The employee pulled out a pair of wrestling shoes, size 13.
Jacob blinked at the employee’s selection. Unsure, he asked him, “Is there anything uh… smaller?”
The employee smiled. “I’m sure that these will fit just fine.”
Jacob nervously laughed. Not wanting to make things too awkward, he agreed to just try on the shoes. After the employee, who Jacob now knew as simply ‘Lee,’ left him, Jacob decided to take the shoes out of the box.
Despite the neat appearance of the box and ‘new’ sticker on it, the wrestling shoes seemed slightly worn in. He was about to call for Lee, but decided against it. “The guy’s kinda weird,” Jacob muttered to himself.
He pushed his feet in, expecting the shoe to feel very loose. When it was done, Jacob was confused. “When did my feet fit a size 13?”
Despite the supposed comparatively small size, the shoe fit snugly on Jacob’s feet. He walked around in them for a bit, noting that the shoes still felt heavy and cumbersome. He felt like an idiot walking around in such oversized shoes.
Lee came around, seeing Jacob. “So, how is it?”
“It’s a little big, you know,” Jacob said, showing Lee his shoes. “Are you sure I can’t get anything smaller?”
“I’m sure that these fit just fine,” Lee said, repeating what he said earlier.
Jacob was about to say something, but when he looked into Lee’s eyes he just forgot what he was about to say. In fact, he just forgot the preceding conversation. “I, uh… What?”
He was slightly confused for a moment before recalling that his father had sent him to buy shoes. Still feeling he didn’t need the new shoes, he looked down at the wrestling shoes. He sighed loudly. “Although these are kinda big, I think I want to buy them,” Jacob said, reluctantly. “Maybe he’ll shut up about these now.”
Lee smiled. “Perfect. Just hand me the box and you’ll be on your way.”
When Jacob returned to the shoe box, he also found his original shoes were gone. In their place were some sneakers that were not his. “Eugh, this is like from one of those actual sports guys from school. They think they’re so cool,” he said. He went back to Lee, asking where his shoes went.
“We throw in some sneakers with every new sports shoes purchase,” Lee explained. “It’s free.”
Jacob was bewildered. “Really?” He went back and decided that since his old shoes were long gone, it wouldn’t hurt to get these. He stuck the size 13 Vans, once again surprised by the snug fit. This pair, however, didn’t feel heavy on his feet.
At the register, Jacob paid for his shoes. “These are kinda nice,” He said, looking down at his new sneakers. “Can’t believe they’re free.”
The teen headed home, still slightly dazed. He suddenly felt very tired. Dropping off his new shoes by the shoe rack, he headed to his bed to sleep.
“What a weird shoe store…”