Morning Shift

Friends

        Priya was staring Nicky down, and he didn't like it one bit.

        Jonah was apparently in the bathroom, which meant Priya was the only one there to scan his box of Mike and Ikes and Flintstone vitamins. She glared at him the whole time, never taking her dark brown eyes off his. He stared back so she wouldn't know how incredibly uncomfortable he felt under her menacing gaze.

        The truth is, he felt so uncomfortable. Ever since their conversation the day before, he couldn't stop thinking about her, and not in a good way. Less, "she's so gorgeous I can't get her out of my head," and more "why does this bitch hate me?"

        (It wasn't like he'd ever think the former. Girls weren't his thing, and it wasn't just because he wasn't smooth enough to get one)

        "What's your problem?" He finally asked.

         She shoved the vitamins in a paper bag so hard it nearly ripped. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

        "Bullshit. I know we didn't really hit it off at first but-"

        "Damn, Nicky. Can't you just let me hate you in peace?"

        Nicky shook his head, causing the little bits of snow still sitting on his curls to flutter off onto the counter. "No. I don't want you to hate me."

        "Why?"

        He paused, suddenly drawing a blank. Why did he care? Originally, he didn't give a shit about Priya, and he especially didn't care what she thought of him. He never cared what other people thought. It was his best quality. "Because... because I think we'd be good friends."

        "That's not why."

        "How the hell would you know?" Nicky questioned, feeling himself becoming nervously defensive.

        "Because I know why you don't want me to hate you. It's obvious," she told him before thrusting the bag his way. "Now leave."

        "I'm not going until you tell me what you mean," he insisted, mostly because he himself was a little iffy on his reasonings.

        Priya sighed, then looked over at the bathroom that Jonah was just stepping out of. "You wanna be his friend, right? You wanna be able to come here as much as you want so you can hang out with him, so you gotta go through me first."

        Nicky followed to her eyes to where Jonah was standing, half his body still in the doorway and the other half in the nail polish isle where he seemed to be admiring some interesting colors. Nicky was at a loss for words because... yeah. That's sort of what he wanted, and he didn't really know why.

        He was the type of guy to put on headphones so he didn't have to deal with the possibility of someone striking up a conversation with him. He was the type of guy to block someone's number because they texted too much for his liking. He was the type of guy to absolutely hate someone like Jonah, but as much as he tried not to, he couldn't help but be drawn to him.

        "Yeah," he admitted, "I guess you're right."

        "Listen, Nicky," she said with a sigh, "you're right. I don't know you that well. I don't even know Jonah that well either, but I know enough about him to tell you that you gotta be careful, okay? At school-"

        "My brother told me all about him, like how he doesn't go to parties or ditch school or do anything like a stereotypical douche. I'm cool with it," he assured her.

        "That's not what I mean," she said, prompting Nicky to finally tear his eyes off Jonah and turn to her with his brows furrowed. "I've seen him around school for the past two years. I don't know if he realizes how shitty people are to him."

        "Like... bullies?" Nicky asked.

        She nodded. "It's bad, Nicky. They bully him for everything. His job, his family, his autism, his- "

        "His what?"

        "Jonah's on the autism spectrum, and they'll use that against him when they really wanna hurt him," she explained. "They don't hold back on him. It's, like, disgusting."

        "Shit," he breathed, looking back at the boy who was grinning at the display, his smile so bright it lit up the store a million times better than the flickering fluorescent lights could.

        "Guys!" Jonah called out with a laugh, "we sell a nail polish shade called 'pussy!' How is that allowed?"

        And Nicky wondered, "how the hell could you hurt a guy like him?"

        "I'm not saying I don't think you should hang out with him, I'm just saying he gets enough shit at school," Priya told him, "and you're right, I don't know you well enough to judge you. I thought you were a complete asshole to everyone, but you aren't."

        "I think I might be, Priya," Nicky admitted sheepishly.

        "Nicky, I've only hung out with you a few times, but I can already tell it's different with him," she said, nodding to Jonah.

        "How so?"

        "Do you really talk to your friends like how you talk to me?"

        Nicky shook his head no, even though he really couldn't answer that question, but he imagines he wouldn't act the same way to his friends if he had them.

        "You don't talk to Jonah like how you talk to me. You talk to him like a friend," she said.

        He nodded quickly as Jonah walked back over with the same cheesy grin he always had on. Priya was already striking up a conversation with him, but Nicky didn't move.

        "It is different with him," Nicky thought.

        And then he decided he's glad it was.

———————

Hiya pals

Ok so tiny chapter, but I like it. Priya's sort of like a big sister, and friendships like that are really cute. So love that. What about you guys? What do you think of Jonah's whole situation thing, even though it's only been described a bit by Priya?

Yo, whats everyone being for halloween? Halloween is my favorite holiday so I love seeing everyone's costumes.

Thanks so much for reading! Love you guys

Side note: if you're re-reading, this parts been edited to add a little extra something I never established when I first published Morning Shift. I've thought of Jonah as having Aspergers and wrote him that way, but I didn't explicitly say it in the first draft, honestly because I was way too nervous I'd mess something up as a neurotypical person. I realize that was probably not the right move, so now as I'm editing I'm making it clear. Ty for understanding, and do not hesitate to correct me on anything (:

~Teddy