A Recollection of Ideas: A Series of One Shots

It was a normal day, or night actually, at the local Walgreens.

That was, until he showed up.

“Angel! Angel!” My fellow checkout clerk/store stocker and friend of mine called to me. We had worked together for the past few months. We’ve always been stuck on the late shift together, so eventually we started chatting and now, we plan on Wednesdays that I bring the energy drinks and she brings the snacks and we camp out, waiting for those few customers that just had to get their condoms or whatever the hell they needed late at night. It was a 24/7 Walgreens.

I turned to Hazel, grinning. She was currently on duty to restock the hair care aisle. “What is it, Hazel?” I teased, leaned over the little table that customers put their products on. “Need help…again?” I teased her. She stuck out her tongue out at me and shook her head.

“Just saying hello!” She said cheerily. I rolled my eyes. I was spending my Friday night here, working. It was eleven thirty, almost eleven forty. Although I had no other parties to go to, or any other social event for that matter, I would’ve much rather gone home and slept instead of working in an empty store.

“Maybe we’ll get out by midnight.” I grumbled. Hazel shoved Dove shampoo haphazardly on a shelf while I sat on a stool, kicking a box underneath the desk back and forth with my feet. It was empty and I should throw it out, but I decided to kick it around a little longer. “GOING TO CARDS!” Hazel yelled back at me as she crossed down the aisle to go restock the card section.

I yelled back a cheery confirmation and sighed, closing my eyes for a moment. No one was here and I was bored!

Right as I thought that, the doors opened to reveal a girl all decked out in makeup. And when I said ‘all decked out in makeup’, I mean about ten pounds of it, or at least enough to name the brand that she used. Geez, can someone hold up that much weight on their face?

Her high heels click-click-clicked down the tile squares on the floor as she walked towards the back of the store. I watched her curiously. Moments later, Hazel came around the corner giving me that ‘Look-at-that-alien!’ look on her face. I laughed silently and nodded along.

The lights flickered overhead and I sighed. Management should really get the staff to fix those. They liked to flicker, but only at night, making for quite the ominous scene. Spooky scare stuff going on here tonight.

About ten minutes later, the girl who had walked in had all but disappeared. I hadn’t seen her come and check out, I hadn’t seen her as an employee so she wasn’t working the late shift, and the doors were right by me so she certainly hadn’t left! It was like she turned invisible or something.

As I was looking around, trying to find Hazel or the girl that had come in, the doors opened one more time. A man walked in. He had long brown hair that was curled, or looked like someone had taken a curler to it. He wore a black beanie, white tank top with a red plaid shirt over it, and some black skinny jeans, much like my own. He looked around before spotting me.

“Hello and welcome to Walgreens. How are you tonight?” I asked in the basic greeting we were instructed to use. I hadn’t asked the other girl-she’d been in too much of a hurry to get whatever she needed.

“I’m great, thanks! It’s pretty late though. How are you?” He asked me, smiling at me with two hazel brown orbs. I smiled back. Few people actually cared enough to ask how I was back, so it was a nice change. “I’m great, thanks!” I answered. He smiled and walked away.

“Probably getting condoms.” I mumbled under my breath as he turned down a different aisle. I mean, no offense to him, but a pretty boy like that wouldn’t be going to a Walgreens in the middle of the night for a birthday card…

Hazel turned down the aisle, basically resisting sprinting towards me. She pushed past the little gate thing and came up next to me, hopping up and down. “Guess who just came in!?” She whispered loudly. I shushed her and made a motion for her to continue.

“Who?”

“Vic Fuentes!” She nearly cried out. I raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, the guy that just came in!?” I gasped. She nodded. How had I missed that!? I must’ve been a little too tired for my brain to recognize that the lead singer of Pierce the Veil just walked into the store.

Oh man. I just need sleep.

“Well, go check him out and hey, keep an eye on that other girl, okay?” I told her. She nodded viciously. “Trust me, I’ve been watching her the entire time. She’s just been checking out the birth control section. Hazel whispered as she ducked over the gate and started walking away, throwing me a thumbs up.

I waited slightly anxiously for Vic to return to the counter. I mean, he had to be here for something, right? And that meant that eventually he had to check it out!

I tapped my foot impatiently and drummed my fingers slightly against the table top as I waited for someone, anyone, to appear.

And, well, someone did appear.

Vic skidded around the corner, nearly going full throttle, I raised an eyebrow, debating on yelling at him for running in the store when he spotted me and ran up to my checkout desk. He threw an anxious glance over his shoulder. “Please, please help me. My ex is here and she’s a psycho-bitch and she’s going to rip out my hair. Can I please hide behind your desk?” He asked quietly, frantically. I didn’t pause long before nodding.

“Uh, sure?” I said reluctantly. He placed both hands on the counter, a panicked look on his face as we both heard the click-click-click of heels approaching the counter. I glanced down to see him disappear underneath the booth, knees hugged to his chest. The crazy lady that he was describing came trotting down the aisle, looking around and eventually spotted me.

“Excuse me, but have you seen a man with long brown hair around here?” She asked me, her voice poison-sweet. I saw out of the corner of my vision Vic give me a frantic, head shake, his hands clasped together in a silently prayer for me to help him out.

“Oh, no, I haven’t. I think he might’ve ran around the corner of the store. I thought I saw him pass that way by the windows.” I pointed out to her sincerely. She gave me a bitter smile and skipped out the door empty handed. I watched her run around the corner and gave Vic the signal.

He sighed and stood up, shaking his head. “That’s Jessica, my psycho-ex. She’s a little…” He made the crazy sign and I laughed with him.

“Trust me, I know.” I kicked the box into place as he left the little desk, going around to the front to lean on the counter. His eyes connected with mine briefly, smiling.

“What’s your name?” He asked kindly. I blushed slightly.

“Angel Marie.”

“Vic Fuentes.” We shook hands as my smile grew. He looked to the windows. “I might have to get going before she returns, but good luck working tonight and thanks for helping me escape.” He responded. I laughed.

“You’re very welcome! If you ever need an escape, let me know. I’ll be happy to help.” I said.

“You’ll be the first to know. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.” Vic winked as he turned and trotted out the door. I swear I nearly fainted. I watched through the glass windows as his car backed out. Hazel came around the corner, looking at me slyly.

“Did Vic Fuentes just hit on you…?” She giggled. I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t know! Maybe?” I chuckled with her as she came to sit on the counter. She sighed and kicked out her legs, swinging them to and fro like a little kid. “Anyways, did you see what he was buying?”

She raised her eyebrow.

“What do you think?”

“Condoms.” I guessed. She shook her head.

“Nope! A hair straightener.” She chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”

Notes

This one shot is for the wonderful HoldOnTillMayGirl!!!

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