Convenience Store Girl
by Sonofjack, sonofjackwell@gmail.com
A shy guy has a crush on the young woman behind the counter.


As I drove north on Nova Road towards Daytona, I could feel that familiar
thirst in my throat. I spied my favorite 7-Eleven store to the right. Did I
dare go back? There was another convenience store a few blocks further up the
road where the fountain drinks were a little cheaper.

It's strange that the same thing that made me reluctant to stop at this
particular convenience store now was the same thing that drew me there so many
times before. Although, to be more accurate, it wasn't "something" that drew
me there in the past, it was "someone".

That someone was Brittany. It's crazy, because I didn't really know her. The
only reason I even knew her name was because of the name tag on her
convenience store uniform. But from the first time I saw her pretty face
smiling at me from behind that counter, I knew that I was destined to become a
steady customer of this specific 7-Eleven. I'm sure that I'm not the only
person she had that effect on.

There's just something about her. Some people just have a gift for making
others - even strangers - feel welcome, and Brittany has that gift in spades.
Every time I went into that 7-Eleven, I could see her work her magic on
people. All she'd have to do is smile and say "Hi" to people as they walked in
the door, and nearly everyone would light up like they'd spotted a long lost
friend.

It's not that Brittany is drop-dead gorgeous or anything. Don't get me wrong,
she's pretty, but in a girl-next-door kind of way. She's not usually the kind
of girl I go for. For one thing, I like tall women, and Brittany isn't an inch
over five feet tall. She's got sort of a chipmunk-cute face with wide cheeks.
She does have beautiful, long curly hair that reaches a little past her
shoulder blades. She's the kind of girl my mom would describe as "cuter than a
bug's ear."

She DOES have a hot little body. Her breasts probably wouldn't look as big as
they do on a taller woman, but given her short stature, her breast look quite
round and full. Her derriere is likewise round and full.

However, it's really her engaging smile, her warm eyes and her winning
personality that make her so attractive. I guess it's fair to say that I have
a little crush on Brittany - not that I'm the kind of guy that would ever act
on it.

I guess you could say that I'm shy around women. I just don't seem to be the
kind of guy that women go for. I've been told by female friends that I'm
attractive enough, but as all guys who lack self-confidence know, if there's
one thing that women find attractive, it's self-confidence.

So I go into the 7-Eleven almost every day and buy a ninety-nine cent Big
Gulp. If I'm really feeling bold, I ask for a slice of pizza, or an eggroll or
a corndog from behind the counter. That's pretty much the extent of my
"relationship" with Brittany. Even though she's actually called me "Cutie" a
few times - she seems to have nicknames for most of the regular customers -
I've never worked up the courage to really talk to her.

And when I say I go in "almost every day" I should say that I went in almost
every day until a week ago. A week ago - the last time I was there - something
happened.

When Brittany asked me if I wanted anything from behind the counter I said,
"Let me have an eggroll, please."

"Sure thing, Cutie," she replied. Just hearing Brittany call me "Cutie" sent
waves of warmth throughout my body.

As Brittany was getting my eggroll for me, two drunken frat boy types walked
in front of me and one of them said to Brittany, "We're hungry; we want some
hotdogs."

Brittany smiled sweetly at them and said, "No problem. Just let me help this
gentleman first."

The other frat boy said, "Fuck him! Get us our hot dogs."

Brittany looked at them and said, "That wasn't very nice," then added,
"Please, wait your turn."

"We don't wanna wait," the first one said.

"Yeah, let HIM wait," the other one added. They clearly thought that their
loutish behavior was hilarious and great fun.

As I stood there, I started to feel ashamed of myself. Here these two jerks
were cutting in front of me, and all I could do was stand there like a
schmuck. I began to think of all the other times in my life when I let guys
like this push me around. What's worse, it was happening in front of the girl
I had a secret crush on. I got really angry, but I still didn't do anything.
These guys were both bigger than me. They were both around 6'1" or 6'2" and
weighed around two hundred pounds apiece.

Then one of them said something that REALLY pissed me off. He said, "Just get
us our hot dogs, bitch!"

That's when I finally said loudly, "That's enough!"

They turned around, and the first one said, "Did you say something?"

His friend asked me, "You got a problem?"

"Yes," I said. "If you want to cut in front of me, fine; but you've got no
reason to call her a name like that."

"You wanna do something about it?" the first one asked.

"Yeah, watta you gonna do about it?" the other one added.

"Well . . . I don't know what I'm going to do about it," I admitted. "I know
that you guys can beat me up, but that doesn't give you the right to go around
calling nice people like Brittany filthy, dirty names. You both owe her an
apology."

Then the first one got right in my face and said, "You want us to apologize to
the little bitch, then make us."

His friend also closed in and said, "Yeah, make us."

I wasn't sure what to do next. I was scared shitless, but I didn't regret
speaking up. Even if I got my ass severely kicked, it felt good to be standing
up for myself for once. It felt even better to be standing up for Brittany.

I knew that the next move was mine and that this moment would determine
whether I was a man or a mouse. I'd like to think that I would have stood up
to the two bullies, but the truth is, I'll never know. What happened next was
almost too strange to believe.

The next thing I knew, the two bullies were being lifted into the air. I
looked down and all four of their feet were dangling several inches off the
floor. That's when I realized that Brittany had come around the counter and
was standing behind the two bullies.

As incredible as it sounds, Brittany had walked up behind the two big men and
picked them up by their belts - one in each hand! The petite and cute girl
that I had a crush on was holding two big men off the ground as if they
weighed nothing. She was calmly lifting around four hundred pounds.

Brittany, still smiling sweetly said, "That's enough, boys." Then she calmly
walked over to the front entrance, still holding the two frat boys off the
ground. The sight of such a tiny women effortlessly carrying two big guys
across the store was something to behold. When she got to the front door,
another customer helpfully opened it for her. When Brittany reached the door,
she casually tossed the two bullies several feet into the parking lot.

When they landed hard on the pavement, Brittany said, "And don't come back
until you two learn some manners." Then she turned to me and asked, "Are you
alright?"

I was so stunned I didn't know what to say. I suddenly felt so awkward and
tongue-tied, that the only thing I could think to do was to rush out of the
store. I didn't run out exactly, but I did walk VERY fast.

I haven't been back since then. I've been too embarrassed. I mean, what do I
say to her? I know what I'd LIKE to say. I'd LIKE to tell her that I think
she's the sweetest, sexiest girl I've ever met. I'd LIKE tell her that the
sight of her dispatching those two bullies with such ease turns me on in a way
that I've never been turned on before. I'd LIKE to tell her that I'd be the
happiest guy in the world if she would agree just to go out with me and give
me a chance.

Considering the fact that it's taking almost all the courage I can work up to
even walk back into the store, however, I'm guessing that most of those things
will go unsaid.

When Brittany sees me she smiles that dazzling smile and says, "Hi, Cutie,
what can I get you?" I forgot just how beautiful her smile was even though
I've thought of little else this past week.

"I'd like an eggroll, please," I respond. As she was getting it for me, I went
over to the soda fountain and got myself a vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper.

When I got to the counter, she rang me up. On the one hand I was grateful that
she didn't bring up what happened the last time I was here. On the other hand,
I sort of wished she would - I would have liked any excuse to prolong our time
together. When she quoted the price of my purchase I noticed that she only
charged me for the Big Gulp.

"You forgot to charge me for the eggroll," I informed her.

"It's on the house," she explained, "After what happened to you the last time
you were in here, I figure we owe you a free eggroll."

I was so embarrassed by her mentioning what happened last time I'm sure that I
must have turned seven shades of red. "Thanks," I said sheepishly. Then I
noticed that along with my eggroll she handed me a piece of paper.

I looked at it, and it had a phone number written on it. "What's this?" I
asked.

"It's my phone number, Cutie" she replied.

I wanted to be cool about it and act like things like this happened to me all
the time. Instead I blurted out, "What's this for?"

"So you can call me, of course!"

"You . . you want ME to call YOU?" I asked.

"Sure I do. It was very brave and sweet the way you took up for me against
those big bullies," she explained.

"Oh . . well . . . ." My face felt like it was on fire from the blushing. "Uh,
thanks."

"You're going to call me aren't you?" she asked.

"Sure," I said enthusiastically.

"You'd better; otherwise I may have to get rough with you," she giggled.

I think I'm in love.

*******************

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