Chapter Text
Michael happily swayed to the Marley music flowing through his headphones. His heart warmed with familiarity at the faint jingle of the bell and the blinding fluorescent lights. The boy bounced over to his beloved slushie station and grabbed a cup. It was Friday, so a Large was in order. He filled it half with cherry and half with blueberry (his master creation) and walked to the counter to pay, singing a bit under his breath. Every little thing is gonna be alright.
It wasn't until he slid over $1.79 (a price ingrained in his brain) that he made eye contact with the teenager behind the register. Michael paused his music and put the headphones around his neck. "Rich?"
The employee's face turned an obvious shade darker. "Oh. H-hey Michael."
"You work at Sev-Elev?"
"Today ith my firtht day, actually." Rich chipped at a bit of nail polish still left on his fingers from Brooke's party last week; a nervous habit.
Michael grinned. "No shit. I come here every morning."
Rich smiled brightly, the hearts in his eyes making themselves painfully apparent. "Cool. I needed a Thummer job and thith one looked fairly eathy tho...here I am."
"That's awesome, dude. You know what happened to the girl who used to work here?"
"She's thpending the Thummer in Maine. She'll be back in Theptember."
Something stirred a bit in Michael's stomach when he saw the way Rich unabashedly looked at him. Whether it was gutsy or just a lack of social cues, it was endearing.
"Anything elthe you need?" Rich asked lightly, leaning on his elbows.
As badly as he wanted to stay, Michael shook his head. "Nah, I gotta get goin'. Me and Jeremy are gonna play some Mario Kart, which, by the way, I am way better at than him."
Rich giggled like a schoolgirl. "Ok, bye."
Michael pushed open the door and took a long slurp from his work of art. "See you tomorrow," he called.
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As Jeremy and Michael approached their third lap on Rainbow Road, the one in first place said, "So...what do you think of Rich."
"In what sense?"
Their eyes never once left the screen and their fingers continued to fly.
"Like...do you think he's cute?"
Jeremy laughed a bit. "I mean...I guess? Are you trying to set me up with him or something? I have a girlfriend, dude." Jeremy's heart still fluttered at saying the last sentence, even though it had been months since he begun to date Christine.
"No no no, it's just...he's working at Sev-Elev now and I saw him this morning."
"And you thought he was cute?"
Michael blushed and threw a banana peel behind his kart. "I guess."
"Aww, Mikey's got a cruuusshh," Jeremy teased, bumping shoulders with his best friend.
"I do not! Well, maybe."
Jeremy threw a blue shell, spurring Michael to curse him out with an array of unique insults (what even is a "dick-faced rat-bitch cocksucker"?).
Jeremy won the match and the boys finally turned away from the image.
"You guys would be adorable," Jeremy said sincerely.
Michael shrugged. "Thanks, I guess. I just don't know how I feel about him."
Jeremy smiled softly and Michael felt a stabbing reminder of why he had fallen for the boy in front of him all those years ago.
"Well, no matter what," Jeremy started, putting an arm around Michael, "I'm always gonna be here for you."
"Same to you, dude."
"I love you."
Michael felt his stomach drop, but he put on a smile. "I love you too."