Chapter 5: A History Of Heartbreak

Abigail’s POV

Work flew by when a field trip of twelve second graders kept me very busy for the day in the library. They were mostly well-behaved. One little girl with pigtails asked me if I’d ever seen a dragon in real life before. Two little boys fought over a book on trains, and I sat them down for an important lesson on sharing.

James worked the counter by himself, as usual. He only got Thursdays and Sundays off if he were lucky. It was Wednesday, the slowest day of the week.

I bought us a bag of kettle-cooked potato chips to split. Free snacks and booze were nice, but they couldn’t last forever. If we kept that up too much, Mr. Douglas, the manager, would catch on.

James rang up one of the regulars. I didn’t know his name, but I recognized his glasses that could have been used as a magnifying glass. “Have a nice day!” He waved to the man on his way out.

“So anyway,” James whispered to me so low I could barely hear him over the crunch of my potato chips. “What about that guy?”

There was a guy in his 20s in the chip aisle. He had short dark hair, dark beard stubble, and tight jeans. This town usually felt like a bingo hall. The people around our age were at the college a few towns over most of the year. Now that it was early summer, the college students returned here. I envied them for having a way to escape by the end of the summer.

“Okay but check out his butt.” James giggled.

“You’re so gross,” I said in between bites. “You’re gonna make me lose my appetite.”

James rolled his eyes. “Nevermind, I shouldn’t ask you of all people your opinions on men.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean –”

The dark-haired man walked up to James.

"Hiii!" James let his greeting linger in the air longer than usual.

“Oh, hey." He handed James four one-dollar bills and four quarters for his chips and a soda before James could read his total.

James let a quarter slip through his fingers on the floor. I finally had an excuse to tease him about a crush he had too. The guy told James to “keep the change” and practically sprinted out the door. He had somewhere to be.

Before I could say anything, James already started with “Shut up,” and then he pocketed the extra quarters from Mr. Tall And Handsome.

“James, just ‘cause it’s not my birthday anymore doesn’t mean you to get to be rude.”

James snatched a chip from our shared bag, then handed it back to me. “I’m not being rude. I love you, but we both know you don’t have good luck with men.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, fine, maybe you’re right.”

James walked away from the counter and grabbed a peanut chocolate bar from the shelf.

“Mr. Douglas is gonna kill you,” I said, but I still took half of the stolen candy bar. I broke it into small pieces and popped each one into my mouth, so my lipstick stood a better chance of staying in place.

“Hah, okay. That cheapskate comes in here maybe once a month!” James said with a mouth full of peanuts.

He switched back to our main subject. “Remember Dave?” He said between bites.

“Don’t remind me.” I hang my head in shame.

“Hear me out. He was the rock star of our high school. He’s the kind of guy they write teen movies about," He paused to take a sip of water to pair with the salty chips. "Handsome, but a good little church boy. Loves his Momma, yadda-yadda.”

I rolled my eyes. I never felt the warmth radiate on my cheeks whenever I was around Dave. I didn’t giggle with bubbly delight mixed with nerves when he spoke to me. I only felt that once in my entire dating life. And I never knew if I would see her again anyway.

“I’m not finished!” James noticed my eye roll. “So anyway, he had a crew of girls who fluttered around him like a bunch of flies on sh*t.”

I laughed out loud. Thankfully, nobody else was in the store. Otherwise, Mr. Douglas probably would have heard complaints about an obnoxious girl disrupting customers while they shopped.

“You were the only one who could care less about him!” James continued.

“So?”

“So –” James paused to cough on an extra sharp potato chip. He took a big swig of water, then continued. “So, what I’m saying is you were too smart to be fooled by his fake charm.”

“You're half right," I twirled the one curl in my hair around my finger that I always let dangle when I put my hair in a bun.

“I thought you only went out with him because your Momma and his Momma were best friends. She begged you to give him a chance.”

I pushed around the chip crumbs on the counter.

“What happened, Abby?”

The front bell hanging above the entrance dinged as it rattled back and forth, signaling a customer walked in. We both perked up like my cats when I poked their back in the middle of deep sleep.

“You got a bathroom?” Another guy who looked like a college student asked.

“Nope, try around the block at the gas station!” James said.

The guy, who looked a bit younger than either of us, waved his hand awkwardly and left.

“What happened, Abby?” James asked again.

My eyes shifted around the store. “Me and Dave almost –” I whispered, even though the store was so empty a tumbleweed may as well have drifted by. “We almost had sex.”

“You never told me that!” James slapped the counter.

“I know! Because it’s embarrassing! He barely could get my bra off.”

James leaned into his elbows on the counter, eagerly awaiting the rest of my story.

“Yeah, so he was the one who really wanted it. I don’t know," I took a pause to catch my breath. "I thought this is what people were supposed to do when they went on dates. He got turned off when he found a big lump of cat hair stuck to the back of my bra.”

James laughed. It did feel good to get this off my chest, so I joined his laughter. I don’t know why I was so afraid to tell my best friend that another guy was a jerk to me. He already heard the story of heartbreaks so many times. He was the one who pretended to be my boyfriend when an annoying guy wouldn't leave me alone, and he'd always stay up late on the phone venting with me about ex-boyfriends.

“Dave got pissed at me and told me I was a crazy cat lady," I said.

"You so are!” James giggled.

“So what if I am?” I smirked at him.

“I never said it’s a bad thing!” James replied.

“Yeah, his loss,” I said.

"That's right!" James lifted his water bottle in the air.

I toasted his plastic bottle with the pink bottle I brought from home.

"Yeah, my cats were here first. Guys can deal with it.”

“That’s right!” James repeated. “Dave was such a creep anyway.”

“Totally, most guys are. I can be single, that’s fine!”

“That’s a lie!” James smiled smugly. “I know who you want to be with.”

“What are you talking about?” I felt my cheeks getting pink again. I placed my hand over my cheek and leaned into my elbow hoping it could cover my embarrassment.

The little rusty bell at the front door went ring! James went for his generic “good afternoon!” greeting that he always did with strangers but stopped when he realized who stopped by.

He nudged my arm. “Shut up,” I whispered.