I pause, weighing the situation. Truthfully, I know nothing about working retail, and frankly, capitalism is a scam, so if this person wants to return the book, who am I to say no? But obviously Amy’s looking for a specific kind of answer here, so I need to tread carefully.

Finally, I say, “I could ask them where they bought the book?”

Amy sighs. “Sure, but if they’re returning it to our store, we already know the answer. So what if they stole it or something? We’re not just gonna give them a refund, right?”

“So I should . . . call the cops?”

Amy’s eyes widen. Drew peeks over at us from behind the counter, holding in laughter. Finally, Amy sighs again, placing a hand on my shoulder as she says, “Noah, you seem like a nice kid, but I’m thinking maybe you’re not cut out for working retail.”

“I—oh.”

Amy dismisses herself to the back room, and I stand there frozen for a moment, shame washing over me. Well, at least I don’t owe Maggie that favor now.

A whistle cuts through the shop, and I look up to find Drew waving me over.

Of course, I could just leave the shop and save myself any further humiliation, or I could take this as the Hand of Destiny, Fate pushing us closer together as long as I can seize it.

I creep up to the counter and say, “So, you saw that, huh?”

Drew chuckles, leaning forward against the counter. “I take it that was your first interview.”

“For a job? Yeah,” I say. “I’ve done personal interviews, but only online stuff.”

“Oh, what kind of stuff?” he says.

And I pause because I didn’t expect him to ask me about it, so I didn’t think mentioning it would be a big deal. But of course it’s all Diary stuff that I can’t really bring up in casual conversation, so I look out at the stack of books and rush to change the subject.

“Isn’t this place supposed to be alphabetized or something?”

He winces, following my eyes through the shop. “Well, yeah, it’s supposed to be, but there are a few new releases that came out this week, so we’re kind of swamped. Is there something I can help you find?”

I shrug, tilting my head toward him. “I guess I’m mostly just enjoying the scenery.”

He smiles, and wow, it’s super cute, and exactly the kind of response I was hoping for. Perfect white teeth against perfect pink lips. I imagine he’s a great kisser. This is the part where he talks about his passionate love for books, and then he says some cheesy line about that not being all he’s passionate about, and before you know it, we’re making out on a stack of books, getting papercuts in awkward places.