Page 6 of Owen Gardner is Losing It

Was it that obvious? Praying the men at the back of the store weren’t eavesdropping, I shook my head and said. “Seen one? No. Touched one? That’s a different story…”

“Oh wow,” she said, closing the drawer of the cash register. I wasn’t even aware she’d finished ringing up my items, but she was already handing me my change. As she dropped the pennies into my hand, she looked me in the eyes and said, “I’d love to hear that story.”

Still unaware of whether she was making fun of me or flirting with me, I decided to just throw all caution to the wind and pretend for just a second that I wasn’t shy, inexperienced Owen Gardner. What would Xander say? “I could tell you, but it’s a long one.” Holding her gaze, I lowered my voice to add, “It would take all night.”

To my dismay, she threw her head back and laughed harder than ever. “I swear, every word that comes out of your mouth is worse than the last one!” Her shrieking laughter had caught the attention of the men in the back, whose conversation quieted down. We had an audience.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked down at my feet. “I’m sorry–my friend–he made me come in here and talk to you, or else he won’t take me back to school. I had to at least try.” When I looked back up at her face, she was still smiling at me, her slightly crooked teeth peeking out from behind her pink-stained lips. God, she was so pretty. I couldn’t give up–not yet. Eyeing the Middle Earth tattoo on her arm, I said, “I should’ve gone with aLord of the Ringspick-up line.”

“Why don’t you try one out on me and see where it goes?” she suggested with a grin.

I licked my lips, pulling one hand from my pocket to rub my sweaty palm on my jeans. “Okay. Uh… what do you say you and I have second breakfast in bed in the morning?”

Her smile grew. “Not bad. Not bad at all. Do better.”

I bit my bottom lip, surprised this might actually be working. With a sigh, I absentmindedly stared at the display of lottery tickets to my right before another line popped into my head. “How about–even the fires of Mount Doom don’t burn hotter than you?”

That one made her laugh. “That’s better, but are you asking me or telling me? Your delivery is all wrong. You’ve gotta say it with confidence.”

Luckily for both of us, I was feeling more confident by the second, and another LOTR pick-up line popped into my mind. “Well, you must be the one ring to rule them all,” I said, leaning onto my elbows on the counter to get a little closer to her. I took a moment to pause, letting the first half of this line sink in before I finished it. “Because I’m about to call you my precious.”

And that was it–that was all it took to win her over completely. Instead of laughing at my expense, she was now giggling and twirling her hair around her finger. It actually worked. “Tell me your name, Frodo.”

“Owen,” I answered, eyeing the set of keys next to the register. One of the keychains resembled a beachy license plate, with a girl’s name embossed on it in skinny, black letters. “Elizabeth?”

“Owen Elizabeth? That’s cute,” she teased.

“No–I mean–your keychain…”

“I’m just fucking with you. And I go by Beth.”

“Beth,” I repeated, my nerves relaxing again. I glanced at the clock on the wall, realizing I needed to wrap this up if I was going to make it back for my chemistry test in time. “Would you maybe want to come to a little get-together my friend is having tonight?”

She crossed her arms. “Depends. Will there be any alcohol there?”

“Ummm.” Xander had connections with some college-aged folks, so I knew he’d probably be able to score us some. But I didn’t want to give Beth false hope. “I think so.”

With a playful roll of her eyes, Beth yanked my receipt from the printer and flipped it over, reaching for a Sharpie nearby. When I realized she was writing down a phone number, I tugged on the bottom of my shirt, desperately trying not to look too excited. “Here,” she said, writing her name beneath the number. “Why don’t you text me in a little bit with the details aboutthis party? And in the meantime, I might be able to score some Smirnoff from my brother. He’s twenty-one.”

She slid the receipt across the counter toward me. “Alright, cool,” I said, sticking it in my back pocket with the most casual shrug I could muster. “How old are you, by the way?”

Beth gave me a tight-lipped smile before answering. “Nineteen. How old are you?”

“Seventeen.”

“When do you turn eighteen?”

“Soon,” I lied, and she must have been able to tell, because she shook her head at me. “I’m mature for my age.”

“I can tell, Owen Elizabeth.”

“I think I might prefer Frodo to that.”

Beth scrunched her nose, and it was adorable. “Okay then, Frodo,” she said. “You’d better show me a good time tonight.”

“I will.” I started to back away from the counter. “I definitely will.”

She nodded at the pop and candy on the counter. “Your stuff?”

---