the flaw in being perfect - rini au

twenty six

Ricky is having a bad day. He couldn't sleep because his dad is in the worst state he's been in a while and Ricky can't even escape to school since it's a Saturday.

The only reason Ricky could think of to get out of the house was to go to the farthest grocery store, and even then some asshole cut him off and pulled into the parking spot Ricky had been waiting for. There was another spot at the back of the lot, but that slight inconvenience really wasn't what Ricky needed.

Ricky finds himself meandering through the aisles with a shopping cart, every once in a while grabbing something from a shelf at random.

"Ricky?" Ricky hears a voice from down the aisle.

Ricky looks up to see a guy he recognizes from school in a grocery clerk's uniform. Aside from getting out of the house longer, the reason Ricky came to a store this far away was to avoid people who may recognize him. It looks like that was a fail.

"Hey," Ricky greets, though he can't remember  the guy's name.

He comes closer and Ricky is able to read that his name tag says 'Seb'.

"What are you doing on this side of town?" Seb asks with a smile.

Ricky scratches the back of his neck. "Oh, uh..." He trails off. "Just getting to know the area. What about you, why do you work all the way out here?"

"My family owns a farm out here. We sell the produce to this store chain," Seb explains.

Ricky nods slowly and offers a small smile. "That's cool."

"What are you out shopping for?"

Ricky looks down into the cart he had been absent mindedly tossing items into. "Just some... Everyday stuff."

"Got it. Well, if you need help finding anything, I'll be around." Seb charmingly smiles.

Ricky doesn't have it in him to return the energy, but he does smile back before they part ways.

I should have just gone to the park, Ricky thinks to himself.

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poor ricky 🥺

-jenna