Life's Unexpected Surprises - 9. Chapter 3.3 - Elijah Holmes Act 3 - Stressed Out

“So this is the shop...” Breston and I looked up in amazement. This was the shop where all of Isaac's autographs and stuff spawn from. It's gotta be the coolest place in town!

We'd been in town for a few weeks now, mostly getting our house together. Almost every night we went out for dinner since the kitchen wasn't unpacked. So we got to have a good look around the town in that time.

At home, our rooms were pretty much unpacked and set up. All that was left was back to school shopping, and Mom or Brandon needs to be done with work for that to happen. Until then Breston and I decided we were gonna take a tour of the town by ourselves.

“Didn't that Regal guy say he worked here?” Ya, that really cute Regal guy from the airport... I hope he's working today; that'll be cool!!

I nodded. “Ya, maybe he'll be working today.”

Breston jabbed my side with his elbow. “Someone has a crush on Regal!” I blushed and turned away from him. “Oh come on, don't be shy about it. It's fine to have a little crush on him; he is very cute. He's also four years older than you bro.”

“That doesn't mean I don't have a shot!” Breston gave me that sass look. “You never know.” I pouted.

“Come one looser; let's go inside.” Breston grabbed me by my elbow and pulled me into the store. It was full of assorted collectors stuff, all nerd related. Posters and wall scrolls covered the majority of the walls. Behind the counter was a whole bunch of TCG stuff. There was case after case of singles that you could buy too.

In the back, there were some old arcade machines and computers you could use. Down the middle was a row of tables; a couple people were playing a card game on it. I'm awestruck about all of this right now.

I was shaken out of my trance by a new French voice. “Hello, boys welcome to the shop.” It was an older man, early 30s I would guess. “I haven't seen you two before, visiting?”

Breston piped up. “We just moved here, we've heard about the shop and wanted to come and check it out. We were at Anime Rev a few weeks ago and saw Isaac there.”

“That's cool. Isaac is out of town right now again, but he'll be back soon. He sometimes comes down and visits the shop.” Wait, could this be Antoine!? “I'm Antoine, Isaac's partner.”

“I'm Breston, and this is my brother Elijah.” It seems weird that he introduced us as brothers. This is the first time either of us did that. It feels really cool honestly. “Well step brother, but brothers nonetheless.”

“Nice to meet you two.”

“Is Regal working!?” I spoke a little louder than I should have. “We met him on our flight here...” I hid my face, embarrassed.

Antoine leaned onto the counter. “Regal will be in later once he and his boyfriend Addison finish their lunch date.” HE IS GAY! But he has a boyfriend. “I see he made an impression on you. That's very common; he's like a local celebrity.”

“Really why is that?” Breston asked.

Antoine smiled. “He took part in the newest reality singing competition and made it to the live performances.” Wow, he must be really really good. “It lightens my mood when I hear him singing as he cleans the store.”

The door opened up, and two more kids came in. One boy, one girl holding hands. The boy was cute with his wavy dirty blonde hair going around his brown eyes. The girl had long scarlet hair, pony tailed to the side, and amber eyes.

The girl smiled. “Hello, Antoine! How's your day been?”

“Business is steady today, how's your day Evie?”

“Good, Simon and I have been hanging out all day.” That was when they noticed us for the first time. “Oh hey there, I'm Evie, and this is Simon, my boyfriend. New to town?”

I nodded quickly. “Someone is shy.” Simon poked fun at me. “That's okay; shy boys are cute.”

He proceeded to get smacked by Evie. “Eh! I don't care if you're bi, but I'm exclusive.”

“Looking, not touching!” Simon quickly raised his hands up in surrender. “I'm Simon, what's your name?”

“Elijah...” I smiled shyly. “This is Breston.”

Breston extended his hand. “Nice to meet you. We just moved to town; I'll be heading into grade 10, Elijah here will be in grade 8.”

Simon accepted his hand with a smile. “Evie and I are in grade 10 as well. Maybe we'll have classes together.” Simon turned to Evie. “You had business with Antoine?”

“AH! Yes! Antoine come hither a moment.” And like that Evie was out of the conversation and across the room.

“So are you into Blades too?” I asked out of the blue. Simon is really cute, and I don't wanna make a bad impression. High school relationships never work out, he and Evie are gonna break up sometime! I'm not hoping for it, but not gonna lie, I'll be a little happy when it does.

Simon shrugged. “It's okay; I like the older shonnen mangas. Fairy Tail and Naruto are my favorites. My dad actually has all the volumes for both of them. Including all the Fairy Tail spin-offs.”

I saw Breston's face light up when even just the words 'Fairy Tail' were muttered. It's one of his favorite anime. “Simon, you and I are gonna be good friends. Fairy Tail is amazing!”

Simon joined in on Breston's giggling. Pretty sure they just became friends. “You're welcome to come over and see it all if you want. Just make sure you don't wreck them.”

“Oh hell no! I would treat them like homework worth 90% of your grade!” I giggled at Breston's example. “Would Elijah be welcome to come too?”

“Of course, same things apply. Don't wreck them, or dad would kill me.” We stood there in an awkward silence for a moment. “Say, Elijah, what's your favorite Blades character?”

It's like he spoke my language. Because I started just ranting off. “I would have to say Kiari. He's just so interesting with his abilities and his knowledge. Then there is the spin-off that he's headlining that shows him before a dragon. He's been gifted the strength of a dragon on top of killing it. He's just so strong but never shows his true strength.”

In the middle of my rant, I didn't realize that Evie had joined the group again. “Wow, you're a nerd.” She joked. “In a good way. I like Roselle; she was such a bad ass in those fights. And we share a hair color.”

“Which is your favorite Breston?” All attention turned to him as he thought. “It's okay, take your time.”

“Galaxia, he starts off as the bad guy but changes for the better. And he dies in the best way.” Galaxia dies at the end of the first book striking the final blow to the big baddie. It was a really cool scene. “Silka is also cool.”

“Ya, they are cool. I think Evie is done here, so we're gonna be on our way. I'll see you guys; don't be afraid to say hi!” We waved as they walked out of the store.

Once they were out of sight Breston, and I started to look around the store. Everything had a story to it it seemed like. Antoine would tell us how he got it, or some kind of trip that he and Isaac went on. This store is so cool.

We ended up leaving with just a couple of posters, but we're definitely gonna be back for more. Regal showed up just as we were leaving and he actually recognized me. Well us, but nonetheless it was cool to know he remembered me.

I think I'm gonna like it here... I sure hope I do.

Chapter End.