Anna Hirsh walked at a steady speed roughly 40 feet behind an unsuspecting Lady. His pace never seemed to falter as he continued walking down the sidewalk. After nearly ten minutes of walking, he suddenly came to a stop. Anna hid behind a nearby bush thinking she had been caught but Lady seemed to have stopped for another reason. She watched from behind the bush as he bent down and picked up something from a flower bed. Straining her eyes, she could barely make out a speck of red on his finger tip. A ladybug. After the boy looked at the insect for some time, he set it down gingerly in the flowerbed from which he had found it. As he continued on his way, Anna Hirsh walked up to the very same flower bed and picked up the small insect.

She pulled a plastic water bottle from her bag and put the ladybug inside sealing the cap. She pulled off an earring and used the pointed tip to poke a hole in the top of the bottle allowing air to flow freely. “I wish Lady would look at me like that” She whispered to the bottled insect. She imagined living at the height of an insect, having the naturally short Lady tower over her and stare at her all day with a gentle yet curious gaze. 

Lost in her thoughts she looked up suddenly realizing she had lost sight of Lady. She hurriedly walked to the end of the street and began searching for him. Thankfully, the sidewalks this far from school were nearly empty and she could see his white hoodie in the distance. She continued following him for sometime until he finally reached a small hole-in-the-wall bookstore and entered.

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Lady looked at the insect in his hands. While the nickname ladybird loosely tied him to the red beetle crawling up his finger, he felt another connection to the ladybug that was less superficial. “I wish I was beautiful like you,” he said to the ladybug. “You might be tiny but people don’t hate you do they?” His eyes began to water, obscuring his view of the ladybug in his hand. “Are we weak or just fragile?” He looked at the unanswering insect for sometime before realizing he would be late for work.

He placed the ladybug back down and hurriedly continued his journey to work. When he finally arrived, he was nearly out of breath. His weak lungs, short legs, and frail body made even brisk jogs arduous for the boy. Opening the old wooden door, he was greeted by the homely smell of scented candles and old books. A young woman with soft brown hair, and an even softer chest, sat behind the checkout counter of the bookstore.

Her eyes lit up as Lady entered the store “I’m so glad you’re here, I was worried you wouldn’t show up.” She stepped out from behind the counter and held out a laminated badge with a picture of Lady on. Lady stretched out his hand and reached for the badge but as his hand grew closer, the woman suddenly dropped the badge and stepped back with a shiver. “I’m sorry” she muttered as she lowered her head. Lady bent down to pick up the badge while shaking his head “It's fine. Besides, you're getting a lot better!” 

The woman's face broke out into a nervous smile. “Y…yu….you really think so. I’ve been practicing in the mirror……I mean, wait, that's embarrassing, please forget it !” Lady would never admit it outright but he found her flustered appearance cute. He pined the badge onto his hoodie and moved behind the counter. “Don’t worry boss, I’ll watch the shop. You look like you need a break so why don’t you let me take over.” The woman nodded her head before heading to a door in the corner of the bookstore and entering.

Lady had met the woman while he was still being kicked between orphanages and homes. The bookstore was one a place he frequented but he quickly noticed that the woman that owned it had trouble talking to him and looking at him. At first, he assumed that it was simply because like most other people, she found him creepy or weird. After several visits though, he noticed that she seemed to have trouble interacting with all of the male customers. After attempting several conversations with her, he finally got her to open up.

Her name was Noel and she had severe androphobia, the fear of men. From controlling ex-boyfriends to an abusive father, every man in her life had scarred her or hurt her in some way. She had finally escaped home and majored in computer science at a local university before graduating and inheriting the bookstore from her dead mother. As she cried her eyes out and stumbled through an abridged version of her life story, Lady couldn't help but feel sorry for her. After she had finished, Lady offered to work there after school so she wouldn’t have to deal with the male customers that shuffled in after they finished work.

Noel was also the one who gave him her old monitor for free saying she had no use for it anymore. She was incredibly beautiful with an hourglass figure and F-cup breasts (Lady would never share how he knew her cup size). As a young teenager, Lady couldn't help but feel attracted to her but he tried not to let it show. both to save himself from embarrassment and to not break down what little trust the two had built up despite her condition.

As Lady began to get settled behind the counter, he noticed his phone wasn’t in his backpack. He searched every pocket on his person and in his bag but it was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t the first time some bully had broken or stolen his phone but he still inwardly sighed knowing he would have to buy a new one. The occasional customer trickled in and Lady helped them find what they were looking for or recommended them books. By the time the sun began to set, he was feeling tired and prepared to close the store for the night when the small bell above the door rang indicating that a customer had entered. 

 A girl walked in wearing a heavy coat with a hood pulled up, a mask, and glasses. Her appearance was suspicious to say the least, and Lady couldn’t help but feel nervous looking at her. She began walking down the rows of bookcases occasionally stopping to pick out a book and look at it before placing it back. After a few minutes she approached the counter with a book in hand. “D ...d…d…d…do you have the sequel to this book?” She asked with a stutter. Lady looked at the book before looking back up at the woman. “I can check in the back real quick.” While he knew there might be another reason she was dressed so strangely and hiding her face, Lady couldn’t shake the feeling he had. He planned to enter the backroom and return a minute later telling the girl they didn’t have the book in question. The cash register was locked so in the worst case scenario, she would run out with a couple books and Lady or Noel would file a report to the police.

Well, there was always the possibility that she would threaten him to open the register but based on her actions so far, he doubted she would pull something like that off. Regardless, Lady was glad that he was the one manning the store and not Noel. He opened up the back room door and shut it behind him while starting to count in his head. After roughly a minute had passed, he exited the backroom only to find that the girl was gone, the book she had been holding was now sitting on the counter. 

The bookstore was a two story building and the upstairs portion served as Noel’s home. When she returned to the first floor, the two made vain attempts at conversation while cleaning up and closing the store. When he left and began to walk home, he couldn’t help but wonder what the masked woman had wanted. He suddenly heard a small buzz, almost indistinguishable from the evening ambiance but one his ears were familiar with. His cell phone.

In the middle of the sidewalk, he began rummaging through his backpack and quickly found the familiar black device tucked into the front pocket of his bag. That's strange he thought, I’m sure I checked there earlier. He unlocked the phone and looked at his messages. 

3 new messages 

MagicalGirlLover: Gonna be late on the first day, I hate school

NekoGirl: I’m streaming tn on Project, wanna join?

Noel: Thank you for your help today, see you tomorrow :)

He was surprised to see a message from NekoGirl, A popular streamer on the platform Project. The two had met when NekoGirl had been playing through the popular mmorpg Eclipse Zero over the summer. She was one of the few friends online that he had begun to play with regularly. Admittedly, he felt nervous playing with her since she could be viewed as a minor internet celebrity. 

He typed out a reply to the three messages. 

MagicalGirlLover: Gonna be late on the first day, I hate school

LadyKiller: Yea same. Hang in there.

NekoGirl: I’m streaming tn on Project, wanna join?

LadyKiller: Need to set up my computer still, maybe tomorrow

Noel: Thank you for your help today, see you tomorrow :)

LadyKiller: No problem. Have a good night.

Throwing the backpack over his shoulder, Lady continued walking down the street. When he finally reached his apartment, the night sky was draped over the horizon and the moon peeked out from behind the treetops. He unlocked the door and jokingly called out “I’m home” as he entered knowing nobody would reply. He threw his bag onto the floor and began the arduous task of unpacking which he had left finished the night before. After setting up his computer and booting it up, he quickly became distracted playing games. 

As the late night shifted into early morning, he decided it was best to get some sleep. While Lady began to drift off, a girl stood outside the apartment door. She pulled down her hoodie revealing bright red hair and took off the mask covering her face. “Welcome home,” She whispered as her outstretched hand rested against the door. “I’m so sorry. I swear I’ll make things right.”