Let's play ball

'This can't be real', she thought as she watched the man turn to write on the whiteboard behind him, "Welcome to Sports Law 101, I am a guest lecturer for today, Jason Parker! Professor Willow will take over starting tomorrow"

His eyes landed on Stella and her reaction was priceless, he snickered in his head then winked at her, forcing everyone's attention to fall on her. 

Jenny leaned over, "Stella, is there something you'd like to tell me?", she asked sternly,

Speechless and embarrassed, Stella whispered, "After class okay, after class"

Liberty was now in the work-branded orange t-shirt that she despised but she had no choice, it was for work and she had to abide by the rules - much like her life, she had to do what she had to do to survive. Even if meant doing things she disliked - her feelings didn't matter, the orange-colored T-shirt was just another reminder that she had no voice, but now she was being offered a choice, college. After hours of sighing and trying to peek at Stella's mind, she was finally ready to leave the apartment. She couldn't wait for her sister any longer; college was different from high school, and she knew she had an evening class, "I guess we will talk about this tomorrow.." she sighed, putting the letter back into the drawer. 

"Food is in the microwave, don't forget to lock the doors. I love you to infinity.". she placed the sweet pink note on the fridge for her younger sister before closing the door.

It was bad enough that she almost missed her bus stop because her mind kept pacing, even at work, it was hard for her to focus, 'If I do go to college, who will make supper for Stella?'. She sighed as she scanned the carton of milk, "That will be 40 dollars please", she counted the change and handed it to the customer. The next one came, and with the same hand movement, she scanned the bag of chips. She was not paying attention to the customers, just the computer screen and the products in her hand, as if she was being controlled by a button -

"Amazing!", the customer exclaimed, 

She snapped to her senses and looked up at him, "Uhm...sorry, what was that?"

"I have been literally watching you scan and change the money, but not even once did you look at the customer. I bet you can't even tell me what the person who just left looked like?"

She chuckled awkwardly, "Guilty as charge...", she started to become nervous. The last thing she needed was the attention of that new manager who seemed eager to get her fired,

"I am sorry Mr.. I-"

"What?! No no, I am just amazed! Honestly! I am impressed. Even though your mind is far away, for some reason, you are still doing your job without mistakes...that's quite interesting...it's like your hands are moving on their own - "

She sighed and smiled politely as she should have been to a customer, "Thank you. I am pleased you are impressed. It takes years of training your mind if you must know... ", she scanned the last product, then looked up at him with fascination written in her face, "Wow, I never noticed, but you eyes are quite unique....mesmerizing honestly.."

He exhaled heavily, "Today alone. You are the 5th person to comment on my eyes..."

She nervously shook her head, "I am so sorry...I didn't mean to-"

"No...it's fine...I am used to it. How much do I owe you?"

She smiled, "That would be 150 dollars, would you like a bag..."

He nodded and took out his card to scan but his sudden silence only made her more anxious and worried that her comment about his eyes may have been the reason for the sudden change in his mood. Feeling the need to fix it, in secret, she slipped her hand into her bag to take out a Miguel from Coco figurine keychain, "As my 15th customer, you get a free key chain - being different is not a burden, but it simply means you were chosen for something far more extraordinary, something that can shape an entire generation. That unique feature (your eyes) - is the mark.", he found her kindness and smile enchanting and he couldn't help but return it. Unknown to her, he knew there was no such thing as the 15th customer but he played along with it - for some reason, he was amused and taken by her, 'what an interesting woman.', he thought.

There was a sudden commotion in her lane and to her surprise, everyone seemed drawn to it. If her eyes were not deceiving her, everyone seemed excited to see the man in front of her peeking at her curiosity but also raising her concern. She could even hear the whispers:

"Doesn't she know who that is??"

One customer said, "Clearly she doesn't watch the news or read the paper", and is all true, between trying to put food on the table and looking after her sister, she couldn't afford such luxuries. 

It suddenly hit her, that if this was indeed a celebrity, there would be trouble because celebrities are VIPs at the store, she dropped her pride, and leaned closer to the man, "Sir, what's your name? Please help me out...if I don't treat you nicely, I will get into trouble."

The man chuckled, "Don't worry. You treated me far better than I've ever been treated - human. I prefer the treatment you are giving me than the reaction I am getting from everyone else,", 'People noticed me sooner than I expected!, he looked at the name tag, "Liberty...Liberty...till we meet again. I have a feeling I will be seeing more of you.", He winked before leaving her stall.

Liberty was more worried about her job than anything, she had to get his name, "But...sir...I...your name", but the man just disappeared like that.

She sighed, " As if I don't have enough problems to worry about", she whispered in her breath. Soon, the next customer followed and she smiled brightly as she should have been doing from the start, "Hi ma'am, how can I help you?"

"That was Jason Parker, young lady...even I know that and I am 70 years", the old greyed woman shook her head and clicked her tongue in disappointment as she walked away from her, "This generation is becoming more and more ignorant"

"Who the hell is Jason Parker!", Liberty screamed out frustration in her head, at the same time the manager was approaching her.

"Come to my office after the 5th customer"., she said authoritatively.