ELECTRIC FEEL ↝ Schmidt

CHAPTER SEVEN

TRUTHFULLY SPEAKING, ELISE was completely unable to get Schmidt out of her mind the day after she taught him the basics of rock music. She was working at the store for the day, and more than she cared to admit, she zoned out entirely and forgot about the songs playing from her laptop as she fell into familiar daydreams about Schmidt, and those strong arms he had carried her with yesterday. Her notebook was slowly filling up with hearts drawn around his name, like she was a teenager with a huge crush on the cutest boy of school, but perhaps she wasn't fool to think there was something between them. Obviously, it was her style to doubt herself, feel insecure and live in the belief that Schmidt would never feel as strongly of her as she did of him, but the previous night, something had happened. They almost, nearly, maybe even came close to a kiss — that happened, yeah.

That was why Elise spent a huge fraction of her time doodling hearts and dreaming about what could be, and more than was acceptable, a customer had to repeat their question numerous times just because Elise hadn't heard the first time. Still, everyone who stopped by the store seemed relatively happy when they got what they came for, and left smiling, which delighted Elise. Despite Comic Planet being rather small, and not very well known yet, she was getting some money and her customers seemed pleased.

But it was the brutal truth, that she wasn't getting enough money. The store had drained her of her wealth, and as much as she enjoyed the smiles and compliments she received, her hard work wasn't paying off as well as it should have. Frankly, all of Elise's money had gone into building the place into its current glory, and that led into her spending most of her time in that mentioned glory. If she wasn't in loft 4D, she was at the store, and that was literal, because she had to give up her apartment, and now, all she had was a poor mattress and a set of Marvel sheets to sleep with in the back of the store.

The small bell over the entrance rang as another customer entered, and as soon as Elise saw Jess and a woman she didn't recognize, she instantly shut the notebook with Schmidt's name all over it, and smiled kindly at her friend. Jess walked over to the counter, and greeted the woman with a warm smile stretching her painted lips, as the other girl Elise had never seen looked around the small, but cute place. To be honest, Elise was somewhat intimidated by her beauty, and the flawless features, and found herself staring until Jess spoke up and for the sake of her dignity, she tore her gaze from Jess' friend and looked over to her.

"Hey, Elise. This is Cece, she's my best friend and I thought you two should finally meet", Jess smiled, and when Cece put out her hand for Elise to shake, her courage went down the drain and her eyes widened. It was such a simple gesture, yet it brought so much misery and struggle to Elise she nearly got a migraine from it, but eventually she managed to take Cece's hand and pray that she didn't notice the layer of sweat covering her own. After shaking hands and introducing herself, Elise let go and glanced down to her feet awkwardly, drawing deep inhales and letting them out after holding them in for a moment. She was not comfortable with making friends.

"Nice to meet you, Elise. I've heard a lot about you", Cece spoke, and although she probably meant it in a positive, kind manner, Elise's face became devoid of color and she stared at the woman in fear. What kind of things had she heard? Did she hate Elise already? Would she burn down her store in the dark of the night? Was that smile to be trusted?

"Y—You too", Elise let out, with an evident struggle, but she tried to keep in mind that Cece was Jess' best friend, and therefore most likely a good person, just like Jess herself. Perhaps, they'd be able to get along and become good friends eventually, once the shyness in Elise would fade away and she'd feel more at ease in her presence. It wasn't Cece's fault, though, merely something Elise went through whenever she was meeting new people — constant, endless worrying and doubting. Directed mostly at herself.