Chapter Text
*RINNNGGGGGG*
The loud, sharp ringing pierces through Pomni’s ears like a bullet, jolting her awake from her deep sleep. She snoozes her alarm, closing her eyes as she tries to fall back asleep, but has no such luck.
“Mnngh..” She groans, rubbing her heavy eyelids as she makes her way towards the restroom. The hallway is dark, the soft light illuminating from her phone acting as a flashlight. She’s never been such a morning person, or maybe she was just grumpy because she stayed up all night doom-scrolling on her phone and didn’t get enough rest. Either way, still grumpy.
The smell of shampoo bottles fill the room, the peachy aroma filling up her lungs when she walks in. Flipping on the light switch, the bright, florescent lights burn her eyes. First a gun piercing alarm and now this? What a way to start the day.
A soft buzz fills up the tiny bathroom.
Zooble Noodle: you awake?
Pomni squints, her eyes focusing as she reads the message.
Pomni: Just woke up. Whatcha need?
Three dots appear immediately on the screen, disappearing and reappearing a few times.
Zooble Noodle: can you drop me off to work today? gangle’s out of town.
Pomni: Yeah, yeah sure. No problem. Your shift starts at 8:30 if I’m not mistaken..?
Zooble Noodle: got that right. see ‘ya at 8.
Pomni sets her phone down on the side of the sink, looking up and staring at herself in the mirror. She looks like she just woke up (well..), her eyes looking tired and puffy paired up with her hair ruffled up in a mess. She turns the faucet on, water spewing out and into the drain. Her hand forms into a cup shape, catching water in the palm of her hand. She splashes water onto her face a few times, the mirror wet from all the splashing. Welp, better get ready.
__
She just did the usual routine: wake up, wash her face, brush her teeth, and throw on clothes were comfortable, but still looked presentable. Her outfit consisted of an oversized navy-blue t-shirt paired with khaki jorts. Pomni stares at herself in the mirror, really examining the reflection staring back at her.
7:27 a.m.
Still had time to cook breakfast. Usually, she’d just microwave Hot Pockets and go along with her day, but today, she was feeling like cooking up something special.
Grabbing the stool in between the fridge and the counter, she unfolded the little plastic chair and placed it on the floor. She placed a foot on the stool, then another, reaching for the kitchen cabinet that was just an inch too high for her to reach. Ugggggggghhhh. She tossed the stool aside, heading towards her closet to get another stool (yes she has like 3 stools..), a taller stool to be exact. She, once again, unfolds the little plastic chair and places it on the ground, stepping on it, and finally reaching the cabinet handle. The cabinet door swung open, a loud squeaking sound echoing throughout the kitchen.
Where’s the rice..
In the little right corner inside the cabinet, a slumped-over shaped bag of rice sat there. Pomni reaches over and grabs the rice, the bag feeling light in her hands. She opens the bag, taking her two fingers to spread the opening wider. There’s still enough for me to cook. Good.
Cooking oil..
She steps off of the stool, crouching in front of a cabinet and swinging it open. There’s a bottle behind the soy sauce. Pomni squints, not sure if that’s the cooking oil or not. She pushes the soy sauce out of the way, revealing the empty bottle of cooking oil. Dammit. She grabs the bottle, examining it for a bit before tossing it in the sink. Needed more dispenser bottles..I guess..
Not having the ingredients she needs to cook her ‘special’ breakfast, she resorts to cooking up some scrambled eggs. She opens her fridge, the cold ice box completely empty of all sorts of food— only a pitcher of water and a half-empty carton of milk remained. I need to stock up on groceries..
Pomni looks up at the clock.
7:34 a.m.
Her phone buzzed, sending vibrations through the counter.
Zooble Noodle: i’m ready. text or call when you’re heading to the car.
Pomni: I’m actually gonna head there right now. Meet you there:v
She shoves her phone inside her pocket, her heavy footsteps heading towards the door. Before opening the door, she checked her bag. Wallet, keys, uh— gum.. yup, I’m ready for the day. She slips on her chucks, the heel of her shoe creasing the more she shoved her foot in.
The cold, autumn breeze slapped her across the face, the strong breeze making her recently combed hair into a mess. Her car wasn’t too far away (thank god she lived on the first floor), so it didn’t take her that long to make it to her car. She sat down on the drivers seat, adjusting the seat back and forth until it rested at a comfortable spot. Twisting the key into the ignition switch, the engine sputtered a loud wheezing sound in the small-sized car. Well, this car was like, 9 years old? It’s been a while since her mom gifted her this car, but it still worked.
The passenger door opened slightly, Zooble peeking in as if they were checking if this was the right car (despite riding and driving in this car like a billion times).
”Hey, Zooble!” Pomni sang, not looking in Zooble’s direction.
”Hey, Pomni.” they replied, shutting the car door as they tried to get comfortable in the passenger’s seat.
”Any song request?” Pomni asked, handing the phone over to Zooble. “Or will I be the DJ for today?”
”Your car, your song. Play whatever you want, I don’t mind.”
Pomni grins like a child who just got candy, scrolling through Spotify before clicking on a song. ‘That’s What You Get’ by Paramore starts blasting through the car speakers, the vibrations buzzing throughout the car.
”Oh—wow” Zooble chokes, “haven’t heard this song in a while. Not complaining. Nice pick DJ.”
Pomni chuckles at that. ”Thanks. Oh—and how long is your car going to be at the shop for again?”
”Probably for like, a day or two? It’s not gonna take forever that’s what I know.”
”Gotcha.”
__
The traffic is absolutely crazy right now. Usually, when there’s no traffic, it takes like 10 minutes to head to Zooble’s work. But now, since the traffic lights aren’t working (curse you random person who cut the wires!!), they’ve been stuck on the road for about 20 minutes. Uggggghhh. Thankfully, they were on the last stoplight on the way to their work, so it they could probably head there on time.
”Pomni, the light’s green.”
Pomni’s grip tightens on the steering wheel, her foot switching from the brake pedal to the gas pedal.
After exactly 21 minutes on the road, they finally made it to Zooble’s work. “Oh— wow,” Zooble says, staring at their lock screen. “We really did make it on time.”
”Yeah, of course we did,” Pomni says with a grin in her voice. “I would never let you be late for your shift.”
”Shut up.”
Pomni leans forward a bit, trying to see if there was any free parking spots. “Hey—uh— Zooble?” Pomni asks while still checking for parking. “You can get down if you want, I’m looking for a parking ‘cause I want to stop by that café right there.” She points over towards the café right next to Zooble’s workplace. The exterior looks pleasing to the eye, bees being the main theme of the area.
“M’kay,” Zooble muttered, packing all their stuff as they stare out the window. “Thanks for dropping me again. I owe you one.”
Pomni smiled at that. “Anytime Zoobs.”
”Sounds like you’re calling me ‘boobs’ y’know?” Zooble chuckled, shutting the door before Pomni could retaliate.
”I— shut up!” Pomni yells teasingly, despite the door being shut. As if Zooble can hear her through the door, they start laughing as the walk towards their work.
”Ha..” Pomni sighs, rubbing the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes. Okay. Focus. Find a parking spot. “Aha!” she silently screams to herself. There was a free parking located right in front of the café. Jackpot!! She drives towards the parking spot, straightening the car before finally putting the car on park.
She’s heard tons of good stuff about this café, and she’s geeked. She shuts her car door, walking up towards the café and sees.. that it’s closed?! Dammit. I was gonna grab a quick bite.. She squints over at the opening hours.
“Hm.. oh. They’re closed on the day i decide to visit. Not their fault.. should’ve checked if they were open or not before checking this out.”
Disappointed, she walks over to her car. Well, she’s not that disappointed, it’s just a café! It’s just that she is starving. She twists her key a few times, the engine finally making that god awful spewing sound. Well, she thinks to herself. might as well get some groceries.. She puts the car in reverse, double checking—no, triple checking to see if there was any cars. She backs up, steering the wheel to the right until—
Shit shit shit!!!!
A car was coming by. How could I have not seen that?? She presses onto the brakes, her finger pressing on the hazard light button.
*BAM*
Pomni jolted forward, her seatbelt catching her. It wasn’t a crazy accident, it was just this—doofus didn’t see that she was backing up and just rear-ended her!! She breathes heavily a few times before unbuckling her seatbelt and storming out of the car.
She walks over to the trunk of her car. There isn’t many damages despite how violent that collision felt. There was surprisingly no dents, only a few scratches here and there, but no dents. Phew.. She spins around, examining the car that had just rear-ended her.
There wasn’t much damage on their car either, just a few scratches and scrapes. She stops staring, finally walking up towards the car window so she could speak with this person who had hit her.
The passenger window rolled down as she walked over. “Excuse me— uh— Jax??” Pomni did a double take, looking at this purple bunny staring back at her with confusion. “Yeah, uhm, that’s me— OH,” He snapped his fingers in recognition. “Palm knee.. POMNI! Yes! Hah. It’s me. Jax. I, uh, sat behind you in Chem.. if i’m not mistaken?”
”No, no, you’re right. Uhm,” She really looked at him. He still had his messy fur, but ‘messy’ in the way it looked intentional. “Anyways— uhm, where did you come from? I doubled—no — tripled checked before I backed out, and I did not see your car.”
He tsked before opening his mouth. “Well, i just came from the parking spot nearest to that tattoo area,” he nods his head forward, pointing over to where he came from. “You sure you ‘doubled — no — tripled checked’?”
Oh this Jackass. “Well,” she starts, “I am very sure I tripled checked. In my defense, you were going like, what? 20 miles per hour in a parking lot?”
”15 miles to be exact.” he responded smugly.
”Well, that’s still fast. Considering that it’s pretty crowded up in here..so..”
”So…?” he repeated, one eyebrow raised as he slowly turned his gaze onto the road. “Well,” he muttered, fidgeting with the leather on the wheel before raising his voice a bit. “too bad that’s not my fault,”
Pomni bit on the bottom on her lip, irritated and just.. frustrated with this entire situation. This could’ve been a civil “Oh i’m sorry i’ll be carful next time!” type of situation, but Jax’s smugness just made this so unbelievably annoying.
”Welp,” he says, breaking the silence. “gotta bounce.”
Gotta bounce??
Pomni spins around, turning back to look at her car. Jax stays there for a while before gripping on the steering wheel tighter.
”Seeya.. whenever, Pomni.”