Rachel & Andrew

Rachel

Do you know the one thing that I hate while I’m sleeping? Noise. Besides my mom or dad waking me up from a deep sleep to do an errand, this is one that couldn’t be ignored. There’s loud, noisy trucks on a Saturday morning disturbing my slumber. The fact that my bed was near the window, the boisterous sounds were irritating. Trying to muffle the noisy trucks, I put my pillow over my head but it didn’t work as the trucks became louder.

Who moves at- wait what time is it? Turning over to read my clock on my nightstand, 9:30am.

“Ugh! Too early,” I muttered laying on my back and stared at the ceiling, hoping the rumbling of the big wheels will end. It got louder as the engine kicked back with a boom. I sighed with a growl and rolled off my bed slowly. I removed my comforter off my body and dragged my feet to the door, heading downstairs.

I spotted mom in the kitchen near the sink in a matching red pantsuit and blazer. “There’s trucks outside,” I said tiredly, leaning over the counter on my elbows.

“New neighbors are moving in the blue house next door.” Another one? Great, I rolled my eyes.

“We are almost out of bread and eggs. Can you go to the store for me?” she asked me, spinning around to face me with a carton of Krispy Kreme donuts in hand, my Krispy Kreme donuts that was in the fridge. I wanted to eat them when I woke up with a mug of hot chocolate. I worked hard for those. I babysat for the couple down the street and made $50 in three hours and rewarded myself. I deserved it for changing a soupy pooped diaper. I shuddered, thinking back to the gross memory. I had to disinfect every inch of my arms with soap and hydrogen peroxide. At least he didn’t pee on me. She opened them and began placing each donut one by one in a stack.

“Do I have to? I want my donuts.” I reached over, she slapped my hand away. Hard. “Ow! Mother.” I shook my hand in pain.

“It’s for the neighbors. Give it to them when you get a chance.” She continued placing them on a decorative plate.

“I bought them for myself. Don’t we have flowers? They could be allergic to gluten.”

“Rachel. Please get dressed and go to the store. You can even get more.” She handed me a $20 bill for the store.

“I’m still sleepy.” I laid my head on the counter, whimpering into my elbows for dramatic effect.

“Get up and go. I’ll see you in the evening.”

I groaned, “ok.” She pulled me by the forearm up to my feet, she gave me a slight push and I stumbled. I walked upstairs slowly, dressing up in a simple white shirt and blue jeans. I pulled up my brown boots, took my keys and left. The store was a five to ten minute walk, I casually slowed my stride. When I get back home, I’m going right back to sleep. Arriving at the Family Dollar, the air conditioned store hit my face. I welcomed it as I grabbed a basket, heading to the familiar aisles searching for the eggs first. I took two carts of large brown eggs and headed to the bakery aisle. Wait, mom didn’t specify the kind of bread she wanted. “Shit.” I pulled out my phone to text her.

Whoa!” I bumped into someone slightly, before I could look up I lost my footing and was already falling. Falling into stacked cans of tuna on sale. My eyes widened as the cans made a loud crash. I was spread-eagled on a pile of smelly fish cans. “Ow,” I winced quietly, shoving the cans away from my spine that was poking me. I sat up on my palms and brushed the dirt off. Customers walking by had to halt their steps, checking the mess I made.

“You’re not supposed to text and walk,” the guy said, standing over me. His blue eyes crinkled trying to hold in his laughter.

“Maybe you should look where you’re going,” I grumbled. He didn’t look familiar. “I’m still getting my surroundings here.”

“Sure. Tourist.” I tried to stand up carefully, he pulled out his hand for me to grab it. Reluctantly I did, his grip was strong enough to pull up swiftly it almost gave me whiplash. I got a good look at this guy I have never seen before. A nice body built, a bit taller than me and beautiful eyes. Ignoring the chill that ran down my spine, I cleared my throat loudly.

I didn’t break any of them, right? I looked back to the cans, none of them opened. Some dented, maybe. I brushed my hands off from the dirt on the floor.

“You two! This is not a playground!” One of the associates, Dave, pointed at us holding a bag of onions. His frown was deep, red hair scruffed and messy, apron covered in something I could not recognize.

“We weren’t, Dave. It was an accident,” I assured him, waving my hands side to side.

“Rachel, you and him need to clean this up.” I regularly come here, most of the employees knew me. Dave had been working here for a few years, almost the same age as my mom. He gave discounts for my family and I being loyal and satisfied customers. This wasn’t my fault and he should let me slide on this situation.

“But it wasn’t my fault,” I whined. I nodded my head to the new guy’s direction.

“You made a mess, you know the rules.” He pointed at me.

“She was texting and walking,” the boy next to me accused.

“That’s only works if I’m crossing the street,” I retorted back.

“What? It works wherever-”“I don’t want to hear it. Clean it. Now.” Dave scolded, interrupting our argument.

“Fine,” I sighed, getting on my hands and knees I picked them up one by one. “You know this was your fault.”“Says the girl that just had to tweet to the world that she’s at the store.” He bent over, throwing one in a pile. “I don’t tweet about things like that, you should use watch where you’re going,” I squinted.

“Oh, should I?” He asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Yeah, you should,” I replied back the same way, crossing my eyes. He snorted, shaking his head. I sniffed, looking for the offensive stench.

One can partially open, the contents spilled on the squeaky floor and the smell was overpowered stink. “Ew.”

“Let me ask one of the associates for a mop. Or a broom,” he told me.

I gave a tight smile, already at work on the pyramid. Stacking it on each other, I was still on the lower part of it. I looked around for the guy that bumped into me. He was nowhere to be found. He was kinda cute. Annoying, but cute. I got up on my knees, it was almost done. Three more cans left, I stacked them carefully on top of each other. “Voila.” I smiled, feeling accomplished at my work.

“Thank you,” Dave said, coming back and nodding at my makeshift pyramid.

“No problem. I’m so sorry. Did you see the boy that was with me? He was supposed to get a broom to clean up the mess.”

“I think he left. I’ll take the rest from here.”

“Left? What do you mean?” I frowned.

“I didn’t see him around.” Dave shrugged. “Oh, and the broken can is 3.59 by the way.” I scoffed.

“What about me being a lifelong customer?” I pouted, but he didn’t budge.

“New policy, Rachel. Sorry.”

I growled silently before I left the spot. I began to search the other aisles to yell at him. Each from one to the next, not before I got the items I needed. He wasn’t anywhere. I checked the cashier lines if I would see him. Nope, not there either. He left me. He left me to do manual labor by myself. Dickhead. For all I know, he should have paid for the can.