30 Day Trial Period

3.7 Day Three: Parker

WEDNESDAY

DAY THREE 

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PARKER

I yawned, walking to Lizzie's locker in the morning. Just to prove how tired I was today, I wore a pair of boyfriend jeans that were loose and too long so I had to roll up the cuffs; that way I could also wear my fun avocado socks and red converse. I also wore a huge black sweatshirt that I used to practice my hand stitching and embroidery on. My hair was up in a messy bun and I wore a thick wrap around my head too.

I spotted Lizzie half inside her locker. She braided her hair again. It dangled down the middle of her back. In true Lizzie fashion, she wore a Canadian Tuxedo: jeans, jean jacket and a mustard sweater underneath with her classic converse. When she finished, she slammed her locker and turned around with two iced coffees in her beautiful hands. I went all bug-eyed and stupid.

"Is that-?" I blinked. "Is one for me?"

"Yeah," she said like it was nothing, like she didn't just gift me with the nectar of the gods. I could've kissed her... that thought made my face burn hotter and brighter than the sun. Last night, in Lizzie's car, I almost did kiss her. One more second in that car, I might've done it. I got so easily swept away in the moment.

"Thank you," I said, past the blushing and my pounding heart. "You're my favorite."

"Don't lie to me."

I wasn't.

Lizzie explained, "So, I went by downtown this morning to check Miss Patty's Shop and it was the same as yesterday. I even asked the baristas at Good Beans if they knew anything about the shop and-"

"You really asked?" I blinked, waiting for the second head to sprout from Lizzie's neck.

"Yeah..." Lizzie's eyes narrowed. "Or were you not serious about figuring this out? Because I'm super committed. Five-dollar coffee committed." She rattled the ice in her cup.

"No! I was serious-"

My face burned. I just didn't expect her to be serious about it. Nobody took anything that I liked seriously at all. Ever. I didn't even bother telling my dad or my stepmom about doing the costumes for the play. They wouldn't understand. They'd want me to focus more on school or if I had so much time on my hands, I should open more hours for work. Maybe they would've noticed by now if they just took one look at my eyebags. Sometimes they were as dark as bruises.

Whatever.

I didn't care.

"Okay, then." Lizzie smiled the pep back into her step. She continued, "They didn't know anything, but they know someone owns the building and once, the owner saw the lights on, but it was at night. They've had it for like thirty years or something, so we should really do some Googling later."

"Another date, huh?" I grinned, biting down on my straw. Little butterflies were throwing a rave inside my stomach, dancing to the heavy thud of my heart. "God." I rolled my eyes. "You're so obsessed with me."

"I'm going to let you have this." Lizzie shrugged. "I mean, it's pretty pathetic that you've never even thought to ask the coffee place next door some questions. I'd be embarrassed if I were you too, Parker."

My jaw dropped.

My feet just stopped, stunned by this patron saint of sass. She really had a way of saying my name. She said it differently than most people. People said Parker like I was a foreign object hurtling through space, some unknown terror that would cause the Earth's destruction. Lizzie said my name like she knew the definition inside and out. She said my name like she could see it written over my heart.