You're a Boy? -3- by Melanie Brown

“Don’t you look nice!” exclaimed Mom as I entered the kitchen looking for breakfast. My senses were assaulted by a strong aroma of coffee.  My parents keep trying to get me addicted to coffee, but I just don’t care for it.

“Thanks Mom,” I said as I pulled a Pop Tart from the box. Dad just looked at me and shook his head.  After pressing the lever on the toaster down, I reached into the fridge for a soda.

The paper made a pop as Dad snapped it expose the first page. Yes, Dad still gets a physical newspaper every morning. Instead of putting on his glasses, he leaned forward to read.  “Just look at this shit Canada is trying to get away with!”  He popped the newspaper with his finger.

As my Pop Tart popped, Mom said, ‘Honey, aren’t you supposed to be out at the rig? It’s a hundred mile drive and…”

Interrupting, Dad said, “Harris can manage until I get there.” He took a drink from his coffee cup. He chuckled, “I can’t do anything until I’ve had my morning cup of coffee.”

I sat down across from Dad to eat my Pop Tart.  I punched at the screen of my cell phone, took a drink of soda and said while looking at the screen, “Wow.  Just look at this shit Canada is trying to get away with!”

Dad looked down his nose at me. “You think you’re hilarious, don’t you?”

Grinning, I closed the screen on my phone and took a last bite of my breakfast. I stood up. “I need to get going. I have a whole five miles I have to drive to get to work.”

Mom hugged me. “You be careful, honey and have a great day at work.” I waved to my parents and headed out the door.

                    *

I was plugging my cash register into the network when Sarah showed up with her register. “Hey girl!  Ugh.  Sorry. Hey Guy!” She set her register down on the counter top.

I laughed as I opened the cash drawer to inspect the contents. “I told you.  It’s no big deal.”

Shaking her head, she said, “I know.  I want to be correct.  You look great in your uniform, by the way.  Did you do something different with your hair”?

I chuckled. “Yeah.  Making things worse, Mom helped with my hair this morning.”

Sarah smiled. “Well, you look nice.”

“Thanks.”

“Today should be an easy day. Thursdays usually are.”  Did I forget to mention I was hired on a Wednesday?  I have Sunday and Monday off.

I closed the cash drawer and said, “That’s good.  I want to ease into this job.”

Sarah chuckled. “Yeah.  After school starts, your kiosk will become very busy. Boys love to come here to buy their girlfriends small gifts.”

Nodding, I said, “I’ll be ready.”

                    *

Standing with my arms folded trying not to fall asleep, I asked Sarah, “What time is my lunch break again?”

She shook her head. “Not even a full day of work and you’re asking about breaks.” She looked at her phone. “You’re scheduled for lunch in about thirty-five minutes.”

I sighed. “I’ve had one sale so far. So I’m a little bored.”

Sarah chuckled. “Savor the moment.  It’ll all change in a few days. Wait ‘till you have your first Saturday.”  Pointing, she added, “You still haven’t put out your perfume display.  That’ll keep you busy for five minutes.”

I nodded.  “You’re right.” I put a box on the kiosk’s counter and started removing smaller boxes. The perfume I was selling were in pretty little bottles, so for a display, I started arranging the bottles on a shelf to attract attention.

“Hey Jer!” The sudden loud voice surprised me and I fumbled the bottle I was holding and accidently spritzed myself.  Terrific. I was covered in perfume.  I turned towards the voice

“Hey Zane.  What’s up?”  I put the bottle down on the shelf.

“Yeah, Jer. I was wondering if you could… You smell nice.”

I laughed and asked, “What can I do you for?” Which was probably a poor question to ask.

Shaking his head, Zane said, “Last night after her party, my girl and I had a … well a little tiff.  I was wondering if you had anything I could use to get on her good side again.”

Taking a more serious tone, I said, “Sure. I have a lot of things she might like.” I held up a charm bracelet.  “Isn’t this cute?”

“Yeah, yeah.” He paused a moment. “Do you sell that perfume here?”

I grinned and held up a small box.  “Sure do.”

Zach chuckled. “Well if it smells that good on you, I can imagine how it will smell on her.  I’ll take it.”

I grinned again.  “Good choice.”  I told him the price and rang up the sale.

Sarah gave me a thumbs up.

                    *

“Sarah, I’m taking my lunch break.”

“Oh, Glad I caught you,” said an out of breath Tommy.

“Hey Tommy,” I said. “I’m just heading out for lunch. If you need anything, Sarah can help you.”

“I do need something, but that can wait. Mind if I join you for lunch?” asked Tommy. “I just dropped my mom off at the beauty parlor across the street, and she’ll be in there for days. I mean, I came here to see if you wanted to go somewhere for lunch.”

I shrugged. “Sure.  There’s several places nearby.  I only have half an hour.”

Grinning, Tommy said, “Cool  Have you been to Tony’s Café? It’s on the corner, Great Italian food, and they’re fast.”

I shook my head. “I’ve never been there.”

“Then you’re in for a treat.  Let’s go.”

                    *

“This is nice.” I said as we entered the café.

The waitress walked up to us. “How many?”

Tommy said “Two.”

“Booth?” asked the waitress.

“Sure.”  We were led to a booth where the waitress indicated we should sit.

Looking around, I said, “This is quite intimate. Seems like a great place to bring a date.”

As he slid a menu towards me, Tommy said, “I brought Susan here last week.  She loved it.” Tommy has been dating Susan off and on since the tenth grade. 

The waitress returned with her order pad and asked, “What can I get y’all to drink?”

Looking serious, Tommy said, “Dr. Pepper for me.”

The waitress turned towards me. “And for you, miss?”  Tommy smirked at me.

“I’ll have Dr. Pepper too.” I paused a moment and then added, “Oh, and we’re separate checks.”

Tommy held up his hand. “No, no, Jer. I got it.”

“Tommy!” I said with a voice edging towards a whine.

In a stern voice that surprised me, he said, “I’ve got it.”

I shrank back in my seat slightly and meekly said, “Okay.” I frowned at him.

The waitress asked, “Y’all ready to order?”

Tommy smiled and said, “Can you just give us a few more minutes?”

“Surely.”

After the waitress walked away, I glared at Tommy. “What the hell, dude? I can pay my way.”

Shrugging, he said, “It didn’t feel right to leave you with the check. You just started a new job and all that.”

Still frowning, I said, “I’m not your date.  Is that why you asked me to lunch?”

Now Tommy frowned. “Don’t be silly gir…Jer.  I’m stuck on Ghost Recon and I know you finished it.”

About that moment, the waitress returned and asked Tommy what he wanted.  She then turned to me and asked, “And for the lady?” I was tempted to order the most expensive item on the menu, but decided against it.

                    *

“Tommy took you out on a date?” asked Cindy incredulously over the phone. “Isn’t he dating that Susan something?”

I sighed. “Not any more.  A friend of hers saw him with me, and so she broke up with him.”

Cindy laughed. “You little home wrecker! How does it feel to be the other woman?”

I scowled at the phone. “Will you cut it out?  What’s stupid is he’s now mad at me!”

“Seriously? It’s not your fault.”

“I know, right?” I sighed.

“So when’s your next date?”

I growled, “Will you knock it off?”

                    *

End Part 3

Copyright ©2025 by Melanie Brown