Being Perfect

Chapter 6 - Mixed Feelings

Chapter 6 Nichole

                "And the total is fourteen seventy-five." The man dug in his pockets before pulling out a crisp twenty. I handed him his change and smiled. "Have a nice day." He nodded and exited the shop. I hated work. The general store was so boring. It would either be completely packed or empty. There was no in between and after five hours of an empty store I was about to die.

                "Nichole did you sort the boxes in the back?" I turned around until Austin's face came into view.

                "Yeah they're behind the new shipment of decorations." He nodded and headed towards the back of the store. Austin was the new guy and it was my job to train him. He started a few weeks ago, but I didn't mind the training. No one else in this god forsaken place talked to me, so having Austin as company was a good thing especially on days like this. And it helped that he was hot. I've lived here all my life and it still surprises me that he's lived here just as long and I've never saw him. "I'm going to restock the shelves if you need me!" I yelled back before making my way through the disorganized aisles. I picked up all the office supplies that were hidden behind the chips and made my way to the back where they belonged. I sorted all the supplies out slowly. I hated being the one to organize things because the whole store was a mess.

                "Nichole?"

                "Back here!" I yelled placing the last notebook on the stack. I stepped out in the open and watched him make his way over to me. He somehow managed to pull off our ugly green work shirts with a pair of khakis and Nikes. He pushed back some blonde hair that fell in his face. He smiled once he saw me making his blue eyes sparkle. "What did ya need?" He scratched the back of his neck. He seemed nervous and that made me smile.

                "Um, I just didn't know what you wanted me to do with some of these boxes?" I nodded.

                "Well let me go look." I stepped in front of him and our arms barely touched causing sparks to spread through my body. I kept walking while facing the ground trying to hide the fact that I was blushing.

                "Um, Nicho-" but it was too late. I ran into one of the displays and went tumbling backwards. I braced myself for the impact, but instead landed in Austin's arms. We burst out laughing as he set me back on my feet. "I tried to warn you!" I was definitely blushing, but the fact that we were both laughing was helpful.

                "Well I should probably clean this up before Brian gets here." Brian takes over my shift. I basically love him for that reason only and because he's gay. He's always full of stories and theories, but we never hang out so my time with him is limited.

                "I'll help. Being out here with you is way better than putting away boxes." I giggled to cover the new shade of red that was coating my cheeks.

                "Thanks. I can be a bit clumsy." He smiled.

                "I can tell." I lightly pushed him and smiled. "I'm also clumsy though."

                "Really?" He nodded.

                "Oh yeah! One time I-" and the next two hours was spent learning about Austin, or actually Austin's clumsiness. This kid has broken almost every bone in his body. We finished stacking the boxes of popcorn before heading to the back room where we finished unloading boxes. I loved working with Austin. He had a story for everything. The time flew by quickly, so when Brian came in I was actually disappointed. I turned myself around since I was sitting on the counter to see the door.