"Idiot, pay attention to what I'm saying, it's good to memorize the instructions carefully!" Being aggressive as always, the girl was not at all gentle while explaining to me what to do.
That said, at least she was very attentive. Ava always explained every little detail. Moreover, noticing that I was shy, she even allowed me to spend more time taking care of the stock than at the cash register. She might be aggressive, but she was probably kind on the inside.
Anyway, I needed to start improving the impression she had of me, otherwise, I would have big problems.
During the day, I tried to be a dedicated employee and did things the right way. However, the girl, who clearly seemed to be irritated by something, didn't give me a chance to get too close to her. More than that, I would say that I couldn't undo the initial bad impression.
The first day was a failure, but I couldn't give up so easily.
Back home, I told Lila everything that had happened. She gave me a massage and offered some rather questionable advice.
After that, I had to go straight to my computer to do some freelance jobs I had gotten; I still needed to earn some money from the internet.
Before I noticed, my day was over. Then I lay down on my bed and... it broke. After two days of intense use, my bed couldn't take it anymore.
With Lila's help, I got rid of the bed's remains and we put the mattress on the floor, then squeezed onto it and slept together. Unlike the other two times I had passed out from exhaustion, it was much harder to fall asleep, and I noticed how small my bed was. Well, to begin with, it was a mattress that barely fit one person, imagine two.
Without many options, I had to invest in a new bed, a double bed this time. Besides that, as my room was very small, I had to move my work desk out of the room and leave it in the little space left in the living room. I definitely needed to move to a bigger place as soon as possible, but I doubted that moment would come anytime soon.
Anyway, early in the morning I did the necessary exercises for the missions, then I went to work. This time, I arrived earlier than expected, which allowed me to see something beautiful...
Surrounded by smiling and attentive children, Eva improvised a captivating melody using just an old aluminum can, some bits and pieces found on the street, and her own voice, which was clear and melodious like a bird's song. The sound of the can echoed, and Eva's voice rose, resonating and filling the space with contagious joy.
It was surprising to see how, even without any traditional instruments, she managed to create such harmonious and pleasant music. The energy she conveyed was so enchanting that, without realizing it, I stopped walking and became absorbed in the music, forgetting everything around me.
At that moment, it seemed like only Eva and her splendid voice existed, dominating the street with her magnetic presence and the simple beauty of her art.
"Did you arrive early for work today, idiot?" Despite the insult, her tone was light and kind. Probably singing put her in a better mood.
I responded with a smile and honestly praised her music, which seemed to have a good effect; after all, she was happy about it.
Then we entered the store and, while preparing things to open, we started to exchange a few words.
"Since when do you sing? You definitely have a lot of talent for it."
"Since I was very young, I used to be part of the church choir," she approached me, "and how many times do I have to tell you to pay attention to what you're doing, idiot."
Being in a good mood that day, she just called me an idiot with a smile and then immediately explained my mistake. Besides, after some time, I was already used to it.
So, between the customers we served and the things we had to clean, there was some time left to continue the conversation about music.
During that time, she told me about the artists who were her musical inspiration, as well as the things she liked to listen to. Surprisingly, our tastes weren't that different.
Amidst this, I ended up asking about her dream and, as expected, it was to be a singer. Then I asked:
"I understand, have you ever auditioned for a record label? I'm sure with your talent, you could get a chance."
"That's not how things work. Do you really think it would be that easy, idiot?" She forced an enthusiastic smile and changed the subject.
I found it strange, but I decided not to comment; if she didn't want to tell me, it was better to give her some space. Or should I have asked directly?
As I headed home, I checked if the stage had been completed, but I failed. I thought we were already quite close, and indeed her affection for me had increased a lot, but it still wasn't enough.
What did I have to do to make her my friend? For someone who had always been excluded, it was hard to answer that question appropriately. I was more confident recently, but more and more the idea that I would fail grew in my mind.
Back home, once again, I talked about the day with Lila, who had become my angel. As always, her smile made me regain hope and self-confidence.
Then she gave me the news that she had gotten a job. She would work as a bar attendant at night. Honestly, I was a bit worried, but she convinced me by explaining that, with me reaching level 2, she was now even stronger in her demonic form. It would be hard for any human to do anything against her, even if armed.
Besides, the payment she would receive was good, so there wasn't much to be done. It was just a pity that at night she would be away, while I worked during the morning and afternoon. In other words, our schedules would make our moments of interaction more rare.
Once again, I spent the rest of the night editing videos, but I couldn't go another day without at least enjoying myself, so I asked Lila for a boobjob. With that, I completed a mission and got some relief.
The next day, once again, I woke up and did the exercises, which were becoming easier. Then, I made a quick visit to the headquarters of a certain sect... I mean, cult.
There I just attended some lectures, in which Amber did not participate, so it was a real waste of time.
I rushed to work and arrived on time, but I missed the scene of Eva singing, which was really a shame.
At work, the rebellious girl and I were already in sync. Being quiet and shy as I always was, I quickly learned to understand people and adapt to them so that we could work together without talking.
Well, lately, my shyness had decreased a lot, but I kept my ability to work in sync with anyone.
And once again, we kept chatting during the day. I felt like we were getting closer and closer.
However, I still hadn't completed even the first stage of our relationship. At this point, I was already starting to think that the problem was more in how difficult it was for Eva to consider someone her friend.
I spent a lonely night thinking about the beautiful girl. What did I need to do to make her open up to me?
I woke up, did the exercises, and visited the headquarters of that sect again. This time I could at least see Amber, but I didn't have a chance to talk to her. Anyway, that would become a habit from then on, as I waited for the chance to complete the second stage of 17.
Going to work, I found Eva dealing with a blonde drunk. As I would discover later, he was Zack, the owner's son of the convenience store, as well as the guy who theoretically dealt with the night shift, along with another girl.
Anyway, apparently, he had been drinking at work all night and ended up in that state in the morning. Of course, as he was the owner's son, we had to treat him well. However, his face was annoyingly similar to Eric's, so I felt uncomfortable with him around.
In the end, Eva took on the task of taking care of him. Since I hadn't liked the guy, who reminded me of the rich kids who kicked me out, I decided to leave that to her.
And after a while, we had another normal and fun day at work, but at that point, I felt like I wasn't making any progress.
Back home, nothing important happened. And the next morning, I had another regular workday, as that was becoming routine. But I needed to do something different and make some progress.
Another day began. Again, I arrived at work a little earlier and listened to the girl singing. So while we worked, I brought up the subject of her dream once more.
Retracing my steps more or less, I brought the topic back to record labels and things like that, and once again, she seemed uncomfortable talking about it.
At that moment, in an act of inspiration, I noticed that no one was around and tried something. I smiled and looked confidently at the girl before taking her small hands in mine.
They were so warm, small, and delicate, but at the same time rough. Without a doubt, she had used those small hands to practice a lot.
Of course, the girl tried to escape from me, but I held her hand firmly and then spoke with a confident tone:
"You know you can trust me; we're friends, after all." As I said this, the embarrassment made my skin burn, and the anxiety made me want to back away, but my decision was already made. "What's your dream?" I asked once more.
For some reason, the girl fell into a deep silence, then averted her gaze, avoiding the question. Finally, she turned her back on me and, while organizing some items on the shelf, began to say:
"It might be stupid, but I'd like to succeed on my own. I wanted to inspire people with my music or something like that." Even with her back turned, I could see her ears turn red with embarrassment in the situation. "Well, I know I'm an idiot, but I didn't want to rely on record labels, I... I..."
In the end, she couldn't say everything; it was still very hard for her to open her heart. Still, it was okay; that's why I ran my hand through her head, messing up her cute hair, and said:
"So why not try YouTube and other platforms like that?"
"I've already tried, but..."
Embarrassed, she showed me her account, which indeed wasn't doing well. Her thumbnails were all weird and dull, the videos just a strange image she put up, and the songs were clearly recorded on a horrible microphone.
"If you want, I can help you with that, you know?" I offered.
After talking for a bit, I explained to her that it would be better to record in a closed place, like inside her own closet, because of the better acoustics. I also showed her how to make the most of her cellphone's microphone.
Furthermore, I promised to edit the video as soon as it was recorded and to publish it like an anime music video, since it was easier to draw a few images and animate them rather than create a full clip or something similar. Besides, just the audio wouldn't get as much attention.
The rebellious girl didn't even know what anime was, although she promised to watch some of my recommendations. That said, I would find a character that matched the music she made, and everything would work out.
So I came home excited to see that stage 1 was finally completed, and that same night, I received an audio file containing Eva's beautiful voice, so I spent the night editing everything to post, I was very excited.