Lollipop and promises

i

a supermarket is that time

rs slide open, customers come and go, the registers beep in a ste

g. Smile

nergy for much else. Between lectures, assignments, and trying to figure out what I actually want to

mo

hem are nice, some of them are awful, and some are just plain weird

r more, never less. Or the businessman who comes in every Thursday for a f

n there

Lolli

ool rush begins but before the dinner crowd kicks in. He walks in like he's got all the time in the world,

s, obviously. It

comes in. Ev

e day, he buys

cherry

. People have weird habits. But the

ndy aisle, like he already knows what he wants. And how, no ma

e. But for some reason, I

ly 4:15, the chime

before I can

here

gh it without thinking. Same unhurried pace as he walks

man in front of me. She's struggling to find her credit card, digging through

s, shifting through old receipts, lipstick tubes, and what

the guy behind her in line i

finds it, and by the time I hand her t

Lolli

r like always, sliding a dollar acro

It's always

bbing the bill and o

ils I haven't before-the faint shadows under his eyes, like he do

, and as always, he t

en he'

epping out into the early evening ligh

es. He's just another customer, just another

n the next item, I c

even lik

ad straight to campu

he semester, it's starting to drag. Tonight, we're discussing something about unre

though I know I'll have

ed. My apartment is small but comfortable-shared with my best friend, Rache

ossing a piece in the air a

I say, dropping

ysterious product spills? Secret

rn and collapse onto the couch beside her. "Though I th

ks up. "Oo

"There's this guy who comes in every day a

ks. "Tha

t's

en grins. "Obviously,

eyes. "O

weird, right? Who buys a

mit. "But now I can'

of popcorn into her mouth. "Well,

yebrow. "Fin

f he actually

up to grab a glass of water, I realize

I wi

care. Just b

be I care