Cherry Popsicle

It wasn't unusual for them to fall asleep in wonky positions with the pillows and plushies piled up around them since they both crashed about speaking about some random nonsense and woke up extremely tired since Alice wanted to get back before eight in the morning, so after pulling Claudia out of bed that was an extreme pain, they took off. 

The random conversations that happened at midnight and later were a girl's specialty, and they kept at it until three in the morning which was a recipe for disaster once morning struck. Alice woke up groggy, but for Claudia who was already a pain to wake up in the early hours, she was a brick that Alice had to haul around.

The bags that she and Claudia had to haul back and forth from the house to the car were also a comedic feat. But Alice had to take that day to recuperate since she was so out of it and desperately needed to recover after all the fun that they had. 

Alice hugged Claudia and pulled back with a grin. "What are you doing here?"

Claudia shrugged. "I thought that I would stop by."

"Did you have something planned for today?" Alice asked with a knowing look.

"I do," Claudia laughed.

Alice patted Claudia's shoulder. "If you're in a hurry, you can come back later."

"I'm here on a mission though."

"Oh, I see. What's the mission?"

Claudia looped her arm through hers and started to pull Alice to the door. Alice pressed some pressure to the end of her heel to try and stop her. "What are you doing, Claudia? I'm working, so I can't just leave. Where are we going anyways?"

"To the game," Claudia said slowly. "Can you please come with me?"

"This is short notice, darling," Alice responded knowing that she couldn't just drop her responsibilities. "What do you expect me to do?"

Claudia squeezed Alice's side. "Okay, I'll help you out here first. What do you need to do?"

Alice sighed. "I'm at the register desk today, so I'm here to man the cashier."

"I'll help you."

"But I still can't leave after," Alice said as Claudia walked over to the door of the register desk. "I'll need to close up the shop." 

"It's fine. I have some downtime. What else would I rather do than spend it with my bestie girl?" Claudia sang.

Alice rolled her eyes. "You're not getting anything out of it, but by all means, be my guest. We're always in need of a helping hand."

They walked through the small gate by the register desk, and Alice slid a spare red apron with the store's logo over left-hand corner over Claudia's pink plaid dress that was layered over top of a white t-shirt. It gave a very cherry look with cute vibes. Not that the red apron of the convenience store was putting off any fashion offers. 

Claudia spun in a circle for Alice and tilted her head. "I think the uniform matches me too well, don't you think?"

Alice snickered. "Like a little popsicle."

"Thank you," Claudia said ignoring Alice's quip. 

Alice slid Claudia a spare stool only to bring her head up immediately and smiled at a customer waiting to check out his items with a grey suit lined up at the desk. She knew that they must have looked insane doing their high school shenanigans, but it was no problem on her part besides them looking absolutely crazy. "Hello. Did you find everything okay?"

"Yes, thank you," the businessman said before handing the cash that was needed for the food items that he was buying.

Alice grabbed his change and placed it into his open hand. "You have a good one, sir."

"Yes, you as well."

He tipped his head down at them before walking out with his bag in hand, and Alice looked over at Claudia who was sitting in the chair before the man even left. Alice smacked Claudia's arm, startling her, and Claudia looked up with her doe eyes that weren't going to fool Alice considering that Claudia knew how things worked around the convenience store after being recruited to help sometimes.

"It's rude to sit so early," Alice whispered.

"Sorry, sorry," Claudia laughed. "I'll be on my best behavior."

Alice nodded with a suspicious look before they rang up the next few customers. It went by easily with Alice scanning and handling the money while Claudia bagged. It would be more efficient to have two cash registers open, but Alice was in no way letting Claudia be in charge of her own desk when Claudia was messing around.

She knew her dear friend well, and it was only going to cause trouble if Claudia got her hands on something when she wasn't ready yet. Alice inclined to the last customer in the store as Claudia waved, and the sliding doors slid open again making Alice swing her gaze over in that direction to greet the person coming in.