alight. : a fireafy fic

Chapter Eight

Bubble squinted at the label she was reading and sighed. She hated taking inventory. However, Match had notified her yesterday that they had been running out of dark roast, which meant she had to take note of what else they were low on.

They were low on quite a bit of things. Bubble sighed. They'd have to order a new stock soon. Bubble pulled out her notepad, scribbled the word "vanilla" onto the shopping list, and looked up at the counter.

Snowball was emptying a bag of coffee beans into the grinder. He looked up at Bubble.

"Am I supposed to empty the whole bag in?" The white haired boy looked quizzical.

Bubble turned to look at the grinder. "As long as it's not overflowing, it should be good! Just watch it carefully."

Snowball was the new employee at the coffee. He had started working here about five days ago, and Bubble liked how he was a fast learner. He knew how to make every drink on the menu after one training session.

"I'm taking inventory, by the way," Bubble told him. "Are we missing anything?"

Snowball blinked. "No, but we're low on French roast, I think."

The blue-haired girl nodded and pulled out her notepad, scribbling out a few more words. She looked at the clock and back at Snowball. "You can go now, your shift is over. Match told me to tell you you're going to be working tomorrow morning's shift with Pen."

Bubble went to the backroom to place an order for the products the coffee shop was low on. She frowned when she saw the delivery date was in four business days.

They weren't going to run out, but it was cutting it close. Bubble shook her head. She should have ordered earlier.

Bubble made her way out of the backrooms and back to the counter. She pulled the freshly ground coffee out of the machine, took a whiff, and smiled.

She loved the smell of freshly ground coffee.

When she looked up, she almost dropped the coffee grinds. She shook her head, put the coffee grinds on the counter, and squinted at the sight before her.

Yep, she was seeing that correctly.

Snowball and Needle were kissing.

Which didn't make any sense to Bubble. Snowball had told her that Needle and Firey were together.

Without thinking, Bubble pulled out her phone and snapped a picture.

She stepped hurriedly into the back rooms and sank into a chair. Her eyes scanned her phone contacts list, and she finally found the contact she was looking for.

Firey.

She hadn't texted him very much before, but she got his number from when he was still dating Leafy. Would he recognize her number? Should she even tell him what she saw?

With shaking fingers, she pressed the text button and typed out her message.

'Firey! It's Bubble.'

She placed her phone on the table, screen side down. Almost instantly, she received a response. She grabbed her phone and looked at the message Firey had sent back.

'Hey Bubble! What's up?'

Bubble's heart was racing. Should he tell her what she saw? What if they weren't even together in the first place?

Bubble was getting nervous now. She sent a follow up text.

'Are you dating Needle?'

"Bubble, what are you like, doing?" Bubble jolted and looked at Match, who had just entered the backroom.

"Oh! Match!" Bubble put her phone away. "I'm not doing anything!"

Match twirled her curly red hair and rolled her eyes. "Okay, cool."

Bubble pressed her lips together before speaking.

"Actually, I have a question."

Match raised her eyebrows. "What's your, like, question?"

Bubble sighed. "If your partner were to kiss someone else, would you like to know?"

Match laughed. "Oh Bubble. Like, of course I would want to know! I'd like to know as soon as like, possible."

Bubble nodded her head. "Thanks for your input, Match."

Match hummed in response before walking to the counter. Bubble was left alone with her phone conversation with Firey. She turned it on and saw that he had responded.

'Yeah, why?'

Bubble took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

She sent the photo she took to Firey.