Droplet

Chapter 6

"Yet another victory for the water mage, as she wipes out an entire enemy camp in a single swipe, and the enemy admits defeat! Vic Smith seems to be the hope we've been searching for, but is she getting too powerful? Lots of people are beginning to-" The staticky voice of the reporter was cut off. That was old news. It happened a couple weeks ago. Josh had heard about it the day it happened. Even though he and Vic had lost contact while she was gone, someone who knew her made a website for her, and he checked it for news daily. Josh set down the TV remote and pushed himself out of his recliner. 

"Time for work," he mumbled, his voice groggy with pre-coffee drowsiness. 

He trudged to his kitchen and started up the small coffee maker. His tiny apartment was filled with the sound of coffee beans being ground to powder. He lived on his own, so he wasn't worried about waking anyone up. 

A few minutes later, he had a nice warm mug of black coffee. He downed it quickly, then got dressed in his navy blue uniform for work. He had a part time job at a clothing store in the nearby mall that he and his friends used to hang out in all the time. His apartment was just a couple blocks down the street, so it was easy to get there. It pay much much, but it was enough for the rent and instant ramen and mac and cheese, so he was satisfied.

When he arrived ten minutes later, he opened up the shop and sat behind the counter, texting Cass, who was the only one from their old group who still talked to him. No one ever came to the store this early in the morning; the sun hadn't even come up yet. He figured he had some time to kill. 

Josh-

Sup? Sorry if I wake you up. I'm bored as heck lol

Cass :P-

Nah, I was already up. Aren't you at work?

Josh-

Yeah, but no one comes in at 6 am, so I thought I'd try to entertain myself.

Cass :P-

Makes sense haha

Just then, someone actually came in. 

"Gosh, I haven't been here in a while. Fashion sure has changed since I left." The customer mumbled as she surveyed the store. Josh watched her move around the racks of clothing, not seeming to find anything she liked. She looked strangely familiar. He needed to get a good look at her face. 

"Can I help you Ma'am?" he asked from behind the counter. 

"Nah, I'm just browsing. Thanks though." The girl looked up at him and studied his face for a few seconds, then furrowed her eyebrows. "You, um, you wouldn't happen to be Josh, would you?" she asked cautiously, squinting her eyes at him.

"Yeah... I am... Why do you-" Then it hit him. His eyes went wide and he sprung out of his seat, dropping his phone on the hard tile floor. "VIC OH MY GOD IS THAT YOU?"

"I told you I'd find you." Vic smirked. She tried to keep her cool, but couldn't. She broke down in tears and ran up to him, effortlessly leaping over the counter and crushing him in a massive hug. "I missed you so much." Her voice came out barely above a whisper.

Josh stood there for a moment, startled by how quickly she moved. Then he hugged Vic back. "I missed you too. And so have Cass and Alyssa."

Vic tensed as she heard Alyssa's name. The last time they talked it ended with Vic saying something that she didn't regret, then soaking Alyssa's mom with a water bubble. She didn't regret that either. Vic wasn't exactly sure she wanted to see the Martins again.

"You okay Vic?" Josh asked, noticing that she had stopping crying suddenly.

Vic nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just remembered something I didn't really want to remember, that's all."

"Oh, sorry."

"No, you're good. Anyway, how's everything been up here? You've sure grown." Vic changed the subject.

Josh looked down at his belly. He had put on a lot of weight since Vic had last seen him.

"Hey, you're not tiny anymore either," Josh snapped playfully.

"Yeah, but mine's muscle, and I'm taller than you too," Vic laughed, poking Josh's stomach. 

Josh laughed as well, "I guess you're right. It's been boring without your craziness here."

Vic stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, so mature," Josh joked. "I thought you were supposed to be some highly trained super soldier or something." He punched her arm.

"Was. I was a soldier. Now that I'm back, I want to go back to just being Vic." She shrugged.

Josh looked behind her to see some people outside the store pointing at the two of them. "That's great Vic, but it won't be as easy as you think. You're famous now." He nodded his head toward the people outside.

"It's fine I guess. They're probably scared of me, so I could just threaten to use magic and they'll go away." Vic's smile faltered.

"So you've heard the news reports, huh?"

"Yeah. It's all right though. Those people don't know me. You're not afraid of me, are you?" 

"Scared? Not at all. You're my friend, and I know you'd never hurt me. I know too much and could get you in a ton of trouble." He smirked at her.  "I'm a bit intimidated though, not gonna lie. I mean look at you! You look like you could dead lift me without giving it a second though!"

"I probably could." Vic smiled at him and gently hit his arm, careful not to hurt him. He wasn't wrong about her strength. "I don't really plan on keeping this up though. It's a lot of work and dieting. I've only had ice cream twice since I left!"

Josh couldn't believe she went that long without ice cream. "As soon as my shift is over, we're going to the old ice cream place. They had some renovations and it looks at lot like how it did when it first opened!"

Vic's face lit up with excitement. She'd always loved looking at the old pictures of the shop, now she'd actually get to see it.

"Does that one guy still work there?" 

"You mean monotone dude? He's still there. He'll be happy to see you. He missed having you around to brighten up his Fridays!"