Page 86 of Reaching Avery
Chapter Twenty-Two
Avery
“Hey, I was just coming to check on my application,” I said to the guy at the grocery store. Pretty sure he was the manager, but I could’ve been wrong. “I submitted it like two weeks ago.”
I’d been trying to get a job ever since I moved to Port Haven. The hunt hadn’t been fruitful yet, but someone— somewhere— was bound to hire me eventually, right?
“Name?” he asked with a bored tone. His nametag read Joe.
I told him and then waited as he went to the back room, out of sight. I tapped my fingers on the countertop as anxiety plagued me. This wasn’t even a huge job. It just involved bagging groceries for people and stocking shelves.
But I needed it.
Joe appeared way too soon, which told me he probably just went into the office and screwed around with something before coming back out, not even bothering to check my application.
“Sorry. Spot’s been filled,” he said with a less than sincere expression. “But we’ll call if another opens up.”
“Might be hard since I don’t have a phone,” I snapped, tired of his crap. He would’ve known that if he’d even read the freaking thing. “Thanks, anyway.”
I stormed out of the store, cursing my bad luck. That was the third place in one day that had rejected me. I’d already visited a gas station and a different grocery store. I wasn’t going to give up, though. Port Haven was huge, and there was a mall, smaller shopping centers, other gas stations, cafes, and numerous other places I could try.
Back outside, I stood on the sidewalk as I debated on where to go next. A breeze ruffled my hair, and that crap was cold. I shivered and hugged my arms closer to my body.
Since when did October feel like November? I was wearing aDisturbedhoodie—one my mom had bought from Hot Topic, which was still amazing to me because I’d never owned anything new from there—and it helped block most of the cold. I hadn’t worn my new leather coat yet, because I was saving it for when it got colder.
Deciding to try Main Street, I started walking that way.
I’d been out there for hours. After school that Thursday, I’d gone home with Declan and grabbed something quick to eat before taking off to job hunt. My feet hurt a little from all the walking I’d done, but I didn’t have any change for the bus, so it was either walk or not go anywhere at all.
My upper thighs hurt, too, but that was my fault.
Main Street was a little over fifteen minutes away on foot from where I was, and the scenery along the way wasn’t bad at all. I loved looking at the historic downtown area of Port Haven, where the older Victorian homes and buildings sat. I’d love to design them one day. Use influences from that era and modernize it just a tad, but not too much, because I wouldn’t want it to lose its character.
I examined a chapel as I passed it, admiring the intricate craftsmanship of the large, wooden door and the bell tower at the top. Stunning didn’t even come close to describing it. As the bells began to chime, I slowed my pace on the sidewalk.
The sound was beautiful, and I watched what I could see of the bells as they sang their song. The six tolls let me know the time at least, since I didn’t have a watch.
A woman stood outside the chapel and stared at me. And her expression said I wasn’t welcome any closer to the building.
Trying not to let it bother me, I picked up my pace and moved on.
I remembered what Maverick said about feeling like he was living in a box: labeled before people even took the chance to get to know him. I felt like that too.
The seaside stores on Main Street were always bustling with activity. With such a gorgeous setting, how could they not be? Well, unless you were like me and hated the sea, but whatever.
The cafes on the strip had some of the best food in Port Haven, authentic seafood that literally just came out of the water sometimes. A candy shop was around there somewhere that was like freaking Willy Wonka’s place. I’d never gone inside, but I’d looked through the window before, and it was pretty magical.
There was a bar farther down that came alive at night—that I recalled seeing when I’d played pool with Mav and Ben—and in between the food places, dessert shops, pool hall, and drunkards-R-Us, there was an abundance of stores.
And a coffee place… which I proceeded to go toward… because Maverick was working that evening. Which also explained why I’d walked all the way there from the other side of town. There wasn’t a snowballs chance in hell of me getting a job in any of those seaside shops.
So yeah, I’d gone there for Mav. Secret was out. Done and done.
I entered Brew Emporium and tried to be inconspicuous about it.
Coffee wafted to my nose, as did pastries, and for a second, I regretted going inside. I’d eaten dinner, but after walking around for a few hours, I was hungry again. With no money. In a place that sold blueberry scones, which Ben had bought me the day we’d studied together, and it’d been, like, my favorite thing ever.
A dude with a lip piercing and shaggy, blond hair was wiping down the front counter, and he turned when the bell above the door dinged.
