Still Dreaming - Treebros

Chapter 9: "I Kissed Someone, it Wasn't You"

Wednesday, September 25th

"Is it nice working at Speedway?" I ask, fiddling with the edge of my notebook. I hope Noelle doesn't think that I don't want to talk to her. I do, really, but if I don't fidget then I'm going to get antsy and combined with the fact that I can't make eye contact for long, she's gonna think I want to leave.

I don't. I really don't. I really like Noelle. Not like in a romantic way, though, and that's why it's nice. She's the closest friend I've ever had that hasn't either made me feel like shit regularly or have had underlying romantic feelings for. She's different. She gets me.

"Well, it's work. But it's not so bad. My manager is nice and doesn't make me work the register when I don't have to," Noelle explains, twisting around one of the black rings that decorates her fingers. She texted me to ask if I wanted to do homework in her dorm with her, but it's been about an hour since we actually got work done.

"I think I'm gonna apply," I say. Mom says that I shouldn't worry about it and that I need to focus on school, but I'm tired of not being able to help out.

"It'll be nice to have a friend. I don't really talk to my coworkers," Noelle admits. If I get accepted, I doubt I'll talk to them either. I'll have to talk to customers though. That's the part I'm trying not to think about.

"Are they nice?" I ask. I don't want to work with assholes. I already had to go to school with some.

"Except for this one guy, yeah." Noelle looks back down at her computer, clicking a couple times before noticing my silence and looking back up. I'm watching her expectantly. "What?"

"Well, now you have to tell me about this guy that you hate," I say. That sounded like the start to a story, and now I'm left hanging,

"It's nothing really. Tried hitting on me until Charlie showed up one day and threatened him. He doesn't even look at me anymore, so it's not a big deal," she shrugs.

"Gross," I say, wrinkling my nose.

"Tyler's the only bad part about working there, really," she assures me, and I bark out a laugh before I can stop myself.

"His name is Tyler?" I ask. It's not that uncommon a name, and neither is guys being creepy, but still.

"Yeah?" I don't respond, just shake my head and huff out another, quieter laugh. "What's funny?"

"I knew a guy named Tyler. He wasn't very nice either," I say. Noelle doesn't need to hear my sob story.

"Maybe Tyler's just suck," she suggests. "Have you ever met a nice Tyler?"

  I've only ever met one Tyler, even though he didn't go by Tyler, and he grabbed my dick so I guess she's right. "That's definitely it."

Both of us chuckle and look back down at our work. I really need to start doing it again. But I like talking to her. It's quiet though, and neither of us know how to restart the conversation, so maybe I should just do my work.

"Sorry. Carrying a conversation isn't my strong suit," Noelle apologizes. We're basically the exact same person. She's just smarter, and nicer, and prettier, and funnier. So me, but better.

"There's no room left in your head with all that math and physics," I comment, stretching my back. I've been sitting hunched over for so long that I think I can hear it popping.