Employees Of The Unnamed Convenience Store

I closed my eyes…

…

…

It was free-time.

The rustling of the classroom made it difficult for me to take a nap.

Laying on my desk, I heard someone call out my name.

“Hey Yohlan!”

Huh?

I looked over, to see a girl who was about my height.

She was wearing our Cougar’s Middleschool Uniform. She had long black hair that stopped around her lower back.

Looking at me with soft brown eyes, and a cute face with big glasses.

She sat in the empty chair in front of me.

Oh, it’s just you Delilah.

She asked me, “Hey, have you heard about the upcoming Cubecraft update? I heard that they’re adding another dimension.”

”Woah! Really?!”, I responded.

I jumped up from my chair, and closed in on her face.

She flinched from my excited response and looked away.

”Yeah, d-didn't you see the trailer on Utube yesterday?”

I looked up to the ceiling and remembered what I did yesterday,

“Ah, well… I was studying for our Biology Finals today.”

She fiddled her hands, “Well, next week is summer break. We should play together with Taylen, and Constance…”

Taylen and Constance…

The other 2 who made up our friend group of 4.

Taylen Trent was a sporty kid.

He attended a soccer club, and watched some games from a High School nearby.

With blonde hair and blue eyes, naturally all the girls in our grade liked him.

He was also my best friend.

But… Constance Abigail, who was the most energetic in our group…

Well, she was so damn annoying.

Since I was smaller than her in height, she marked me as a target for her extreme pranks.

One time in a group sleepover, we had decided to try the Bloody Mary game in the bathroom.

But after I did the chant, she took the candle from the sink and locked me inside the dark bathroom.

To me, she was a devil.

Her short red hair matched her easy temper.

But her well-even face… And sharp blue eyes.

I had to admit, she was quite the looker.

But even so, a good-looking devil is still a devil.

Everytime single time during recess, she always complained about me.

Claiming that I was being a third wheel in-between her and Taylen…

Even though Taylen was the one who reached out to me so I could play soccer with him and the other kids.

We always fought in Recess, while Taylen and Delilah would usually try to separate us.

Always calling me a ‘Plain-faced bastard’, while I called her a ‘Red Gorilla’ because of her unusual strength as a girl…

…

“Yohlan? Something wrong?”, Delilah asked.

“Oh yeah, my bad.”

Looking at the clock, we still had 5 minutes left.

She followed my gaze and saw the time as well.

I told her, “You should probably head back to your seat.”

But before I got my supplies ready for class, I noticed that she was still in front of me.

In a quiet voice,

”Actually… Before class starts. I need to get this off my chest…”

Huh?

“I was wondering…”

Delilah fiddled with her fingers.

Her cheeks turned red… She was blushing.

“After our finals, I want to spend more time getting to know you in the Summer…”

I blankly stared at her.

Wait a second.

“A-Actually… Rather than just… Being gaming friends…

I was wondering if you…”

Hold on… Class is about to start.

“Y-You and me…”

Why are you telling me this now?!

”U-Uhmmm..!”

Ask me after schoo-

“If you and me want to be a thing… Or something… Like that..!”

Ah, she said it.

She just confessed to me in class.

…

The atmosphere’s… Awkward and silent.

I looked around us.

Holy crap-

Everyone’s looking at us!

Among the crowd, I could see Taylen and Constance looking at us with complicated expressions on their faces.

Seriously… You’re putting me on the spot here!

My palms were sweaty.

The only thing I could hear was my heart loudly beating from my chest.

I looked back towards Delilah’s face… She was looking down with her eyes closed.

She was expecting me to answer her now.

…

Crap… I don’t know.

I never really saw her that way.

What did she see in me..?

I was just a slightly athletic and normal-looking kid.

I’m sorry…

I never saw you that way.

I mustered up the courage to respond, “Delilah… I’m sorry but can I-“

Delilah opened her eyes.

She looked at me as if her entire world was crashing down.

No…

Don’t look at me like that.

I could see tears forming in her eyes.

…

I didn’t want to see her cry.

My chest tightened.

…

Honestly, let’s just go with it…

I planted on my face a fake smile,

”Can… Can we start in the summer..?”

Right now my heart was ringing through my ears.

But then-

Everyone around us started clapping.

Overlapping one another, all of them began talking at once:

“Honestly, that was scary… I thought he was about to reject her for a second.”

”C’mon, it was obvious! Didn’t you see how many times they talked together in class?”

”Well, I was kinda rooting for Taylen and Delilah to become a couple. They’re childhood friends after all.”

”No, Constance and Taylen are obviously a way better match.

The handsome and athletic prince paired with the tall and tomboyish princess… It’s exactly like that one anime.”

“But I wanted the childhood friend to win at least…”

”Nah man, you need to get your eyes checked.”

The murmuring continued for about a minute.

Speaking of Taylen and Constance.

I couldn’t see Taylen in the classroom.

Seriously… Did he go to the bathroom before class started?

I looked at the clock, it was 10:58 AM.

Honestly, that felt like the longest 3 minutes of my life…

Constance was staring at us with a weird smile on her face.

She walked over to me and Delilah.

”I always knew… You had it in you… Delilah.”

Crack.

I looked at the direction of the sound.

Constance was gripping tightly onto her wooden pencil.

Then, Constance directed her tensed face towards mine.

“As for you… Mr. Plain-Looking…

Congratulations…”

She paused.

Momentarily, Constance closed her eyes.

For a second, I thought I saw tears.

“Congratulations, you idiot…”

…

What’s going on?

Constance, who was my tormentor, was congratulating me?

Then, Delilah grabbed hold of my hand.

WOAH-

The sudden sensation of her soft hand stimulated my senses.

My heart was beating fast again…

Completely interrupting me and Constance, Delilah looked at me with a bright smile.

That smile…

”After class today… Wanna walk together to my house and play Cubecraft..?”

Every time she smiled, my chest tightened.

”S-Sure…”, I responded.

Before the bell rang, someone entered the classroom.

It was Taylen.

Who was now glaring at me, as if I had wronged him somehow.

Did I do something wrong..?

Then, Delilah caressed my cheek.

"Thank you... So much...

I love you Yohlan... I love you!"

This feeling…

I don’t know what this feeling is.

But right now, I want to believe…

I want to believe that it’s love.

Otherwise…

I would want to die.