I make my way into the lobby of the shop, looking around for whoever just entered. My eyes settled on the young woman, her long and curly hair dyed a dark purple. As I approach, I see she’s more than a foot shorter than me, and her very plump body is easily visible through her heavy winter coat, especially in the chest.

As I look her over further, I wind up recognizing her from some of my classes at school. Her name’s Amethyst Michaels. She’s the daughter of the richest man in the world, Andrew Michaels, but you wouldn’t know that based on how she acts. Constantly getting caught high on various drugs at school, getting into shouting matches and sometimes even fist fights, but I can’t judge her much there.

"What do you need?" I ask, giving her another good look over before meeting her bright green eyes with mine.

"My car keeps turning off." She replies, looking annoyed at the looks I’ve given her.

"Okay, come pull it into one of the workstations."

I head back into the shop, guiding her onto the lifts. She exits the old black sedan and stands off to the side as I pop the hood, beginning to inspect the engine and other parts. It doesn’t take me very long to spot that one of the clamps around the positive battery terminal is loose. I leave it as is, though, wanting to chat Amethyst up before fixing her issue.

"We’ve got some classes together, don’t we?" I ask, glancing in her direction as I lean over the car.

"I dunno, I really don’t care. Just fix my car." She looks annoyed, checking her phone after responding.

"Oh come on, I’m just trying to make conversation."

"Well, I don’t want to. I just need it fixed so I can go see my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend, I’m a bit jealous."

"Just shut up. I really don’t want to talk."

I decide to just go with what she asks and reconnect the clamp properly, shutting the hood afterward.

"Finished. It wasn’t too hard to fix."

"How much is this gonna cost me?" She asks, putting her phone away and reaching for her wallet.

"Free, a discount for letting me look at your pretty face." I reply with a smirk.

"I don’t take handouts, and I’m not interested." She states this firmly, holding her open wallet.

"Oh come on now, I’m just saying that I find you very attractive. It’s a bit sad that you can’t accept such a simple compliment."

"Yeah, sure, I know your reputation. You sleep around with basically every girl at school, man-whore."

"Mostly true, but that’s an exaggeration of how many girls I fuck."

"Whatever, I’m still not interested and will never be." She glares at me while making her way to her car, getting inside and pulling out of the shop. She gives me one last look before she turns the corner and out of sight.

🜂🜂🜂

It is now getting late in the afternoon, and Nyx and I are getting close to wrapping up for the day. I see from the corner of my eye as she waves off her last customer before turning to face me.

"Give it 15 minutes. If no one comes, then you’re off. If someone does, then they’re your last for the day."

She wipes some grease from her hands before setting the rag down and going into her office. I follow her and lean in the doorway as she sits down, looking back at me.

"What do you need, Jason?"

"Me and Izzy are gonna hit up Joe’s after work, so do you mind paying me for today’s work?"

"I should say no, considering you’re only 18. But you deserve it after everything."

"Don’t get soft on me, Nyx; just gimme the money." I joke , but also just wanting her to not try and talk to me about... well, anything.

"Fine, but remember who’s in charge here. I’ll get you the money when you leave."

"Thanks." I respond as I walk back into the shop.

At that moment, a car begins to pull up, a beat-up car from the 90s. I guide the driver into my workstation and watch as she gets out. A Latina girl about my age gets out, barely shorter than me and being pretty big. Her curly dark hair ended at her shoulders, and her caramel skin was shining slightly in the light.

"What’s the problem with it?"

"It’s hard to steer sometimes and makes a grinding noise too." She responds, a slight accent from south of the border audible in her speech.

"Alright, I’ll take a look." I walk past, checking her out, which she notices and turns away from me.

I align the arms of the lift and raise the car, walking under it once it’s fully raised and beginning to examine the components of its steering system. It doesn’t take me long to notice some fluid dripping down from somewhere, so I take my time to find the source, which happens to be the steering gear box. I come out from under the car and check the computer Nyx has with a list of our stock of parts, and I can’t find a steering gear box for the car. I sigh in frustration and turn back around, facing the owner.

"So what’s wrong with it?" The owner asks, looking worried thanks to my reaction.

"The steering gear box is busted, and we don’t have one in stock. We’ll need to order another one, which will probably take a few days."

"Crap, how much do you think it’ll cost to fix?"

"Around six or seven hundred dollars."

"Okay, I need to call my dad and make sure that’s not too much." She walks a few feet away while pulling out her phone.

I walk back over to Nyx’s office, informing her of the situation. "We need parts for the car, so I’m gonna head out now and work on it when the parts get in."

"Okay, and here’s your money." She hands me a bundle of dollars, which I pocket and turn out of her office.

I see the girl get off the phone and look over at me. "He said the price is fine... but now I have to walk home."

"I could give you a lift. My shift is over."

"Oh, I guess you could." She looks somewhat uncomfortable.

"Okay, go park your car in the parking lot and meet me at my truck."

She gets into the car, starts it up, and pulls out of the shop. I grab my jacket, slip it on, and exit the shop. A decent layer of snow covers the asphalt, crunching under my feet as I head for my truck.

I climb into the truck and turn it on, letting the inside begin to warm up while I wait for the girl. My phone vibrates in my pocket. Once I pull it out, I see a text from Izzy.

"I’m already at Joe’s, lemme know when you’re outside."

I put my phone away as the girl opens the truck door and gets inside. "Thanks for doing this. It’s a bit scary, but I appreciate it."

"You don’t gotta worry. I’ve seen what the people of this city can do. So this ride is probably the smarter choice."

She looks worried at my response, but remains silent. Her eyes were moving away from mine, looking out the window, as I began to drive away from the shop.

"The name’s Jason, by the way. What’s yours?"

"I’m Valaria, but people call me Val."

"That’s a pretty name. It matches the girl it belongs to." I flash her a slight smirk.

She blushes and glances away from me, her embarrassment pretty obvious.

"Anyway, where do you live?"

"The apartment building on Merchant Avenue, with the big penthouse."

"I know the one."

She nods and turns on the radio, both of us letting the music fill the silence in the truck as I drive the 15 or so minutes to her apartment.

"Thank you, Jason. Here’s my number, so you can text me when the car is fixed."

She reads out her number, which I copy onto my phone. She then makes her way into the apartment building, giving me a wave goodbye as she enters.

🜂🜂🜂

Once pulling into the parking lot of Joe’s bar, I pull out my phone to text Izzy.

"I’m outside"

"Be out in a minute"

I pull out a cigarette and begin to smoke it as I wait. Taking a look around the area, the weathered wood of the docks lines everything visible. I can faintly hear the sounds of the ocean waves underneath, splashing against the supports and rocks below.

Izzy runs out of the bar, likely trying to escape the cold quickly. She throws open the door and hops inside, shutting the door immediately after. "How was work, J?"

"Pretty good. A couple of nice-looking girls came in. I got the number of one of them."

"Nice, do either of them go to our school?" She grabs my cigarette and takes a puff before handing it back.

"Yeah, Amethyst Michaels."

"That punky rich girl? I’m surprised she’d go to such a small auto shop."

"I’m not. I think she hates being rich or something. So stupid."

"I guess so. Anyway, I’ve got your birthday present. You have three guesses to figure it out."

"I think I only need one." I reach over, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulling her into a deep kiss, which she immediately returns. One of her hands caresses my cheek while the other presses softly against my chest.

I release the kiss, and she smirks at me, a slight blush on her face. "You didn’t exactly guess, but you’re correct. Now let’s get this done quickly so we can go get wasted."

She quickly removes her jeans, climbing over the center console and settling herself onto my lap. She kisses me again with more vigor, snaking a hand down my body to begin hastily undoing my pants.

"Someone’s impatient." I tease with a smirk.

Izzy puts a hand over my mouth, glaring down at me. "Shut it. I’ve been waiting all day for this."

And with that, she gets my pants off and we enjoy each other for the next few minutes.