AGE GAP, KINDA AGED SODAPOP

Sodapop had been working at the gas station for a while. You first started working at the place at 11, because you slid your way in by lying and saying you were 14 to work at the register and get some money. It had a decent pay, so you stayed. You wondered how you got away with it so easily, let alone your co-workers being 16 and older.

One of the coworkers you had was Sodapop, of course. He did most of the shifts you did, but you were too scared at the time to talk to him. He was older by 5 years, and you weren't very fond of teens at the time since most of them bullied you. But Sodapop saw you as something better than what anyone else did. He joked with you, and you were too shy to even respond.

Now, 6 years later at 18, you still work at the gas station with other job applications pending. You enjoyed the gas station with your new coworkers. Sodapop barely clocked in anymore, the gas station being a place to go if he wanted extra money for the day. Which was never. Maybe he found a good job? You hoped so.

As you stocked shelves, you heard the bell of the gas station door ring as someone opened. You weren't listening, but you could tell someone was clocking into their shift. You assumed it was a new worker. As the talking faded, you were struggling to remember where to put one of the snacks the company brought in temporarily when you were younger, which they now brought them back. As you were trying to recall, you felt a big, strong hand guide your smaller one to the right area.

"You need some help, beautiful?" Sodapop trailed his hand down your arm to your shoulder and patted it gently. He was now 23, but still looked just as young. He towered over you even more now.