I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder. When I got off of the bus, it hit me. I was homeless. This sucks. The only positive thing about it is that I can live anywhere.

  I wandered over to a cafe and opened my wallet.

  “Damn, I’m broke,” I said to myself.

  Money was never a big deal to me — but back home, bringing my money with me would’ve gotten me killed. Better being broke than dead.

  I watched the cafe waitress as she approached me.

  “I’m broke, so I can’t buy anything,” I said.

  “I know,” she replied, eyes narrowing. “Then maybe you should find somewhere else to sit.”

  “Oh, yeah, of course. I knew that.”

  I got up, and walked away. A breeze swept through the street giving me the chills. I wandered for half an hour, scared of being removed from another establishment.

  A book store on my right looked warm, so I entered. I hid behind the bookshelves near the corner. I peeked a few times at the worker, she was talking to a customer. I leaned on a wall trying to think of what to do.

  “Hey, how can I help you? Are you finding what you were looking for?” the worker asked in a cheery voice.

  I jumped and grabbed a book quickly and opened it.

  “Yeah… honestly I was looking for this one right here.”

  She grabbed the book from my hands.

  “‘The Werewolf’s Bride?’ Care to explain yourself?”

  My throat closed up.

  “Actually, I was just leaving.”

  I started to walk around her before she moved in my way.

  “I was just joking, you don’t have to leave.”

  “Well, you seem busy so I should go,” I said.

  The girl laughed and her hand brushed up against mine. When I got a closer look at her she looked beautiful, more beautiful than any girl I’d ever seen. Her smile made my heart race and my butterflies flutter. I wanted that feeling to go away, yet I wanted more of it.

  “Then do you just want to sit here and talk?” I asked.

  “There are worse things I could be doing, like working.”

  “It doesn't seem that bad here,” I joked.

  She smiled at me, but it was a lonely smile. It made me want to stay here, for her.

  “Well, it’s just lonely working here, and my boss isn’t that sociable,” she said.

  I smiled and turned towards her.

  “How about I solve both of our problems? I need a job and you need a co-worker. Are there any openings here?”

  She raised her eyebrow. “You want to work…at a bookshop?”

  I leaned back up against the wall.

  “Well, it can’t be nearly as bad as my last job.”

  She followed me to the back of the bookstore with a smile on her face. The loneliness in her smile faded. She walked me to an old office sunken in the corner of the shop.

  “I know he’s cranky, but try and make a good impression.”

  I opened the door and an old man sat in a chair behind a laptop.

  “Who are you?” the old man asked.

  My palms started to sweat.

  “He is your new employee and is a very hard worker and wants to do everything I refuse to do,” the girl interjected.

  “You’re hired. Samantha, tell him everything he needs to do tomorrow morning.”

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  She grabbed my hand and took me outside of the office before shutting the door. My chest tightened.

  “Samantha, you’ve done so much for me even though we just met,” I blurted.

  She looked at my hand in hers and let go. Her hands went to her sides and she looked away from me.

  “I have a co-worker now so it’s a win-win. It was nice meeting you, but I have to get back to work now.”

  My newfound crush walked away hastily. I didn’t know if I scared her off or something. But it felt like we were connecting really quickly. I shrugged and walked back to the wall I was at before. I looked at the time; it was getting late.

  “Hey, you…what’s your name?” Samantha asked from across the book store.

  “Um, I’m Rowan.”

  “Well, Rowan, it’s closing time so unless you want to do some unpaid labor you might want to leave.”

  I walked outside into the cold night. My posture sank and my hands fell uselessly to my sides. The streetlights shined down, the only remnant of warmth to be seen.

  I turned the corner into an alleyway. A homeless man set up a tent on the other end of the alley. I slumped down and hugged myself. I was still smiling, probably the happiest homeless guy in town. My eyes shut and I slowly drifted off.

  “Hey,” a voice said. “Wake up.”

  I opened my eyes and saw a homeless man kicking my leg.

  “Get off of my street,” the homeless man said.

  I stood up looming over the man as my eyebrows narrowed.

  “This isn’t your street, this is a public street and it can’t be yours, because, guess what, you can’t own a street,” I yelled. “You know what, have your stupid street, I’ll go somewhere where no old people live.”

  The man backed up as I stomped away, throwing my hands into my pockets. I stopped smiling, I’m not the happiest homeless guy in town anymore.

  I woke up to the sun blinding my face. My back was killing me; I did sleep leaning up against a dumpster, so I wasn’t too surprised.

  The bell rang as I entered the bookstore. Samantha slowly peeked around a bookshelf.

  “Did you not read the sign…” Samantha said. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was you.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I guess I didn’t give you a time to come, but why did you come in at 6am?”

  I looked at the clock, and looked back.

  “The sun woke me up.”

  She laughed and walked over to me. I loved the way she laughed and looked at me. She showed me around the store; how to take inventory, use the cash register, and where the janitor’s closet was. When we walked back to the front of the store we both stopped.

  “When do I get paid?”

  “You’re joking, right?” she asked. “It’s just like every other job, every two weeks.”

  I laughed.

  “Yeah…I was joking, you probably think I’m weird or something.”

  “You are weird, Rowan, but I think your name is cute so it doesn’t matter.”

  The butterflies erupted and the room got really hot. I looked away.

  “I’m going to go do…something with books,” I said.

  She smiled at me and walked over to the cash register. I grabbed the book inventory sheet before walking away from her. I worked diligently, trying to get my mind off of her. A figure approached from behind me. My adrenaline spiked as I quickly turned.

  “Woah, I’m just checking on my new worker. How’s it going? You look exhausted, did you not sleep well last night,” my boss said.

  I took a few deep breaths.

  “No, this one guy woke me up…I…I just didn’t get enough sleep,” I said.

  “What guy? How?”

  I started fidgeting with my hands.

  “So…I came out here without a plan…and I mean I’m fine, but...”

  My boss started laughing hysterically.

  “You're too young to be homeless. There’s a spare room in the basement — it’s yours.”

  I blinked.

  “Seriously?”

  He patted my back and smiled.

  “Seriously. I need to make sure my new employee gets some good sleep.”

  I ran over to the cash register and looked for Samantha. She wasn’t there. My eyes scanned the store until I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I leapt to the side. Samantha started laughing.

  “Oh my god, I didn’t know I was that scary,” she said as she held her stomach.

  “I have to be ready for anyone trying to, you know?” I started to whisper. “Take me out.”

  “I think the bookstore is the safest place to be, I don’t think any assassins come around here.”

  “You don’t know much about me then.”

  “Oh really?” she crossed her arms.

  We looked at each other and started dying laughing.

  “Why weren’t you out by the register?” I asked. “Wait, were you eavesdropping?”

  Her face turned red and she looked away.

  “Oh, I was joking when I said I was homeless,” I let out a weak laugh.

  “No, I just had no idea, I would’ve let you crash at my place.”

  “Don’t you think that’s a bit too fast?” I asked.

  She cocked her head at me.

  “What? Oh no, what…” she stuttered.

  “I’m just kidding Samantha, unless…”

  “No, absolutely not.”

  I looked at her and started laughing, then she joined in.

  “You know, I don’t pay you guys to flirt,” my boss said as he approached us.

  We both looked up, caught off guard. And got back to work.

  A few hours passed when I looked around a bookshelf for Samantha. She was talking to a customer. Another customer in a black hood stood near a corner, flipping through a book. Once it got dark out, Samantha walked over to me.

  “Since you live here, you’re working evening shifts,” she said. “And it’s not busy at all when it gets later.”

  “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” I said, pulling books out of a box.

  “Don’t get involved with the homeless tonight, okay.”

  “I can’t help myself, they just hate me.”

  We both laughed as she walked out of the store. I smiled and rubbed my neck. This is the kind of life I wanted. Thank you, Ethan.