Morning Shift

Ants

Jonah found himself watching the doors of the pharmacy like the president of the United States was set to walk in any minute.

(Barack Obama or something. Not the current one)

He wondered if he was being creepy. He could never really tell when he was doing something weird or stupid or annoying, but he had this gut feeling that waiting for a boy he'd only met two weeks before to walk into the store so they could have another pointless conversation was something a stalker would do.

Nicky didn't even seem like he wanted to talk to Jonah— or anyone, for that matter— but Jonah couldn't help but look forward to the next time they'd meet. Maybe it'd be somewhere outside in a snowstorm, or at one of Jonah's games, or maybe he'd just keep coming to the pharmacy and stay more than a few minutes.

Priya snapped her fingers in front of Jonah's eyes. "Jonah? Hello? You haven't blinked in, like, and hour."

He tore his eyes away from the door and rubbed the sleepiness away. "Sorry. I'm really tired."

"Really? So you're not hoping to see any customer in particular...?"

When Jonah didn't say anything, Priya smiled a bit. "That piece of shit really got to you, huh?"

Jonah shrugged. "He seems cool," he said simply.

"He seems weird."

Jonah paused. "Why?"

Priya looked like she was caught off guard by the question, but Jonah waited patiently for her answer. "I don't know," she finally said, "he just does."

"Just because people aren't your version of normal doesn't mean they're weird, Priya," Jonah blurted out before he could stop himself. His voice sounded foreign to his ears, but he couldn't tell if it was from the slight edge to it or the way he spat out Priya's name like it was a bad taste.

Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Priya's eyes go wide as she stared forward at the displays in front of the counter. He'd never snapped at her before. He always prided himself on staying calm and levelheaded, even when he felt like he was going to explode.

"I'm sorry," he told her a few seconds later.

"That's okay, Jonah. It was my bad."

"I really didn't mean to do that. I'm sorry."

"Hey," she assured him, "don't worry about it, alright?"

"Alright."

He couldn't shake the bad feeling. It felt like ants crawling from his head to his toes. He clenched and unclenched his fists, hoping it would go away, but the more the thought of it, he more tingling he felt.

He hated getting angry, especially when it ended with him hurting someone's feelings. It made him sick to his stomach and sent him into little meltdowns that made him feel stuck and hopeless and scared.

He watched the door intently as he shook out his hands beneath the counter, hoping to fling the ants off his skin. All of them crowded into his hands and made their way up his fingers and onto his nails, and while he knew for a fact they were imaginary, he couldn't shake the feeling, no matter how much he moved his hands and wiggled his fingers.

Finally, after the longest, most awkward period of silence Jonah ever sat through, the little bell on the front door jingled and in walked Nicky, dusted head to toe in snow just from the walk from the parking lot to the store. Jonah noticed the way the cold made his light brown nose the tiniest bit red, even under all the freckles. He smiled at the boy who nodded his head in return, flinging the snow that once covered his tight black curls onto the tile.

He didn't know why he thought Nicky was so cool. He didn't look particularly cool— especially with his puffy North Face and mittens— but something about him made him intriguing to Jonah. Maybe it was the way he always hesitated before speaking, like he was thinking through what he'd say before he let it out. Everyone always told Jonah he had no filter, but this kid seemed like he had ten filters inside his brain all working at once.

"Morning, Jonah," Nicky said when he got up to the counter holding a bag of flour and a Snickers bar. He turned to Priya and scowled. "You," he greeted.

Priya rolled her eyes. "You're a ray of sunshine, Nicky."

He ignored her and turned to Jonah with no hint of a smile, but Jonah knew that was sort of normal for him at that point. "What's up?"

"Not much, really. Just-"

"We both have the day off Sunday," Priya announced without warning, causing both boys to turn to her. It made Jonah a bit uneasy that Priya was staring back at him with a devious glint in her large eyes. "So were just finishing up work for the next two days so we can relax."

Nicky nodded slowly, obviously confused— but probably not surprised— by Priya acting odd. "What are you doing for your day off?"

Jonah went to answer with the typical 'hockey practice' stuff he gave almost like a reflex, but Priya cut him off before he could get a word out. "We were gonna go for lunch at that new Chinese place down the street."

Nicky furrowed his brows and Jonah mirrored him, mostly because he hadn't remembered making plans with her. He too was getting a weird feeling from Priya, especially when he felt her kick him in the shin.

"What was that for?" He questioned.

        "Ask him to come with!" She mouthed.

         He nodded, still slightly lost, but that wasn't anything he new. He turned to Nicky, who looked like he was still trying to decipher the other two's little conversation they had right in front of his face. "Um... do you wanna come with?"

        "To lunch? With you?"

        "And me," Priya added with a forced looking smile.

        "Oh. Right. I guess that sounds fun."

        Jonah smiled. "Okay."

        Nicky almost smiled. Jonah saw the corner of his lip quirk just a bit, but it definitely moved. He swore he saw it move. "Okay."

———————

Hey hi how ya doin? How was your guys day? I'm genuinely interested when I ask these questions, by the way.

Also writing this made me think of that song from phineas and ferb where Candace has squirrels in her pants. Just thought that was worth noting.

Thanks so much for reading! I love y'all lots!!

~Teddy