Stranded Memories

Time was a never-ending blur to Violet. Past and present collided without bounds with her caught in the timultuous middle ground. For someone who no longer cared for much of anything in life it seemed only right for her to get caught up in the moving tides of what she now classified as pointless. One moment she was lying on her back in the cemetary, the next she was watching the setting sun. Hours faded into days, days to nothing. Though she sat on a curb in the fading light, her mind was in another place entirely...

"Welcome to Durden's Drugstore."

The voice was a new one to Violet's ears, the face equally foreign as she thought she'd known everyone that worked at the drugstore down the street, left at the corner, and across the intersection. This face however, despite the unfamiliarity, caught her in the doorway with surprise and a hint of enchantment.

The boy couldn't have been much older or younger than her as he leaned casually across the check-out counter with an air of boredom. His brown hair was messy in a way that did not indicate he had done it out of artful precision. Violet's assumed observation was proven right as he ruffled his hair haphazardly, staring off in front of him as if he hadn't been looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

His eyes were something she couldn't quite behold from the distance she had walked in. It wasn't until she'd approached him to check out did she truly see them. They were a simply brown, not deep pools of chocolate she melted into upon sight, but the kind of brown you could imagine was achieved with a light filtering through from behind them, perhaps a sign that there was a spark lit within him.

She had gone there merely to get something cool to drink on her way home from school. The latter was obvious as she still wore her school uniform, a plaid blue skirt, white button down, black sweater and tie. Of course along the way she had relaxed it in the fall heat so that the tie hung loose around the half buttoned, untucked shirt rolled to the elbows. The sweater had long since been confined to her bag, where it now resided in a wad next to her French 2 book.

The same bag swung heavy against her leg as she walked up to the register, a cold plastic bottle condensating in her hand. She wiped her hand against the thick fabric of her skirt once she'd set it on the plastic counter. He sat up from his leisure sprawl that had his tacky red employee's vest crumpled out of sight. It was only when he reached over to scan the bottle could she see his nametag.

That was the first time Violet met William.

He smiled to her with something more than the forced politeness the job entailed as Violet just barely remembered to shake her head no, she would not like a bag for her drink. As he handled the dollar fifty she'd given him, Violet became fascinated with his hands. They were the type of artist hands she admired, long, slender, and almost feminine if they hadn't been rounded with muscle and calloused with wear.

William noticed her attention on his hands and grinned knowingly, an eyebrow raised in suggestion as she met his gaze. Violet blushed.

"Sorry." She murmured, embarrassed.

His easy grin lingered still as he replied. "Hand fetish?"

"No, no," Violet was quick to defend. "I-, I'm sorry... I do that sometimes, get lost in my thoughts, become fixated with random things..."

With a chuckle William held up both his hands in what appeared to be a defensive gesture, until he wiggled his fingers. "Like hands?"

Violet's blush returned with her sheepish nod, but that was all as she stayed silent. Her apprehension didn't go unnoticed by William, whose grin softened with the withdrawl of one hand. The other remained, now in extension for a handshake.

"I'm William."

A hint at her own amusement was evident as she took his hand. "It's written on your nametag. I'm Violet."

William's lips stretched wide back into the grin they seemed so comfortable with, his hand lingering on hers. They had a brief moment in which they both seemed to forget their surroundings and then just as quickly get pulled from it. Someone behind Violet cleared their throat, causing them both to jump back into themselves, William busying himself unneccessarily with her change while Violet twirled her drink, leaving spirally designs of condesation on the plastic. She hesitated by the end of the counter as William took care of the other customer.

As he scanned each purchase Violet could see his faint smile every time he'd glance over to make sure she was still there. The customer did the same, though it was less of a smile and more of a look of annoyance. Neither William nor Violet seemed to pay him much attention however, and he left in a hurried huff so that it was just the two of them once more.

"So did you just start here?" She asked.

William nodded, leaning his long frame across the counter once more. "Yeah, yesterday. I just couldn't resist the minimum wage and social opportunities."

Violet chuckled as he gestured to the empty store. She was used to its general emptiness, a sign of the market takeover from the chain store half a mile away.

"What about you? I haven't seen you around school before, are you new?"

Shaking her head, Violet replied. "I've lived here my whole life, but as you can tell by the uniform I go to a private school... for most of my whole life."

William nodded in understanding, with a likeness to Yoda that she would never admit aloud.

The bell above the door gave another ring, signalling a second rare customer after Violet had entered the store. This was her cue to wrap things up, knowing she couldn't exactly let William blow off customers for a conversation on his second day, nor did she want to suffer that abrupt dismissial from him to mask his annoyance. No one wanted to be a bother and cross that line of flirting, which was what she was attempting.

"I guess I better get going." She murmured with a rueful smile.

It was mirrored by the boy across from her, who slided over her nearly forgotten drink.

"Well, maybe I'll see you around?" William asked with a softened expression.

Violet grinned, readjusting her bag as she walked slowly passed him. "I know where to find you."

Regretfully she walked out of the cool store and into the autumn heat, the bell jingling behind her. Violet made her way home, forgetting the bottle in her hand, with her mind lost on the boy in the store.