Page 39 of Late Fees

“It’s pretty great,” I said to Marissa, forcing a smile. “I figure if I’m going to be an animator, this place is going to give me my best shot.”

She nodded. “I feel that way, too. And it’s so nice to be surrounded by other artsy people. I always got teased at my high school.”

“You did?”

She shrugged. “Total jock school, so I just didn’t fit in. We had a theater program, but everyone made fun of us.”

“That’s dumb.”

“Par for the course, I guess. My older sister said it was the same for her, and she’s ten years older than me. My town has a thing against the arts.”

“That sucks.”

“What about you?”

“I never played any sports, but I didn’t have the balls to act, either. I was that weird kid who carried my sketch pad everywhere and collected comic books.”

“Now, that’s like half the guys here.”

“Exactly.” I nodded decisively. “I’ve found my people.”

Marissa smiled. She had the tiniest gap in between her front teeth. It was cute. Really cute.

“I think we both have,” she said softly.

And for a second, I was a little tempted to kiss her right there on the sidewalk as the wind whipped through her long hair that cascaded past her shoulders. She pressed her palm to her forehead, keeping the hair from brushing harshly against her skin. I stared at her, my feet locked in place as I opened my mouth to speak.

“Yo, Wyatt,” Ruben said as held the door open to the video store, interrupting the moment between us. “Let’s go, man.”

Thanks, Ruben.

Marissa closed her eyes tightly, then pulled her hair to one side, her fingers lingering against the skin of her neck. She walked into the store, and Ruben waggled his eyebrows at me. I shook my head and playfully pushed against his shoulder with my hand.

“What should we get?” Dahlia asked, walking to the beginning of the alphabet along the new release wall that ran along the far wall of the store. Marissa walked with her, and Ruben put his arm around me.

“Looks like you guys are getting along.”

“She’s nice,” I said with a nod.

“Gonna ask her out?”

“Not sure yet, but probably.”

“Nice,” Ruben said, patting me on the back “C’mon, let’s make sure they don’t get too many chick flicks.”

And then, on what seemed like an ordinary, typical Saturday afternoon, my entire life came to a screeching halt. Because I saw her. I saw her long, curly red hair pulled into a tight pony tail with little tendrils framing her face. I saw her porcelain skin and the freckles that danced across the bridge of her nose. For a second, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. That I was imagining her.

But then…she laughed. I hadn’t heard that laugh in years, but it didn’t matter. It was the single most distinct laugh I’d ever heard. One that had been branded into my memory.

It was her laugh. Tilly’s laugh.

Tilly was here…at Lurie’s…in Spotlight Video…wearing an employee lanyard and talking to a guy who looked just like George Clooney and was scanning tapes in from the return box. She hadn’t seen me, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure what to do. Once again, my feet felt like they were affixed to the floor, but for an entirely different reason.

“Yo, Wyatt, come check this out,” Ruben called from the corner of the store, and I watched as Tilly heard my name. She did a double take and glanced toward the voice she’d heard. And when she did that, her eyes landed on mine. And she froze.

We both did.

I turned around, calling back to Ruben, “Just a second. I’ll be right there.”

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