Everyone downtown seemed locked into their own little world. Knowing the speed at which technology was improving, it was only a matter of time before it took over the world. Those who weren’t scrolling and texting had their noses buried on their iPad tablets. To be surrounded by so many physical bodies: people of all different colors and nationalities, religions, sexual orientations, and still feel disconnected and alone—both literally and figuratively—at the same time was a little … jarring.

Being one of the few teenagers without a tablet, smartphone, or social media profile, Apollo felt like the kid who’d been left out on a secret the entire class knew. He remembered reading an article in one of Odion’s digital sociology textbooks entitled, The Boom of Social Communication on the Digital Web. It definitely boomed, but not in the way Apollo expected it to.

With the release of every new social media app, it seemed as if people tended to forget their own humanity and were more akin to robots. How were humans going to evolve if everyone was too preoccupied with staring at screens all day? Or was that the plan? To keep people dependent on their devices so governments could keep a watchful eye on its citizens.

Apollo came back to reality and shrugged his shoulders. People were free to live their lives however they wanted to live. Who was he to judge how people spent their time? Odion always said he was a “conspiracy tard” and had a “boomer mentality.” Perhaps he was right. Apollo highly doubted other kids his age felt the same way about technology and social media. Perhaps this is why I have no friends.

Apollo constantly twisted his body right and left along the sidewalk to avoid being bumped or shoved by careless pedestrians. Drivers were also noticeably more reckless than those back in Sauga, exceeding the speed limit and zipping past red lights whenever they had a chance.

“HEY!” one pedestrian yelled, trying to cross the street. “Watch where you’re going,” he said, gesturing obscenities with his hands. He started mumbling to himself in a language Apollo couldn’t understand.

The fast-paced lifestyle of downtown Toronno was something that was going to take a lot of getting used to, especially of the things he overheard on the train: people being pickpocketed, street gangs mugging citizens for being in the wrong part of town—crazy stuff. Not only that, but quite a few panhandlers were sitting with their signs and coin cups, begging people for change. At one point, Apollo saw a group of them huddled together in a circle sticking needles into their arms.

Whipping out his MP3 player to change songs, Apollo noticed portions of the energy bar were gone. Going anywhere without music wasn’t feasible so the first order of business was to find the nearest Digitronics store in the area. Being in the heart of the city, that can’t be too hard to find. Turning on Dulligan St, a large crimson fluorescent Digitronics sign shined up ahead, drawing a smile across the corners of his lips.

Apollo’s eyes grew wide as he stepped through the automatic sliding doors, looking at the different headphones on display. The tablet fixed onto the table made it easy to check out and compare each model’s features.

“Are you in need of any assistance today?” a lighthearted female voice asked from behind.

“No, I was just …” Apollo met the eyes of the girl who approached him. Shining stars of the universe, this girl is fire! A wild berry scent radiated from her body. And she smells good! Apollo's heart started racing, the crown of his head tingling. Why weren’t any words coming out of his mouth? Get it together, Apollo. She’s just a girl. Or was she? Her energy seemed a lot different.

“Is everything all right,” she asked, curling her brows, probably thinking he was mildly retarded.

Apollo nodded, the blood quickly flowing past his neck and spreading across his cheeks. He did a quick scan of her body. “I was just admiring how the heart-shaped pendant around your neck brings out the beautiful features of your eyes,” he said to fill the awkward silence. “May I ask where you got it from?” That was terrible, Apollo.

She smiled faintly. “Thank you.” She looked down and held it gently between her red nail polished fingers. “It belonged to my grandmother just before she passed away.” Her mouth curved into a frown.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Apollo said, embarrassment itching in his voice.

She nodded her head, brushing strands of curly, midnight black hair behind her ear. “If you’re ever in need of any assistance, don’t be afraid to ask,” she said, walking away in search of another customer.

Apollo held out his hand in his mind and asked her not to leave. Unfortunately, this was a work environment and not a place for any form of idle chat. “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life,” Apollo muttered.

“What was that?” She turned around, her deep-brown eyes shimmering as bright and clear as a crystal chandelier.

“Nothing!” Apollo’s heart jumped. “I’ll call you if I need you, thanks.” He stuck his thumb out and smiled.

She returned the gesture and pointed toward her name tag. “My name’s Joy, by the way.”

You’re also a joy to look at. Another customer approached her with some questions about the 4K televisions and both of them disappeared into one of the aisles. Should I ask for her number? No, what if she’s got a boyfriend? Apollo took a deep breath and exhaled. As he swiped through the tablet, his hands were shaking. Joy appeared from the aisle a moment later and engaged in a brief conversation with one of her colleagues.

Her long curls extended all the way down to the middle of her back, swinging each time she moved her head. Her burgundy uniform shirt was neatly tucked into the creamy-brown pants that matched her skin color and accentuated the curves on her petite body. Damn, this girl’s fire!

What were the chances of her being single? Based on her looks alone, probably relatively low. Even if she were single, women of her caliber didn’t remain that way for very long. Gosh, I really want to ask for her number but—

“Sir,” someone said from behind, “have you been looked after?” Apollo hadn’t responded, eyes still glazing at Joy. “Excuse me, sir?”

“She’s beautiful,” Apollo said faintly, a smile drawing across his face.

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s beautiful.” Apollo snapped out of his daydream and cleared his throat. “These new headphones—they’re beautiful.” He turned around to a daunting figure looking down on him with neatly combed blond hair and a perfectly squared jaw.

“Yes,” the salesman smiled, “I actually just purchased the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless,” he said with a faint German accent.

“How is it?” Apollo was curious.

“Unbelievable!” he laughed. “The sound quality is impeccable to the point you can actually feel the vibrations of the different instruments in your chest. Powerful!” He emphasized with a chest bump. “It also all depends on the kind of music you listen to. If you’re looking for a more neutral sound, where there’s an even distribution of instruments playing in the background,” he smoothly glided his hand in the air to emphasize his point, “I’d definitely recommend the Momentum 3, no questions asked.”

“Yeah, I’m def—”

“On the other hand—sorry to cut you off,” the salesman continued, “if you like more of a heavy bass, I’d go with the Skullcandy Crusher Evo Wireless.”

“I’m more of a contemporary classical kind of guy. I like my fair share of heavy bass, but for the most part, I like my classical music,” Apollo said, looking at his name tag, which read Jeff.

“That’s pretty cool, dude,” Jeff said with a genuine smile, crinkles forming around his eyes. “Regardless, they’re both unbelievable, and you really couldn’t go wrong with either of them.”

“Yeah.” Apollo’s voice carried disappointment. “They also have an unbelievable price tag.”

Jeff’s smile quickly formed into a straight line. “Yeah, unfortunately, they are expensive, but you get what you pay for, right?”

“This is true.” Apollo nodded.

Jeff began stroking his chin as if thinking of a solution. “Okay, what’s your budget?”

Apollo shook his head. “Not enough.”

“What’s not enough?” Jeff pressed for an answer.

“Only a thousand dollars and I need it to last me for at least the entire week,” Apollo said reluctantly. “As a matter of fact, I only came in here to buy a charger.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you what. You seem like a good guy, so I’ll use my employee discount and give you thirty percent off the price tag. How does that sound?”

Apollo’s ears perked up as if he hadn’t heard him properly. “What?”

Jeff smiled. “I’ll use my employee discount to give you thirty percent off, and I’ll even throw in a charger in there as well if that’s okay with you?”

“Are you even allowed to do that?” Apollo wondered. “Couldn’t you be terminated for such a thing?”

“Who has to know?” Jeff asked.

Good point. Apollo tried to do the calculations in his head.

“So including tax, you’ll only be paying around three hundred ninety-five dollars as opposed to the five sixty-five,” Jeff said.

Apollo had stopped to think about his decision but figured six hundred-five dollars could last him the entire week. Not only that, but the Momentum 3 was the latest model to hit the market, and an opportunity like this didn’t come around very often. Heck, he even threw in a charger to sweeten the deal.

“Okay, let’s do it!” Apollo said emphatically.

“All right, follow me.” Jeff motioned with his head.

Apollo followed him, looking around the store to see if he spotted Joy one last time before making his purchase. I have to shoot my shot. I may never see her again.

“Hey Jeff,” Apollo called.

“Yes?” He turned around.

“Gimme a moment, I have to take care of something quick.”

“Changed your mind already?” Jeff jokingly asked.

“Oh no, opportunities like this come only but once.”

“All right, I’ll meet you in the front by cash nine.” Jeff pointed toward the location.

Apollo took a stroll around the store, his heart stirring up a war in his chest, thinking of every possible scenario that could’ve happened. What if she laughed at him for being sincere? What if she had just gotten out of a relationship and wanted to take some time for herself? What if she was only focused on her studies? What if she thought it was weird a potential customer was hitting on her? I’d imagine that’s happened to her often, given how physically attractive she is. Why did it even matter so much if any of those scenarios came to fruition? It wasn’t a matter of life or death, so what exactly was there to be so afraid of? She’s just a girl Apollo, steady your nerves. Why was this so nerve-racking?

Perhaps it was best to leave her alone and hope by some miracle they’d cross paths again. It would only be a matter of time before employees of Digitronics looked at him and thought something funny was going on. The last thing Apollo wanted was to roam the store, looking like some teenage pervert, hoping to get a piece of some poontang pie.

Apollo licked his dry lips, throat scratchy. A long glass of cold water would’ve sufficed right now. Dried white spots crusted in-between the crevices of his fingers. Damn, I wish I had lotion on me. Did women really hold this sort of power over men, or was it all in his head? Maybe it was just his inexperience dealing with the opposite sex. Yeah, that’s it.

“Have you found what you were looking for?” someone asked from behind. Their voice serenaded him with grace.

“Yes, I have,” Apollo said, turning around.

“That’s good.” Joy nodded and smiled a gracious smile.

If Apollo didn’t know any better, he would’ve believed she’d gotten more beautiful within the short period they’d been away from each other. “Listen, Joy,” he said, trying to maintain his voice, “I’m about to do something I’ve never done before.”

Her smile quickly evaporated.

No, you idiot, don’t word it like that! “I mean …” Apollo tried to steady his quivering lips. “You probably get this quite often, and I know it’s going to sound weird and superficial coming from a total stranger, but I really couldn’t do any better,” Apollo said unnecessarily fast.

“What are you talking about?” Joy knitted her brows together.

Apollo took a moment. “Look, my name’s Apollo, and I believe you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. There, I said it.” He lowered his eyes to the floor. “I didn’t want to leave without telling you.” Apollo hesitantly brought his eyes up and noticed her rose-colored cheeks.

“Oh … thank you,” Joy said, though it nearly sounded like a question.

Apollo shook his head and took hold of both her hands. “It’s not just your looks I’m referring to.” One of her eyebrows raised as she straightened her back. “I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s something different about you. Something … about your energy.” Now her entire face reddened. “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Apollo watched her eyes circle his face, her mouth slightly parted like she wanted to say something but wanted to find the proper words first.

“You know,” she paused, “for some reason, I believe you.”

Apollo’s heart fluttered in his chest as he smiled. “Perhaps we should—”

“Joy, service to cash one, service to cash one,” a voice said over the store intercom. Hang out sometime.

“I have to go,” she said, pulling her hands away.

Apollo watched as she took one last glance at him before tending to her duties. If we are meant to be together, then I’ll see her again.

It was more wishful thinking than anything else.

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