Sweeter Than Fiction | ✓

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Truth be told, he was avoiding the new kid.

Rudy had been messing with him all week but all the kid did was give him this teary, pathetic look that irritated Rudy more than satisfy him. Not to mention Kelly and the other co-workers had took a liking to him and were treating Rudy like he was doing more than take the kid's Twix bar out of his lunch, and smirk when he messed up on stacking the books or the stock checks.

It wasn't his fault the kid was a pussy, really but somehow it was always turned around to be his fault when the kid took a uniformed break to cry a little in the toilets.

Kelly had kicked him in the shin on more than one occasion and Matt was giving him these looks all the time and Mr.Archer was being harder on him than ever. Rudy swore every time Mr.Archer was on his case he'd feel the kids eyes on him.

Rudy felt like a monster and even though he usually didn't give a shit to what others had to say or think of him, it was beginning to mess with his head. It was not a good feeling.

The kid had power and Rudy did not want to be on the other end of it so he just stopped trying to be around altogether.

That is, until he walked in Friday morning, coming through from the back after shoving on the blue polo shirt with the bookstores logo on his left breast and his name tag on the other and walking out to find Kelly and the kid at the counter.

Rudy watched as Kelly laughed brightly at the shadow creature in front of her with his curtain of dark hair and his submissive demeanour. As she laughed she looked away and caught Rudy's eye. She grinned and beckoned him over.

That was the thing with Kelly; he didn't understand how she could be mad at him but still be his friend at the same time. She acted as if it was totally normal to throw jokes at him that he ignored and then cause him bodily harm. Even so, he walked over to them, careful not to look at the kid to what deemed as threatening although Rudy honestly thought he was just looking at him normally.

The kid tensed up anyway as he approached and timidly started making his way around the counter, far away from him as possible.

"Rudy," Kelly greeted him as if she was an old aunt that hadn't seen her nephew in years, implying that she was plotting something.

Cautiously he approached the two further and stared down Kelly who grinned back at him with malice and her eyes.

"You'll be on the shift with Miles here today," she said slowly and Rudy just felt, never mind see it from the corner of his eye,the way the kid moved; whipped his hair with wide, pleading eyes at Kelly to swap shifts with him but Rudy he deflated slightly, surrendering because honestly he jut could not be arsed trying to pick up a fight with Kelly about this. By to mention it would just make him out to look like a bigger dick that he already wasn't as the kid would probably cry or something.

Actually he looked like he was going to cry right now.

Kelly gave him a long look that said be nice. As if Rudy actually put any effort to be anything. And then she walked away, not looking back at all even when both Rudy and this new kid - Miles watched her intently until she disappeared behind the door of the stock room.

The kid stood practically frozen for the rest of their shifts, whispering and mumbling greetings, numbers and thanks to the customer while Rudy grunted and grumbled. They made a pretty bad team, even earning the stink eye from Lyndsey, their store manager who was usually pretty laid back most of the time.

They pretty much ignored each others existence. The kid even forgot to flinch sometimes when Rudy would sigh loudly and lie all over the counter and spring back up again at sights of Lyndsey or Mr. Archer.

It was nice in a way, not having Kelly yammering in his ear about shit he did not want to hear and who had recently fucked her over. Rudy didn't care. But

And then when he saw Denise coming in for her shift he said to the kid: " that's our shift over."

And the kid and all but jumped a few feet in the air before timidly looking up at him, hair shifting from his eyes to show a deep forest green instead of the mousy brown Rudy had imagined in his head. Huh.

"Thanks," he said back, his voice barely above a whisper that Rudy almost missed it and with that the kid was walking quickly around the counter and out the back before Rudy had even moved.

He let Denise in a moment later and met Kelly at the back who gave him a thumbs up and obnoxiously stuck a glittery gold star to his chest when he got close enough that she probably got from a packet that she stole from one of the stores displays just to be annoying and the promise of a drink on her for his efforts.

And he couldn't say no to that.