Jesse sees me coming down the stairs and says, "Hey, do we have any Reese's Puffs?" I blink at him, "I don't know." He sighs deeply, as if the lack of this cereal is the most tragic thing in the world. Oh, the things my brother worries about. Its sad, really. "Morning, boys," my dad says as he comes into the kitchen from mom's and his bedroom. "Morning, dad," I reply as Jesse continues to search our cupboard for his beloved breakfast food. "Dad, do we have Reese's Puffs?" Jesse asks frantically. Dad laughs, "Of course!" I roll my eyes as he opens the lower cupboard and moves the flour and sugar to pull out a box of Reese's Puffs. "Addicts," I mutter as I take a muffin from the fridge. I walk into the front yard and the sun shines down on me. I smile and look over at The Blackbird, glinting in the morning sunlight. My smile grows as I walk over to it and put on my helmet, climbing onto the bike and turning out of the driveway before speeding down to town.
"Morning, James," Joe says as he rinses down the sidewalk outside of his general store. I never quite understood why he rinsed his sidewalk everyday, but we all have our habits, so I let it slide and, flashing him a smile as I dismount my bike and take off my helmet, putting it on the handlebars, I walk into the general store. Marley walks past me and out to her Mustang, and though I strongly dislike her personality, I'm amazed by the fact that she can still look beautiful, even when she is wearing pajamas and her hair is a catastrophe. I walk over to the toast section and pull out the first loaf of sour dough that I see, heading up to the cashier with a yawn. A tired-looking, (not like everyone else,) Thomas stands in front of me, buying milk and cinnamon rolls. He sees me and says, "Morning, Luther." I don't understand why he always calls me by my last name. "Morning, Peterson," I respond, stepping up to the counter as he puts some bills back into his wallet, dropping a five in the tip box. I pull out my wallet and mimick his action before putting my items onto the counter. "Good party." He laughs, "Thanks, I guess. See you around." He waves and walks out of the store. I buy my items and step outside of the store just as Erica walks up with Gene, Lucas, Kelly and Leighton. "Morning, James!" Leighton says brightly, smiling widely. What is with her lately? "Um, ya, morning, Leighton." Erica narrows her eyes at me and pulls a coke bottle up to her lips, taking a long chug. "What's up, Luther," she says as she slinks past me and sits on the bench that sits next to the apple display. Lucas- her not-quite-boyfriend -sits down next to her, also holding a coke. Actually, I notice, as Kelly and Leighton sit on the railing outside of the store and Gene leans against the post holding up the metal awning, all of them are holding coke bottles. I watch them for a moment, all sitting there, simultaneously taking sips of their cokes and watching me. They just have this air to them, in everything they do. Its like, honestly, how the heck do they manage to make drinking coke outside of the local general store look like a magazine-worthy picture? "Not much," I finally say. I shake my head slightly and say, "See you guys later." Leighton says cheerily, "Bye, James!" and Erica tips her chin slightly in my general direction before looking out at the street, taking another sip of her coke.
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