Fourth period ended seemingly quickly for most of the students at school. Phil hadn't even been aware that it was time to go until he felt Amy and Colt shaking his shoulders to snap him out of his intense focus on the drawing that he was working for Mr. Levy's class. The project that they were assigned to work on for the week was to draw a picture that was a life study of a particular animal done in any style the students chose. Phil had decided to work on drawing a fox that had looks of coming from a horror movie. He had gotten most of his drawing done while Amy and the others talked around him, so he didn't have much left to work on.
"I really don't feel like working today. But, oh well, I've got to make this money," Alex said, moaning as she and the others walked home from school.
"Buck up, Lexi. You know that I would love to cover for you, but at least you've got Kaitlyn working with you today," Jeff said.
"I know, but if you hear me yelling that I need help with the shipment that's coming in today, I expect you to come help me out," Alex said.
Hearing Alex and Jeff bicker for a bit, Phil kept thinking back to the fact that he was going to have to meet up with April in a few minutes after school to go to a comic book store with her. He wasn't even aware that he had zoned out again until he heard Colt trying to tell him something. "Oh, my bad, man. I wasn't paying attention. Did you just ask me something?"
"Yeah. I was wondering if you were going to need help with your homework tonight. I've got Spanish work and some stuff for my Algebra class, but I'll be able to help if you need it," Colt said.
"Oh. Well, believe it or not, I've got a free night aside from reading over my notes about the Black Plague, seeing as how we have a project coming up for that soon," Phil said. "But, I might let that wait until later tonight. Other than that, I've got the day free."
"You lucky punk," Colt said, laughing and shaking his head. "Guess this means that you're going to spend the day playing your Xbox?"
"I'm sure Phil would love to do that, but he's got a date today," Amy said, jabbing Phil in the ribs.
"For the record, Amy, it is not a date that I have with April. It is merely just me helping a friend out with something," Phil said, rubbing the spot where he got jabbed.
"And what could it possibly be that you're going to help Miss April with?" Mary asked.
"She needs help finding good inspiration for the comic book that we're going to submit for the contest, so I plan on taking her out to a shop around here to look for some that won't be too intense for a first-time reader like her," Phil said.
"Aww, Philly and April have a date," Mary said, in a sing-songy voice.
"Again, it's not a date. It's just two friends going out to buy comic books with each other. Nothing more, nothing less," Phil said.
"Yeah, I'm so sure it isn't," Mary said, rolling her eyes as she, Amy, and Alex shared a secret smile with each other.
"Whatever, Mare. And, by the way, don't you and Dustin have to go get your brother and sister from school?" Phil said, a mischievous smirk crossing his face.
Sudden remembrance crossing her face, Mary said "Oh, damn it, you're right! Come on Dustin! Billy and Chelsea are going to freak if we're late getting them! We'll see you guys tomorrow" as she and Dustin split off from the others and headed off in the direction of the middle school.
"I guess we should head home too. Gotta be there to open the shop for the afternoon rush. We'll see you three tomorrow," Alex said as she and Jeff headed in the direction of their home, leaving Amy, Phil, and Colt standing.
Sighing as the trio took off for their own homes, Amy said "I feel so lazy in comparison to everyone else. Everybody's got things to do and I'm going home just to do nothing of importance."
"Don't you have to meet up with Shannon and Jeff so that you guys can head to Shane's place and practice for your gig this Friday?" Colt asked.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me, Colt. I swear most people would say that practicing rock music is a waste of time," Amy said. "I say that it's better than being an overly peppy cheerleader."
"Don't let Candice hear you saying that about cheerleaders," Colt said, laughing.
"Oh, hush. Candice knows I only joke with her when I say that about the cheerleaders. I just don't know how it is that she can have so much pep when it comes to school," Amy said.
"You know, Ames, as much fun as it would be to hear you two go on with your theories about the cheerleaders, it would seem that we've reached my house. I'll see you guys later," Phil said.
"OK. Try not to mess up your date with April," Colt yelled over his shoulder as he and Amy walked off.
Mumbling under his breath, Phil said "For the last damn time, it is not a date." Shaking his head, Phil headed into his house and looked around for his mom. After his search turned up empty, Phil finally decided to head into the kitchen to try to find something to eat for a quick snack when something caught his eye. Looking on the refrigerator, Phil saw a note from his mom:
"Phil, bad news. I got called in to work second shift tonight. I'm more than sure you'll be fine at home by yourself, but if you need to, go stay the night at Amy's. Again, sorry if it's a little last minute that you find this out, but look at it this way: I get more money on my paycheck this week and we get to have a weekend out for some major fun. Love you, and see you tomorrow, Mom. XOXO" Taking the note off of the refrigerator, Phil read it over before tossing the note in the trashcan, walking out of the kitchen, and heading upstairs to his bedroom. Walking over to his dresser, Phil proceeded to fish out a change of clothes so that he could ditch his school uniform and be in some of his more comfortable clothes so that he could head back out to meet up with April. Hopefully, his choice of clothing wouldn't startle April too much.
…
April stood impatiently outside of the school as she waited for Phil to come meet back up with her so that the two could head to a comic book store. She had gotten a text from Josh as soon as she walked in her house that he had to stay at home and help his sister Bayley with her homework. April understood completely because she had met Bayley a number of times before; April could never bring herself to say it out loud, but she had her own opinions about why it was that Bayley was oftentimes seen with some of the freaks at school. Bayley was a smart enough girl, but her main problem was that she had the strangest habits of wanting to talk at length about either robots or dinosaurs, which struck April as odd and just plain weird. Instead of begging Josh to ditch Bayley and come meet up with her, April replied by saying that she'd be fine with going with Phil by herself. While she may have seemed confident in herself enough to say that, April was secretly panicking on the inside; this was due in part to the fact that she was going to be alone with Phil Brooks, a teen most others would say to stay away from if you didn't want to end up hurt.
Shaking off her initial fear, April decided to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. It seemed to be working because she soon saw Phil headed her way. Dressed in a pair of cargo shorts, a t-shirt with the logo for some rock band that April had no clue of knowing about, and a pair of Vans, Phil was definitely dressed more casually than April was. April was dressed in a pinkish blouse, a skirt that just went past her knees, and a pair of open-toed sandals. As she clutched the strap of her handbag, Phil came to a stop in front of her with a grin firmly planted on his face.
"If I had known that we were going somewhere other than to a comic book store, I would've put on something better than these shorts and my favorite Metallica shirt," Phil said, grinning at April.
Blushing, April said "Well, this is what I usually wear when we aren't in school. Besides, I don't really have any real casual clothes like what you're wearing."
"Relax, half-pint. I was only joking around with you," Phil said, grinning as he reached over to ruffle April's hair a bit.
This move from Phil caused April to momentarily forget to breathe as she felt a blush start to heat her cheeks. She was able to get control of herself again when she saw Phil walk off. "So, where is it exactly that we're going to buy comic books?" April asked.
"Well, there are two in this area, but one of them only sells the stuff that's a bit too mainstream and doesn't have much in the way of variety. The other one is the place I usually go to because they sell more than just comic books," Phil said.
Confused, April said "I don't get it. What more could you possibly want to buy when it comes to comic books?"
Stopping in his tracks, Phil looked down at April and said "What more? Oh, my dear sweet April. There's so much about loving comic books that you don't know. Luckily, you have me to teach you."
As the two walked on, April mumbled not-so-enthusiastically "Great." She was starting to feel as though she was falling even deeper down the rabbit hole the more she talked to Phil. She still couldn't bring herself to understand why it was that she was even entertaining Phil's idea to enter the comic book contest with him, but since she was already on the way to the shop with Phil, she figured she might as well try to get something out of it. She hadn't even been aware of the fact that Phil had stopped walking until she bumped into his back. "Oww! Why'd you just stop in the middle of the sidewalk?" April asked, looking up to the taller teen.
"Because we're here," Phil said. Gesturing to the shop behind him, Phil said "April, allow me to introduce you to Chrono Comics, one of the best comic book shops in all of Union City."
Looking up at the store in front of her, April noticed that it was surrounded by buildings to its right and left sides. However, as her eyes trailed from the sign over the top of the door and the displays set up in the window, she looked up and saw two levels of windows going up. "Is there really so much in this store that there have to be two additional levels?" April blurted without thinking.
Laughing at April's random question, Phil said "No. The levels above the store are residential areas."
Not wanting to believe him, April asked "You mean to tell me that there are actually people that live above a comic book store?"
"Yeah. The family that lives over Chrono own the place, so they decided to do some renovation work so that they could live over the shop," Phil said.
"That's crazy," April said, in wonder.
"Just wait until you see the inside of the store," Phil said, walking forward and opening the door. Gesturing inside, Phil said "Ladies first."
"Thank you," April said, as she stepped into the store. Once she stepped inside, she was greeted with a sight that definitely surprised her: a lot of the teens that went to school with her were walking around and browsing the shelves for comic books while some others were looking at what appeared to be toys on some of the shelves. All while this happened around her, April heard music by some pop group playing in the background that was being sung along to by two people.
Laughing at the look on April's face, Phil asked "Not exactly what you were expecting, was it?"
"Not at all. I mean, I never would've thought that so many of the people that went to school with us were actually into comic books," April said.
"Trust me, April. You'd be amazed at the kinds of people that are into comic books nowadays," Phil said.
April was on the verge of asking Phil something else when she heard someone yell "Phillip! April! Hi!" Turning her head, April saw that the yelling came from Kaitlyn from where she was standing with Alex behind the check-out counter.
"Oh sweet. Alex and Kaitlyn are working today," Phil said. Grabbing April by the arm, he said "Come on, let's go over to them."
"Are you sure that's such a great idea? They might be busy," April said.
"April, those two are standing back there singing and dancing to the Krewella song that's playing right now. I really don't think that constitutes being busy," Phil said.
Looking again at the two aforementioned teens, April saw that they were just goofing off. After changing her mind, April said "Sure, we can go talk to them, I guess."
Walking to the check-out counter, Phil stopped while he proceeded to listen to Alex and Kaitlyn finish their singing and dancing along to the Krewella song 'Live for the Night'. It wasn't until the two had finished that they finally noticed Phil and April standing and watching them. Once he saw the looks on Alex and Kaitlyn's faces, Phil started laughing at their attempts to look busy. "Wow, way to look busy, you two," Phil said, around his laughter.
Blushing, Alex said "Well, we didn't have to worry about ringing anybody up at the moment, so we decided to just goof around for a bit."
"No need to explain yourselves to me. If anything, seeing you to goof off is why I love coming here so much," Phil said, as he and the two girls shared a laugh.
Looking around Phil, Kaitlyn said "Hey, you managed to bring April in here with you."
Throwing an arm around April's shoulders as he brought her forward, Phil said "Yeah. I think Josh was supposed to be meeting up with us, but I'm guessing he had to change his mind and stay at home."
"Actually, he had to help his sister Bayley with some homework she had for her Spanish class," April piped up.
"Wait a minute. Bayley, as in Bayley Matthews? Bayley Matthews is Josh's sister?" Kaitlyn asked, amazement clear on her face.
"Twin sister, but yes. Bayley is Josh's sister," April said.
"Wow. Never would've guessed that Bay-Bay was Josh's sister," Kaitlyn said.
"How could you not have known that, Kait? It was something that I caught onto ever since we first met those two back in eighth grade," Alex said, laughing.
"Well, I didn't want to assume things were like that between them, so I just thought they were really good friends," Kaitlyn said, shrugging.
Clearing his throat, Phil said "You know as much fun as it would be to hear you two debate how it is that Josh and Bayley know each other, I think it would be great if we could get some help here."
"Right, right. So, what can we do to help you two out today?" Alex said.
"That's better. Now, I need to know what you would recommend as far as a good read for beginners to reading comic books. April here has never read one before in her life, so I want to help her find some good ones so that she can read one and get something in the way of inspiration if she chooses to join up with me for the contest," Phil said.
Overdramatically, Kaitlyn gasped while Alex said "I'm actually shocked. Usually the only people that say they've never read comic books before are the ones that think it's only for geeks." Drumming her fingers on the countertop, Alex tried to think of some titles until she heard a voice at the door. "Oh, that must be the newest shipment for the shop. Excuse me for a minute. Kait, go get the door and then try to help Phil find April some good comics to read while I try to get Jeff and some of the guys to help with this stuff." Dashing from behind the counter, Alex weaved her way around some of the other teens and, opening a door, headed into a back room.
Stepping from behind the counter, Kaitlyn said "Come with me, you two. First things first, let me let this man at the door inside so that I can sign for this stuff." Opening the door, she let the deliveryman into the shop as Phil and April stood in wait. Signing for the packages, Kaitlyn said "You can just move the boxes over to that empty space right there." Leaving the deliveryman to moving the packages around, Kaitlyn turned back to the two and said "OK, now if you two would be so kind as to follow me."
Following Kaitlyn, April made sure not to bump into any of the other teens that were in the shop as she looked around some of the books that the teens around her were looking at. She saw that most of the covers all seemed to have muscular people in tights and capes fighting either another person, some kind of monster, or a robot of sorts. The artwork all looked pretty amazing to her, but April just couldn't help but to be picky and notice that there seemed to be a real dearth of female characters on the covers of most of these comic books. Tapping Phil on the shoulder to get his attention, April asked "I'm guessing everyone here loves their superhero stuff, don't they?"
"Well, superheroes do tend to help make up some of the bulk of comic books. But, I think for your sake, we'll start you off with a graphic novel or two," Phil said, glancing around at the shelves.
"Graphic novel? What's that?" April asked.
"It's sort of like a comic book, but it's a collection of a few issues of a particular comic book bound together in one book," Phil said.
Clearing her throat, Kaitlyn got the attention of Phil and April and said "It's about time you two decided to remember that I was supposed to be helping you two out. Now, April, what interests you? We've got comic books that are your basic superheroes in tights, anti-heroes, normal people that fight crime in superhero costumes, tie-ins with video games and movies, and a few more."
"Umm, I don't really know what kind I'd like," April said.
"Well, take your time and look around. No need to rush. After all, I'm sure Philly won't mind if you spend a bit of time looking around," Kaitlyn said, smiling and resting a hand on April's shoulder. Casting a glare up at Phil, Kaitlyn said "You won't mind if April looks around for a bit, now will you?"
"Of course not. I've got some looking around for books I want to buy myself, so I'd be more than happy to wait around for April," Phil said.
"Great. Now, if you two will excuse me, I've got customers to go check out," Kaitlyn said, as she headed back for the check-out counter. "Don't hesitate to holler if you need my help with finding anything."
Once Kaitlyn had left the two of them, Phil turned to look at April and said "Well, it's like Kaitlyn just said. All around in this section we're standing in front of are the graphic novels that are media tie-ins and novel adaptations. Why don't you try to look around over here for something? I've got to check to see if there's an issue of a comic in that I need for my collection."
"Uh, sure. I'll just look around here," April said, giving Phil a shy smile.
"Great. Now, like Kaitlyn said, if you need any help, just yell and I'll come help you," Phil said.
"OK," April said, as Phil walked off, leaving her by herself. Once Phil walked away, April let out the nervous breath that she had been holding in ever since she walked into the store. She was definitely amazed at everything that was in the store, but at the same time, she felt as though she had just been transported to a foreign world without much hope of learning how to fit in. Instead of standing around and looking like a frightened rabbit, April decided to walk over to one of the shelves and picked up the first graphic novel that she saw, which was titled 'Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna'. April had to admit; the artwork definitely looked amazing, plus it was a bit of a refreshing change of pace to find something that didn't have an overly muscular man on the cover. Looking through the pages, April was amazed to see that every page in the book looked just as amazing as the cover did. So, she decided that she would buy that. After spending a few minutes walking around the shelves, April found herself getting a bit addicted to what she was reading. Making her choices, April walked around trying to find Phil until she bumped into somebody and fell on the floor, dropping her books everywhere. Not being able to hold it in, April rubbed her chest and said "Why do I keep bumping into people?! I'm really sorry to whoever I bumped into."
"No problem at all. In fact, I think I should be apologizing to you. I'm trying to get these boxes moved around and I guess I've been having a bit of trouble keeping an eye out for shop traffic," said a voice with a slight southern drawl. "Here, let me help you up."
Taking the hand of the person, April looked up to see that the boy that was helping her up seemed like he'd be a good fit for being friends with Phil. He had hair that went down past his shoulder that April noticed was dyed with green and blue streaks and he was wearing a red muscle shirt from the promotion of some movie, a pair of black sweat pants, and a pair of black boots. Another distinguishing feature that April noticed was that the boy had his nails painted black. Blushing as she bent down to pick up the books she wanted to buy, April said "Thank you. And again, I'm so sorry I bumped into you. It just seems like I've been doing that a lot today."
"Well, that just sounds like a strange way to spend a day," the boy said, chuckling. "But then again, I once lost a bet and I had to wear the girl's uniform to school. Confused the teachers, but I had a lot of girls telling me that I've got nice legs."
Laughing a little as she rose up from collecting the books she picked out to buy, April said "That does sound like a pretty weird way to spend a day in school. By the way, my name's April."
"Pleasure to meet you, April. I'm Jeff, Jeff Hardy," Jeff said, holding out his hand which April took and shook.
"Hardy? Does that mean you're related to Alexis Hardy?" April asked.
"Indeed I am. And I know what you're thinking. 'But Alex is black and you're white, so how does that work?' Simple enough to explain. My dad adopted Alex when she was around five and ever since then, she's been a member of my family. And, strangely enough, she's a good fit with me and Matt," Jeff said smiling.
"I never knew that Alexis was adopted," April said.
"Most people don't at first until they ask either me or Matt. Up until then, most people just like to assume that Alex is a relative of ours, like a cousin," Jeff said, picking up the last box that was by the door.
"I just find that so amazing. It was really nice of your dad to adopt Alexis," April said as the two walked over to the check-out counter.
"Well, thank you. It's nice to hear that other people think so," Jeff said. Looking to see that they had reached the check-out counter, Jeff said "I believe this is where you were headed. Kaitlyn, dear sissy, if you'd be so kind as to ring up April here, that'd be great."
"Oh, shut up, Nero. Just take that box to the back so that we can unload it later," Kaitlyn said, laughing as she slapped Jeff on the shoulder as he walked past her. Looking back at April, Kaitlyn said "I swear, Jeff may be a teenager, but he acts so much like a child. So, I take it you were able to find everything you were looking for."
Nodding her head, April put the stack of graphic novels on the counter top as Kaitlyn decided to look at each cover.
"Hmm, looks like you're buying a lot, so let's see what you picked out," Kaitlyn said, as she scanned each book. "'Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna', 'The Walking Dead: Days Gone By', the graphic novel adaptation of 'Dante's Inferno', volume one of 'Misfits', and 'Kick-Ass'. These choices aren't bad for someone who's a comic book virgin."
Blushing as she twisted a piece of her hair, April said "I was only going by how the covers looked and those were some of the main ones that kept leaping out at me."
"They really are great reads. Especially Kick-Ass. Most of the heroes in that are teens, so that makes it so awesome," Kaitlyn said, excitedly. "So, I take it that that's all you wanted today?"
Looking behind Kaitlyn, April pointed and said "Yeah. Uh, what's that behind you?"
Turning around to see what it was that April was pointing at, which was a pack of comic books where the first book had a picture of a Pikachu, Kaitlyn said "This? Oh, it's a package of the first four issues of the comics for Pokémon. Pretty cute stuff for kids and it's a great read if you like the games and the show."
"Why don't you go on ahead and add that to everything else?" April asked.
"Sure, no problem," Kaitlyn said, grabbing the pack and scanning the bar code. After totaling the price of what April wanted to buy, Kaitlyn said "And with that, your total comes up to $44.98."
Pulling out her wallet and taking out her money, April said "That's a pretty steep price for a few graphic novels."
"Sometimes you got to make sacrifices in order for quality reading material," Kaitlyn said. Looking down to see what April was giving her to pay for her books, Kaitlyn said "A $50 bill? Someone's got money at the ready."
Letting what Kaitlyn just said hang in the air, April proceeded to look around at the inside of the store again as she took her change and receipt. She didn't exactly know how to tell Kaitlyn that because of her parents' disposable income she had money to spend on whatever she wanted. Not really knowing what to say next, April instantly felt relieved when Phil came walking back to the counter.
"You would not believe what I just had to deal with over there," Phil said, putting his choices on the counter.
"I take it you had to deal with getting into an argument with some of the other guys over there," Kaitlyn said, ringing up Phil's buys.
"You could say that. I'd really rather not talk about it," Phil said. Looking over to April, Phil said "So, how did shopping solo go for you? Did you find anything you wanted?"
"As a matter of fact, I did," April said, holding up her bag.
Smiling, Phil said "Well, I guess this trip wasn't a total bust. I just have to pay for my books and then we can go." Turning back to Kaitlyn, who told him that his total was $32.58, Phil took out his own wallet and, giving Kaitlyn two $20's, took his change and receipt. The two then proceeded to leave all while Kaitlyn told them to come back again.
Once the two were out of the store, April asked "So what was it that you bought?"
"Nothing all that special. Just some issues of Batman that I needed," Phil said. "What'd you pick out?"
"Uhh, 'Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna', 'Kick-Ass', 'Misfits', 'The Walking Dead: Days Gone By', 'Dante's Inferno', and a collection of the comic books for Pokémon," April said.
"Nice choices. I'm sure with comic books like that, inspiration will come to you in no time," Phil said, smiling.
As the two walked on in silence, all April could keep thinking about was the shop, the look on Phil's face as he walked around, one of the other students from her school she had met, the laidback attitudes of Alex and Kaitlyn, and her recent purchases. She couldn't wait to get home and read her graphic novels; she was sure they were going to be great.
I think I did it justice with the choices of comics that April picked out (my AJ muse certainly approves). Now, before I go any further, one of the titles, Final Fantasy Origins: Yuna, I made it up off of the top of my head (mostly because I remember hearing in an interview that AJ had that one of her favorite video game series was Final Fantasy), so I decided to go with one of her first choices a graphic novel about Yuna's past. So, as usual, don't forget to R&R please. =)
