock." I add on. She rolls her eyes, folding up the sweater and putting it under her arm.

"Well if you must know, I slept at guy's house last night. He had a nice sweater, so I 'borrowed' it."

"Oh my!" I gasp sarcastically. "Never did I think that'd you do something so horrific!"

"Yeah, yeah, calm down. It's not that bad that I took the guy's hoodie."

"Did you even catch his name?" She sat in thought for a moment, staring down at her feet.

"Yep, didn't think so." I conclude, walking out of the bathroom with Morgan. The first person I see when we walk back to the cash registers, is Andy.

"Why was there an old lady hitting Simon earlier?" He asks, as he continues organizing money. Morgan and I shrug. My dad walks over to us, looking tired and pale. I got my blonde hair and blue eyes from him, although at his age, his hair is now a dull brown.

"Hey boo boo, could you check out register 8?" He asks. I probably should do it. My dad's been working his ass off all week, he deserves some help from time to time.

"Yeah, I'll do it." He smiled, walking off.

Andy snickered, saying, "Boo boo, huh?"

"Shut up, like your parents haven't ever given you an embarrassing nickname." I stood where my dad told me to. A group of pretty school girls in private school uniforms approached me, all of them giggling, wearing, only god knows, how much makeup. I used a hand held device to scan their items, which was mostly just lipstick, tubes of mascara, and multiple containers of foundation. Some days I wish I was like these girls. All pretty and thin. Always so happy, not a care in the world.

The only thing they have to worry about, is if their lip gloss is messed up, or what to where for the next day of school. But then other days, I'll scold myself for wanting to be like those fake barbie dolls. I collect the girl's money, putting their items in a plastic bag. They left still giggling, still happy. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I check the screen to find out it's a text from Frank.

*We're still on for Saturday right ;)* I read the text, and question why he would put that emoji.

*Yeah, why?*

*Idk, just wondering. I just REALLY wanna hang out.* I don't reply to this text, and simply just put my phone back in my pocket, leaving him on read. I know I should be treating him better than that, though I don't really have the energy to. Wow, can't really think of a way to make that sound less cruel than I meant it. I check out a few more people, until I realize that it's been around five hours that we've been here. Time really flies by when you don't pay attention. Thank God it's Friday.

I'm so exhausted, I don't think I could really handle another day going to school and working here. Then again, I'm gonna have to learn how to deal with this type of shit if I wanna survive in the real world. Never thought I'd actually say that to myself. Usually I'm the rebellious teenager who says, "Whatever, it's not like I'm gonna do any of this in my real life", but here I am.

(Once again, sorry for not writing that much, I know 1,000 words isn't that much. But hey, guess who actually posted this week like they promised?! This girl! Woop woop! Feel free to vote and comment! Xoxo)