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Stupid.

It had been 3 days since Oscar had met the 5 people he might just be able to call his friends, but he hadn't left his house since he got back afterward. His dad was ecstatic that he had made new friends and suggested that Rhydian come visit the bookshop sometime.

Oscar made his way out of his room and went to the little reading nook he had by the large window that overlooked the street behind their shop. Strangely enough, it hadn't stopped storming all week.

Oscar's wristband vibrated for what felt like the 50th time that morning and he let out an irritated sigh. Dammit, Jasmin shut up already.

5 new text messages.

Oscar tapped the notification to confirm that it was indeed Jasmin who was bothering him.

Baka: oscar-chan plz don't ignore me~

Baka: plzzz I'm lonely Oscar-chan~

Baka: hey you said you work at a book shop, right~?

Baka: oscar-chan I'm booooooored~~~

Baka: fine, you leave me no choice~

Oscar sweat-dropped. Oh god. He had a bad feeling about this. Oscar closed the screen on his wristband and hurriedly got dressed into his usual outfit; a t-shirt, his green hoodie, a pair of basketball shorts, and his dark green converse. Glancing at himself in the mirror, he saw that his wavy hair was an absolute mess. He attempted to flatten the few pieces that were sticking up, but it didn't make any difference.

Augh... I'll have to fix it later.

The teenager yawned and made his way down to the kitchen, where his mother was making something else.

"Morning, mom," Oscar mumbled, dragging his feet over to the counter. Mrs. Gilbertson smiled at him. "Don't you mean 'afternoon'?"

Oscar looked at the time and blinked. 1:25 PM.

"Oh."

Mrs. Gilbertson laughed. "How late were you reading last night?" She asked, pouring a cup of flour into a glass bowl. Oscar scowled.

"I wasn't reading. An annoying blonde called Jasmin kept me up until 2 in the morning," Oscar snarled, ferociously putting a piece of bread in the toaster. Mrs. Gilbertson glanced at him. "He seems to like talking to you," She said, and Oscar let out a dry laugh. "He's annoying as hell. I want to shove him down a staircase."

Mrs. Gilbertson was about to reply, but Oscar's dad called for him from the bookshop below. "Oscar! Come downstairs for a minute!"

Oscar sighed. "Be right back," He muttered, before heading down the spiral staircase. Now my toast is gonna get cold...

As he reached the bottom step, he immediately regretted ever waking up in the first place. Jasmin was standing next to Mr. Gilbertson with a wide grin on his face. "Hey, Oscar-chan~!"

Oscar looked to his dad. "Um. Why is he here?" He asked through gritted teeth. Mr. Gilbertson smiled. "He asked me if an 'Oscar-chan' worked here and I told him you did."

Oscar let out a groan and pinched the bridge of his nose. You're freaking kidding me.

"Why don't you take him upstairs to your room?"

Oscar glared daggers at Jasmin. "Fine." He spun around on his heel and Jasmin thanked Mr. Gilbertson before following Oscar upstairs.

When they reached the second floor, Oscar went to get his toast. Jasmin followed him and said hello to Mrs. Gilbertson. Oscar tried his best to ignore Jasmin's presence, but that was much easier said than done.