The Gift of Giving

Jenna still had a fair bit of time left before her date with Imogen - perhaps she didn't need to head home just yet.

She checked the RM app again to confirm it was now tracking all of Grace's movements which, to her great amusement, it was. She wondered just where that bitch was heading now? Towards the small collection of shops in the village high street, none of which sold anything useful, it seemed. On a whim, Jenna decided to follow her at a safe distance.

Grace's deceptively friendly looking avatar eventually settled in the accessories shop, and stayed there for some time. That meant she liked accessories, Jenna deduced. Accessories were cheap and plentiful. That gave her an idea.

She waited until a good few minutes after her bully had left before entering the same shop herself. Despite all the years that particular store had been situated in the same small village as Jenna, she had never been into it once until now. Accessories were pointless. So it was only now she discovered that Chloe worked there. That was a welcome development.

Like every other female in the village within five years of her own age, Jenna knew Chloe pretty well. She had a decent relationship with her. Jenna doubted her sort-of-friend gave much of a shit about client confidentiality, if such a thing even existed in an accessories shop, so the intel she needed should be easy to obtain.

"Oh hey Jenna" Chloe smiled, remaining slouched over the till, as she noticed her familiar but unexpected customer coming through the door "I didn't think I'd ever see you in here"

"Yeah, I'm kind of shopping for someone else, actually. Grace Turner?"

"Really? She was in here, like, five minutes ago" the shop girl looked surprised "But why are you buying stuff for her? I thought you two hated each other?"

"I want to be the more mature person and build bridges I guess" Jenna shrugged "Do you know what kind of stupid shit that dumb bitch likes?"

"Scrunchies"

"Scrunchies?" Jenna wrinkled her nose sceptically.

"Yeah, every time she comes in here she buys a few. Which is weird, because I don't see her wearing them that often. Maybe she collects them or something?"

"What do they cost? Like, a quid each?"

"She likes the silk ones, they're a little pricier, but not much"

"How many can I get for a twenty quid?"

As Jenna held out her note, Chloe reached under the counter and pulled out a large bowl full of hair ties of various different styles and colours.

"As many as you can carry" the shop girl offered "I mean, leave a few behind. And the bowl, obviously"

"What? Seriously?"

"Yeah. I can't be arsed ringing them all up individually" Chloe shrugged "Besides, I'm kind of hoping to get sacked. I think I was getting more money when I was signing on, and I didn't have to stand in this fucking shop all day"

"Thanks Chloe, you are seriously fucking awesome!"

"I have my moments!" the obliging vendor smiled sweetly, as Jenna managed to scoop most of the contents of the scrunchie bowl into her bag.

As she left the shop, Jenna could feel her phone buzzing. Did that mean what she thought it meant?

It did.

So now Chloe was on the Love List too. That made sense. Jenna had always fancied her, even though she had been a couple of years above her at school. The list was getting crowded now though. It was going to take a lot of work to level up all these sexy girls into becoming her fully dedicated lovers, but that wasn't going to put Jenna off.

---

After arriving back at her parents home, which she didn't see a route out of living in any time soon, and dumping a whole heap of scrunchies on her bed - seriously, there were probably at least thirty of the fucking things - Jenna scoured the house for any chocolate she could get her hands on, in preparation for Imogen's visit.

Her parents didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but she got lucky and found a large tub of Celebrations on the kitchen counter - those probably had a hundred mini chocolate bars in them. On top of it was a birthday card addressed to Jenna's Auntie Barbara, who she didn't even like much. Jenna pulled off the lid and helped herself to a mini Twix, before carrying the container holding the rest of the chocolates upstairs to her room.

Jenna was now set up quite nicely, she felt, for an evening of sexual experimentation. She had only ever kissed boys before, back in the days when she was trying to act like all the other girls at her school, and she had never done anything sexual with anyone.

Tonight Imogen, the adorably cute and innocent girl from the local convenience store, would be in her bedroom for the evening. She ought to at least be making out with her before the night was over, but Jenna had ambitions to see if she could push Imogen all the way to three hearts, which ought to result in the shop worker stripping naked and going down on Jenna when told to. All she had to do was keep giving her chocolates, which Imogen loved, and compliments, which she always seemed to happily accept.

The doorbell rang. Jenna felt her heart skip and butterflies in her stomach. Neither of those were sensations she got the opportunity to experience often. She hoped she didn't get nervous and somehow fuck this up, even though that wasn't supposed to be possible if she followed the rules of the Romance Mechanic correctly. She practically skipped down the stairs, opened the door excitedly and..

"Hey"

"Oh, uh, hey Cass"

"Is it okay if I hang here this evening? I bought some booze"

Shit. Why hadn't Jenna thought of this? Cassie knew her parents were away, she was bound to come over. Jenna had literally never turned her best friend away ever, and certainly didn't want to do so now. If she did let her up to her room tonight, things might get pretty fucking awkward though.

Unless....

What was it the user guide said about being able to date multiple people from her love list at the same time? Even if Cassie wasn't actually here on a date, she was still on Jenna's list with a full heart under her name. She ought to be okay with whatever Jenna and Imogen got up to this evening, even if she was in the same room while it was happening. It might even be kind of hot having her watch.

"Sure, come in"

Cassie had barely settled in her friends room when the doorbell went again. This time, it was Jenna's date.

Had she gone home and changed before coming here? That felt like a good sign.

"Hey Jenna"

"Hey Imogen. Come in, let me show you my room!"