13. Days when I hate the world

 It felt as if it was out of instinct to go there. Now Naoki wasn't sure what to do when he saw Tyra at the register. It made him cringe. She worked at the bakery where Boone worked..and there was that guy he'd seen her with that first time. 

Naoki thought he might spaz into a fit of some kind.

"You OK, bro?" Boone woke him up to the fact that he considered him family. How could he? Naoki sighed.

"Oh, um, fine, everything's fine."

But it wasn't. Tyra didn't call him back. Had she forgotten him so easily?

Of course, he'd been dreaming about her ever since they spent the night together. He even loved her morning breath. 

Noaki quickly pointed to a pastry he wanted to try. He didn't even know what it was, but he'd buy it, probably throw it on the side of the road on his way back to work.

"Did you want lunch?" Boone pointed to the quiche. He said it came with a strawberry salad.

"Sure."

This actually meant NO in Naoki's vocabulary. After all he was a congenial guy, but damn, there she was with that dude who would not shut up. Naoki did his best not to lose it. Of course, Boone wanted to talk about their mother, and Naoki could hardly stand it.

Tyra just couldn't thank Carson enough for getting her the job at the bakery. Hopefully, he didn't want to go out again. That was a lot of pressure. She smiled at him, but then she saw Naoki, and thought she might faint. 

Honestly, Naoki looked his best close up. From afar, he looked like any other day worker. Nerd and all. Still, she found that quite nice. But she knew him now. She knew he was funny and he liked to laugh even if he thought he was so damn cool. Or was it sexy? No, she didn't think so. She didn't think he knew what she knew, and she wanted to keep it that way.

Yeah, she'd let it go at that. She wasn't playing hard to get, but he hadn't texted, so she hadn't texted.

Carson made a big production about the classes that were being offered at Metro. She nodded. Her sister had taken a lot of classes for free there when she was in high school, but it wasn't that way when Tyra was in school. She didn't want to pay for classes.

"But you could get a good-paying hospital job in two years or less," Carson sounded like he might be their poster boy. She took the pamphlet and hoped he would go away. Finally, after what felt like a thousand lonely thank yous, he was on his way with an iced coffee.

Finally, after three more customers, there was Naoki.

"What was that about?" He glared at her with a pout

"Why do you care?" Tyra pouted back.

She made him all the more disgruntled. She pressed her lips tight. Although she wanted to smile, thinking he must be full of envy. Maybe even heartbroken.

"What are you doing this weekend?"

"Spending it with my mother," she looked at him as if that was the right thing to do since it was Mother's Day weekend.

"Oh, right."

He looked as if he hated the thought it.

"Did you need me for something?" Tyra gave him the eye, thinking he'd speak in code.

"Will you text me?" He shrugged.

"I'll think about it?" She glared back at him. Wondering if it would make his day if she did, she smiled a toothy grin.

His teeth nashed as if she were the worst, but she thought they'd already established that.