Walking home from work seemed to be one of the few, small treasures Loren got from life. Each step seemed to be less and less trying on his feet as he drudged down the sidewalk from the place he worked to his mother's house. His plain black garb stuck out particularly this bright and almost cheery day, like a mark of shame, or perhaps a blot on the surface a bright future. That was certainly the way he thought of things. He had it in his head that this walk was simply a Point A to Point B exercise, with no real meaning aside from the fact that instead of working, he would be doing absolutely nothing worthwhile. Chatting on the web might just be the highlight of his afternoon. That was better still than working fast-food at Poppin' Weasels. He briefly considered going to his friends' apartment, but rejected the idea due to the fact that he was still unable get the smell of secondhand smoke off his clothes.
He took out his phone and used the reflection of it to check his face, or rather, to pointlessly criticize himself on it. He had medium-to-small lips with a freckle on the left side of his upper lip. He always thought that was strange, but sometimes bothersome, particularly when he was joked at as a kid for having chocolate on his lip all the time. He had an even more fragile self-image back then. His eyes were strange, dark-brown around the pupil with green flaring around the outside edge. The amount of green varied; his right pupil had always been noticeably larger than his left. His eyebrows were a decent thickness due to his caretaking, but dark brown just like his full head of hair. It went to touch his shoulders, where un-straightened it would form a wave at the bottom, which he never particularly enjoyed. He didn't want to cut either though, so he straightened it every morning. He also noticed he had slight dark circles under his eyes, for how long or why he had no clue. His nose was quite boring, nice and round, didn't protrude from his face terribly much, but not very small either. His ears on the other hand were strangely small, but his hair covered that when it wasn't all up inside his work-cap. His expression was always so laid back, seldom serious, so easy-going despite how much he worried. He also looked a tad-bit bored right now, and upon contemplation quite a bit lately. He told himself to work on it mentally.
Caught off guard while he pondered his miserable existence and what his short-term plans for it were, he jumped dramatically when his friend tapped him lightly on his shoulder. It was his co-worker and long time friend, Lauren. They met when he was in high-school when they begun to poke fun at each-other for having nearly the same name. He had tried a romantic relationship once with her, but after fighting it he realized she wasn't his type. Her best friend, on the other hand, most certainly was. She always had been. Lauren had a nice build, just above average. Her long hair was a different shade of brown every week it seemed, and she was a rather big fan of short-shorts, though still remaining quite classy in dress. Despite still having an enormous crush on him still, she managed to always seem to be there for him. She was an invaluable friend indeed.
"Hellooooooo?" she said to him as his mind wandered further and further away from where he was physically. "Are you still there?"
"Yes, yes, I'm here. Didn't think you got off work the same time I did," he replied. He pushed his long, brown bangs from out of his face, and in doing so had to re-adjust his generic work cap. He knew she didn't, so this was quite the surprise.
"Well she let me off early. Apparently I'm not quite as useful as I thought I was!" She laughed. "Neither am I…" Loren said. "What're you up to tonight?"
"It's just another night of doing homework, followed by a late night movie. I'm still in school, you know. What about you? Off to go partying or some college guy stuff?" He sighed. She was a senior in high school. He would be a sophomore in college had he not dropped out. His grades were stellar, but he saw no point in furthering his education in an unplanned career. He hoped college would show him the way, point him toward his dream job. Loren was unmistakably mistaken. After a tremulous relationship, he was robbed of his last straw. Finishing, he swore not to return until he knew what he wanted. He would work and pay his mother rent until he did find his drive, his fire.
"Yeah, right. I'm a bozo with no career plan and stunning good looks, and I'm not even in college anymore. I'm not worthy of greatness, just fast-food." He knew that she would throw herself on him, which she did, and that she would remind him there was still hope, which she also did. What he didn't expect was that she would flat out agree with him on the second notion instead it phasing her out a bit. They began talking again about world affairs and how she would one day succeed in life as a writer, even though they both laughed about that almost literally being utterly impossible.