"How much money should I give you?" I asked when I finally found a fabric bag, ready to withdraw the exact amount.
"Oh, you don't have to give me anything back. It's a trifle!" the boy blushed a bit as he said it, but I didn't notice it that much because I was more busy thinking about where I'd go next.
"If you say so" I put my black wallet back in my purse and started getting ready to leave the cafe "Thank you for sharing your cake with me, I guess I'll forgive you for buying this sweet before me"
With those words out of my mouth, I walked away without any hesitation. As I was leaving the coffee shop, I suddenly remembered one thing, launch of a new book by my favorite author. There was a book store not far from here, so I decided to take the opportunity and almost immediately rushed to make a new purchase. It didn't take me long to run to the bookstore, almost immediately I opened the door and sniffed to take in the characteristic smell of books that accompanied me almost every day, because going to bookstores or libraries has become almost ingrained in my daily routine. I immediately nestled among the piles of shelves with colorful book covers, looking through the titles and admiring the variety of colors, I tried with difficulty to find new product, which I dreamed about from the very beginning of its announcement. My fingers ran over the spines of the books, savoring the smooth texture of the covers that characterized these newer versions of the books. It took me several minutes to find what I was looking for from the beginning, I took the last piece of the red book and, delighted, rushed to the cash register.
The line wasn't long, but it wasn't short either, so I had to stand for a while, a few minutes for sure. When, even fifteen minutes later, the queue was still standing in the same place, I began to be a bit interested in the situation in front of me. I tilted my head a little and my eyes immediately showed the image of red hair, whom I met again today, the teenager apparently had a problem with the payment, because it was impossible to pay with his card for an unknown reason. Tired of standing all the time, I apologized to the girl in front of me and moved towards the boy, who continued to struggle with the payment.
"Excuse me, I'll pay for that" I said firmly adding my purchases to that.
"[Reader]?" Kyle asked in surprise once again, he quickly recovered himself and tried to reject the offer "You do not have to do that"
"It's okay" I replied by putting the card to the reader and shortening the impatient waiting of other customers.
The cashier thanked me with a slight nod and immediately began packing our purchases into separate paper bags. I grabbed one bag and handed the other to Kyle, who took it with a bit of embarrassment. As soon as I moved forward, the redhead began to follow me, trying to repay me somehow, which annoyed me a bit.
"It's seriously okay" I sighed after seeing another try to give me a calculated amount of money "Let's assume this is my payment for that cake"
"Are you sure?" Kyle questioned awkwardly as he followed me "Really, I can give it to you"
I breathed again and realized to the boy that I really didn't need the money, which he finally understood. I was planning to go to the drugstore, so I finally said goodbye to my peer hoping I don't see him again because that would be extremely awkward.

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
I left the store with a full bag and immediately looked up when I felt a drop that bounced alone on my skin and absorbed into it. The hitherto blue sky has become an ugly gray and the dull emptiness was filled with huge rain clouds that released more and more drops.
"Aw, shoot!" I intoned as I felt even more raindrops falling into my warm, tired skin "It started raining.."
I covered the most precious things with my body and started running to the nearest bus stop, to protect myself from the annoying rain. I ran through numerous streets, nimbly avoiding people passing me by, who were in a hurry wherever they were going, when I finally found a stop within sight, I almost died of joy. I approached the black structure and sat on the bench, sighing with relief.
"Ah, so we meet again" a male voice laughed awkwardly as he saw me.
I turned my gaze and saw again the boy whom I don't know how many times I have seen today. I smile back and immediately look down at the bookstore paper bag Kyle clutches in his hand, it was difficult for an ordinary person to assess the contents of such a bag because it was impossible to see the title of the book inside at all, but I immediately recognized the characteristic red cover, which was the same color as the latest novel by my favorite author. Before I pointed it out to him, I genuinely smiled, so we had something in common after all.
"Is that Shelley Janet's lastest creation?" I asked genuinely curious about the crimson red book that the boy was hiding in the paper bag "I love this author!"
"Do you really know her?" The teenager's eyes widened slightly in surprise "I thought I was the only one who knew about her in South Park"
"I am so glad that I can talk about it with another person, she's a perfect writer, isn't she?"
I wanted to extend our conversation more, but I was interrupted by the arrival of a distinctive yellow bus. We both jumped off the bench at the same time and got on the bus, as always, I sat next to the window to get a glimpse of South Park's rural-urban landscape, after a while, the red-haired man with whom I was talking a moment ago joined me.
"It would be good to finish our conversation, don't you think?" Kyle gave me a honest smile which I reciprocated.
"Maybe this matchup wasn't a bad idea after all" I whispered as quiet as I could.
"Excuse me? I didn't really catched what did you just say" the redhead leaned over me slightly to hear what I was saying better.
"It was nothing important" I gave him a light push on the shoulder and started my monologue again.