2 Chapter 2

"As if! You think you'd do so well over there? You can barely take care of yourself in the REAL world!"

I immediately came to a stop on the side of the road, unsure of what to say. Silence hung in the air between the two of us. The only sounds being a few whispers of a faint breeze. The night somehow getting even colder than before.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Cameron said quietly. "That was uncalled for." The awkward silence continued as neither of us spoke for a while. "Well...I should get back to my work." Cameron said, sounding a little unsure of himself.

"Yeah okay...see you soon I guess..." I sighed hanging up.

Well...THAT sure put a damper on my mood. I suppose he's not wrong, I'm not exactly rolling in money. But now I feel worse than before. At times like this, there's only one place to go to lift my spirits.

"Fast Stop..."

My feet stopped in front of a familiar-looking store I came to quite often. Pretty much only to buy my coveted pint of Ben and Jerry's. They're an odd store that was still somehow running at this ungodly hour. This place was...how do I say it...unprofessional looking. I mean, just walking in, you could see food crates stacked near the entrance because they'd run out of space to put their items. Many of their products didn't have price tags, some of them had damaged packaging, and there was only one register. Honestly, it's a wonder they hadn't been shut down yet. Still, they had amazing deals, so who was I to care?

Walking in, a middle-aged woman with black hair and glasses turned to look at me from her chair at the register.

"Ah Nathaniel, looks like you made it just before we closed." She gave a wry smile and propped her face up with her hand. "I WONDER what you're gonna get this time." she said in an amused tone.

I chuckled walking to the back of the store to the freezer so I could gaze at my ice cream options. Bringing them back to the register.

"If I ate as much ice cream as you do I wouldn't be in very good shape." the woman said processing the two items. "That'll be four even." She said, tossing the frozen confections into a bag.

I fished out my wallet and opened it, only seeing a lonely five-dollar bill. Yikes, looks like these are going to be my last treats for the month. I could dig into the rent fund but...nah, Cameron would kill me. "I walk to work, that probably helps." I said handing her the money. She took it, typing in a few keys.

"Is that it? Maybe I should try that. How long does it usually take"

"I dunno, about two hours?"

"Two hours?" The woman gave me a confused expression. I can't really blame her either. Taking two hours to walk to work every day wasn't exactly 'normal'. She shook her head before setting the bag on the counter.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather save your money for the bus?"

"But then I wouldn't be able to stop by so often and see your beautiful face. I'd certainly say it's worth it." I joked.

The woman rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she handed me my bag. Trying and failing to hide the obvious smile on her face. "Hah! You're 10 years too late to be hitting on me." she chuckled. "But thank you for the compliment nonetheless. I'll see you later Nathaniel."

"Alright, goodbye." I said smiling at the woman and waving back.

**********************

Getting back home, I opened the door and walked in. As expected, Cameron hadn't left his spot, still busy on the laptop. He looked up as I locked the door behind me.

"Listen, about what I said before...I shouldn't have-."

"It's fine." I said cutting him off with a wave of my hand. "I know you weren't trying to be a dick. My lips then curled into an evil smile. "Besides, I'll be getting a good night's sleep in my nice comfy bed tonight while you're still up working for god knows how long. I'd say that's a pretty fitting revenge."

"Ugh..." Cameron groaned putting his hand to his face. "Don't remind me."

As I started walking away, I couldn't help but feel kinda sorry for him. I pondered something for a minute before tossing one of my containers of ice cream at him "Here, catch."

"Wha?!" He fumbled around with the thrown item before catching it and scowling at me. His eyes widened at the cold pint in his hands. "What's this?"

"It's a pick me up, I guess you can have it. You probably need it a lot more than I do, to be honest."

"Oh. Well...thank you." he said with surprise.

"And you'd better enjoy it too." I said jabbing a finger at him. "That's my last treat for a while."

Cameron put on a tired smile. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to do that."

**********************

"Ugh..." I let out a groan shoveling the last of the Chocolate Therapy ice cream into my mouth before tossing the pint at the garbage bin. The container bouncing off the edge of the garbage before narrowly landing inside.

"Score..."

Maybe I shouldn't have eaten all of that chocolate in one sitting. I mean, my taste buds were happy at the time. But now I felt like crap. "It was worth it...I think." I propped myself up, pulling the covers over my body, and trying to rest. However, for some reason, I just couldn't sleep.

*As if! You think you'd do so well over there? You can barely take care of yourself in the REAL world!*

But try as I might, I couldn't sleep. Those words continuing to echo in my head, keeping me up.

"Why is it I have to be laying in bed past midnight unable to sleep because of this!?" I'll admit, I'm not exactly living a glamorous life by any stretch of the imagination. Working the bare minimum at my job, goofing off whenever possible, and buying a few treats here and there. Then just...repeating that cycle over and over.

It's okay to live like this for now, but what about several years down the line, when I'm in my mid 20's? 30's? 40's? Any idiot could do what I am right now. I guess...I mean, this life is simple and fun, but...it's really not satisfying you know? What do I have to show for living over a decade? At this rate, when I die, the only thing that's gonna be written on my tombstone is a name and date, just like millions of other people. Damn it, Cameron, now I'm actually a little scared.

"I really hope this is just the ice cream talking..." I sighed, taking one final look out his window at the starry sky and the full moon. I was about to turn away, when a flickering light shot across the sky catching my attention. A shooting star, appearing now of all times. Was it luck? Was it someone trying to tell me something? "Hmm. Well, whatever it is, it couldn't hurt to try." I paused before closing my eyes.

"I wish I could have a chance to do something big with my life. Something that matters. Something to really prove I have worth as a person..."

Little did I know, that wish would change my life forever...