Only Fools - Chapter 7: Chapter 7
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I let out a loud groan as I roll over in my bed. My head pounds as I lift it slightly to take a glance at the alarm on my nightstand. 9:30am.
Shit. I have work in thirty minutes. As I spring out of my bed, I suddenly can't help but regret drinking last night. I avoided the party to stay away from alcohol, and yet it still somehow found its way into my system.
Yanking on the closest decently coordinated outfit that I can find, I quickly glance in the mirror and run my fingers through my hair before darting out of my room.
As I glance into the living room, I notice that my dad is already gone and probably has been for a while. Letting out a sigh, I double check that I have everything before I leave the house and begin the drive to work.
"There's the old hooligan! This whippersnapper over here has been covering for you for ten minutes already. Wait. Eleven now," George says cheerily as I walk through the entrance of the bookshop. Jax just stands behind the counter, looking rather bored at the situation that plays out practically weekly.
"Sorry, George, Jax. I woke up late. Also, why must you insist on talking like that? Are you trying to sound even older than you already are or something?"
George just lets out a laugh before playfully ruffling my hair.
"Oh. I usually just do it to embarrass my daughter. It just carried over I suppose. But seriously, missy, you need to stop making poor Jax cover for you like this,"
As George frowns at me in disapproval, the wrinkles around his mouth are emphasized. Without the naturally cheery look in his eyes, they just look tired. And if to match the standards the look on his face set, his graying hair falls against his forehead in an almost tired manner.
"How is your daughter doing, George?" I ask him, knowing that if I get onto the topic of his child, I'll be completely let off the hook. Glancing over at Jax, I immediately notice his glare as he realizes what I'm up to.
"Oh, Brenna is just doing great. She did another one of her pageants a week or so ago and got some kind of supreme something or other. Both she and my wife were very happy about it, so that of course made me happy, though I wasn't sure what it meant. I know they both try to explain it to me every time, but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. Brenna could win a participation ribbon and she would still be the best one there in my eyes," he rambles.
"Wow. That's amazing. Was there some kind of weird theme at the pageant this time?"
"You know what? I think it had something to do with animals? I'm not entirely sure, but I know that Brenna absolutely shined on that stage,"
"Wow. I-"
I begin to speak however, the sound of the doors to the bookshop opening cut me off, then quickly followed by another voice.
"Good morning, dearies,"
"Good morning, Marian. Do you need help with any of your bags?" I say sweetly to my boss. Marian sends a small smile my way before shaking her head. Her snow white hair is as perfectly styled as ever and though the wrinkles on her skin and her stance tell a different story, her eyes have a sparkle of youth to them still.
"No. That is quite alright, Aspen. These bags aren't awfully heavy. I'm an old woman. I must cling to any youthful experience I can get, even if it is only being able to lift something on my own," Marian replies as she continues on her way, barely sparing us another glance until she very suddenly spins around to look at us.
"Get back to work. And make sure those lovebirds stay on track, George," Marian says before spinning back around and continuing her way. George just chuckles as he walks away to get back to restocking books.
"We aren't...." I try to correct her, but trail off as I realize that she probably can't hear me anymore. I glance over at Jax who is wearing a similarly disgusted look on his face, and I just roll my eyes.
"Hey, all she knows is that we're always here at the same time for some reason. I don't blame her for making assumptions, though she clearly did not factor in that you are seriously not my type,"
He's even the wrong gender.
"Hey!" Jax exclaims, taking slight offense to my words. But I just shrug and send him a small smile.
"Whatever, Aspen. I'm going over to the diner. Did you want anything?" Jaxon asks me as he moves out from behind the counter and begins to walk towards the door, looking at my expectantly.
"I doubt you even want anything besides the chance to flirt with my best friend," I remark, hoping that calling him out and embarrassing him will stop him from going. His cheeks turn red as he just shakes his head and exits the bookshop. Well, that didn't do me any good. Now I don't even get food.
As the day draws on, I can't help but notice that Jax doesn't come back. As the minutes pass on, I can feel the jealousy stir inside me with the scenarios swirling in my mind. What if he's still over there and they're having a great time. I mean, that's fine. I want her to have a good time and be happy. But what if she ends up liking him? I mean, he obviously likes her to some extent if he blushed so hard when I asked him about it. But what if those feelings are actually reciprocated? I guess that just means that I'm not really worthy of her, not that I ever truly believed I was but-
Shaking my head, I try to clear the thoughts away as all they do is bring me down. I don't need to be thinking about that kind of stuff right now. It's almost 2:50pm which means I'm almost done with work and then I'll be free.
Free to check up on Ivy that is. And on Jax if he's still over there. God, I hope he's not still over there. Before I can continue to stress myself out over the topic, my phone suddenly buzzes in my pocket. Furrowing my eyebrows, I pull it out to see Margot's name appear on my screen.
Margot: I never thought I would be able to say that I am excited to go to school on a Monday
Margot: But here we are
Me: Good for you. That doesn't change that I have a quiz tomorrow though!!
Margot: Yeah but I'm coming over to help you study in a couple hours so you're fine
Me: You don't know that yet!!
Margot: I am both highly confident in my teaching abilities and in your learning abilities
Margot: Though I'm probably more confident in my teaching abilities because I'm a bomb ass tutor and you're almost failing the class
Me: Thanks for bringing that up.
Margot: Anytime
Margot: Is work the most fun thing ever rn?
Me: Oh, you bet. It's literally dead in here. I don't understand how I even have a job at this rate.
Margot: You must have just not hit rush hour yet.
Me: Really?? And when may that be??
Margot: Right now
Margot: Oh look there's someone walking in
Confused, I glance up towards the door and then look back down at my phone, shaking my head at not only Margot's antics but how easily I fell for them.
Margot: Sike
Margot: Got you
Me: I wish you could see me because I'm rolling my eyes so hard right now.
Margot: What a shame I have to miss it
"Then again, if that's what you call a major eye roll, a small one must be literally nothing,"
At the sound of her voice, I immediately jump and then proceed to look up at her with the dirtiest glare I can muster.
"I can't believe you scared me like that!"
"I can't believe you didn't hear me walk in,"
I roll my eyes at her and shake my head.
"I don't think you can really call it 'a scare' though. I didn't even say 'boo'," Margot says in an attempt to crack a terrible joke to make me laugh.
I don't respond to her, but just continue to glare at her instead.
"And she continues to be angry at me for something she should be overjoyed about. Interesting tactic,"
"Yeah? And what am I supposed to be so happy about?"
"Simple. My presence,"
"Wow. And she's humble too. I really have the full package here, ladies and gentlemen,"
"I thought you claimed the store was empty. Who are these 'ladies and gentlemen'?" Margot asks with a smirk.
"Smart ass,"
I quickly glance at my phone to check the time. 2:58pm.
"So. Why are you even here?" I ask Margot as I tuck my phone back into my pocket and look up at her. Margot just shrugs.
"Seriously....? I had nothing better to do,"
"Than what? Annoy me,"
"Well, yeah. And it helps that I seem to have a natural born talent for it,"
"Wonderful,"
"Yes. That and I thought we could grab a bite to eat before we study?"
I narrow my eyes at her.
"What kind of game are you playing here?" I question her.
"None. I'm just really hungry,"
"Likely story,"
"If you say so,"
Margot sends me a wink, causing me to to overdramatically gasp and cover my mouth in response before smiles break into both of our faces.
"Seriously though, I'm starving. Any preference?"
"The diner right across the street is pretty good," I say with a shrug, although my true reasoning for wanting to go there has nothing to do with the food.
"Ok, then. The diner it is," Margot replies with a nod. I glance back down at my phone. 3:00pm. My head snaps back up as I hear the shop door open and rushed footsteps drawing close.
"Hey, Aspen," Kelsey greets me as she turns to join me behind the counter.
"You're almost late," I taunt her, but she just rolls her eyes at me.
"Yeah. Ok. So says you, Miss Late For Work Every Single Day,"
"I'm not that bad," I try to defend myself, though I'm not sure why, she's completely right.
"Really? Then I just have one question for you. Did your little boyfriend Jax cover for you again today?"
"He did, but Jesus, Kelsey, he is not my boyfriend. I can barely stand him enough to be his friend. Actually, I take that back. Cross off the friendship part because I literally just can't stand him,"
"You say that now, and yet that can quickly turn into romance before you know it,"
"I highly doubt that, Kelsey,"
Unless my sexuality straightens itself out real soon, I don't think I'll ever be thinking of Jax in a romantic sense. Besides. He's just so.... Jax.
"Anyways, I'll be heading out. See you on Monday?" I say as I walk out from behind the counter and over to Margot's side.
"Yeah. Sure," Kelsey says, waving me off as she already has her nose deep into the latest book she's been reading.
"So... Jax?" Margot asks mischievously.
"Shut up," I snap.
As we reach the diner, my heart rate begins to increase with the thought of seeing Ivy, of seeing Ivy still hanging out with Jaxon.
However, as I step into the building and take a look around, I don't see any familiar flashes of red hair. Furrowing my eyebrows, I turn to the current hostess in front of us.
"I'm sorry, is Ivy Charleston working right now?" I question her.
"No. She took off a little bit early today with this boy. Jake? Or Jacob? I honestly don't remember," she explains with a small laugh.
"Oh. Alright. Thank you. Well, table for two then," I say politely, forcing a smile onto my face despite the sharp pain in my heart.
"Right this way,"
As the hostess leads us to the table, I let whatever sadness out that I need to, allowing thoughts of inevitable rejection and loss of friendship to expand in my mind so that as soon as we sit down, they can burst and I can refocus onto Margot, the person who is here with me right now.
"So, you work at a bookstore,"
"Yes. I am well aware of that, believe it or not,"
Margot lets out a gasp at my response and I can't help but shoot her a confused look.
"But you're a popular cheerleader, and books are only for nerds, like myself," Margot explains rather dramatically.
"Yes, and now you know my terrible secret. Oh no. Please do not tell anyone or I will be ruined," I reply in a rather monotone voice.
"Of course. You're secret's safe with me," Margot says with a wink, and I can't stop a small smile from escaping onto my face. I've only known this girl for a few days and yet there's already a sense of comfort between us. I'm not anxious and overthinking every single action, though my brain may just be realizing that I most likely won't be able to pull off anything much worse around her than the way we met.
"So, I helped you set up a full-scale prank on your ex, but I seriously know next to nothing about you, Miss Margot May, outside of the fact that you are allegedly acing calculus by some miracle,"
Margot just smiles at my comment as she folds her hands together and rests them on top of the table.
"Ok. What would you like to know then?" she asks me as she tilts her head slightly to the right.
"I'm actually not sure...." I say, trailing off.
"Ok. Then I'll start,"
"Hey!"
"You don't know what to ask me, so I'll start. How was your day at work?"
"That is so basic. Like, what are we, an old married couple?"
"You didn't have anything better,"
"Ok. Then work was fine,"
"And there's the end to that conversation,"
I roll my eyes at the girl sitting across from me as I shake my head.
"Seriously. Nothing interesting or out of the ordinary happened today?" Margot presses for answers.
"No. Honestly, nothing happened today. I got to work late, as usual, I stayed at the counter most of the time unless I was shelving books, the shop was extremely dead, and I only had four customers all day. The majority were mothers picking up books for school assignments that their kids told them about at the last minute,"
"Nothing happened today? So other days have been more interesting,"
I just shrug in response.
"I'll take that as a yes then. So, what has been your craziest customer experience?"
"What do you mean by crazy? Are you referring to a person buying something crazy, doing something crazy, or just embodying 'crazy'?"
"Do you have a combination of all three?"
Hesitating for a moment, I almost immediately think of an experience, but want to make sure that I tell the story fully.
"So, there was this one guy that came in every week, and I was usually the one to ring him up. He had to be in his mid thirties or early forties, and he wore a wedding band. I usually take note of books as people purchase them, and his made sense at first. He would pick up a new romantic novel, whether it was for him or his wife, I don't know and don't care. But after a few weeks, he started picking up self help books instead with titles like 'Marriage Guidance' and 'Healing Your Broken Marriage', whatever. Couple weeks later, he shows up without a self-help book. Instead, he sets a book about unsolved murder cases on the counter. The next day, he shows up with a guide to poisonous plants and very seriously asks me if I know of a store in the area that sells poison ivy. I told him no and then proceeded to ask him why he may need poison ivy for. He just said that it was for his wife and he left. I haven't seen him since,"
As I look back up at Margot, her eyes are wide at my story.
"And you're not joking?"
I just shake my head in response.
"Dang. I just thought you were gonna say that old men hit on you or something,"
"Oh, yeah. That happens too. And I'm not even going to lie when I say that some of them have game. Like, I'll say hi to them, and they'll already be offering to get me a snack from the cafe next door,"
"Oh, so that's what it takes to win you over," Margot says with a wink.
The rest of our meal breezes by rather effortlessly, conversation is easy, and the food was, well, decent.
"Are you ready to go?" I question Margot as I tuck my change into my wallet and glance up at her. She nods in response and I take that as a cue to get up from my seat. It's then that my phone, loosely clutched in my hand hits something, making a sharp echoing sound, and sending water spilling straight into my lap. Cheeks flushed, I quickly grab the glass and set it back upright on the table, and look up to see Margot smiling widely.
"And she's even a danger to herself,"
"Shut up!"
————
"Well, this is my car...." I trail off as I pat the hood awkwardly.
"Yeah, I was actually hoping that you weren't just stopping in front of some random car,"
"Seems like you got what you were looking for then,"
"Seems I did...." she agrees, trailing off. I pull out my phone and glance at the time quickly, causing dread to rise in my stomach. There's a pretty high chance that my dad is off of work by now, and if we go to my house then Margot will arrive at the same time as me. I won't get any kind of chance to fix things, or make sure that my family appears to be less broken than it truly is. My heart begins to race with just the thought of the possibility of her finding out. So I improvise.
"You know, I was thinking. I have everything that we need to study with in my car right now, and I'm sure that you may have also brought some stuff just in case. We could just sit in this lot rather than drive the extra distance to my house?"
"I really don't mind the drive, Aspen,"
"I insist. Please,"
Margot slowly nods her head.
"Ok, but just give me one minute to grab all my shit from my car," she says. I just nod my head as I unlock my car and slide into the driver's seat. Letting out a sigh, I tap my fingers on the wheel as I wait for her to come back.
"Alright," Margot says as she enters the car, "let's get started."
She shoots a smile my way, though I can't bear to return it knowing the work ahead.
————
"But what does a limit even mean!" I exclaim as I slap my hand down onto my notebook.
"It's a value that a line can approach but never quite reach," Margot tries to explain to me.
"That literally makes no sense. Why can't it reach?"
"There's a hole in the graph,"
"Well, then fix it,"
Margot just laughs at my statement as she shakes her head.
"That's not exactly how it works,"
I just stay silent as I stare blankly down at the numbers on my page.
"Think of it this way. You're one of those girls that gets thrown around in cheer-"
"A flyer," I interrupt her.
"Yeah. A flyer. When you get thrown, you only go so high and then you have to come back down. There's a limit to the height you can reach. You can approach a certain height, but never reach it. Calculating a limit, is figuring out that point or value that you can't reach,"
"I really appreciate trying to relate all this stuff to cheer, but you may have just succeeded in confusing me more. Why can't I reach that height? If they threw me hard enough, I bet it would work," I reason.
"Alright. A limit is the value that would be there if there wasn't a hole in the graph,"
"Why didn't you just explain it that way from the beginning?"
"I'm pretty sure I did!"
"Well, I'm pretty sure you didn't,"
"Aspen-"
"Nope. I'm done with math for the day. I somewhat understand this and I think that's going to be the best we can get," I say resolutely.
Margot just nods as she closes the notebook on her lap.
"The sweatshirt you let me borrow at the party, it had the Rolling Stones symbol on it. So I assume you like them?" I ask her, thinking back to a time when I didn't even know her name. She cracks a small smile at my question.
"Yeah. I like a lot of rock music, actually,"
I hum in response as I glance around the parking lot.
"What? Do you not like rock?" she questions me.
"I mean, it's alright," I say with a shrug, turning my attention back to her.
"It's alright? You can't have ever listened to it before then,"
"Well, I've listened to a few songs. I was just never able to get into it,"
"Ok. You tried. I can at least accept that. However, I still believe that you must have listened to trash songs that don't represent the genre as a whole if you didn't like it. But whatever,"
I shake my head at her.
"What kind of music do you like then?" she suddenly asks me.
"Irish folk," I say, trying to remain as serious as possible.
"Really?"
"Nah. I just really don't like a specific genre of music," I say with a shrug.
"Really? You don't like one genre more than others? Because I really like rap and alternative too, but rock is my all time favorite,"
"I mean, I really like sad songs?"
Margot laughs at this.
"Sad songs? Are you ok?"
"Probably not," I say with a laugh. She shakes her head at me.
"But seriously, you can't beat the raw emotion in singers voices in sad songs,"
"If you say so,"
"But I do also like alternative and rap, so we're not all different," I tell her with a smile.
"Wow. Amazing. Our taste in music has united us and now, we can live together in peace and harmony forever," she says sarcastically.
"Whatever," I say with an eye roll. We both turn to look out the window, and it's then that an idea pops into my head.
"Hey. Play a rock song for me. Your favorite. And then I can judge whether it's actually good or not,"
Margot smiles at my suggestion as she pulls out her phone.
"Well, it is good so your job shouldn't be that hard,"
"We'll see about that," I say as I start the car so that the radio powers on, and hand her the cord to connect her phone.
As the song begins, the first thing I notice is the sound of a harmonica. I furrow my eyebrows as I glance over at Margot who has a wide smile on her face. Once the harmonica fades out, she begins to sing along to the song, swaying along with her eyes closed.
"I'm just your fool. Can't help myself," she sings. I chuckle as she continues to sing and begins to use hand motions to match the lyrics. Upon the sound of my laughter, her eyes flutter open as she stops singing and turns to look at me.
"What?" she questions lightheartedly, the music obviously having affected her mood.
"Nothing. I'm just really enjoying your hand motions. They match the song very well," I explain jokingly.
"Oh really?"
Almost immediately she begins to sing louder than before with more dramatic hand motions, truly using her whole body to dance out the song all while seated. As she turns to face me, I can't help but begin to dance along too. Not knowing the words, I just copy whatever Margot's doing a second too late which causes her to laugh and interrupts her off key singing.
"What's the name of that song?" I question her as the lyrics stop and it fades to an end.
"So you liked it?" she asks excitedly.
"I didn't say that,"
"But you asked for the name of the song," she points out.
"Ok. I guess I may have liked it a little bit,"
"A little bit? You were straight up grooving in your seat!"
"Straight up grooving?"
"Yeah!"
"Whatever. Name?"
"Just Your Fool, by The Rolling Stones," she says.
I repeat the name in my head, planning to look it up again later.
"The Rolling Stones? Like your sweatshirt?"
"Just like my sweatshirt,"
"Cool," I say quietly.
"Did you want to listen to more?"
I nod my head without thinking, not because I actually want to sit in the car and listen to more music, but because I want to sit in the car and listen to music with Margot, who has turned out to be a pretty good friend that I can straight up groove with.
Shit. I have work in thirty minutes. As I spring out of my bed, I suddenly can't help but regret drinking last night. I avoided the party to stay away from alcohol, and yet it still somehow found its way into my system.
Yanking on the closest decently coordinated outfit that I can find, I quickly glance in the mirror and run my fingers through my hair before darting out of my room.
As I glance into the living room, I notice that my dad is already gone and probably has been for a while. Letting out a sigh, I double check that I have everything before I leave the house and begin the drive to work.
"There's the old hooligan! This whippersnapper over here has been covering for you for ten minutes already. Wait. Eleven now," George says cheerily as I walk through the entrance of the bookshop. Jax just stands behind the counter, looking rather bored at the situation that plays out practically weekly.
"Sorry, George, Jax. I woke up late. Also, why must you insist on talking like that? Are you trying to sound even older than you already are or something?"
George just lets out a laugh before playfully ruffling my hair.
"Oh. I usually just do it to embarrass my daughter. It just carried over I suppose. But seriously, missy, you need to stop making poor Jax cover for you like this,"
As George frowns at me in disapproval, the wrinkles around his mouth are emphasized. Without the naturally cheery look in his eyes, they just look tired. And if to match the standards the look on his face set, his graying hair falls against his forehead in an almost tired manner.
"How is your daughter doing, George?" I ask him, knowing that if I get onto the topic of his child, I'll be completely let off the hook. Glancing over at Jax, I immediately notice his glare as he realizes what I'm up to.
"Oh, Brenna is just doing great. She did another one of her pageants a week or so ago and got some kind of supreme something or other. Both she and my wife were very happy about it, so that of course made me happy, though I wasn't sure what it meant. I know they both try to explain it to me every time, but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. Brenna could win a participation ribbon and she would still be the best one there in my eyes," he rambles.
"Wow. That's amazing. Was there some kind of weird theme at the pageant this time?"
"You know what? I think it had something to do with animals? I'm not entirely sure, but I know that Brenna absolutely shined on that stage,"
"Wow. I-"
I begin to speak however, the sound of the doors to the bookshop opening cut me off, then quickly followed by another voice.
"Good morning, dearies,"
"Good morning, Marian. Do you need help with any of your bags?" I say sweetly to my boss. Marian sends a small smile my way before shaking her head. Her snow white hair is as perfectly styled as ever and though the wrinkles on her skin and her stance tell a different story, her eyes have a sparkle of youth to them still.
"No. That is quite alright, Aspen. These bags aren't awfully heavy. I'm an old woman. I must cling to any youthful experience I can get, even if it is only being able to lift something on my own," Marian replies as she continues on her way, barely sparing us another glance until she very suddenly spins around to look at us.
"Get back to work. And make sure those lovebirds stay on track, George," Marian says before spinning back around and continuing her way. George just chuckles as he walks away to get back to restocking books.
"We aren't...." I try to correct her, but trail off as I realize that she probably can't hear me anymore. I glance over at Jax who is wearing a similarly disgusted look on his face, and I just roll my eyes.
"Hey, all she knows is that we're always here at the same time for some reason. I don't blame her for making assumptions, though she clearly did not factor in that you are seriously not my type,"
He's even the wrong gender.
"Hey!" Jax exclaims, taking slight offense to my words. But I just shrug and send him a small smile.
"Whatever, Aspen. I'm going over to the diner. Did you want anything?" Jaxon asks me as he moves out from behind the counter and begins to walk towards the door, looking at my expectantly.
"I doubt you even want anything besides the chance to flirt with my best friend," I remark, hoping that calling him out and embarrassing him will stop him from going. His cheeks turn red as he just shakes his head and exits the bookshop. Well, that didn't do me any good. Now I don't even get food.
As the day draws on, I can't help but notice that Jax doesn't come back. As the minutes pass on, I can feel the jealousy stir inside me with the scenarios swirling in my mind. What if he's still over there and they're having a great time. I mean, that's fine. I want her to have a good time and be happy. But what if she ends up liking him? I mean, he obviously likes her to some extent if he blushed so hard when I asked him about it. But what if those feelings are actually reciprocated? I guess that just means that I'm not really worthy of her, not that I ever truly believed I was but-
Shaking my head, I try to clear the thoughts away as all they do is bring me down. I don't need to be thinking about that kind of stuff right now. It's almost 2:50pm which means I'm almost done with work and then I'll be free.
Free to check up on Ivy that is. And on Jax if he's still over there. God, I hope he's not still over there. Before I can continue to stress myself out over the topic, my phone suddenly buzzes in my pocket. Furrowing my eyebrows, I pull it out to see Margot's name appear on my screen.
Margot: I never thought I would be able to say that I am excited to go to school on a Monday
Margot: But here we are
Me: Good for you. That doesn't change that I have a quiz tomorrow though!!
Margot: Yeah but I'm coming over to help you study in a couple hours so you're fine
Me: You don't know that yet!!
Margot: I am both highly confident in my teaching abilities and in your learning abilities
Margot: Though I'm probably more confident in my teaching abilities because I'm a bomb ass tutor and you're almost failing the class
Me: Thanks for bringing that up.
Margot: Anytime
Margot: Is work the most fun thing ever rn?
Me: Oh, you bet. It's literally dead in here. I don't understand how I even have a job at this rate.
Margot: You must have just not hit rush hour yet.
Me: Really?? And when may that be??
Margot: Right now
Margot: Oh look there's someone walking in
Confused, I glance up towards the door and then look back down at my phone, shaking my head at not only Margot's antics but how easily I fell for them.
Margot: Sike
Margot: Got you
Me: I wish you could see me because I'm rolling my eyes so hard right now.
Margot: What a shame I have to miss it
"Then again, if that's what you call a major eye roll, a small one must be literally nothing,"
At the sound of her voice, I immediately jump and then proceed to look up at her with the dirtiest glare I can muster.
"I can't believe you scared me like that!"
"I can't believe you didn't hear me walk in,"
I roll my eyes at her and shake my head.
"I don't think you can really call it 'a scare' though. I didn't even say 'boo'," Margot says in an attempt to crack a terrible joke to make me laugh.
I don't respond to her, but just continue to glare at her instead.
"And she continues to be angry at me for something she should be overjoyed about. Interesting tactic,"
"Yeah? And what am I supposed to be so happy about?"
"Simple. My presence,"
"Wow. And she's humble too. I really have the full package here, ladies and gentlemen,"
"I thought you claimed the store was empty. Who are these 'ladies and gentlemen'?" Margot asks with a smirk.
"Smart ass,"
I quickly glance at my phone to check the time. 2:58pm.
"So. Why are you even here?" I ask Margot as I tuck my phone back into my pocket and look up at her. Margot just shrugs.
"Seriously....? I had nothing better to do,"
"Than what? Annoy me,"
"Well, yeah. And it helps that I seem to have a natural born talent for it,"
"Wonderful,"
"Yes. That and I thought we could grab a bite to eat before we study?"
I narrow my eyes at her.
"What kind of game are you playing here?" I question her.
"None. I'm just really hungry,"
"Likely story,"
"If you say so,"
Margot sends me a wink, causing me to to overdramatically gasp and cover my mouth in response before smiles break into both of our faces.
"Seriously though, I'm starving. Any preference?"
"The diner right across the street is pretty good," I say with a shrug, although my true reasoning for wanting to go there has nothing to do with the food.
"Ok, then. The diner it is," Margot replies with a nod. I glance back down at my phone. 3:00pm. My head snaps back up as I hear the shop door open and rushed footsteps drawing close.
"Hey, Aspen," Kelsey greets me as she turns to join me behind the counter.
"You're almost late," I taunt her, but she just rolls her eyes at me.
"Yeah. Ok. So says you, Miss Late For Work Every Single Day,"
"I'm not that bad," I try to defend myself, though I'm not sure why, she's completely right.
"Really? Then I just have one question for you. Did your little boyfriend Jax cover for you again today?"
"He did, but Jesus, Kelsey, he is not my boyfriend. I can barely stand him enough to be his friend. Actually, I take that back. Cross off the friendship part because I literally just can't stand him,"
"You say that now, and yet that can quickly turn into romance before you know it,"
"I highly doubt that, Kelsey,"
Unless my sexuality straightens itself out real soon, I don't think I'll ever be thinking of Jax in a romantic sense. Besides. He's just so.... Jax.
"Anyways, I'll be heading out. See you on Monday?" I say as I walk out from behind the counter and over to Margot's side.
"Yeah. Sure," Kelsey says, waving me off as she already has her nose deep into the latest book she's been reading.
"So... Jax?" Margot asks mischievously.
"Shut up," I snap.
As we reach the diner, my heart rate begins to increase with the thought of seeing Ivy, of seeing Ivy still hanging out with Jaxon.
However, as I step into the building and take a look around, I don't see any familiar flashes of red hair. Furrowing my eyebrows, I turn to the current hostess in front of us.
"I'm sorry, is Ivy Charleston working right now?" I question her.
"No. She took off a little bit early today with this boy. Jake? Or Jacob? I honestly don't remember," she explains with a small laugh.
"Oh. Alright. Thank you. Well, table for two then," I say politely, forcing a smile onto my face despite the sharp pain in my heart.
"Right this way,"
As the hostess leads us to the table, I let whatever sadness out that I need to, allowing thoughts of inevitable rejection and loss of friendship to expand in my mind so that as soon as we sit down, they can burst and I can refocus onto Margot, the person who is here with me right now.
"So, you work at a bookstore,"
"Yes. I am well aware of that, believe it or not,"
Margot lets out a gasp at my response and I can't help but shoot her a confused look.
"But you're a popular cheerleader, and books are only for nerds, like myself," Margot explains rather dramatically.
"Yes, and now you know my terrible secret. Oh no. Please do not tell anyone or I will be ruined," I reply in a rather monotone voice.
"Of course. You're secret's safe with me," Margot says with a wink, and I can't stop a small smile from escaping onto my face. I've only known this girl for a few days and yet there's already a sense of comfort between us. I'm not anxious and overthinking every single action, though my brain may just be realizing that I most likely won't be able to pull off anything much worse around her than the way we met.
"So, I helped you set up a full-scale prank on your ex, but I seriously know next to nothing about you, Miss Margot May, outside of the fact that you are allegedly acing calculus by some miracle,"
Margot just smiles at my comment as she folds her hands together and rests them on top of the table.
"Ok. What would you like to know then?" she asks me as she tilts her head slightly to the right.
"I'm actually not sure...." I say, trailing off.
"Ok. Then I'll start,"
"Hey!"
"You don't know what to ask me, so I'll start. How was your day at work?"
"That is so basic. Like, what are we, an old married couple?"
"You didn't have anything better,"
"Ok. Then work was fine,"
"And there's the end to that conversation,"
I roll my eyes at the girl sitting across from me as I shake my head.
"Seriously. Nothing interesting or out of the ordinary happened today?" Margot presses for answers.
"No. Honestly, nothing happened today. I got to work late, as usual, I stayed at the counter most of the time unless I was shelving books, the shop was extremely dead, and I only had four customers all day. The majority were mothers picking up books for school assignments that their kids told them about at the last minute,"
"Nothing happened today? So other days have been more interesting,"
I just shrug in response.
"I'll take that as a yes then. So, what has been your craziest customer experience?"
"What do you mean by crazy? Are you referring to a person buying something crazy, doing something crazy, or just embodying 'crazy'?"
"Do you have a combination of all three?"
Hesitating for a moment, I almost immediately think of an experience, but want to make sure that I tell the story fully.
"So, there was this one guy that came in every week, and I was usually the one to ring him up. He had to be in his mid thirties or early forties, and he wore a wedding band. I usually take note of books as people purchase them, and his made sense at first. He would pick up a new romantic novel, whether it was for him or his wife, I don't know and don't care. But after a few weeks, he started picking up self help books instead with titles like 'Marriage Guidance' and 'Healing Your Broken Marriage', whatever. Couple weeks later, he shows up without a self-help book. Instead, he sets a book about unsolved murder cases on the counter. The next day, he shows up with a guide to poisonous plants and very seriously asks me if I know of a store in the area that sells poison ivy. I told him no and then proceeded to ask him why he may need poison ivy for. He just said that it was for his wife and he left. I haven't seen him since,"
As I look back up at Margot, her eyes are wide at my story.
"And you're not joking?"
I just shake my head in response.
"Dang. I just thought you were gonna say that old men hit on you or something,"
"Oh, yeah. That happens too. And I'm not even going to lie when I say that some of them have game. Like, I'll say hi to them, and they'll already be offering to get me a snack from the cafe next door,"
"Oh, so that's what it takes to win you over," Margot says with a wink.
The rest of our meal breezes by rather effortlessly, conversation is easy, and the food was, well, decent.
"Are you ready to go?" I question Margot as I tuck my change into my wallet and glance up at her. She nods in response and I take that as a cue to get up from my seat. It's then that my phone, loosely clutched in my hand hits something, making a sharp echoing sound, and sending water spilling straight into my lap. Cheeks flushed, I quickly grab the glass and set it back upright on the table, and look up to see Margot smiling widely.
"And she's even a danger to herself,"
"Shut up!"
————
"Well, this is my car...." I trail off as I pat the hood awkwardly.
"Yeah, I was actually hoping that you weren't just stopping in front of some random car,"
"Seems like you got what you were looking for then,"
"Seems I did...." she agrees, trailing off. I pull out my phone and glance at the time quickly, causing dread to rise in my stomach. There's a pretty high chance that my dad is off of work by now, and if we go to my house then Margot will arrive at the same time as me. I won't get any kind of chance to fix things, or make sure that my family appears to be less broken than it truly is. My heart begins to race with just the thought of the possibility of her finding out. So I improvise.
"You know, I was thinking. I have everything that we need to study with in my car right now, and I'm sure that you may have also brought some stuff just in case. We could just sit in this lot rather than drive the extra distance to my house?"
"I really don't mind the drive, Aspen,"
"I insist. Please,"
Margot slowly nods her head.
"Ok, but just give me one minute to grab all my shit from my car," she says. I just nod my head as I unlock my car and slide into the driver's seat. Letting out a sigh, I tap my fingers on the wheel as I wait for her to come back.
"Alright," Margot says as she enters the car, "let's get started."
She shoots a smile my way, though I can't bear to return it knowing the work ahead.
————
"But what does a limit even mean!" I exclaim as I slap my hand down onto my notebook.
"It's a value that a line can approach but never quite reach," Margot tries to explain to me.
"That literally makes no sense. Why can't it reach?"
"There's a hole in the graph,"
"Well, then fix it,"
Margot just laughs at my statement as she shakes her head.
"That's not exactly how it works,"
I just stay silent as I stare blankly down at the numbers on my page.
"Think of it this way. You're one of those girls that gets thrown around in cheer-"
"A flyer," I interrupt her.
"Yeah. A flyer. When you get thrown, you only go so high and then you have to come back down. There's a limit to the height you can reach. You can approach a certain height, but never reach it. Calculating a limit, is figuring out that point or value that you can't reach,"
"I really appreciate trying to relate all this stuff to cheer, but you may have just succeeded in confusing me more. Why can't I reach that height? If they threw me hard enough, I bet it would work," I reason.
"Alright. A limit is the value that would be there if there wasn't a hole in the graph,"
"Why didn't you just explain it that way from the beginning?"
"I'm pretty sure I did!"
"Well, I'm pretty sure you didn't,"
"Aspen-"
"Nope. I'm done with math for the day. I somewhat understand this and I think that's going to be the best we can get," I say resolutely.
Margot just nods as she closes the notebook on her lap.
"The sweatshirt you let me borrow at the party, it had the Rolling Stones symbol on it. So I assume you like them?" I ask her, thinking back to a time when I didn't even know her name. She cracks a small smile at my question.
"Yeah. I like a lot of rock music, actually,"
I hum in response as I glance around the parking lot.
"What? Do you not like rock?" she questions me.
"I mean, it's alright," I say with a shrug, turning my attention back to her.
"It's alright? You can't have ever listened to it before then,"
"Well, I've listened to a few songs. I was just never able to get into it,"
"Ok. You tried. I can at least accept that. However, I still believe that you must have listened to trash songs that don't represent the genre as a whole if you didn't like it. But whatever,"
I shake my head at her.
"What kind of music do you like then?" she suddenly asks me.
"Irish folk," I say, trying to remain as serious as possible.
"Really?"
"Nah. I just really don't like a specific genre of music," I say with a shrug.
"Really? You don't like one genre more than others? Because I really like rap and alternative too, but rock is my all time favorite,"
"I mean, I really like sad songs?"
Margot laughs at this.
"Sad songs? Are you ok?"
"Probably not," I say with a laugh. She shakes her head at me.
"But seriously, you can't beat the raw emotion in singers voices in sad songs,"
"If you say so,"
"But I do also like alternative and rap, so we're not all different," I tell her with a smile.
"Wow. Amazing. Our taste in music has united us and now, we can live together in peace and harmony forever," she says sarcastically.
"Whatever," I say with an eye roll. We both turn to look out the window, and it's then that an idea pops into my head.
"Hey. Play a rock song for me. Your favorite. And then I can judge whether it's actually good or not,"
Margot smiles at my suggestion as she pulls out her phone.
"Well, it is good so your job shouldn't be that hard,"
"We'll see about that," I say as I start the car so that the radio powers on, and hand her the cord to connect her phone.
As the song begins, the first thing I notice is the sound of a harmonica. I furrow my eyebrows as I glance over at Margot who has a wide smile on her face. Once the harmonica fades out, she begins to sing along to the song, swaying along with her eyes closed.
"I'm just your fool. Can't help myself," she sings. I chuckle as she continues to sing and begins to use hand motions to match the lyrics. Upon the sound of my laughter, her eyes flutter open as she stops singing and turns to look at me.
"What?" she questions lightheartedly, the music obviously having affected her mood.
"Nothing. I'm just really enjoying your hand motions. They match the song very well," I explain jokingly.
"Oh really?"
Almost immediately she begins to sing louder than before with more dramatic hand motions, truly using her whole body to dance out the song all while seated. As she turns to face me, I can't help but begin to dance along too. Not knowing the words, I just copy whatever Margot's doing a second too late which causes her to laugh and interrupts her off key singing.
"What's the name of that song?" I question her as the lyrics stop and it fades to an end.
"So you liked it?" she asks excitedly.
"I didn't say that,"
"But you asked for the name of the song," she points out.
"Ok. I guess I may have liked it a little bit,"
"A little bit? You were straight up grooving in your seat!"
"Straight up grooving?"
"Yeah!"
"Whatever. Name?"
"Just Your Fool, by The Rolling Stones," she says.
I repeat the name in my head, planning to look it up again later.
"The Rolling Stones? Like your sweatshirt?"
"Just like my sweatshirt,"
"Cool," I say quietly.
"Did you want to listen to more?"
I nod my head without thinking, not because I actually want to sit in the car and listen to more music, but because I want to sit in the car and listen to music with Margot, who has turned out to be a pretty good friend that I can straight up groove with.
End of Only Fools Chapter 7. Continue reading Chapter 8 or return to Only Fools book page.