the flickering, neon green numbers on the digital clock across the gas station read 4:28 am

micah was sitting on the chair behind the counter, scrolling on his phone, browsing through his social media and checking for any new messages, albeit knowing no one would text him at such an ungodly hour

before midnight there were still people coming in, pumping gas or buying stuff, but after 12 the business died down to an occasional trucker stopping by to buy a red bull and take a piss

the last customer he'd faintly nodded at, scanned his item and told him to have a nice evening had left at 2:12

he'd come up with various activities to fill those lonely 136 minutes; playing games on his phone, smoking on the small step in front of the store while his phone charged and reading one of the car magazines that were stacked next to the counter

even though his best mate sebastian had told him to "sit his stupid ass down and study for once", micah had not yet touched the notebook and his maths book; he'd decided it'd he best for his mental health if he didn't encounter sine and cosine functions without the right amount of sleep

his right hand was on his phone, refreshing his feed for the nth time in an attempt to find something other than car edits, the newest posts of his swimming team and couples that made him want to rip his caramel hair out, while the left was fidgeting with the lighter in the pocket of his jeans

taking a glance up at the screen showing the live footage of the gas station's surveillance cameras, he checked if his bike was still there - it was, of course, he was just being paranoid - and flicked his grey eyes up to the clock again; 4:32 am

but he didn't have time to actually take in or memorize anything, as the automatic sliding doors opened and in stepped you

to work at a gas station meant to not have to talk a lot; he just stood there and watched you enter, grab your items and then approach the counter

"yo" he said curtly as he scanned your purchases, shooting you a quick glance