The Girl I Loved Once

Chapter 17

Lara Jean and I talked after the party, all is back to normal.

I pull up to Linden and White, my mom's antique store, to drop off a few racks of old designer clothes. Slamming the door of my Audi, I pull the bag from the trunk towards me. Vintage Fendi, Prada, Carolina Herrera, some old Van Cleef earrings, all varieties of things that would be worth a lot. I go to the bottom of the bag and pull out an old Hermes scarf in mint condition. Shit, this must be worth a fortune, I think to me. I consider pocketing it for a split second but decide not to. I probably wouldn't be able to make eye contact with my mom for a while if I did. 

Bringing the bag into the back room. I hear the bell in the front go off. I wandered into the showroom. It's Lara Jean.

"Hey," I say. I'm caught off guard, I don't really know what to say.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" 

I shoot her a confused look, because of the obvious. 

"My mom owns the place, remember?"

"Well duh, I've just never seen you here before. Do you work here?"

I shake my head, "Nah, I had to drop off something for my mom," as I said that I noticed a text on my phone that said 

I need chairs from Huntsburgh 2morrow! I'll pay you $100 and 4 gas! luv u 

"Now she's saying I have to go pick up chairs from Huntsburgh tomorrow," I grumble. "It's two hours there and back. Annoying." I say as I type back 

Ok. Love you too

I stand behind the register for a minute and watch Lara Jean wander around the store. She touches everything; a polaroid camera, some dresses, chairs. Everything is fascinating to her. There's was one moment where she stood for a moment looking at an art piece with such intent, I almost took out my phone to take a picture. She looked for a while at a pink and black globe. Spinning it, she asks "How much is this globe?"

I shrug. "Whatever it says on the tag." She flips it over and her eyebrows went up. She walked away. 

I get the idea to invite her to the chair mission tomorrow. With a lot of confidence, I say "You should come."

"Come where?"

"To pick up the chairs with me."

"You just complained about how boring it's going to be."

"Yeah, alone. If you go it'll be slightly less annoying."

"Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome."

She rolled her eyes. 

"So are you coming or what?" I ask.

"Or what?" 

"Come on! I'm picking the chairs from an estate sale. The owner was some kind of shut-in. Stuff has just been sitting there for like fifty years. I bet there'll be stuff you can look at. You like old stuff right?" I plead. My mom told me about this guy earlier today, and the entire sale sounds like something Lara Jean would be all over. 

"Yes," she says, " Actually, I've kind of always wanted to go to an estate sale. How did the owner die? Like, how long was it before someone found him?"

"God, you're morbid," I say with a shudder. "Didn't know you had that side to you."

"I have lots of sides to me." That was the hottest thing I've ever heard, I think. "So, how'd he die?" She asks. 

"He isn't dead, you weirdo. He's just old. His family's sending him to a nursing home." I say. She seems intrigued, so I push. "So, I'll pick you up at seven?"

Her eyes widen. "Seven? You never said anything about leaving at seven in the morning on a Saturday!"

"Sorry!" I yell, running to the back 

"We have to go early before all the good stuff's snatched up!"

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