The Boy Behind The Counter

I'm a loner. I've always been alone. I've always been the strange one the outcast. I was comfortable being alone, but as the years continue on, and I was always still alone, unwanted, I began to feel negative effects because of it. I wasn't happy anymore. I hated who I was, where I was. I resented my family. I hated my mother, I still hate my mother, she's an evil bitch who never should have had a child, but I put up with it, I put up with everything. I lived life thinking I was nothing, because that's all I was ever told.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't take living with the bitch who birthed me, and I left, I left her house after an argument, walked to the park, called my dad who just drove 2 hours to drop me off at home and then go back to his house. I called him and begged him to take me home, begged him to come get me so I wouldn't have to live with her anymore. I moved out of my mothers house that day. I moved in with my father. I'm forever thankful I did. If I never would have done that. I never would have met him.

It was the beginning of my first semester of college. I decided to commute from my dads house, since I hadn't lived there very long, and I wanted that time with my dad. It was very early and I wanted coffee, I drove to the Sheetz five minutes up my street. The moment I walked into the building, my world changed, it was never going to be the same again.

He was behind the counter, checking out a customer. I walked in and he looked at me. My heart stopped. I couldn't help it, I smiled at him. He smiled back, his smile reached his eyes, his gorgeous grey eyes. I'd come to know eventually that they change colors, and I could never pin point what color they really are.

I finally got my wits about and went to fill a cup of coffee, and proceeded to the register. He was my cashier. He smiled at me again. I smiled back. I felt happy when he smiled. I felt okay again.

"You're all set." He said. His voice made me melt.

I looked at him funny, trying to hand him my dollar for my coffee, but he wouldn't take it, he just smiled and said I was all set once more. I smiled back and left Sheetz. I left and I felt miserable. I think I was scared I'd never see him again.

I needed to feel that happiness. I hated feeling so empty. So every morning, I would stop at Sheetz, see his face and smile, and he'd smile back, and every morning he gave me free coffee. This went on for months. I craved to see his smile, because it would cheer me up. I knew it would. So I continued to go in there, for that temporary fix to my misery.

After so long, I became very aware that I was very much stalking him. He became my obsession. He became something that I needed to get through my day. It wasn't the coffee that got me going, it was him. A casher at a gas station, whose name I didn't know. I was to busy staring at his face to look at his name tag.

One day towards the end of the semester, I walked into Sheetz, he was at the register as always, but he left it, he motioned me to follow him. I did. We went towards the back of the store. He was getting ready to clean the bathrooms.

"I'm using this as an excuse to actually talk to you." He said smiling. I immediately felt my heart blow up from sheer happiness that he was actually paying attention to me. He asked for my number and I gave it to him. Not thinking he'd actually waste his time with me.

I got ready to leave, "Wait," I turned back to face him. "Whats your name?" He asked me, I felt dumb, I had forgotten we never introduced ourselves.

"Amber."

"I'm Erick." He replied. before I could say anything else, he pulled me into a hug, and told me to go so I wouldn't be late for class.

I never knew that after walking into Sheetz the morning of my first class, a year and a half later, I'd be madly in love with the cute boy behind the register who gave me free coffee.