Second-Hand

“I’m scared! You buy it for me!” Seri whined.

“We have different textbooks!” I replied. “I’m not familiar with the book you’re getting either. What if they scam me?”

“I’ll take that risk.”

“It’s eighty dollars!”

I sighed. English classes filled up fast during registration, and Seri couldn’t get a spot in my research analysis class. She ended up taking a media analysis course instead.

“Then how about you transfer into my English class?” she suggested. “We could share textbooks.”

“Didn’t you pay your tuition already?”

“They give full refunds before the deadline.”

“Just buy the book. I’ll watch from here.”

She huffed. “Fine.”

We sat in the bed of my dad’s white pickup truck, waiting for the seller of her used textbook. Cars echoed in the distant highway. City musk and sewage suffocated the vacant parking lot with an invisible miasma. The unholy marriage of hot weather and pungent odours started to take a toll on my sanity as the sunlight forcefully drew beads of sweat from my pores.

The parking lot was eerily empty. Normally, you’d have to commit murder to snag a parking spot in broad daylight. I looked over at Seri, who stared into blank space, biting her lip. A sense of responsibility overshadowed my uneasiness.

“You’re not bothered by the smell?” I asked.

“Huh?”

“It smells bad.”

She sniffed the air and squinted. “It just smells like city. Maybe you should go outside more.”

“Why are you talking? I go out more than you do.”

“That’s besides the point.”

“Have you even gone outside this week?”

“I’m outside right now.”

“When was the last time you touched grass?”

“I want mini-donuts~” she hummed. At least it seemed like her nerves were gone. However, my own nerves settled in as a suggestion came to my mind.

“You wanna get mini-donuts aft-”

Skrrrrrr!

I was cut off by a sleek red sports car screeching into the empty parking lot. Its engine purred to a stop across multiple parking spaces. Everything seemed like a crime, from the way they drove to the way they parked. I’d bet money that the driver belonged to a fraternity.

Seri froze. “Sunny…”

“You’ll be fine.”

“Alright…”

The suspensions lifted as she hopped off the truck bed. I sighed in relief, but as soon as I released the remnants of my breath, there was a tugging on my pant leg. It was Seri, with gently widened eyes and pouted lips.

“Come with me,” she said.

“…”

“It’s a guy.”

“…I’ll come.”

A young man stepped out of the car, dressed in a white T-shirt and well-fitting black sweats typically expected of college boys. He stood tall and slim and wore golden aviators — the kind you would see cartel members wearing in Hollywood movies.

“Are you Seri?” he asked.

“Yup! I’m here to buy Film Analysis 102?”

“Sounds good. You a film kiddo?”

“No, biology.”

“Ah. Elective? Well then.”

He reached into his car to pull out an inconspicuous bag. This was looking progressively more like illegal activity, up until he pulled out the thick, ring-bound textbook.

“Could I flip through it?” Seri asked.

“Go ahead.”

As Seri slowly fumbled through the pages, I decided to make small talk with the man.

“I’ve never seen an empty lot in the city before.”

He laughed. “It’s a private parking lot. The office is closed today, so no one’s coming here.”

“Oh really? You work here?”

“Nope, my dad does. I’m transferring into the business program, so hopefully I’ll do the company’s accounting in four years.”

“Four years and you’re set, huh. Sounds like a good plan.”

He sighed. “Yeah. It’s not exactly my dream, but I’d be stupid to let this opportunity slip away, right?”

“What is your dream?”

“I wanna star in movies, kid. I even took acting lessons up until last year. But none of that really matters when your dad has a company lined up for you.”

“You bet. I wish my dad was rich.”

“Haha…”

“All good!” Seri piped up. “Here’s your cash.”

The man turned to leave. “Alright. Good luck in school, guys.”

“You too, man.”

We waved him away as he hopped back into his car. It kicked to life with a roaring profession of his wealth. My nose crinkled at the smell. Was that premium gas?

Seri sighed. “Haaa…”

“You did great. You didn’t even need me.”

“That’s not it…”

“What’s up then?”

“It’s just… I wish we were born rich.”

“Haha, me too. What would you do if you were?”

“Maybe take some time off school to travel.”

“You’d still come back to school afterwards?” I asked, surprised.

“Probably. I couldn’t find work, so the past year I spent at home was oh-so miserable.” She dramatically pressed the back of her hand on her forehead. “Even school was better than doing nothing.”

“I get what you mean. I’d take it slow too if I didn’t have to worry about money.”

“Would you still want to be a pharmacist?” Seri asked.

“I mean… it’s a lot of competition and I’m not the smartest. I like learning about medicine, but I’d honestly prefer music.”

“Music? Can you sing?”

“Kind of. I’m very amateur at singing and guitar and piano… but I like writing songs. Maybe I'll minor in english.”

“Ooh, you could make like song analysis videos on the internet!” she suggested.

“That’s above my paygrade. What about you? Would you still want to do pharmacy if you were rich?”

Seri’s eyes twinkled. “I want to work in healthcare, but everything else seems really messy… you know, blood and poop and stuff. So I guess I’d pick pharmacy over anything else. But if I could do anything, maybe stories?”

“Stories?”

“Videogames, dramas… anything, really. I’m not great at drawing, so maybe writing?”

“You could make story analysis videos on the internet,” I suggested.

“Haha, maybe. But that’s above my paygrade…”

A comforting shadow casted across her countenance. Her smile was so bright that seeing her without it uneased me. She gave a deep sigh before her next words.

“Cheeseburger?”

“What?”

“Wanna grab a cheeseburger? I’ll pay since you drove.”

“You just spent eighty on a used textbook.”

“Let’s go. I ordered two cheeseburgers already.”

“When?”

“When you were talking with that guy.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “How is that even possible?”

~~~

“Hold on,” Seri said. “I’m ordering right now.”

“…So you lied.”

“Not anymore. Excuse me.”

I reclined backwards awkwardly as she leaned across me from her passenger seat towards the drive-thru speaker. Her hair smelled like green tea and a dash of the parking lot from earlier.

“THE CODE IS 4-K-S-V!” She yelled.

“One soft serve and one large fries?”

“Yup.”

”Thank you. Next window please.”

“What about the cheeseburgers?” I asked.

“Well, we didn’t get any work done today. I thought I’d save it as a reward for when we’re being productive.”

“Ah, that’s smart. Positive reinforcement.”

“Yup. It’s the dopaminergic feedback loop,” Seri said proudly.

“Ooh, from our physiology class two years ago? I’m impressed that you remember.”

“I don’t actually remember much, but bringing it up makes me feel smarter.”

“Word.”

“Here’s your order!” the employee chimed from the drive-thru window.

We assembly-lined the ice cream and fries towards Seri, whose mouth was practically watering.

“Thank you!”

“Thank you,” I replied simultaneously. I’ve grown up in this city all my life, yet I never found this interaction natural. It made sense for the cashier to thank me for using their service, and it made sense for me to thank them for providing the service. But something about the both of us thanking each other never sat right with me. Shouldn’t one of us say “you’re welcome”?

“You’re so awkward,” Seri said.

“It’s society’s fault.”

“…phhwat?”

“Don’t talk with fries in your mouth.”

“Mmm,” she gulped audibly. “They’re so good! Here, try one.”

I quickly glanced away from the wheel as we pulled out of the drive-thru. Seri had dipped a fry into the ice cream. There was soft serve on the edge of her lips.

“Say ahhh.”

“Ah.”

“-Ah!” She exclaimed as I caught the icecream fused fry with my mouth. Initially, I couldn’t pay attention to what startled her — a passionate clash of hot and cold had shocked my taste buds. It was like a lightly salted cream puff with crisp edges, with each bite progressively blending the beautiful amalgamation of sugar and salt and cream.

“Can you… pull over?” Seri asked quietly.

I turned the hazard lights on and slowed to a stop on the side of the road. Seri was frozen, her gaze fixated on the textbook in her lap.

“What’s up?”

“…”

“Did you drop food on it?”

“No…” Seri breathed in deeply. She looked at me with her mouth pursed and eyes glistening. If I drew a caricature of her in that moment, it would’ve resembled the pleading emoji with those puppy eyes. She gently sighed out her predicament.

“I got the wrong textbook…”

“…”

How was that even possible?