#18 in TeenFic
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❝Don't,❞ he pleaded softly, offering her a tiny smile, ❝please don't make me a promise you will never be able to keep.❞ He released a quiet but deep breath, leaning forward even more, tilting his body towards her, until thei...
"So when do I start?" Nick asked as casually as possible, doing a first-class job of keeping the excitement and thrill out of his voice.
Act like an adult, he reminded himself, not some kid who has won the lottery.
"Tomorrow sound good to ya?" The man named Hal asked, not even lifting his head from the bill he's manually preparing. It was probably for one of the owners who'd be coming to collect today.
Not that Nick would know though. He wasn't working there yet.
Either way, Hal's response caught him completely off guard.
"Tomorrow?" Nick repeated, a little disbelievingly.
Hal grunted in response, apparently not one for long conversations -- though this couldn't even fall in the category of conversations considering he was grunting for most parts.
"Yeah," Nick muttered, still surprised, "tomorrow's fine."
Hal once again grunted in response and Nick took it as his cue to leave.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of. . . of happiness, he guessed -- or joy. He'd always taken to the pulling apart of all inanimate things and observing how the insides were designed in order to make them work, even if they weren't broken. It'd been one of Nick's hobbies -- scratch that, it was his only hobby -- since as long as he could remember, and he had a tendency to marvel at almost everything he discovered.
Nick had no idea why Dale didn't find that fascinating; to find out how the things you used in everyday life worked.
There's nothing like learning these things first-hand all by himself rather than having to wait for some teacher to drill it into him without any passion or genuine interest.
Despite alienating himself from the regular crowds, Nick figured what he did have in common with most guys was cars. Which was why, as soon as he was -- in official terms -- done with probation, he'd resigned from the library and decided to try out Hal's Garage, an auto repair and mechanic shop that was pretty much a big deal in this neighbourhood.
Nick could admit that when he laid eyes on Hal and his shaggy, grime-covered mop of hair, and baggy pants that looked like it was going to slip down any moment and the uniform shirt which emphasised his big belly, he'd been a little weary.
His weariness only increased when Hal had had a nonchalant demeanour throughout the entire conversation, making Nick worry that maybe an extra pair of hands wasn't needed at all.
