It was out of pure luck that Remus got this student job in the first place. He could never had seen himself standing behind the counter, spelling people's names wrong on cups at a Starbucks or flipping burgers at a nasty fast food chain. Neither expensive coffees nor greasy fries had ever been his thing. Just being close to fried food tickled his uvula.
Now he was here. Taking shifts at a small bookstore almost every noon through night. The college students knew the store as a place for peculiar gray-faced language and culture majors. The socially accepted usually chose to study at the common libraries around campus, or if they on rare occasions wanted to actually spend money on a good read they'd rather pay Barnes & Noble a visit.
Remus understood all this completely fine and he always told himself – as he talked to himself often – that it would actually make him cringe if the bookstore was ever to be crowded. He liked to have an extensive period of alone time and the only person he could endure to spend longer periods of time with was Lily. Friendly and somewhat quiet – much like him. With her, he didn't really need any other company.
Right now he was sitting in a dusty green armchair studying for a test in his Philology class on Thursday. He held the book too close to his face, his vintage 1950s ray ban eye glasses pushed back in his hair. His light brown locks were cut short on the sides and left longer on the top. At his relatively early age of nineteen he occasionally noticed a gray hair but it didn't exactly bother him. His white tee and dark gray khakis were too loose on him and Lily had been badgering him since early spring to let her pick some new clothes for him.
His feet rested on the edge of the chair, his knees supporting his book. When the doorbell suddenly jingled his feet fell instinctively to the floor and he straightened his back so his spine clicked all the way up.
Two boys – guys, whatever people said nowadays – confidently stepped into the den. Remus thought that one of them seemed familiar but couldn't remember from where. The burning sun peaked in through the door and he could see sparkles of sweat by their temples. They let the door close behind them and the large chandelier was again the main light source of the room. Lily was better with people so when they were both on shift she always served the costumers.
She smiled so her dimples showed and she ran her fingers through her glossy layered copper hair.
"Hey guys. How can I help you?" she said in a soft voice.
One of the boys, a tad taller than the other, cleared his throat.
"I'm looking for a couple of books," he searched in the back pocket of his shorts, "Two seconds," he added.
He pulled out a note and read, "One, The Communist Manifesto. Two, Democracy in America. Do you have those? I prefer paperbacks."
Remus also preferred paperbacks. That way you could really tell what books he liked to read over and over again.
Lily nodded and went to the shelf with books for Political Science.
Now Remus was alone with the two boys. They were both taller, more athletic and just in general nicer sculpted than him. He kept reading but he didn't really absorb anything, his eyes just rolled over the words. He tried to pretend he hadn't noticed them, but was failing miserably.
The one who had asked for books and who must've been a Political Science major narrowed his eyes and smirked. He pointed casually at Remus' book.
"Hey, man. What are you reading?"
Oh no. He's talking to me, Remus thought.
His gaze went to the ceiling, before staring obviously at the boy's perfect wavy black mane.
"Er—Me? Oh. I'm just studying for a test. No big deal." He added, trying to play it cool.
"Nice."
He sent Remus a crooked half-smiled and then he turned to his friend and started talking but Remus couldn't really hear what they were saying – probably just some friendly chatter. They looked really laid back and cool.
They are probably popular with the women, he thought.
After a couple of minutes, which felt like hours to Remus, Lily returned carrying two heavy-looking books.
"Okay. Here they are," she said and dumped them on the counter.
"It looks like we only have extended editions and with commentary, but that's also fine, right?" She grinned at them both.
"Thanks. Yeah, that's great." He paid for the books with a big note and tipped in the empty glass besides the calculator.
"Have a nice evening. See you around."
He went out of the door, but his friend stood still for a second looking playful. He stepped forward and held his phone in his hand.
"Hey, I'm James. You look really pretty," he added to Lily. "Maybe you'd like to go out sometime? Grab a coffee or something?"
It was true what James was saying. Lily was a really pretty girl and it wasn't unusual that boys gave her that kind of attention. Despite that, she always got a little shy in these situations.
She giggled and her cheeks turned light pink.
"I'm Lily," she nodded approvingly. "Sure, I'd love to grab a coffee sometime."
James passed her his phone and Lily gave him her number.
"See you later," he said and the door squeaked behind him.
Remus couldn't keep himself from chuckling quietly.
"And you did it again, Lily."
She snorted.
"I can't help it. I don't know what any of those guys see in me. They probably just want to screw," she added. "It's more romantic to say that they met a girl in a bookstore than at a fraternity party, don't you think?"
"Well, yes indeed." Remus looked a little unfocused again and he fumbled with his hair.
"What time is it anyway?"
Lily looked on her phone.
"It's ten minutes to seven. We can just close now, it won't matter."
Remus agreed and he put his Philology book in his brown leather backpack. Then they cleared the desk, put a few books back on shelves, emptied the trashcan and grabbed the tips from the glass before they left and locked the door behind them.
Remus and Lily shared a dorm room. It was a rare occurrence that a boy and a girl were allowed living together, but there had been a mistake in the system freshman year and they never decided to complain. They both felt truly lucky that they had each other. They had been good friends right from the start. Both being English majors they went to a lot of the same classes. They always paired up for group work – Remus being more comfortable that way. He realized that Lily was significantly more likeable and talkative than him, thus he had acknowledged that she had other friends. The days they didn't work in the bookstore she was always out with her girlfriends and in the weekends she attended fraternity parties. Remus had never drunken alcohol – only sipped at a glass of red wine, which he thought tasted too bitter – but Lily was obviously a thousand times more experienced at that. In fact, Lily had more know-how than Remus when it came to almost anything. She also had flings with various boys through their first year of college, but Remus just didn't care for women. Actually, he didn't really know what he cared for at all.
Against Remus' will they had spent their tips on coffees from Starbucks on their way home. They took the elevator and walked through the hallway that was covered in hideous red felt. Remus locked the door open as Lily balanced their green-lidded coffees. He went straight to his bed, fell flat against the sheets and buried his face in the soft mattress.
"You tired?"
An approving sound came from Remus.
"I want to watch a movie. You with?"
She put their beverages on her nightstand and shook Remus' shoulders. He sat up, reached for his coffee and took a sip.
"Mmmm. Vanilla latte."
His hair was greasy and there were fingerprints on his glasses.
"What about The Notebook?" She waved it enthusiastically before his eyes.
He moaned. "No way. Too depressing."
"I vote for Dirty Dancing," he outburst.
"Come on. We watched that two times last week."
Remus begged her and at last Lily gave in.
"Tomorrow I decide," she proclaimed.
They both sat in Remus' bed and watched Dirty Dancing on his laptop. They knew the songs and they both made hazy hand gestures and body movements to follow Patrick Swayze dancing. After a while they had both finished their lattes and Lily had fallen asleep resting her head on Remus' shoulder. He thought he could feel a small drool pool through his sleeve, but he didn't care. It was Lily and he cared so much for her.
One man down Remus couldn't make it through the movie simply being too tired. He put away his laptop and supported Lily – still half-asleep – into her bed. He tucked the bed sheet around her and hugged her. Then he decided he had to take a shower.
The entire floor shared bathroom and toilet facilities. He picked clean underwear and carrying a towel under his arm he went determined out of the door.
He thought he would be able to get the showers for himself because it was later than usual, but it appeared that there were a bunch of lads showering as he entered.
His limbs involuntarily turned stiff and he almost couldn't breath as he went past them. He felt as though he was fainting when his eyes unexpectedly met the gaze of the tall handsome boy from the bookstore. Now his perfect waves were damp and his slightly tanned skin glistened with soap. Only confident boys dared showering under the common showerheads. There were closed stalls widely known to be for those who didn't have much to be proud of. Which ones Remus used weren't hard to guess.
Remus felt awfully self-conscious and had a blank face, as the handsome boy sent the same crooked smile as earlier. Remus felt a tingling from his feet and a sensation went through his full body that made him shiver.
He quickly went into the shower stall in the corner and accidentally slammed the door, so it made a loud noise. He wanted to smash his head into the wall with embarrassment, but thought that that would probably just make another unpleasantly loud noise. Turning the water on full power he let it pour over him. Truthfully he loved showering. It was like a break from reality, a little piece of the day when he could just be all to himself and let his thoughts run free. Thinking of everything – or nothing at all.
Fortunately he boys had left when he stepped out of the stall. He was only wearing boxer shorts, hence he didn't expect anyone else to be showering at this time. Lesson learned.
He hurried back to the room where Lily was still sleeping peacefully. He crawled into bed and listened to her sweet breathing. The black-haired boy kept popping up in his mind with his impeccable waves and gleaming skin, before Remus finally gave in to his exhaustion.