(Imma make it rain. 'Cause I want to make Ember suffer.)
Ember walked through the rain, hood over head. She trudged through puddles, trying not to get splashed by passing cars and get wetter than she already was without an umbrella. She had gotten the job though! Maybe she'd eventually save up for an umbrella. She got to the bookstore. When opened the door, bells jangling. She headed into the back to dry off. "My manager said she hired one other person." She suddenly remembered. "I wonder if she's nice." She proceeded to put her stuff in her locker and grab her towel she bought to dry off and started rubbing her head with the ratty cloth.
Evan was down in the basement, lifting old books off of skits and into bins. He listened to music as he worked, humming along with it happily. He had stripped his scarf, since it was rather hot (he’d been lifting like this for a while), yet the cold justs of rainy air from the open back doors cooled him off.
(Axel seems to be the opposite of Ember in terms of disposition. This'll be fun. Also, hilarious fact. Axel is the name of a classmate of mine, and he seems to be pretty close to what Axel's profile is. Kinda weird, but cool.)
The manager had just come in and told Ember that she had to take the bins of books from the back to sort. Ember quickly ran to do as she said, hair almost dry, and her towel around her neck. She ran through the doors and looked around for her apparent co-worker. Suddenly she saw them. She froze. "Crap." she squeaked out queitly. It was that guy from a few days ago. She snuck up next to him, slightly afraid. He had seemed nice enough, but she couldn't be too careful. "H-hi…"
(/o/ wooootttt)
Axel jumped a bit and took an earbud out of his ear. It was that girl in his lecture hall.
“Hi there! Great to see you again!”
(I'm seriously not kidding. My Axel has red hair though.)
Ember jumped as he did and quickly backed up, flinching. "Y-yeah. Hi again I guess. Ummm…" she looked at the bins the guy had been unloading into. She pointed at them, "These are the old- old books right? W-which ones are you done with? I'm supposed to- to sort them."
(Axel has red hair.)
Axel nodded. “Yep, these are the sorted boxes.” He smiled happily at her.
(Duh fuk? This is a little freaky lol.)
Ember replied, “Ok. I’ll take them then.” And started to try and pick the boxes up, but they were too heavy for her malnourished arms. She started trying to drag them instead.
(xD)
Axel set the book he was carrying down and walked over. “Here, let me.” He hoisted up the box easily and looked around.
“Where ya working, lady?”
She started when he picked up her box. “Thank you.” She pointed over to a corner with a couple of small rolling metal bookshelves a few yards away. “I’m working over there. And, uh, please don’t call me lady.” She added, cringing at the word. “Call me pretty much anything but that.” She walked over and started straightening the rolling shelves in a straight line, almost OCD-like.
Axel chuckled gently and followed her over to her working station. “Right you are. It’s rude to call you that.” He set the box down and smiled. “I think your name would work better.”
Ember looked back at him, without a smile. “My name is Ember. What’s yours?”’
Axel’s smiled wavered slightly upon seeing her expression. Was she not having a good time?
“My name’s Axel. Nice to meet you, Ember!”
“Nice to meet you as well. I’ll let you get back to work. Thank you again for helping me with the box.” She turned to her work, sorting out the books while finishing drying her hair off. She sighed as she separated the books according to Author, allowing herself to wilt into exhaustion, believing the other worker “Axel” had left. She shivered as a small gust of wind blew across her damp back.
Axel had trotted away the moment he was dismissed. He decided to just leave her alone, and continue his work in lifting and setting. Ocassionally he’d finish a box and carry it over, but would stay silent.
Ember was content to remain like this for a majority of her work time. But suddenly she gasped. She had pulled out a green book that looked quite elegant. She sat right down on the dirty floor, flipping the pages, tears filling her eyes as she flipped through the pages delicately, as if they were made of gold. She had completely forgotten that there was anyone else in the room.
Axel was bringing over a box when she gasped like this. He paused a little, furrowing his brow in confusion and concern. He walked over slowly, softly clearing his throat, giving her time to stow away the book before he approached.
Ember didn’t hear and curled her knees up to her chest a smile on her face for the first time in weeks. It was wide and bright, even with the tears spilling down her cheeks. “I never thought I’d see it again.” She whispered to herself.
Axel shifted his weight uncomfortably, feeling like he was intruding. He tried to clear his throat again, and for some movement, he took his earbuds out of his ears, trying to grab her attention.
Ember suddenly noticed and jumped. She turned to him, smiling and wiping her face. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She stood up and brushed herself off. She looked at the book, gently stroking the cloth cover before setting it to the side, away from the other books. “I’ll get back to work.” She still had a small smile.
Axel blinked a couple times and grinned a little. “That’s alright. You didn't make me uncomfortable. I brought more books!” He set the box down. He didn’t want to talk about what just happened unless she wanted to, which it was clear she didn’t.
She grinned at the books, clearly much happier than she had been in a while. She thanked him. She glanced at Axel while sorting the books, “What kinda music do you listen to?” She asked, cheerfully, pointing at his earbuds. She felt a little hope again, and wanted to keep it. Social interaction for once wouldn’t kill her.
Axel grinned a little, sort of confused but he ignored it. “I listen to Hard Rock. It’s wonderful. What do you listen to?”
She thought about this, giving a thoughtful hum as her hands flew across the books. “I listen to a lot of stuff, but if I had to narrow it down, probably Indie, some classical music when I’m being creative, and, this may sound weird, anything with disturbing lyrics.” She pauses as she accidentally cut her finger on some paper. She sucked it, before continuing her work and saying, “I think that Melanie Martinez is one of my favorite artists.” She looked at him, still smiling, “Who’s your favorite Hard Rock artist?”
Axel nodded a little. He wasn’t a big fan of Indie, but he did appreciate Melanie Martinez’ artistry.
“My favorite artist or band is Guns N’ Roses. They’re awesome. I went to their last concert. So cool.”
She grinned. “Wish I had the money to go to a concert.” She finally put the last book in it’s place and leaned back, looking at the ceiling, her lack of sleep catching up to her, the undersides of her eyes a prominent bruise color. She grabbed something off a cart, and wiped her forehead with the ratty towel she had used to dry her hair. “Wish I could afford a decent cup of coffee too.” She threw her head back and laughed. It felt so nice to feel happy for once. She grabbed the book she had put aside earlier, and seemed to weigh it in her hands, debating whether it was worth not having a breakfast or lunch for a couple days so she could have it.
Axel watched her with a slight grin. She looked tired but happy. “So… what’s that?” He pointed to the book, curiosity overwhelming him.
She looked up at him. Then she looked back at the book, opening it to the cover page. “I actually sold this book a long time ago. It was my grabdmother’s. It’s a copy of “The Secret Garden” from when it was originally published.” She pointed at some loopy, elegant handwriting. “This says, “Ember, you are as curious as Mary was but four times as sweet as she ends in this book. May your curiosity lead you to your own secret garden one day.”” She closed the book and held it to her chest. “I had sold the book when I had graduated highschool along with a lot of other stuff to try and pay for my tuition. I was heart broken when I had to sell it, but the money from kept me alive for this long. I’m amazed that I found it here. It was worth a lot.”
Axel beamed. “Wow! That’s really awesome, congrats! I’m glad you found it.” He stepped forward to examine it more. It was a book he was considering throwing in the ‘too old’ pile. He suddenly felt glad he didn’t.
“Would you need to buy it back? I can give you some money, if you’d like.”
Ember gives a start when he offers to buy it. “N-no. That’s ok.” She quickly says, her smile slipping off her face. “I’m sure I can manage to buy it. Might go a little hungry for a few days, but it’s worth it.” She hugged it closer to her. She saw him try to examine it. She held it out to him. “Did you wanna look? There’s some really cool illustrations in it.”
Axel took it gently and felt the cover gently. It was worn and it felt nice in the hand. It had to be so important to her. He did have plenty of money from his internship.
“Let me pay for it. I have plenty of money to spare this month. You don’t need to starve. Or if you do spend your money on this, let me get you some food, yeah?”
