Come Alive

​Paper towels, ramen noodles, Lysol, and batteries. Paper towels, ramen noodles, Lysol, and batteries. Paper towels, ramen noodles, Lysol, and batteries. Paper towels, ramen noodles, Lysol, and batteries. Paper towels, ramen noodles, Lysol, and batteries. Jack’s shopping list only got increasingly pathetic the more and more times he repeated it to himself. End of December wind blew through his hoodie as he marched down the familiar path to the local grocery store. Jack shivered, since when was L.A. this cold. It was a five-minute walk from his downtown apartment to the store so he hadn’t thought to bring more layers for warmth. Or a notepad to write down the necessities he needed to pick up. Jack sighed, it’s a sad day when Lysol is considered a necessity. The wind picked up again and he pulled his hood firmly over his dark hair before shoving his hands in his pockets. He just needed to get to the store and back home and then he could curl up on his couch and watch movies for the rest of the year.
​It was Thursday. Normally on a Thursday, Jack would be at work. But not this Thursday—or any Thursday, actually. “Jack, we love you, you know we love you, but it’s just…we don’t need your services anymore at this time.” Jack grunted as he watched his feet walk across the concrete sidewalk. He’d worked at that music store since before he graduated high school. He’d been teaching kids guitar for three years now and he loved it. He’d loved his job. And now, suddenly, they didn’t need him anymore.
​Jack grumbled to himself, he’d find another job after the holidays were over. Then he’d live off minimum wage and ramen for the rest of his life.
​Oh and Lysol. Can’t forget the necessity of a clean bathroom.
​As he walked past the MTV studio, a mob of mediocre photographers waiting outside grabbed his attention. Well I guess I could always stalk celebrities for a living. Jack smiled to himself as he watched the balding old men fight each other for a better spot to see some unnamed individual who wasn’t even there yet. Unless he or she was inside, which Jack doubted since it was still early enough in the morning that most of the world wasn’t functioning at full-speed. A pang of curiosity pulled Jack towards the crowd. Maybe he could just wait around for a few minutes to find out whose poor soul was being drained today.
Paper towels, ramen noodles, Lysol, and batteries.
Necessities. Jack forced himself to the supermarket first. If the mob was still outside on his walk home, he could give in to his childish side. Jack had lived in L.A. his whole life, famous people weren’t an oddity and he’d never really cared too much about what Britney Spears or Kim Kardashian was up to. But he sometimes liked to snoop a little. Act like any other American for a few minutes. It was a small guilty pleasure he hid from any other native Angeleno.
***
The best part of a completely random list of items from the store is the looks you get from the cashier as you pay. Paper towels, ramen noodles, Lysol, and batteries. Jack laughed as he took his meager purchase back toward his home. Oh God was he excited for mindless movies and high-sodium dried noodle meals.
The crowd in front of MTV had only grown larger in the twenty or so minutes Jack had been inside the store. Giving in to his weaker side, Jack allowed himself into the mob of people. The middle-aged men had been joined by a few dozen crying teenage fangirls. Jack shook his head; this was such an unhealthy pastime.
“HEY! YOU FOLKS BACK OFF THE MAN BEFORE HE’S LATE TO HIS APPOINTMENT OR ELSE NONE OF YOU WILL EVER KNOW WHAT TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT IS!”
Well whoever it was they were all waiting for had arrived. Jack found himself pushed to the outer rim as the mob separated and cleared a path. The apparently famous man moved away from his car and started up the gauntlet. Jack had to suppress a gasp as he watched the tight skinny jeans and fancy faux destroyed leather boots walk toward him. Beautiful stray strands of light brown hair fell lazily across his forehead—the rest was tucked neatly under a maroon beanie. An expensive-looking sweater was pulled over the man’s hands as he waved shyly to some fans. “Alex! Alex tell us about your newest album! Alex are you seeing anyone? Alex! Alex what are your plans for after the world tour? Alex!” So his name was Alex. Jack laughed, he should really start keeping up on pop culture. Alex was just about in front of Jack at this point and Jack felt embarrassed to admit that he was honestly the most attractive man he’d ever seen. The teenage girls behind him were yelling—screaming, crying—over this man and a shocking part of himself couldn't blame them. Dumb bastard. Jack thought as Alex smiled in his direction.
As the assumed musician strode by, a sudden change of atmosphere caught Jack off guard. A girl from the front of the line screamed. Not the kind of scream that came from a girl who just saw her favorite celebrity. No, the kind of scream that came from a girl that just saw her favorite celebrity held at gunpoint.
A man, dressed from head-to-toe in all black stood in the middle of the sea of people. With a clear shot at the now-aware Alex, the gunman took a step forward. More girls screamed, a few of the cameramen snapped photos--if a celebrity was going to die, they wanted to be the first to sell their pictures to TMZ. Jack felt the bile in his stomach rise as he watched the trigger get pulled.