Paper Bags and Plastic Hearts

“Ah, what is that I see around your eyes? Is that….is that eyeliner?” Andy faked a gasp.

I rolled my eyes. “Nothing gets passed you, eh?”

He smirked. “You look different with makeup.”

“Oh?” I laughed. “Do I look better or worse?”

“Worse,” he snorted.

My face fell.

Andy began laughing. “Relax, I’m kidding.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Nice.”

He grinned and picked up a few boxes of cereal, placing them neatly on the shelf. Since today was a slower day than usual, Lenny had asked us to rearrange the shelves in order to make room for more stuff. We were in charge of the cereal aisle.

I was arranging the boxes of Froot Loops and stuffing the ones that weren’t closed properly in the back. “Hey, does getting pierced hurt?” I asked casually, not looking away from my work.

Andy glanced at me. “What?”

I laughed a little and looked at him. “Your snakebites. Did they hurt?”

He made a funny face. “Not really. Why?”

I shrugged, now arranging the Cocoa Puffs. “I don’t know. I’ve always wanted to get something pierced but I’d never known anyone with piercings to tell me if it hurts or not.”

“What are you thinking about getting pierced?” He asked curiously, kneeling on the floor to place of few boxes of Lucky Charms on the bottom shelf.

I pursed my lips. “My bottom lip or my eyebrow.”

He nodded. “You should do it.”

I smiled crookedly. “Really? My lip or my eyebrow?”

He looked at me thoughtfully. “Your eyebrow.”

“Why my eyebrow?”

“I dunno." He shrugged. "I just picture you better with an eyebrow piercing.”

I laughed. “Alright. My eyebrow it is. But there’s just one problem.”

“What?”

“My mom hates piercings. Always has.”

“So?”

“So, don’t you need your parent’s authorization to let some stranger perforate your skin?” I chuckled. “I mean, I am underage.”

Andy laughed. “You could easily pass for eighteen.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I still need to ask her. I mean, I can’t just come home with my eyebrow pierced without her noticing. She notices everything.” I rolled my eyes.

“Alright, then.” He shrugged.

“She’s usually cool about pretty much everything I do, but she’s surprisingly strict when the subject is my own body.”

He furrowed his brows. “Hmm. Just try reasoning with her. Maybe she’ll cave.”

“Yeah, I hope you’re right.” I shrugged hopelessly. “See, this is why being sixteen sucks. I can’t do anything without an approval from my mother first.”

Andy smirked. “Cheer up, emo kid. Only two more years.”

I narrowed my eyes playfully at him. “I am not emo.”

“Sure you are.”

“Says the guy who wears make up and dresses in black from head to toe,” I teased.

“Alright, alright. Enough with the emo talk,” he laughed.

“Hey, you started it.” I grinned.

And before I could say anything else, a box of Lucky Charms was tossed at my face.

__________________________________________________________

The day passed by pretty quickly and Andy and I had reorganized all the shelves in aisle 3 and 4. Lenny had given us a bit of grief for starting a small cereal box fight, stating that while it was fun, it wasn’t professional. This had made Andy and I laugh for ages when Lenny was out of sight.

Mrs. DeLuca would throw me a few sly looks every once in a while and I tried my best to ignore them. She may have thought I had a thing for Andy, which I totally didn’t. He was just an easy person to talk to and very funny. We had a few things in common, which made our conversations flow naturally and awkward-free.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Andy asked while we were both stuffing our uniforms in our lockers.

“Sure,” I replied, checking myself in the little mirror. I undid my messy bun and let my hair fall over my shoulders. My eye makeup looked a bit smudged but I didn’t even bother to fix it.

“That lady with the orange hair…uh…” He started saying, but paused.

“Mrs. DeLuca?” I said, pulling my small bag out of the locker and shutting it.

“Yeah, her. Does she always stare at people like she wants to eat them?” He gave me a weird look.

I laughed, leaning my back against the locker. “No. She only does that with you.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Cause she thinks you’re a babe,” I replied simply.

His eyes widened. “What? Are you serious?”

I laughed more. “Yeah.”

“No you’re not. You’re just playing with me, right?”

I shook my head. “I’m not. She told me so. Her exact words were, ‘He’s a babe, isn’t he?’’

He looked confused. “Shit. And I thought she wanted to bite my neck or something. The woman’s a bit scary.”

I chuckled. “She just thinks you’re hot. No harm in that, right?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “I guess not. It’s just weird. What is she, like sixty?”

“Fifty-two,” I corrected.

“Ah.”

I shook my head while still laughing as we both headed out of the staff room through the back exit doors of the supermarket. As we reached the back area of the parking lot, I noticed Mrs. DeLuca getting into her car, which was an old station wagon.

“Hey, there goes your admirer,” I teased, poking at Andy’s arm.

“Shut up,” he said with a laugh.

“Uh, where’s your car?” I questioned, seeing that the only car parked in the lot was mine.

“It was having some problems and I had to take it to an auto repair shop,” he answered with a shrug.

“So you’re planning on walking home?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged again.

I chuckled. “You want a ride?”

He glanced at me, with a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. “Sure.”

“Great, let’s go,” I said, smiling also as I walked over to my beetle; Andy following. We both got into the car and I threw my small bag in the back seat.

“This is…small. And old,” Andy commented with a laugh as he studied the inside of my vehicle. He then flicked the little Spongebob Squarepants air freshener that was dangling from my rear view mirror with an amused expression on his face before he looked at me.

I laughed. “That’s exactly what makes Bessie so unique.”

“Bessie?”

“Yeah, my car’s name,” I clarified, strapping my seat belt in.

He chuckled. “You named your car? That’s…..awesome.”

I smirked. “Was that sarcasm?”

He grinned, buckling his seat belt. “Nope.”

“Yeah, right,” I muttered, starting the engine.

“Seriously, it’s awesome. And Bessie’s a perfect name for an old rusty beetle.” He smiled.

“Why thank you. Hear that, Bess? Andy thinks you’re awesome,” I stated, patting the dashboard.

Andy laughed and shook his head. “Wow, you’re a little on the crazy side, aren’t you?”

“Oh, you have no idea.” I grinned evilly.

He shook his head again while I drove out of the empty parking lot and out on the road. “So where do you live?”

“Uh, just take a left right here and go straight on forward and I’ll guide you from there,” he directed.

“Alrighty.” I nodded, taking a left. While I drove, I quickly reached my hand over to turn on the radio. Some pop song which sounded a lot like Lady Gaga was playing and Andy and I exchanged glances. “Wanna take charge of the radio?” I asked with a laugh.

“Sure,” he laughed, leaning slightly forward to fumble with the buttons. He switched to another station which yet another pop song was playing. Andy grunted. “Pop has officially taken over the world.”

I chuckled, keeping my eyes on the road. “We’re screwed.”

He shook his head, switching to other stations, which either played more pop or country. Finally, after a few more tries, he settled on a station that played the song Sunshine Of Your Love.

“Finally, something decent!” He sighed out theatrically, resting his head back against the headrest.

I laughed.

“You like Cream?” He asked, turning his head to the side to look at me.

“Love ‘em. Clapton’s the best,” I replied with a smile. “This song is epic.”

He grinned. “I agree.”

It was nice to the same taste in music as him.

“So, what do I do now?” I asked.

“Take a right up here, then take a left, then another right…” he pointed out the directions, which I carefully followed. About five minutes later, I was driving slowly in front of a few houses that were all different, unlike where I lived.

“Which one’s yours?” I questioned.

“That brown one right there with the big tree and crooked mailbox,” he laughed, pointing his finger.

I drove towards it and parked right in front, shutting the engine off. I glanced at his house and smiled a little. It was cute and had only one floor. The crooked mailbox had the name Biersack on it.

“Your last name’s Biersack?” I said, looking over at him.

“Yep,” he replied, unbuckling his seat belt.

I nodded, looking back at the house. “It’s nice.”

“My last name?”

I chuckled. “Your house.”

“Oh.” He laughed. “Thanks. It’s pretty small, but then again, it’s just me and my mom.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, my parents divorced a long time ago,” he explained bluntly with a shrug of his shoulders.

I nodded. “I live only with my mom, too.”

He looked at me. “You do?”

“Mhm. My parents didn’t divorce, though. They never got married.” I shrugged. “My mom had me really young and my dad bailed on us three months later.”

“Shit,” he mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be.” I waved my hand, rejecting his sympathy. “He wasn’t such a nice man. Or at least, that’s what my mom tells me.” I laughed. “I guess they were both just young and stupid and my dad couldn’t really take the pressure of being a father at such a young age.”

He nodded. “That sucks. I mean, my parents are divorced but they get along okay. My old man visits from time to time.”

I smiled. “That’s nice.”

He smiled lopsidedly. “So you gonna talk to your mom about getting your eyebrow pierced?”

I breathed out, resting my head back. “I’m gonna try.”

He laughed. “Be persuasive.”

“I will.”

He nodded. “Well, uh, thanks for the ride.”

“No problem,” I replied with another smile. “How long is your car gonna be in the shop?”

“I don’t know. A few days,” he laughed.

“Well, if you want, I can be your driver until your car gets fixed,” I offered.

“Really?” He furrowed his brows.

“Sure. It’s a lot better than having to walk this whole way, right?”

He grinned. “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

I smiled. “No problemo.”

“Well, see ya,” he said, opening the door.

“Bye,” I answered with a small wave.

He saluted me before closing the door and walking around the car towards his house.

“See ya tomorrow,” I called.

He turned around, walking backwards to his house. “Tomorrow,” he said with a laugh.

I smiled and turned on the engine before driving away from his house.