Plot Twist

5

Sweets looks up from his work as a tall blond teen rushes through the door, down and into an aisle. A familiar-looking blond. He stands up and follows the boy.

"Wendell?" He asks.

The boy turns quickly, sighing in relief. "Oh hey, Sweets. What are you doing here?" He asks.

"This is my sister's store." He explains.

"Your sister is Angela?" The older boy asks a slight blush across his face.

"No? My sister is Bones." He says looking at his friend sceptically.

"Oh, that makes sense. Not that you're like her it's just, looks wise it makes more sense." He says rubbing his neck.

"Uh-huh, okay... So do you need help looking for a book?" Sweets asks.

"Uh, no. I'm just browsing. Had some free time."

"Really? Because it looked like you came in here with a purpose. You're acting kinda weird." Sweets says crossing his arms.

"U-uh. Weird? How so?" Wendell says looking over the shelf to Angela who is watching them sceptically from the counter.

Sweets follows his eyesight and smirks. "Oh! Angela huh? Okay, I'll leave you to your "browsing". See you later." He says walking off.

"Sweets, wait! It's not..." The older boy sighs, turning away from the lady's gaze and disappearing behind some books.

"Sweets!" Angela calls. "He a friend from school?"

Sweets walks up to her. "Yeah, we're in the same class. Does he come in often?"

She hums. "Yeah, occasionally. Seems kinda shy but he's nice. I'm glad you're making friends around here." She says smiling.

"Yeah me too." Sweets says as the door opens again.

Angela turns to the man at the door. "Hodgins, wipe your feet." She says before turning back to the boy in front of her. She sighs. "This is Jack Hodgins. He's the town's best mechanic. He can be kinda gross but don't let that bother you." She jokes.

"Ha ha, Angela!" The man says after checking his shoes are clean. "So who is this you're talking about me to?" He says standing next to the boy.

"This is Sweets." She says smiling.

"Sweets? Is that some kind of nickname? Isn't he a bit young for you?" He says.

"Uh, actually it's my last name but everyone calls me that. Um, I'm Lance Sweets." Sweets says.

"Oh, well nice to meet you, kid. I go by my last name most of the time too." Hodgins says.

"Sweets here is a relative of someone in town." Angela says vaguely smirking.

"Oh, who?" He says leaning his elbow on the counter.

"Bones. She's my sister." Sweets says shrugging.

Hodgins' arm slips in surprise. He coughs slightly. "Bones has a little brother? How come I didn't know about this?"

"Because she didn't know. Anyway, we're hoping he can stay with her. Right Sweets?"

"Uh, Yeah, hopefully. The social worker said I should be able to." He says smiling.

"Cool! Oh hey, Angie are there any new Palynology books in? I'd love to refresh myself with new information." Hodgins' says moving on.

"That's the study of..." She looks at him confused.

He sighs. "Pollen, spores and microorganisms. You know what, it's fine." He smiles. "I'll just have a look myself. I'm sure I'll find something even if you don't have it."

"Oh ok." She says as he walks away. She turns to Sweets who just shrugs. "He's such a weirdo." She says lightheartedly, shaking her head.

"Uh-huh. Well, I'm just gonna get back to work." He says walking back to the chair.

"Oh hey, Zack!" Hodgins' loud voice could be heard from the back of the room.

"Hey!" A meek voice responds.

"Could you pop down to the shop sometime tomorrow? I want to pick your brain on something." A pause can be heard. "Awesome. I'll owe you lunch to pay for your help."

The shop falls into a comfortable silence, only the occasional sound of a page turning or a pencil gliding gently across the paper.

After a while, Hodgins makes a noise of
acknowledgement and brings a book to the small reading area. His nose is already deep in the book as he sits down.

Sweets chuckles at the man's engrossment before returning to his homework. He works hard to finish only getting distracted on the last question by a quiet sigh. He looks up to see the curly-haired man no longer looking down at his book but still entranced by something or someone. He follows his eyeline to see Angela quietly sketching.

He holds in a laugh, quickly finishing his homework before standing up. He walks to the back of the store and finds his friend leaning against a shelf watching the same woman.

"Looks like you have some competition." Sweets says causing Wendell to jump.

"Stop that." He says in a hushed whisper. He pauses and glares at Sweets. "What do you mean competition?"

"Hodgins. The mechanic. He seems to like Angela too."

Wendell turns and looks over at the man before turning back. "What do you mean too?"

"Dude, it's obvious you have a thing for her. You haven't even looked at a book. You do know you're in a bookstore right?" Sweets says crossing his arms.

"Shut up. Fine, whatever. Just shh!" The blond boy blushes.

Sweets laughs. "Dude you're gonna need to buy a book. And preferably not from this section." He picks up a pregnancy book, holding it up for his friend to see.

A small laugh is heard at the end of the aisle. Sweets looks over his shoulder to see Zack, who's genuinely smiling, returning to his work.

Wendell roughly grabs the book and shoves it back on the shelf before hurrying to the manga and graphic novel aisle. Sweets chuckles and follows him, holding his finger against his lips as he passes Zack. The older boy nods zipping his lips.

"Hey, you know what I've heard is good." Sweets calls after his friend. He scans the shelf and pulls out a sci-fi graphic novel handing it over. "This one. It's about this teen guy who got transformed into a kid. And he's gotta find a way to change back."

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Does this feel disconnected? I think it does.

I've lost steam for this story but thankfully I'm almost at the end of what I had planned.

And what's that? There's still one more character to introduce? Well, would you look at that?

Bye

Drew X