||Jamilla Tate|| First Person ||

        "Zaynab, I swear to God, this has to be the third time that you've played this song." Wendy Jacobsen slams her paperback copy of The Great Gatsby onto the counter in faux-displeasure, turning around to glare playfully at the enthusiastic twenty year old who has just emerged from the back room. Zaynab Mohamed grins almost guiltily as she walks past the counter, heading back over to the giant cardboard box sitting in the middle of our sales floor.

        "I'm sorry, Wen, I'm just super excited to see them live tomorrow." Zaynab crouches down next to me, digging into the box for four new copies of some new fantasy novel. We received a new shipment of books just yesterday, which means that Zaynab and I are expected to handle getting them all onto the shelves. Wendy had been allowed the privilege of staying by the cash register, where she snacked on chocolate covered pretzels and continued to read F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel.

        "Okay, but if I have to hear 'lean wit it, rock wit it' another six times, I'm gonna break the stereo and your CD." Wendy threatens. Zaynab turns around and stares at Wendy with wide eyes, betrayal and disbelief framing her expression.

        "You monster," Zaynab exhales with a shake of her head.

        "I like the other one." I tell Zaynab, leaning back and sitting on the carpeted floor on my butt. I dig into the box for a collection from Veronica Roth-- Four, it says. "The 'silent in the trees' one." Zaynab looks at me with a wide grin spreading across her face, and it occurs to me then that this band must really mean something special to her. I shoot her a small smile back, feeling good about the fact that she wanted us to listen to what makes her so damn happy. 

        "And that is why I like Jamilla more than you," Zaynab sticks her tongue out at Wendy, the twenty six year old snorting with laughter as she avoids looking at Zaynab. I gently swat Zaynab's arm, trying to get her to turn her attention back to the books. Their goofing off would not get us home in time, as Jennifer wanted these boxes empty before tomorrow morning.

        After another round of the same song from Zaynab's favourite band, Wendy clears her throat, attempting to get my attention. I turn back to look at her, and when she asks me to come over to the counter, I quickly get to my feet. When I stop in front of the cash desk, she leans across it and lowers her voice. "Jennifer chose the winner of the sweepstakes today." Wendy brushes her hair out of her face as she speaks, momentarily distracting me. "It's the girl from yesterday-- Jenna... Black. Yeah, Jenna Black. She's supposed to come in today, but I might not be here when she comes. If she doesn't come, I'll leave you in charge after my shift, okay? The cheque is under the register and the goodie bag is in the back. Can you do that for me?" I nod my head immediately.

        "Jenna Black, under register, bag in the back-- I got it." I smile reassuringly at her, drumming my fingers lightly against the counter before shooting her finger guns. Wendy furrows her brows as she looks at me, but laughs nevertheless.

        "And to think I trust you the most here." Wendy chuckles.

        "It's because of my unbelievable work ethic," I say cheekily.

        The day goes by productively, with Zaynab and I managing to stock the shelves with all of the books from the new shipment. I help to sweep the store again because the construction down the street seems to keep blowing dust through the windows.

        By six o'clock PM, Wendy is reluctantly clocking out, reminding me of my duties and wishing us luck. Since my shift started later than usual today, I'll have to close the store with Zaynab at 8 PM. If the girl, Jenna Black, doesn't show up by then, I'll close up shop, grab some food, and head home. My cousin and roommate Nina may or may not be home, depending on her plans for tonight. It's slightly pathetic that I'll be at home on a Friday night, all by myself, but Zaynab is supposed to be sleeping over at her sister's house tonight before her concert while Wendy has a date with her boyfriend. I'm effectively all alone tonight, which isn't something new necessarily, but still sad nevertheless.

       "I'm so sleepy," I yawn in exhaustion, sighing as I fold my arms over the counter and bury my face into my elbows. Zaynab is sitting on the stool next to me, scrolling through her Instagram feed. It's been an incredibly slow day so far, but it wasn't necessarily unpredictable. In recent years, local bookstores have been suffering because of stores like Chapters and Barnes&Nobles. It's sad because at one point, this store used to be so incredibly busy.

        "Two hours left, buddy." Zaynab mumbles under her breath. We sit in silence for a moment, Zaynab completely absorbed in her cellphone, and me nearly falling asleep in my chair.

        "Is this what I'll be doing for the rest of my life?" I ask her tiredly. "I feel like shit." Zaynab turns to look over at me for a second, her eyes narrowing as she attempts to study my facial expression. She opens her mouth in preparation to speak.

        That's when the bell jingles melodiously as the door is pushed open, a gust of the evening air sweeping into the store as two people enter. I look up almost immediately, turning my attention to the two customers.

        "This is it," the first girl is saying, as she gestures to the contents of our shop. "It's really cozy, isn't it?"

        "The atmosphere is great," I think the boy says, but I can't be sure because his voice doesn't carry far. I clear my throat and plaster on a stupid smile as they turn slowly.

        "Hey, uh, welcome to Appletree Books--" I'm interrupted by a terribly loud gasp coming from my right and the sound of a cell phone clattering gracelessly to the floor. I turn around quickly to look at Zaynab, who has her hands clasped over her mouth in disbelief.

        "Oh my God!" Zaynab squeals. "Oh my God!Ohmygodohmygodohmygod--"

        I avert my gaze from Zaynab back to the two people standing by the front door. The girl is the blonde from the day before-- she had said she was travelling with her boyfriend, I think. She looks nervous, possibly because of Zaynab's incoherent squealing. My eyes then land on the boy beside her-- he's average height with slightly tan skin and short brown hair. It takes me a moment, with it having been so long since we last saw each other, but it becomes immediately apparent to me that the person standing before me is Tyler Joseph-- none other than my Troy Bolton.

        "Hi, uh," the girl starts to say, but I don't let her finish speaking because I'm standing up so abruptly that my stool shoots backwards and clatters to the floor. Tyler stares straight at me, disbelief clouding his eyes and warping his features. It's only a moment before he's speaking.

        "Jamilla?" Tyler Joseph breathes out. In an instant, Zaynab is angrily swatting at my arm.

        "Tell me why the frick Tyler Joseph knows your name!" She whisper-yells, but it's ineffective because they still hear her.

        "What?" I whisper sharply, looking over at Zaynab for a brief second. How does she know who he is?

        "It is you," Tyler is smiling then, but I'm most definitely not. I could only imagine the horrible things that Josh Dun must have told him about me all those years ago. Why he hasn't flipped me off yet is an absolute miracle. I'm instantly uncomfortable with the shocking realization that my life here in Cleveland is now being disrupted by the life I once had in Columbus. They were two things that were never supposed to clash, never supposed to meet. "Wow, it's been so long--" I shake my head, my fingers shaking as I quickly turn away and dash into the back room. Zaynab makes another noise of disbelief, but I'm still slightly confused as to how she even knows his name.

        I run my fingers through my hair as I try to calm myself down, but this sudden drop in from one of the boys that I'd forced myself to try and forget about is making me nervous. How do I get out of this sort of situation? I was doing fine, just fine, and I didn't need to bring back the past. I didn't want to have to remember him, or hear his voice, or hear his name for that matter.

        I quickly grab the goodie bag from the back room, calling out to tell Zaynab to check for the girl's identification. As Zaynab helps me out by getting all of Jenna Black's signatures on the form, I wait patiently in the back room. I want to minimize the amount of time spent out there.

        "Jamilla?" Zaynab calls out to me, so I force myself to backtrack and head back into the store. I lift the bag and place it on the counter, refusing to look at the two people standing across from the desk. I quickly reach under the cash register for the cheque that Wendy told me I'd have to give to Jenna. Double-checking for any misinformation on the piece of paper, I carefully hand it over to Jenna. She takes it slowly, still looking at me with confusion in her eyes. 

        "The cheque is for the two-hundred dollars you've won. As Zaynab must have told you, the forms were for our records that you received your cheque to cash out at any financial centre. The goodie bag is a mystery  book from the Fresh Finds section of the store. Thank you so much for your contribution to Appletree Books, I hope you have a nice day." I immediately turn around, refusing to look in their direction. 

        "Sorry about earlier," I hear Zaynab saying. "I'm just... Me and my sister are seeing you guys in concert tomorrow--"

        "I'm sorry, what?" I turn to look at Zaynab in disbelief. She looks at me then, a little resentment in her eyes of course, before she speaks.

        "Their band... Twenty one pilots? Jamilla, we were just listening to them today." Zaynab turns to look back at Jenna and Tyler, and despite the fact that they're smiling now, I still feel uncomfortable. I stare at the counter blankly as I hear Tyler offer to take a picture with Zaynab, and as Jenna stands back to help take the picture, Tyler does something I absolutely hate him for. He pulls me into his left side, holding me to him tightly as he smiles at the camera. Jenna takes a few pictures(and for her sake, I try to smile), before she takes out her own phone and quickly snaps a picture. Before I can open my mouth and ask why she would ever want a copy of the fan picture, Tyler is talking to Zaynab again. 

        "Thank you so much," Jenna mentions to me, waving the cheque with a soft laugh. "It's always great to win, huh?" 

        "I guess," I force a smile. Jenna stares at me for a second, sensing my blatant discomfort, before she turns to look at Tyler-- her boyfriend. I'm still not quite used to that. 

        "Tyler, we better get going." Jenna tells him, quickly checking the time on her cellphone. My heart lurches with excitement-- they're finally leaving. Tyler kindly hugs Zaynab one last time, saying that he'll 'see' her tomorrow at the show, before he turns to me. I avoid looking in his eyes.

        "We're having a show tomorrow--"

        "I know." I say sourly. 

        Tyler pauses for a moment, his eyes narrowed as he studies me. "I want you to be there." 

        "Look, thanks for the invite, but--" I glance over at Zaynab, who is watching us with a distraught expression. I turn back to Tyler, hating myself before the words even leave my mouth. "You can't possibly think I'd come."

        "I know that you and Josh..." Tyler stops himself, trying to think of a better way to phrase his sentence while Zaynab practically dies off to the side. I cross my arms over my chest, now one hundred percent sure that I wouldn't go. Judging by Zaynab's reaction and the fact that Joshua William Dun is even a part of the equation, I know that he'll be there. I don't want to see him.

        "I'm good." I say, effectively shutting Tyler up. He stares at me for a brief moment, sensing the finality in my words, before he nods his head and turns around, heading towards his girlfriend.

         "It was nice meeting you, Zaynab." Tyler says. He glances at me, but something in his facial expression carries far too much disappointment-- I refuse to look at him. "It was nice to see you again, Jamilla." I shrug my shoulders in response, and after a tense moment of silence, Tyler and Jenna head for the door. It jingles lightly as they leave. 

         "That was wiiilllddd..." Zaynab whistles a long tune awkwardly. I nod my head in agreement.