Lust Front

"STORM OUT"

Rookie does not mess around, ever.

Being a drill sargeant is a lot of work and she knows it. As someone who's always in control, you have to know how to act around her. (But then again, you can never tell how a tsundere feels about you.)

She used to have blonde hair, but then she dyed it pink to stand out. Usually, this wouldn't be allowed in the army. But nobody questioned it, not even the higher ups - I guess that's the benefit of being so intimidating.

Like most hot headed girls, they always weaken when they get to interact with stuff they love. Rookie had always had a soft spot for hard-serve ice cream.

So I took her out for some.

"Why did you bring me to Alexis Gelato?"

"Cause I know you come here to get ice cream every weekend. You take your friends there too."

"Wh- How do you know that?!?!"

"Cause... I saw you from across the street when I was teaching my violin class."

"I didn't know you taught violin."

"It's just for a little extra money because my day job doesn't support me enough..."

"I didn't know this about you..."

"I know a lot about you."

Rookie backs up as her face turns red.

"Y-You did research?!"

She backs up 3 metres, like, molester-safe distance.

"Listen, Rookie, I don't stalk girls. I swear. I know a lot about you because you stood out from the rest of the crowd, every time I saw you out."

"You paid... ME... attention?"

"Yeah, shouldn't everyone be doing that? During drill?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah, right... I'm sorry... I gave you trouble."

"What are you sorry for? Are we still getting ice cream?"

We did get ice cream.

"So, what ice cream do you want?"

"I might get myself a pecan butter, but I feel strawberry today."

"Strawberry it is. One pistachio chip in a cone, and one strawberry in a cone."

"Oh, you brought her here?"

I don't even recognize this guy.

I look behind, at Rookie, then at the ice cream guy.

"Do you know Rookie?"

"Yeah, she was my girlfriend a few weeks ago."
"A few weeks ago?"

I look back at Rookie. She's really embarrassed.

"What are you doing with her?"

"Dude, chill. Do your job and get us ice cream."

That seemed to do the trick. He complies pretty easily.

"Thank you."

I pass the strawberry cone to Rookie and take a lick of my pistachio chip.

"Mmm. Who was that guy, Rookie?"

Rookie takes a small nip at her ice cream.

"Not... a nice guy."

"Huh, why?"

"I'm not saying he's not nice, but he's... not... the nicest."

"What connections you got with him?"

"His name is Shaun, he's the son of the people who own Alexis Gelato. Since this apocalypse thing his family business stayed up to serve society-crisis ice cream, and he thinks he's on top of the fucking world for it. Going around, like 'Oh, what do I do for a living? My parents own the biggest ice cream shop in town, so I'm really fucking impressive, haha.'"

"It's not that impressive. Is that hyperbole?"

"...Hm. Not far from the truth."

"What else is so bad about him?" I take another large serving of pistachio chip in my mouth.

"Just... he's been with a lot of girls."

"How many?"

"More than you."

"More than m- hey, wait how do you know?!"

"I know a lot about you." For the first time, Debris "Rookie" Mittsies had actually winked at me.

"D-Does he have a higher head count than me?"

"Hmm, probably. I don't want to talk about him anymore, though."

"Fair enough."

I take the napkin holding my cone and use it to wipe my face, but when I take it off my face there's writing on it.

The handwriting is quick but very clear; "My name is Shaun. Come back inside behind the counter."

I do exactly as the note says.

"I'm gonna use the washroom, be right back."

"Mhm."

I go inside the store and Shaun is smugly leaning on the wall, holding his ice cream scoop like some token of authority.

"So. What are you doing with her?"

"Umm. We know each other. This is only our first date."

"So you don't know much about her huh? Do you know how many guys she's been with?"

"Do you know how many girls I've been with?"

"Ha, what is this, a competition? Are you a player or something?"

"No, I don't go after girls. Girls seem to just take shots at me."

"I could use the same excuse. Don't lie, you're looking for someone."

"Not in the same way as you are. Asshole."

"Relax, man. I wanted to give you some advice. Be careful with girls like her, she can blow you off and you'll be on your knees again. That sounds bad, doesn't it?"

"I need to be careful about people like you."

"Oh, come on. You know you get what I'm saying. You don't wanna be dropped like that."

"Yeah, I don't."

"Good! You understood what I said."

"Jesus christ."

I storm out of the building, back to sit with Rookie.