How A Heart Breaks

Being woken up by alarms always annoyed me, so much so that I resorted to having my mother wake me in the morning. Which, undoubtedly, is the worst mistake I have ever made, since mother doesn’t have a ‘snooze’ (shut-up, in other words) button. And the woman has arms to grab a hold of the band of my boxers, yanking them so far up my ass that sometimes I get scared I won’t be able to get it back out. Neither an alarm clock nor a annoying, barking neighbourhood dogs has shit on my mother, to be quite honest. That woman is completely tank when she has to get something done.

Obviously, when I was out to look for a job, I was not thinking about mom and how she would wake me up. Being a teenager, my mind seemed to be focussed on only one thing: the money. I sent my resumes out to every store I could think of, starting with places that had to do with my various interests. In other words, I sent my resumes off to a Blockbuster, music stores (various ones), and Licks. Hey, a guy needs to eat. Needless to say, each place never ‘got back to me’, in other words, the tossed my resume to the side.

I was sipping on coffee weeks after I sent out my resumes, when it just came to me. There was a coffee shop close to my house, I could even bare a walk there. And coffee was always nice to drink, doughnuts good to eat, and hot chocolate to warm you up. I left my coffee mug abandon on the table as I raced up stairs to retrieve a resume to bring to the coffee shop, and then three days before the concert, they called. I had been so pleased with myself, and instantly accepted to go in for an interview that very day. Then, the day before the concert, they had called, telling me I had gotten the job.

Overall, it had been a good week, and after I dropped that boy off at home after saving him, I went to my house and leaped into bed without even changing, which is pretty gross since I had spend the night sweating and rubbing up against strangers. When my mother woke me up the next morning, I realized how tired I was, so I didn’t move, though in the back of my mind I had been so excited about this job. It took a yank to the ear and an atomic wedgie from my mother to wake me up.

After I was showered, dressed and styled, I made my way down to the coffee shop, the smell immediately lightening my tired mood, and I smiled lightly as I walked to the back, earning a short talk from the manager, and then I was off to start my day of work.

After about an hour or so of smelling the coffee shop smell, it was starting to make me dizzy, and I figured it just took some getting used to. I was bored then, seeing as the shop wasn’t really that full, and it meant I had nothing to do but stand there lazily, trying not to fall asleep on the job- the manager said it herself that it wasn’t allowed: Now if you fall asleep on the job-her voice was deepening by the sentence, she was close to sounding like a bearded man that drinks too much.-it will result in immediate termination. As she said ‘ation’, her tone dropped, as though she was announcing the weather forecast. I had to bite back a laugh, and hold my eyes at her face when they were just dying to look at the mole her neck held- it was bigger than my nipple!

Needless to say, I almost shit myself as the bell above the door rang, signalling someone had come in. I didn’t look for that person right away. Instead, I cleared my throat and adjusted my slumped shoulder to be straight. When I finally looked up, my eyes scanned around for a new face-spotted one. Except, it wasn’t new, it was familiar, and I knew exactly why. The night before was clear in my head as I walked toward this boy, whom I didn’t catch the name of. I mean, I could have left it to the over weight waiter, but something about this boy made me go over to him.

He was staring at the window, looking out onto the streets just watching the scenery. I hesitated for a moment, not sure I wanted to break his fixation, but then I decided to.

“What are you doing out alone again?” My tone was joking, a small smile tugged at my lips as he pulled his eyes away from the window and looked toward me. He looked as though this entire situation was unbelievable, like it was just as likely as winning the lottery. His whole face smiled when his lips curved upwards. He grinned widely.

“Hi!” His voice squeaked, making laughter bubble up in my throat, before letting it slip passed my lips. He looked so excited, which I found amusing. After I had laughed, his body relaxed, pleaded for a more calm persona, and then he spoke again. “I go on a walk everyday, every morning. It was cold, so I came here…You work here?”

“Now I do,” I told him, “I just recently got the job.” Like, today recent. I placed a hand on my hip and sighed, thinking about all the atomic wedgies and yanked ears to come, seeing as I was too lazy to actually purchase an alarm clock. Damn.

“Um…Thanks again…for last night,” he whispered, sounding almost regretful, but more ashamed. Can’t believe I actually was able to help him, I never really pictured myself to have saved a life, but I didn’t regret it. It made me quite happy, actually.

“Don’t mention it,” I waved it off with a shrug and a grin- as though it weren’t a big deal, like I go around saving lives every day. “What kind of person would I be if I hadn’t helped you out?” He smirked at me and his eyes opened wider, as if in realization and he spoke.

“Hey, I didn’t catch your name the other night.” That’s because I didn’t throw it at you. I laughed in my head at my lame joke, and the fact that this sounded like a corny pick up line, but I knew it was anything but. I didn’t bother to share my thoughts, I just answered.

“Oh yeah, right, I’m Pash.” I didn’t really mind my name, I was just thankful it wasn’t something completely ridiculous, like Paschendale. I think I would really lose my head if my parents pulled that one.

“I’m Porter.” Cute name, it kind of suits him, I thought.

“Nice to meet you Porter.” I put a slight emphasis on his name. Don’t think he noticed. “Now what would you like?” the question was hurried, almost. But this was my job, and if I’m not mistaken, those were my managers eyes staring, creeping deep into my soul as I turned after Porter had ordered a doughnut.

He came back every time I had to work after that, just to talk, I suppose. I didn’t really mind, thought nothing of it at first. I figured out he was an entire four years younger than me, making him only twelve. Normally, I found it weird when younger kids talked to me, but with him, it just seemed okay, and natural. It was like we were meant to be friends, or something corny like that.

And soon, I knew his friends and he knew mine. We were inseparable, and age was long forgotten.