His Thorns (History of Us)

5.

Joy could not afford to fail. Literally. Failing this test would mean she would have to pay tuition she could not afford. It was a daunting thought. She preferred not to think about this but when the room gets quiet enough and there isn't much else to think. Like right now, as she sat in her dining room flipping through her Barron SAT prep textbook so thick it could be used as self defense in a shooting.

It was a tradition at school to stay at home the days before your SAT test. Joy had only gone to school for the first half of the week to see her friends but now that Thursday had rolled around she was glued to her highlighter and textbook. It was a repetitive process. She would do ten questions, check the marking scheme, daydream for a while and repeat. It was her own little amalgamation of the pomodoro method. It worked for her at least. To anyone who looked at her she seemed like a broken record. Starting stopping, starting again then just when its about to get good she starts staring out the window again.  

The daydreaming portion of her study session was supposed to be relaxing but with the test only days away she was beginning to stress. Joy decided it was time to take a real break so she put on her crocs and took  walk to the closest convenience store. It was barely a 5 minute walk from her house on a regular day but Joy decided to take the scenic route. Most of the houses looked pretty similar. It seemed the city planner had a thing for green and pale yellow becomes every house was painted in either color. The only real difference in the houses was the state of their front yards. Some had overgrown bushes and weeds. Others were generously watered and meticulously weeded.

Joy lived in a generally safe area. Nothing much happened that was comparable to some of the crazier parts of her city. The most interesting thing that would happen was her neighbor's dog running loose. Even with her detour it didn't take her long to get to the convenience store. It had been here a lot longer than most of the houses in the neighborhood and you could tell. The paint on the walls were chipped and the door made an unusual creaking sound when it opened.

The inside was much newer, as the owner had done a little work to make it tidier. He was an older man who shared unsolicited advice that was rarely wrong.  When Joy entered her teenage years he had recommended she buy a different deodorant that would better deal with the stench of puberty. At first she was offended but later realized he had saved her from a cruel nickname and years of embarrassment.  

She walked to the back of the store where the fridges lined the wall. Joy didn't want much from the convenience store. She grabbed a bottle of apple flavored milk and two straws. She turned quickly in the direction of the till but collided with a wall that had suddenly appeared she fell backwards, landing hard on her butt. Looking up, she found herself face to face with a tall figure. It bent down, picking up the items Joy had dropped. She soon realized that the stranger was a man. His shoulders were broad and his hands practically engulfed the entire bottle he was holding.  As he got closer, the smell of his musky cologne invaded the air Joy breathed. The scent was sweet and strong. 

"What's the straw for?" He asked. You could tell he wasn't from around here. He had a deep but familiar accent. His words snapped Joy out of her confusion and she stood up quickly, almost knocking him backwards in the process. 

"What? Oh, its for my drink," She responded waiting for him to return her items. 

"Yeah but there are two straws, what's the second one for," He responded. Joy wasn't quite sure who this talkative stranger was but she was not in the mood to entertain to his questions. She had decided that no one important would be seeing her on her journey to the convenience store so she was wearing an oversized zip-up with grey sweatpants that had a hot chocolate stain from her breakfast. In her defense, anyone who was worth her fear was either in school or at work.

"They are both for me, can i have my things now, thanks,"

He retuned them to her without another word but she could almost sense the smirk behind the mask. Joy made her way to the counter, paying for her items and exiting the store. Her face felt warm as she thought about the interaction she just had to suffer through. In her mind, she hoped that he was simply passing through town and she would never have to see him again. Initially she wanted to walk to the park and sit by herself but decided it was a much better idea to speed walk to her house, hide and never leave. She had gotten enough fresh air.