Window Shopping

by Tessa Bailey

Don’t trade emotional currency with strangers. You will never get a refund.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words are just a representation of the speaker’s insides—not me. And not you.

An unrestrained laugh tumbles from my mouth before I can stop it or even think about swallowing the sound—and his knee stops bouncing abruptly. In the ensuing silence, the only sound is Aiden exhaling unevenly. “Now, that’s a laugh worth waiting around for, Stella.” Then, more to himself, “I was wondering if you were ever going to let me hear it.”

Being with Stella might be easy, but there is a perpetual tug in my subconscious telling me she’s not all in. Yet. She’s window-shopping, while I’ve already bought out the whole damn store.