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iced coffee

DESPITE IS NAME, Marty's Mini Mart on Hayes Street was huge. It had over twenty aisles and a dozen check outs filled with bored looking cashiers.

The white tiles glared in the fluorescent lighting and the air conditioner blasted cold air at full strength. I shivered, wrapping my arms around me and rubbing the goose bumps from my skin.

Isaac came to a stop beside me and I tried not to think about how close he stood to me – how his heat radiated off his body, how he was so close I could smell his cologne. My body stiffened, feeling uncomfortably aware of myself next to him.

"So," Isaac began, looking around the mostly empty supermarket. "What are we getting?"

"Well, first things first," I said, rubbing my arms in an attempt to warm myself up. I turned, catching the sight of colourful packets of candy lining the aisles. "Skittles."

"Skittles?" Isaac sent me a look of confusion, quirking a brow at me. He followed my gaze, blinking.

"Skittles," I confirmed, moving towards the candy aisle.

He raised his brows, following me as I grabbed a basket and began the hunt for Skittles.

"Skittles aren't even that good," he said lightly, his voice amused and teasing. "You should try Warheads. They'll change your life."

"Trust me," I began, my voice grimly serious. I sent him a pointed look, and he raised a brow. "You don't want to see Riley at a movie night without Skittles."

"What happens?" he asked, his voice piqued with curiosity.

"Two words," I said lowly. "Hunger strike."

"Hunger strike?" he echoed.

I nodded firmly. "You should be glad you weren't there."

He narrowed his eyes at me, twinkling with mischief. "I'll take your word for it."

We made our way down the aisle, scanning the shelves for the familiar red packet of Skittles.

"Skittles," Isaac hummed, his head spinning left and right as he scanned the aisle. "Skittles... Skittles..."

Quiet piano music played over the speakers as I continued to look through the aisle. I forced myself to focus on the packets of candy on the shelves, and not on the cute boy beside me. I had to be cool. I had to stop thinking so much.

Oreos, Starbursts, Jolly Ranchers. I kept walking. M&Ms, Twizzlers, Nerds.

"Aspirin!"

My head snapped up to spot Isaac on the other end of the aisle, two middle-aged couples standing between us. I blushed as the strangers looked up to stare at the yelling boy with a packet of Skittles in his hands. He grinned at me, shaking the packet in the air, his eyes mischievous and playful

"Go long!"

My eyes immediately widened. I was torn between telling him to not even think about it and calmly walking away as if I didn't know him when the packet of candy came soaring through the sky.

I squealed, squeezing my eyes shut and holding my basket out. The Skittles landed with a thud in the basket.

"Goal!"

My cheeks grew hot under the gaze of the middle-aged couples, but before I could run away, Isaac jogged up to me and threw an arm around my shoulder, scanning the aisles thoughtfully. I wasn't sure if I was blushing from his arm around me or the embarrassment that was Isaac Hensick.

Either way, I was as red as the bag of Skittles resting in my basket.

"Okay, we got the Skittles, what's next?"

"Isaac!" I sputtered, my eyes wide and ears pink.

"Aspirin!" He mocked me, his voice high-pitched and nasally, a smug smirk on his lips.

I blinked, attempting to find the words. The couples had moved on, leaving the aisle with a glance and a glare in our direction. I sighed, fighting the chuckle that began to bubble out of my chest.

It was pretty funny.

And the way Isaac was staring at me – all smug and grinning – showed he knew it was funny and knew the internal battle I was going through. So, I settled my face into a deadpan and swallowed the laugh building in my throat, refusing to give him the satisfaction.

He raised a brow at me, smirking, and I held eye-contact, keeping my lips sealed shut.

"We need KitKats," I decided, turning to face the shelves.

He nodded, releasing me from his hold and turning to scan the aisles.

He leaned over, his lips pursed in thought and eyes narrowed at the shelves in scrutiny.

Behind him, I finally spotted the KitKats, grabbing a few packets of different flavours and tossing them into my basket. I was scanning the shelves for Riley's favourite flavour – matcha – when Isaac spoke right beside my ear.

"Wanna kiss?"

I blushed, spinning to face him, his breath sending a shiver down my spine. I met his eyes, only to see Isaac grinning, a bag of Hershey's Kisses in his hand.

"What are you, twelve?" I teased, rolling my eyes. "That joke's been around since middle school."

His lips twitched into a playful grin and I ignored how hot I suddenly felt and the prickle of goose bumps down my neck. I grabbed the bag of chocolate from his hand and shoved it into the basket, turning to walk past him.

"Hey, the offer still stands," he wiggled his brows.

A laugh finally burst from my lips at his stupid expression, and his grin widened, pleased with my reaction. I blinked, realising how comfortable I felt now. My mind had stopped overworking, overthinking everything. I fought a smile from forming on my lips as Isaac and I looked at each other.

His eyes had softened, and I had the feeling that he'd done it on purpose – he'd been acting like an idiot to try and loosen me up. And it worked.

Warmth blossomed through me at the realisation. Still smiling, I turned, grabbing some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and peanut M&Ms on the way down the aisle.

"You're not allergic to peanuts, are you?" I asked.

"Will you give me mouth to mouth if I am?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'd let you die a slow death."

"In that case," he threw a bag of Doritos and some microwavable popcorn boxes into the basket. "I am not."

"That's unfortunate," I teased drily, nudging his arm. "Had my hopes up for a second."

He gasped jokingly, clutching his chest in shock. "Here I was, thinking we were friends, driving you around. Now I see it was all a lie."

I shoved his shoulder and he laughed loudly, trailing after me with a boyish grin.

We walked towards the cash registers and I emptied the basket onto the conveyer belt. The cashier muttered a 'Hello, how are you?' and I ignored how my heart raced at such a simple social interaction.

"That will be $15.94," the cashier said, her voice dripping with false enthusiasm.

"Right," I muttered, reaching for my wallet and fumbling for cash.

Before I could find the correct change, Isaac stepped forward, passing his card to the cashier. "I got it."

I blinked, opening my mouth to debate when he cut me off.

"I can't show up without a gift for the birthday girl," he explained, shrugging nonchalantly.

I swallowed my words, nodding, and stepped back. He was right. And if this would make him feel more comfortable being there, I'd let him do it. I mean, the cashier had already processed his payment anyway.

He shoved the receipt into one of the bags, handing the card back, and Isaac stepped forward. He easily lifted the two bags of straight junk food into his hands, turning to exit the shop.

"Thank you for shopping at Marty's Mini Mart," the cashier smiled. "Come again soon."

"Thanks," I muttered, walking awkwardly after Isaac as he made his way to the car.

We crossed the parking lot, and, within seconds, we were back in his car, the engine roaring to life. I glanced at my phone. It was half past four. We had half an hour to get to William's house.

"So," Isaac said, beginning to pull out of his parking spot. "Which way is it to William's?"

"Actually," I said, pulling at my sleeves. "Can we stop by my place first? I need to pick up Riley's present."

"Sure," Isaac replied, driving out of the parking lot and beginning down the road.

I opened my mouth to direct him when he took the exact turn we needed, pulling easily onto my street. I raised my brows, ignoring the way my heart fluttered when he remembered where I lived.

He pulled up to my house in less than five minutes and rolled to a stop.

"I'll wait here," he said simply, nodding to the door.

"I'll be five seconds," I nodded, pushing the car door open and slipping out.

I bounded inside, stepping through my living room to grab the small gift bag sitting in my room. I was about to leave, turning back to the door before I paused, glancing at my reflection in the mirror.

My hair was tied up in a frizzy ponytail and I wore my usual blue jeans with a sweater tugged over the top. I pulled at my sweater, scrunching my nose at the baggy material. And Isaac had the unfortunate task of looking at me whilst I looked like this.

I sighed, thinking of Chloe Pepper's perfectly straightened hair and Lacey's expertly applied makeup. Thinking of their cute, tight outfits that the boys spent their days staring at – including Isaac.

I pinched at my cheeks. My skin was breaking out and I was greasy from a long day at school. I glanced at my alarm clock. I still had twenty minutes, and William's house was a five-minute drive from my place.

I grabbed at my hair tie, pulling it out and letting my hair out in loose waves over my shoulders. I combed my fingers through my scalp, trying to calm the frizz down and part it in the middle.

It was... almost decent.

I quickly shuffled into my bathroom, washing my face and putting on some moisturiser to refresh my face.

I grabbed some concealer, attempting to hide my dark bags and red spots. I then curled my lashes, coating them in a generous layer of mascara and threw on some blush and light contour.

It wasn't much, but it was better than what I started with.

I glanced at the clock, hoping I hadn't left Isaac waiting too long, and jogged out of my house, the gift bag in hand.

When I hopped back into his car, his eyes briefly trailed over me, scanning my face.

I blushed beneath his gaze, self-consciously pushing my fingers through my hair as I buckled my seat belt. When I turned back to him, he was still watching me, a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Let's do this."

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a u t h o r ' s n o t e

Sorry for the short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed a bit of fluff! Next chapter, shit gets real at Riley's party hehe what do you think is going to happen?

Thank you all for your kind comments on the last chapter, and 3k reads omg thank you!!