Bully for Jenna

"So, like, do your parents pay you to work here?"

"Of course!" Imogen laughed "I wouldn't do this practically all day every day for free"

"That's cool" Jenna nodded "I feel like you're really good at it and, uh, what's the word? Dedicated."

"Really? I don't think anyone has ever complimented me on the job I do here before. My parents certainly haven't" Imogen sounded genuinely happy as she replied, and Jenna could feel her phone vibrating to let her know this was working "Honestly, all I really do is just kind of stand here most of the time"

"Yeah but that takes, um, good discipline" Jenna, not usually one to shower people with praise, ad libbed "It must get boring for you without company, though. Maybe I'll stay here and hang?"

"Sure, I'd love that!"

Jenna didn't have a ton in common with Imogen, but she liked her well enough. and she was fairly easy to talk to. Still, she couldn't spend the entire day in a convenience store and, while the conversation had the shop attendant's first heart filling at a consistent rate, progress from talking alone came slowly. She needed to do something to speed up the process.

"So what kind of shit do you like?"

"What do you mean?"

"I feel like I want to get you a present"

"What? Really?"

"Sure, we're friends, right? Isn't that what friends do?"

"Yeah, I guess" Imogen looked a little thrown by this out of character behaviour "Erm, I like shoes and perfume?"

"I meant something cheap that I can get you easily" Jenna clarified "Like the kind of every day shit you sell here"

"Right, sure. Well, I like chocolate?"

"Okay, that works. Any particular type?"

"No, pretty much anything"

Jenna walked over to a shelf where various confectionery treats were being displayed and scooped up an armful of chocolate bars. She then dumped them on the counter in front of Imogen. The still confused looking shop girl dutifully rang them up on the till, and Jenna gave her a ten pound note to cover her purchases. She then began handing one chocolate bar after another back to the person who had just sold them to her.

"Here you go. Consider these each as separate gifts"

"Wow, thanks. That's, like, super generous of you!"

Jenna could feel her phone buzzing repeatedly and, after all of the sweet treats had been handed over and she checked the RM app, she could see that Imogen was now sitting on around one and a quarter hearts. That meant it was time to take the experiment a step further. It would still be embarrassing if this went wrong, but not the devastating blow that failure with Cassie would be.

"Do you wanna go on a date with me sometime, Imogen?

"Uh....yeah, okay. How about this evening?"

"What? Really?"

"Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Maybe just hang at mine?" Jenna improvised, not having fully expected such a positive response.

"Okay. I finish here around seven. I'll come over then"

Wow. So Jenna had a date with a straight girl. Unless Imogen had been living a lie since puberty hit, it was starting to look like the Romance Mechanic might actually work.

Jenna was daydreaming about just what she might be able to get the cute brunette to do in exchange for chocolate when her walk home was rudely interrupted by a familiar figure, passing in the opposite direction down the same short cut.

"You wanna step out of my way, freak?"

The highly inaccurately named Grace had been Jenna's bully throughout most of her formative years at school. The girl was a total bitch with seemingly no redeemable character traits, but because she was conventionally pretty, stylish and came from a rich and important (at least within the context of the village bubble) family, she had nonetheless been, and indeed still appeared to be, annoyingly popular.

"Why don't you get out of my way?" Jenna retorted.

"Social hierarchy" Grace explained "Know your place and respect your betters. Also, I'm wearing my new Gucci boots which I don't want to get dirty by leaving the path, and you're wearing....whatever the fuck those are"

She looked down at the other girl's scuffed, dirty trainers with exaggerated distaste.

Jenna could feel her phone buzzing and gave it a subtle glance.

No. Fucking. Way.

Grace had made it onto her Love List?

Sure, she was hot. The pair didn't seem like they could ever be considered even vaguely compatible though.

However, Jenna soon found herself daydreaming again, and formulating a wicked plan. If she could somehow raise Grace up to five full hearts, she could basically turn her into her personal sex toy. According to the RM user guide, Jenna would be able to impose any relationship rules she wanted to on her school bully - like Grace having to be naked at all times, while referring to Jenna as her Divine Mistress and barking like a dog at the end of each sentence. In terms of payback, that would be pretty fucking sweet.

"Why are you just standing and staring at me?" Grace wanted to know.

"I, uh..." Jenna realised raising this heartless bitch up to five full ones wasn't going to be easy, but she was determined to give it her best shot "I really like what you're wearing"

"Is that your attempt at seduction? Because I'm not a fucking dyke" Grace answered coldly "Just fucking move, I'm losing patience here"

Not wanting this rapidly escalating stand off to get any nastier, Jenna moved aside and wordlessly stepped from the path onto the wet and muddy grass. Grace gave a smug, triumphant smirk and walked on.

Her time would come later. For now, Jenna had a date with the much sweeter-natured Imogen to prepare for.