"Your total is $6.99."
"PAAAHAHHHHAHAHH." You snorted. Your cashier's head snapped up at your sudden outburst. It took him a moment to figure out what your deal was, but once he'd figured it out, his resting bitch face became more bitchy as his frown only tugged downwards more.
You covered your mouth with your hand, surprised about your own sudden loudness. "I am so sorry." You slammed a ten on the counter, grabbed your drinks, and ran out of the store.
"Yo, yo, slow down," Reko said as you rushed out of the store. You'd gone so fast that you almost ran into the busy parking lot. "What's got you in a rush?"
"So the total was $6.99, right-?"
"Oh my god."
"And I snorted. Except it was more like a scream."
"Now," Reko's eyebrows raised in confusion, "How the fuck do you scream snort?"
"I don't know. But it was so embarrassing. And the cashier was..."
"Were they cute?"
"Really cute."
"Shit, lemme check 'em out."
She tried to move around you into the store, but you held your hand out to block her. "Not a chick."
"Oh. Then, gross."
"Don't be rude. Take this." You handed Reko her drink and she immediately cracked it open. "I think he's new. I've only seen him one other time."
"What's he look like?"
"He has teal hair, and he wears this dark green beanie-"
"I'm done." Reko spun around and walked away from you mid-sentence.
"Hello?!" You ran to catch up to her. You cracked open your own drink, careful not to drop the third drink you bought, as you both walked beside each other.
"Did you get Beanie's name?"
"No."
"Great. I'm gonna call him Beanie Guy until you figure it out."
"Oh, fantaaaastic." You replied sarcastically.
The two of you walked in silence for a few minutes. "Oh." You said, sipping your drink.
"Ha?"
"I accidentally gave him a ten."
"You gave him an extra three dollars and a singular cent? In this economy?!?!"
"I know. How terrible of me. How will I, a lowly college student slash restaurant server person survive with three dollars and one cent less in my pocket? Cashiers at convenience stores never give you the coins anyway. It's all a scam." You rolled your eyes.
"You're supposed to grab 'em yourself, Y/N," Reko said. "The cent dispenser juts away from the cashier and towards the customer for a reason."
"Sorry, I just refuse to stick my hand in that nasty thing."
"FUCK!" You heard when Reko opened the door to your home.
"Oh no. Alice is raging again." You said, setting your bag on the floor. "I think he needs his Monster." You kicked off your shoes and walked upstairs to Alice's room.
You knocked once, then opened the door, not caring to wait for permission to enter. "Take." You said, holding his drink out to him.
"Wow, I love Pipeline Punch."
"Fruity."
"You are literally holding the same drink."
"That is not my problem."
"How much was it?"
"$5.34"
"Are you fucking kidding me? Each?!"
"Nah, I'm just pulling your leg. It was $2.33."
"Can you break a five?" He held up a bill.
"Do I look like the local McDonalds?" You took the bill and shoved it in your pocket. "Almost enough to compensate for the amount I lost to the cashier."
"Were you robbed by someone who earns less than minimum wage?"
"No, no, no." You wanted to explain, but you thought it was silly, and he'd just laugh at you, so you left it at that.
"...Then, do you care to explain?"
"Not really."
"Then go. I am busy." You did as directed, making sure to close the door behind you. It wouldn't do much to block his loud raging, but it was better than keeping it wide open.
"Fuck." Alice said, his head peeking into the fridge.
"What's fucking you today?"
"We don't have any milk. How am I supposed to make these epic white shell noodles without any fucking milk?"
"I can go run up to 7-Eleven and get some."
"That'd be great. Use the five you stole from me earlier."
It was only then that you realized that Beanie Man might still be there. "Yeah, on second thought, I think I won't..."
"Why?"
"Can you just go instead?"
"I can just go with you? I will not be going by myself."
"What about Reko?"
"Reko's got a date or something. She's getting ready right now."
You groaned, hit yourself on the head, then groaned again.
"Why don't you want to go to the 7-Eleven?"
"Because they embarrassed themselves in front of the 'cute cashier.'" Reko chimed in suddenly. She walked into the kitchen while fidgeting with her ear.
"Oh, you're all dolled up." You commented. She had her hair up and her makeup done quite plainly, but still nicely either way. She was also wearing a skirt... Which was very rare. "Your date must be very pretty."
"She is. Her name is Nao. I met her at uni a while ago." Her hands fell from her ear to her sides. "Do I look okay?"
"Oh, you're even wearing your gay earrings. You look very lovely, Reko."
"What's this about being embarrassing in front of an attractive minimum wage living human?"
"It's nothing."
"So basically-"
"I'll say it." You groaned. "The cashier at 7-Eleven was really cute, okay?"
"I believe we have established this fact already."
"So he told me the total, which was $6.99, and I snorted."
Alice burst into laughter at that. "You snorted because your total just happened to have the numbers six and nine next to each other?"
"Yes! He looked so done with my bullshit, as well. Man's resting bitch face was more like bitching rest face if that makes sense."
"Is that why you said you got robbed earlier."
"You told him Beanie Guy robbed you?"
"I did not."
"It was heavily implied."
"It was not."
"I still need milk. I think that was heavily implied by the fact that I haven't started making my bomb ass white shell noodles yet." Alice stared at you with a neutral expression.
You glared at him. Sometimes living with him had its perks — like his five-star white shell noodles that come in a box — and other times you had moments like this. At least he and Reko didn't fight often.
You stomped your way to the front door, putting on your jacket. "Fine!" You opened the door and left without saying goodbye because you wanted to be dramatic and that was the only dramatic thing you could think of doing.
You looked up at the sky to see grey clouds rolling in, and you regretted not having grabbed an umbrella. At least you had your hoodie.
7-Eleven was only down the street a bit. You'd probably be able to get there and back before it started raining.
If you were fast enough.
"Welcome in." A voice greeted you when the bell on the door rang. Unluckily for you, it was Beanie Guy, but he was staring at his phone, so he hadn't recognized you yet.
You rushed down one of the aisles, walking down the back of the shop to get to the cold drinks area. You grabbed a gallon of milk and carried it to the counter. You felt the need to hide your face, but you knew you had to face Beanie Guy because you didn't feel like going to jail for stealing a fucking gallon of milk.
While Beanie Guy scanned the milk, you caught a glimpse of his name tag.
"Shin..." You accidentally whispered out loud. It made him tense up and freeze. That's when he took the chance to look at your face, his shoulders relaxing when he realized you were just reading his name tag. "Oh- sorry."
"Oh, you're the one from earlier..." The sound of thunder interrupted his words. "69 kid."
"I am not a kid. I am a whole 23-year-old."
"Awe, just a kid. A whole child."
"How old are you, hotshot?"
The tips of his ears burned pink but he answered anyway, setting the gallon of milk back onto the counter. "24 years of age as of the 2nd of April. Your total is 4.39."
"$4.39? In this economy?"
"Do you want your change from earlier back?"
"No, it's fine." You replied, pulling out the five you'd taken from Alice.
"Good, 'cos I already spent it." He sounded completely serious, but the thin smile on his face revealed that he was joking.
He pressed a few buttons on the register, and the coins rolled out into the coin dispenser. You're supposed to "take 'em yourself," as Reko said, but that's fucking nasty. You were about to take the milk and leave when Shin grabbed the coins and held them out to you. "Here you go."
Wow! You get your 61 cents back. He dropped the coins into your hand and you made your way to the door. It was only then that you realized how FUCKING HARD IT WAS RAINING. You must not've paid much mind to the strike of thunder earlier.
"Fuck." You said. You shoved the coins into your back pocket, then pulled your hood over your head.
"Did you not bring an umbrella?" Shin called from behind the counter.
"Ah- no. I made a dramatic exit from my household and did not get the chance to grab one."
"I have one. I just got off my shift, so I can walk you home if you want."
"Did you really just get off your shift?"
"No. But I don't want to be here anymore than you want to walk home in the rain." Shin stood on the tips of his toes to see if anyone was in the aisles, falling to his heels when he deduced that there was no one else there. "This shit-hole can take an early closure on a Thursday night." He mumbled.
"Great," You thought, "Now I get to lead a cute quirked-up white boy to my house as we share an umbrella. The real question is, though, is he goated with the sauce? Will he bust it down sexual style? Stay tuned."
The rain was very heavy, and the wind was strong, as well. You were lucky Shin was weirdly being nice to you. You were literally Y / N. I bet bitches would be lining up to be you at that moment.
"I just live down the street." You said, pointing.
Shin seemed to be staring at a car instead of where you were pointing. "I think that's my manager." He said way too calmly for a guy who was about to get caught leaving work early. "Here. Just take it and return it to me the next time you see me on my shift, I guess." Before you got the chance to thank him, he was sprinting back inside the store.
"I'm home!" You shouted. You swiftly made your way into the kitchen, dropping the gallon of milk on the counter. You decided to look for Alice because, now that you were home, he needed to get off his ass and make y'all some god damn white shell noodles. You started in the living room but were surprised to see a stranger sitting on your couch instead of one of your roommates. The stranger had fluffy pink hair.
"Hello?" You greeted them.
"Oh- H-Hello. You must be Y/N. I'm Nao, Reko's... date."
I can see why Reko got so fancy tonight. Nao seems like a sweet girl.
"Yes, I'm Y/N. It's nice to meet you, Nao. Uhm, where is..?"
"Reko said she needed to go speak to her brother, and then she ran upstairs."
"Right. Thank you. I'll get her down here for you." You threw her some finger guns — which, now that you look back on it, was super fucking cringe and a terrible first impression — and ran upstairs to Alice's room.
You could hear their voices from behind the door, so you walked in. "I'm ready for noodles. Reko, your girlfriend is waiting for you downstairs."
Reko barely spared you a glance, "Alice."
"They're my noodles, though. I don't even know her. I don't want to have to make two boxes either. I planned for only Y/N and I tonight."
"It's not my fault the clouds hafta piss so bad."
"Alice don't be a ratatatatatatatat." You said.
"I hate when you say that. What the fuck is a 'ratatatatatatat?'"
"You. Nao is nice from what very little I've heard of and from her. We can make noodles some other night for just the two of us if their date goes well."
Alice immediately sat up from his bed and walked out. He seemed eager to make two boxes of noodles, now.
"What is that?" Reko said. I followed her eyes down to my hand, which was still holding Shin's umbrella.
"It's... an umbrella."
"That is not any of our umbrellas. Where'd you get it? They don't sell umbrellas at 7-Eleven."
"...Shin gave it to me."
Reko looked at you like you were speaking some foreign language, "Who the fuck is- Oh! Is that Beanie Guy's name?!"
You nodded your head. "What, so, he took your leftover change so you stole his umbrella?"
"No, you ratatatatatat. He let me borrow it."
Reko's eyebrows raised so high that they came off her face. Just kidding, they didn't go that high. "Really?"
"Go kiss your girlfriend." You turned and left Alice's room.
"Damn. I love white shell noodles." You said.
"Me too," Alice replied. Reko and Nao were up in her room eating... each other's faces, probably. So you and Alice were the only people at the table.
"I love these noodles."
"You say that every time I make them."
"I fucking love these noodles."
"Alright, that's enough."
~*~
2320 words
4/22/22