Gothic Senior

Part Two

Your POV:

After taking my car to the shop, I call my dad to have him pick me up. The mechanic assured me that my car would be ready for pickup by tomorrow at noon. I'll have enough time to get ready for the park afterwards.

"Gotta make a quick stop at the hardware shop before we head home. Your mother asked me to pick up a bag of soil for the garden," dad tells me.

We pull into the shop's parking lot. As soon as the car comes into a complete stop, dad pulls out his wallet and takes out $30 and holds it out in front of me. "Would you mind taking care of this for me, hun? I have an important call I have to make."

"Sure." I grab the money and step out of the car, walking towards the entrance.

(Five minutes later)

I enter the garden area where they keep all their gardening items. Immediately, I come across their bags of soil and I pick up the specific brand mom usually gets. I toss the heavy bag into the cart and head out for the check out line.

"(Y/n)?" I hear someone say my name. I stop walking to turn around only to see the one and only Ian McKinley approaching me.

"Ian. Hey."

"Hey. What are you doing here?" He ask.

I nod my head towards the item in my cart. "I'm picking this up for my mom."

"Ah. So I see," he says. I notice he's wearing an apron with the shop's logo on it. "Wait, do you work here?" I ask, pointing at the apron.

"Oh. Um, yeah. I come here everyday after school," he tells me.

"Oh wow. I had no ideal," I say. "How interesting." Ian McKinley working at a hardware store. That's quite surprising, I guess you can say. "Well, hey, that's good. You're making your own money. So at least you don't really have to depend on your parents for anything," I tell him.

"Yeah... But hey, listen. I wanna apologize if I made you uncomfortable today at lunch. In fact, I guess I should apologize for all those times I probably made you feel that way," he chuckles. "But yeah, I'm really sorry. I know I may come as someone who is odd and super weird and believe me, I try not to be that guy like, a lot. But I guess sometimes I just can't help it. I don't know, I guess I'm just socially awkward or something, you know? It's like every time I open my mouth, I always say some weird shit and I guess that's why most people at school thinks of me as someone who is creepy and doesn't seem to like me very much." He looks down at the floor.

"I don't think you're a weird and creepy," I tell him. He looks me in the eyes. I shrug my shoulders. "I mean I guess you can be a little weird sometimes. And maybe a little creepy?" He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "But at least you don't seem like such a bad guy."

"Wow. Well, thanks. I guess I should say that means a lot coming from you," he smiles.

"No problem," I smile back. "So uhh... The McKinley Park tomorrow night? You going?"

"Haven't really thought about it. You know, theme parks and carnivals usually aren't my thing," he tells me. That's one thing we seem to have in common. "What about you? Are you going?"

"Yeah, I'm going. After all, it's basically a 'Farewell, McKinley High' celebration, so I don't see why anyone would want to miss that," I say. "You should definitely consider going, though. I'm sure you will have a great time. You know, even though it's not really your thing," I say.

A staff member interrupts our conversation, asking Ian to take care of a task. "Yeah. I'll take care of that right away," Ian tells the guy as he walks off. He looks back at me. "Well, I guess I better get back to work."

"Yeah. I should get to the checkout line before my dad comes in here wondering what the hell is taking me so long," I say.

"Right. Well, I guess I'll see you around," he smiles. "Yeah. See you around," I smile back. We both turn around and walk in the opposite direction from each other.

"Hey, (y/n)?" I hear Ian say my name.

I turn around to face him. "Yeah?" I answer.

He stares at me with his mouth open, but he doesn't say anything. He's rubbing the back of his neck again while looking around almost as if he's trying to find the right words to say. This time.

He looks at me. "I think I've decided to go to the park, tomorrow. For you."

Feeling elated, I smile and put my hand over my heart. "For me? Wow. I almost feel special."

He laughs and appears to be blushing a little. "Bye, (y/n)," he says, turning around and walking away. "Bye, Ian," I say softly before walking off and heading towards the checkout line.