The Quiet of Compazine

I was busy refilling the jelly and coffee creamer bins when the annoying sound of some drink being slurped up in a straw reached my ears. “Hey, girl.”

I scowled and turned around, about to tell this creeper off, but then I saw that it was John. Back in my shell I went. “H-Hi.” I hadn’t seen him since the ASU trip a week or so ago. Even after our impromptu date – if you could call it that – at In-N-Out, I was still a nervous wreck around John. Sure, his writing didn’t match the first poem I found at the Barnes and Noble, but I still wanted to broach the subject with him so badly! I just had no idea how. I mean…I was awkward, with a capital A. I felt like it would be even more awkward, considering John was a good three years older than me.

“I didn’t know you worked here,” he remarked, continuing to drink his milkshake. “Are you skipping school or something? I never see you there anymore.”

“I’m on the work study program, actually… Don’t you have class?”

“Nope,” John said cheerfully, eating the cherry off the stem. “Why are you on work study?”

“Gotta start working since I’m not going to college,” I said with a nonchalant shrug.

John nodded and continued to down his milkshake. Chick- Fil –A was pretty much empty except for the both of us. “When do you get off work, Porter?”

I glanced at the clock, which read a quarter to two. “Um…at, like, seven…”

John let out a low whistle. “How old are you, girl? Are you even allowed to work that long?”

“Seventeen,” I answered with a soft laugh. “So you’re, like, twenty or so, right?”

John nodded, trashing his milkshake. “But, shit, even I don’t have a job. See, if you’re gonna be working for the rest of your life, it’s like, why get a job now, so early? No, man, fuck that and enjoy your, uh, youth and childhood and what have you.” I could only laugh at his reasoning. I couldn’t quite imagine John as the one who wrote that deep poem. He was too childish for such profound thought.

We talked again for a little while. It was nice. John was always so nice. I wonder if he noticed how awkward I was. “…So, hey, Porter?” John began to ask, but his phone rang. He sighed and smiled apologetically before answering it. Convenient, though, because some customers came in. I took care of their orders while John chatted on the phone with whoever that was. He came back to the counter when they were gone, though.

“Porter, what milkshake would you recommend?” John asked, studying the menu over my head as he leafed through his wallet. He was so tall. And I am a sucker for tall boys… Or maybe just John… Probably just John. Ugh.

“Cookies and cream,” I replied, punching in his order already.

“I’ll have one of those, then,” said John as he handed me his money. I handed John his change and receipt before going back to grab his milkshake…but when I brought it to him, he wouldn’t take it.

“It’s for you, Porter,” John said with a cheerful smile, ignoring all my protests and attempts to give it to him. I gave up and drank up. I could use the sugar, anyways. “I gotta bounce, but I’ll see you around, Porter!” John waved goodbye and walked out to his car.

John always put me in a good mood. I was in a good mood when I went home from work that night, and even when I went to school the next day…at least, until AP Chemistry with Garrett. “Hey, Porter.”

I gasped when Garrett startled me because I pressed the valve a touch too much. Titration required concentration… concentration that Garrett shattered. AP Chemistry was the only class I had with this crazy kid. Sure, the guy was my friend, but the chemistry lab was no place for him. I swore when the solution in the beaker turned a dark shade of pink. It was only supposed to be a very, very light pink. “Yeah, Garrett?”

“Has John asked you out yet?”

The lead of the pencil I was writing with snapped clean off. “What? No,” I laughed nervously, trying to play it off and not turn the color of the solution in my beaker.

“He said he would… He was supposed to do it yesterday!” Garrett sighed with a frown.

“Wh…Whatever, Garrett,” I scoffed. He’s just messing with me. Why would John ask me out?

I pushed the troublesome thoughts out of my mind. I’d never been more enthusiastic for work. I rushed to my locker to pack up and head out…when I discovered yet another rose and note waiting for me.

Not as eloquent as the last, but just as sweet.