Chapter 2 (The Blackest Years)

The next day I found myself as Seaside Jewels per my aunt making good on her promise to introduce me to Sarah. I didn’t need my aunt to help me makes friends but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Seaside Jewels is a small shop crowded with lots of things. Mostly Jean sells upscale jewelry but she also sells a few clothing items and hair accessories. There’s a counter with a cash register to the left, one small fitting room in the back of the store with an office right next to it.

“Helen? Do you remember my niece, Melanie? She’s here to stay with me for a little bit,” Jean told a lady behind the counter.

“Oh, Melanie! I haven’t seen you in years! Haven’t you gotten pretty?” Helen and Jean have been working together for years but I only met the lady on a few other occasions and barely remember her. I pretend to remember her for everyone’s sake. Helen came around the counter and gave me a hug.

“Hi,” I told her while awkwardly hugging her back. I wasn’t use to people I didn’t know invading my space bubble and, to be honest, I didn’t really like it. Helen seemed like she was just that kind of a lady though.

“Oh Jean you never told me how pretty she was getting!” Helen was still saying while studying me from over her small oval glasses that are perched on her nose.

“Oh but this baggy t-shirt…” Helen made a clucking noise with her tongue, “you know Melanie we sell some very pretty things here. I could help you pick some things out!” I was immediately horrified. Helen was not making it very far up my list of favorite people at the moment.

“Oh Helen leave the poor girl alone! She just got here.” Jean teased her friend.

Jean went around the counter and started shuffling some papers. Helen followed her and they both started talking business. I wondered off through the store thankful that they we’re distracted. I ran my hand over the pretty headbands on display. It must be nice to pick out something nice and just wear it whenever you like. I’ve never had the chance. I always too busy hiding, purposely trying to make myself and inconspicuous as possible. I wore baggy clothes to hide my body. I wore my hair in a ponytail to hide it. I danced on the line of purposely making myself look ugly. Apparently I was unsuccessful because despite my attempts I always had His attention.

The door to the office was propped open. Inside I could see a girl my age sitting on the floor with her legs crossed. She was busy packing necklaces into boxes. Her long blonde hair that was hanging loose hid her face from my view. This must be Sarah. I hovered for a second, debating if I wanted to move on and wait for Jean to be the one to introduce us instead of me awkwardly barging in on her.

Sarah made the decision for me. I guess she sensed me staring at her because she looked up.  

“Oh hi! Are you Melanie?” she asked.

Oops.

“Yea but everyone calls me Mel. Are you Sarah?” I recovered and asked her.

“I am!” she smiled, “your aunt must have told you about me. Young kids in this town are kind of a rarity.”

I noticed.

“Come on in, have a seat! I was just working on these orders,” Sarah said. I hesitated a moment before I sat down on the carpet across from her. The office would have been a big space had it not been for all the things it holds. There are boxes stacked all along a wall and various gift wrap on rolls screwed into the wall on the wall next to that. Behind me is Jean’s desk with a safe under it. Sarah was a cute girl but what struck me most about her was her sense of style. She was wearing jeans tucked into some brown boots with a long sleeved t-shirt with a scarf hung loosely around her neck. The whole look seemed entirely effortless. I wish I could dress myself that easily. I wish I could look that cute and not be entirely insecure about it.

“So are you going to be going to Jefferson?” Sarah asked me while turning her attention back to packing up orders.

“Yea, I am. We were just there today getting me registered,” I told Sarah.

“Good! I go there too! There aren’t a lot of kids there and we’ve all grown up together so it’ll be nice to have someone new,” Sarah was telling me. I couldn’t imagine knowing the same people for my entire life. That one time I cried in Kindergarten over our brand new cat we had just got that I was missing while I was at school would have forever haunted me and been brought into conversation time and again instead of just being a memory lost on what are now strangers when we moved to a new school district. I looked down at her assortment of jewelry, boxes and papers spread out around her.

“Do you want some help with those?” I asked. I don’t know why I offered. I just felt like keeping busy.

She seemed surprised by my offer but accepted anyway. She showed me how to match up the orders on the paper and to the proper merchandise. Then the merchandise gets put into the decorative boxes with the store logo before being mailed away.

We worked in silence for a few minutes. Sarah seemed like she wasn’t the kind of girl who did meaningless talking just to talk and I really liked that about her.

A thought occurred to me.

 “Hey, do you know a kid named Ryan?” I asked her hoping to shed light on the curious conversation I had overheard the other day. It was the only exciting thing to happen in this town in the time I have been here.

Sarah frowned.

“Everyone knows Ryan. After his dad died a few years ago he started getting into trouble. Stealing, drinking, that sort of thing. Maybe more, I don’t really know. I don’t talk to him. All the girls are in love with him but he’s a real player,” she paused and looked up at me, “why?”

“Oh I don’t know,” I flubbed “I just heard some people talking about him. I was curious.”

“Well he’s bad news. I would stay away from him if I were you,” Sarah warned.

I wasn’t planning on going anywhere near him but I didn’t tell Sarah that. I nodded. I don’t know what it’s like to lose a parent. It must have been really hard. No wonder he got into trouble.

“Anyway I’ll have to introduce you the girls, Allison and Lauren. Allison is kind of quiet and shy, but she’s really smart. Lauren is the outgoing one. You’re more than welcome to eat lunch with us. We’ll give you the run down on Jefferson,” Sarah smiled at me.

I gave a weak smile back. It was nice to know that people weren’t going to exclude me because I was new but honestly sometimes I would rather be alone. The thought of meeting more new people kind of exhausted me. Sarah seemed like a really nice girl who means well though. I should give this whole “friendship” thing a shot. I think it used to be fun, at one point in time, before He came along.

“Hey girls,” Jean said when she appeared in the doorway, “Oh Mel, you didn’t have to do that!” She said after she saw the work I was doing.

“Oh I don’t mind,” I told Jean. I really didn’t.

“Yea Jean, she’s actually really good at it! She’s a fast learner,” Sarah was saying.

Jean ran a hand through her hair seemingly lost in thought for a second.

“You know we really could use another hand with the online orders…. How about taking on a part time job for a few days a week Mel?” She finally said.

I was surprised by her offer. I wasn’t actually looking for a job but the work seemed nice enough. The extra cash seemed appealing as well.

“That would be nice,” I told her.

“Well good! Welcome to the team!” Jean smiled at me. “Sarah would you like to show her the rest of the online order process? Maybe give her a tour of the store and tell her a little about our products also?”

“Sure, Jean, I could do that,” Sarah smiled.

“Good, let me know if you have any questions,” Jean said over her shoulder as she walked away.

Sarah spent the rest of the afternoon training me and showing me around. Occasionally customers would come in and browse around. Sarah could pick out the locals from the tourists just by looking at them. Every time someone walked into the store a “bing, bong” sound would charm from above the door.

The sun was setting by the time we got all the orders done and Sarah had finished her training of me. We were gathered up our things and got ready to leave.

“Well, Jean, we’re all set,” Sarah was saying.

“Oh, it’s that time all ready? Mel, I’ve still got some work here that I need to do. You wouldn’t mind walking home, would you? You can find the house, right?” Jean asked me.

I can find the house no problem but before I could answer Sarah stepped in.

“Oh I can take her home, Jean, I wouldn’t mind at all,” she offered.

“Are you sure? I’m not that far away, I don’t mind walking,” I told Sarah. I was tired after all the new information today. A ride home would be nice if she was offering. It was terribly nice of her to offer, having just met me and all.

“Yea, I’m sure. Come on,” Sarah smiled at me.

“Bye guys!” She said over her should to Helen and Jean. Bing Bong went the door as we walked out.

Seaside Jewels has a small parking lot with a few spots off the ally way that runs behind the store. The parking lot had 3 cars. A small blue Prius, my aunt’s maroon Tucson, and a bright red Cadillac CTS. From what I knew of the ladies I was guessing the Prius was Sarah’s and the caddy was Helen’s.

“I’m the blue car,” Sarah told me while we were walking out. I was right.

“Do you drive?” She asked me after we were seated inside.

“I can, yea. I have my license, I just don’t have a car yet,” I told Sarah. My Grandpa is a huge car nut. He used to take me to car shows on the weekends and he taught me how to drive his old Datsun 620 pickup right after I turned 16. Since Jean never got married or had kids and I was the only child for my Mom I turned out to be the grandson he never had. We bonded over superchargers and cat back exhausts.

“I actually really like cars,” I surprised myself by telling Sarah that. I don’t normally give tidbits of information like that away to other people.

Sarah glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.

“I’m not really a fan of cars, but I like driving! My dad actually picked this out for me. He says I have to pay the car insurance on it though, to ‘build responsibility,’” she lowered her voice in an imitation.

I gave a half smile before looking ahead again.

“You know you should really get a car if you like them so much,” Sarah told me.

“I know, I plan on it,” I told her truthfully.

After Sarah dropped me off I waved goodbye to her and let myself into the empty house.  Soon after my cell phone went off, displaying “call from Mom” on the screen.

“Hi Mom,” I answered.

“Hi honey! How do you like it out there so far?” My Mom responded. I had moved over to the huge expanse of windows in the living room. It’s dark out now so the town below us is light up. Beyond that where the ocean is there’s nothing but complete blackness. Even with all the windows and doors to the outside shut you can still hear the faint sounds of the water moving back and forth, back and forth.

I thought about that question. It’s a beautiful town, much more scenic then the concrete jungle that is Portland. I have a new friend and a job. School starts tomorrow and I’ve always been good at that, too.

“It’s nice,” I finally decided.

“That’s good,” my Mom said.