“I mean, being an uncle will probably be fun. Who doesn’t enjoy a good baby?” Timothy pointed out with a smile.
In reality, he had a good point. Everyone loved babies. He just knew that between Brick and his mother, he would most definitely be helping raise the child. His girlfriend’s parents pretty much blamed the entire family for all of this. Brick mentioned that apparently, his girlfriend had been out of birth control and neglected to mention it. Noah thought that was deceitful, but it wasn’t his place to point that out.
The bell rang. Lunch was wrapping up soon. “So, um, last class for the day. Do you think you can show me where it is?” Timothy asked with an adorable smile.
Noah nodded, “Yeah, no problem.”
* * *
The last class for the day was relatively uneventful. The entire day had been rather uneventful in Noah’s mind, aside from Timothy. Timothy, the tall brunet boy with a sexy deep voice. Noah needed to focus. He had about two hundred books to get shelved before the end of his shift, which was not so bad.
The owner of the bookstore was a woman named Sasha in her late 20’s. Total hipster type. Apparently, when she first bought the place from a sweet older couple, she wanted to revitalize it completely. It was going to be nothing but bestsellers, classics, and indie authors. Then she realized just how little people seemed to buy books unless they were romance or western novels. Crime was big as well, but more for the online store. She ended up having to bite the bullet and keep the two sections. Noah often caught Sasha reading the Western novels. Sometimes she would be laughing, and sometimes she would be genuinely into them.
Sasha was a cool boss. If Noah was honest, he was probably more friends with her than he was Lily. They never talked about sexuality. They talked about life. Which, on occasion, involved crushes they had on men or different aspects of queer culture as Sasha herself was bisexual. Though when they talked about different men they had crushes on, Noah often had to talk about different actors he found attractive. He wasn’t all that attracted to the straight or closeted men that were around him.
He would often ask why Sasha didn’t leave Kansas. She would just say that she was a big fish in a small pond here. Anywhere else, she would be a small fish in a big pond. That was how smart she was. Sasha knew that she was special and different here, but she would be no one in some big city. Noah realized the sentiment was smart, but it didn’t change his own views. Noah wanted out of this state by the time he graduated. Just two years to go. He could get through his junior and senior years. He could do it. Noah just had to keep telling himself that he would make it through.
“Noah, sweetie, I have to go pick up a shipment at the post office in the next city over. I’ll be back in about an hour,” Sasha explained as she grabbed her sweater and keys.
The blond boy nodded. He was used to her leaving for an hour or so every once in a while at this point. Very rarely did they ever need two people there. The online business essentially paid for the rent. Sasha’s family came from a little bit of money. That was how she afforded the lifestyle, which wasn’t that hard in Kansas.
The door opened again. Noah honestly thought it was going to be Sasha telling him that she forgot something. Instead, it was him… “Timothy? What are you doing here?”
He had the biggest smile on his face, “Um, I just thought I’d stop in and say hi. I hope that’s cool.” It had only been a few hours since school had gotten out. Lily had never once come to visit him at work.
“Yeah, totally. I just never expected anyone to come here. I mean, I rarely ever see people from school, and if I do, it is usually just someone really into science fiction or something that I don’t even know the name of,” Noah admitted while almost rambling.
Timothy nodded, “Yeah, I love to read, and our internet hasn’t been connected yet. I just wanted to pick up a few extra books to pass the time.” He went over to a shelf. “It’s kind of weird not having homework, though,” he admitted.
“Well, they could either afford to buy textbooks for all the students to bring home, or they could afford upgrades to the football field,” Noah explained.
“I have to admit that the way the teachers teach is scaring me. One of my teachers just played videos during the entire class,” he said.
The blond boy nodded, “Yeah… That’s how this goes, pretty much. There are some teachers who want to teach. Then there are those who gave up a long time ago. You probably notice a lot of the teachers are from Texas, Oklahoma, or other places entirely. That should tell you something.”
Timothy looked around the room, “This is low-key a nice little shop.”
“Yeah, when Sasha took over, she really did try and revitalize the space. It used to look more used bookstore like.” They had actually spent the entire week painting the store, setting up new shelves, and revitalizing old shelves that were still practical. It was such a cool shop with all the changes. “I don’t think she will keep it for much longer, though,” Noah explained.
“Why?” Timothy asked.
“Eh, not really a money maker. Her parents help foot the bill. She makes more from an online standpoint. I think she is low-key, keeping it open to keep me employed.” Noah really did think this was the case. Sasha often joked about opening a nightclub when he graduated high school. He didn’t think much of it at first, but he saw the computer browsing history enough times to know it was probably true. He was grateful for Sasha. He really was.
The door opened again. He assumed that Sasha really was back this time, but instead, it was Brick, “Hey Noah… I need a few books for Amber’s classes. They are too expensive at the chain store. I need the nicest copies you have.”
Noah coughed, “Um, Brick, this is Timothy. Timothy, this is Brick, my older brother,” he looked at Brick. “Timothy is new at school, and we were just talking.”
Brick looked at the boy and smiled. He put his hand out, “Oh, hey! Nice to meet you.” The two boys shook hands. Brick looked back at Noah and gave him this look of approval. Noah knew what that look was. He used to give him that look back when he was in middle school and thought he was into girls. Brick used to give him a look of approval. Noah’s stomach started to jump. He would have to explain later on that Timothy wasn’t that kind of a friend; at least he didn’t think he was.
Brick handed Noah the list, “Amber is freaking out.”
The younger brother read the list from his older brother, “Oh, for crying out loud, Brick.” Half these books were brand new releases. “We don’t have any of these. Well, actually, no, I have one of these.” He walked back to the section where it would be. Noah was sure that he was quick to get it, considering that he really didn’t want Brick or Timothy talking with one another. “Here you go; Your copy of To Kill a Mockingbird.”