𝐀 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 + tiana and romance

09 ~ like ur hanging by a thread but u gotta survive

~~~
Biana's POV

It was my 5th shift at Candy Hearts, and I'm getting the hang of it. Finally. Well, I thought I was - until this morning.

"Hello, miss." I greeted cheerfully as an old woman walked in. She was a couple inches taller than me, with greying brown hair and surprisingly familiar teal eyes. "Welcome to Candy Hearts."

"Oh, hello, dear!" The woman said brightly. "I'm not here to buy anything. Just here to reminisce." 

"Oh. That's nice." I said, trying to keep the boredom out of my voice.

"It's not too exciting, I know, but I met my husband while I was working here." The old woman said happily. "You can call me Liz."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Liz." I felt a start at the sound of my online alias, but hid it well. Everything was fine. 

"Miss, can I go into the back? Just for a minute?" Liz asked brightly. "I'd like to see the changes."

"Um, sure!" I mean, I guess. She was technically an employee, so... probably. "Go right on back!"

I escorted her to the break room; and then Liz shrieked. A murderer-just-broke-into-my-room shriek. A full on someone-with-a-knife-is-chasing-me shriek. She bolted out of the shop at breakneck pace. I peeked inside - but no one was there except for Tam, who was reading a book.

He looked up, looking slightly peeved. "Who was she?"

"Oh, no one." I laughed nervously, but the woman had rattled me. That shriek... she really had to see something. 

"You're a really bad liar." Tam observed.

"Shut up!" I hissed, my face probably bright red. I slammed the door and went back to the counter.

~~~
Tam's POV

I was just relaxing in the back on one of the beanbags, when Biana led a beautiful old woman into the room. She had a choppy brown pixie cut with streaks of grey and bright teal eyes. Her eyes darted around the room, and then she saw me. And screamed. She bolted out faster than an Olympic athlete, and I was sitting there, feeling totally freaked out.

I tried to put on a calm face. "Who was she?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking. Say I'm overreacting, but when you're in the middle of a murder mystery novel, and an old woman comes in and screams, that's usually not a good sign.

"Oh, no one." Biana laughed nervously, her whole face turning bright red.

"You're a really bad liar." I said calmly. Deep breaths, Tam. In and out.

"Shut up!" Biana snapped, slamming the door. 

---

A little while later, I went out to help Biana, which I thought would be the worst idea of the century, but she'd been working the half-broken cash register for 4 hours. Maybe company - even my company - wouldn't be so bad for her.

"Hey. The Afternoon Rush is about to start."

"The what?" Biana asked, seeming not the slightest bit surprised when I popped up behind her. "Oh, that's what you call those kids!"

"Yeah. They go to Saint Ridersville, where the air conditioning isn't working. It's getting pretty cold lately, and the school is freezing. They all come here for hot chocolate and treats." I explained.

"That explains why the ice cream bin's always full!" Biana said brightly.

I burst out laughing - so sue me. Biana grinned, and I felt my heart flutter again. She didn't look so nasty when she grinned.

Then came the Afternoon Rush. A line of 30 or so kids, each with a $20 bill in hand. "Saint Ridersville is also very rich, apparently." Biana muttered in my ear after a kid spent no less than 60 dollars on snacks. "How wasteful."

I resisted the urge to snipe back with a comment about her family being super rich too. The rest of those Vackers may be annoying, but Biana seemed okay. Sometimes.

"It's candy. It can't be wasteful." I mumbled back. Biana giggled - then froze mid-laugh.

Standing there was a tall blonde boy - perfectly tanned, extremely muscular, cool clothes, and a confident smile. His hair was styled to the last follicle, and here I was, barely bothering to brush my hair in the morning. I felt like a fat, ugly narwhal next to him.

"Welcome to Candy Hearts, what can I get you?" I said, barreling in front of Biana, who had apparently gone brain-dead. 

The boy didn't answer either. He was too busy staring at Biana.

Biana apparently unfazed shortly after, her whole body snapping to attention. She still looked at her shoes, though. "Um, hi, Keefe."

Oh. Of course Biana would know this boy. He was probably her ex or something. "Um... I've got to go." The boy's face flamed, and Biana looked extremely uncomfortable. "Bye, Biana."

"Um, who was he?" I asked when Biana's face returned to a semi-normal color. 

Biana muttered something I couldn't understand.

"What?"

She muttered a little louder.

"Sorry?"

"He's. My. Ex." Biana choked out. "He dumped me on the first day of school." 

I cringed. "Rough. Um... are you okay?"

I shoved a giant rainbow lollipop at the last customer, and the line disappeared.

"I mean, I don't like him anymore, you know?" Biana's voice was shaking, and her beautiful teal eyes were downcast. I felt a shaking fury at the blonde boy for making Biana so upset, but one look at her made my heart flutter again. "But it still really hurts. I've never been dumped before. Well, I have once, but I didn't like," she hiccuped, "like him, you know? Just... out of the blue."

"Oh." I didn't really know what to say - I was really bad around humans. "That sounds sucky."

Biana turned to me, her eyes glassy. "It was. But... I'm a slowly getting over him. Slowly."

I felt my heart flutter, like, a lot harder, and I suddenly pulled forward and kissed her. I held my lips to hers for a solid second, then she pulled back and stared at me. "I'm s-sorry." I stuttered, my face probably bright red. I felt like an ugly narwhal. 

Biana's mouth dropped open, and, feeling like my face was on fire, I bolted out of the shop. What had I just done?