The Courtship of Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn
Chapter 8: Flu Shots

I have trypanophobia or an extreme fear of needles, and I dread taking the annual Flu Shot. Normally my mom has to bribe me with McDonald's if I'm good and take the shot without causing a sense. This year things were different, instead of having mom at my side I had my boyfriend, and instead of getting my Flu Shot at a clinic or hospital, I was getting mine at a local pharmacy.

Benton Pharmacy was the oldest pharmacy in Benton and according to the town its faithful have served the town since 1890 when it opened its doors for business. Beside a locally owned and operated pharmacy, and a mom and pop run business, the business that formed the bedrock of Benton and kept the town afloat. Mom's hairdressing salon being counted among those mom and pop run businesses that kept downtown from becoming another ghost town.

Anyway, Benton Pharmacy offered free Flu Shots to all local students. All you needed to do was show a student ID or a recent report card. And since neither Daisy and I were rolling in money, we decided to get our shots there and together. Dawn, our school nurse had of course offered to give us our shots for free. But, Dawn was Dawn enough said. Sure this is going to sound mean. But I'll trust her at best with a mild cold or a touch of the flu. I won't trust her giving me a shot.

Anyway the inside of Benton Pharmacy looked untouched from when it first opened its doors a hundred and thirty something odd years ago. The floors were wood, one the right side of the there was a marble countertop, behind the counter top was a griddle and some mixing machines. Four old stools could be found in front of the marble countertop. On the other side was a glass case that held various odds and ends. In the middle were some shelves that held stuff.

And at the back was another counter top, this one taller than the rest. Here John Jones Jr. filled all orders. John Jones looked as old as the business, with short cropped white hair, glazed over eyes and a haunting cough that echoed. John Jones had taken over the business from his father the late John Jones Sr. Who had taken over from his father Jim Jones, who had taken over from his father James Jones. Anyway you get the picture, the business was a family business.

Thankfully John Jones Jr. Would not be the one who would administer the flu vaccine, that would fall to his grand-daughter Rebecca Edwards, cousin to Lana Edwards, another prefect at school and another friend of mine. And the only one who had kept her head and had not jumped on Daisy. Anyway Rebecca Edwards like her cousin had flaming red hair and deep blue eyes. She was also the youngest pharmacy technician on staff. So I guess it was because she had received the most up to date training? At least I'd hoped so.

Anyway, Daisy and I were sitting there, waiting for Rebecca to finish reviewing our paperwork. I was snacking on a box of chocolate Pocky and Daisy was reading a light novel. The title of the book was Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai and I was mildly annoyed that he was busy reading instead of paying attention to me.

“What boyfriend reads while his girlfriend is sitting beside him?” I asked pouting.

“I brought you that box of Pocky.” Daisy said without skipping a beat. “And I promised to buy you an extra chocolate milkshake when you've taken your shot.” He added.

I pouted again and chomped down on the chocolate stick of Pocky.

“I should feed you this Pocky through your nose!” I said blushing.

“One stick?” Daisy said in a nonchalant tone of voice. “Because that would be painful, and a waste of good Pocky.”

“The whole box.” I answered before chopping down on another stick.

A moment of silence followed, you could feel the tension rising in the air, I could feel the tension growing, waiting was the hardest part, waiting for your name to be called, waiting for the shot to be given. That moment of tension before the needle was stuck into your shoulder and the button was mashed. It was nail biting.

“Why do you like that book anyway?” I asked as I turned toward Daisy, who still had his eyes glued to the pages of the book. “I've seen the anime and it's okay. Not really my kind of anime.” I added.

“I find bunny girls alluring.” He responded in a dry tone of voice.

“And you don't find me alluring?” I said blinking as I turned toward him. I was getting ready to slap him again. But I held my peace. As much as I hate to say it, I enjoyed this kind of banter.

“I find witches to be very alluring too.” He added as he flipped another page. “And you Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn are a very alluring witch, who has ensnared my heart with her magic and put me under her spell.” He said grinning from ear to ear.

I blushed and folded my arms across my chest, heaved a sigh and leaned back into the chair. I wanted to really slap him again. But there was something about his words, something about them made me feel good about myself. I could feel my cheeks flushing with color.

“What if I decided to cosplay as a bunny girl and serve you tea or an extra large milkshake?” I asked. I have no idea where the question came from. It was just a random question I felt like asking. Maybe because part of me wanted to know how it would feel to cosplay in something sexy. Would my mom approve? Hell no, she'll ground me till I leave for college. Would it be fun, heck yes.

“I would drop to my knees, and thank the gods of anime.” He said. “I would consider myself the luckiest man alive.”

“Fool.” I said pouting again as I turned away from Daisy.

“Your acting is very cute now.” Daisy said. “Acting like that means you want attention. And everybody is looking at us, meaning you want people to notice us. Meaning you want people to see that we are together.”

“I never heard such nonsense in all my life.” I said with a sigh.

Daisy just rolled his shoulders.

“You remind me a lot of 'Kiki' right now.” He added.
I blinked and blinked again as I chomped down upon another stick of Pocky.

“How so?” I asked as I shifted my eyes toward him.

“You just remind me of 'Kiki' that's all.” He said as he flipped another page in his book.

I heaved another sigh and folded my arms across my chest. I was growing tired of waiting and teasing Daisy was proving less fun than I had hoped. I wanted to keep the banter going, anything to keep my mind off the pending shot. A few minutes passed, then I heard a name being called out from behind the counter.

“James Bell!” I blinked and peered toward Daisy, who closed his book, and placed it to the side. He then stood up and rolled up his shirt sleeve. He then started to walk toward this old wooden chair that had been placed toward the side. Rebecca dressed in light blue scrubs smiled as she stepped out from behind the counter, she was holding a plastic tray. Daisy eased down into the chair,

With bated breath, I saw her soak a small cotton ball with rubbing alcohol. I watched her rub the cotton ball on Daisy's arm. Daisy seemed as cool as a cucumber as he just sat there watching Rebecca work. A moment later, Rebecca was pushing the needle into Daisy's arm. A second later a pink bandage was placed over the injection site.

“See nothing to it.” Daisy said smiling. As he slipped off the chair.

“BAKA!” I muttered under my breath. At this point I was aware that I do indeed watch too much anime. Daisy only smiled at me though. I was about to say something when Rebecca called my name out.

“Cerridwen Whitethorn!” She called as she peered toward me.

I blinked and blinked again and I felt my cheeks flush with color. I turned away for a moment, then looked down at the ground, then I felt myself starting to flush a bright red. I had no idea why I was blushing, I just was. But I had an idea. A silly idea, but one I wanted to act upon. Taking a deep breath I peered toward Rebecca and in a unsure tone of voice I asked.

“Can I sit in my boyfriend's lap while I get my shot?” I asked.

I swear to the stars you could have heard a pin drop in that room the moment I asked that question. All eyes turned toward me and I felt my cheeks flush red with color. Rebecca looked at me for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders. Daisy just gave me a sideways glance.

“Okay if that's what you want..” Rebecca's voice trailed a little bit.

A few seconds later, I found myself folding my skirt down as I eased myself down upon Daisy's lap. Daisy was blushing with embarrassment and I was purring with content. This was just too perfect. I wrapped my arms around Daisy and turned my shoulder toward Rebecca. I closed my eyes and waited. I felt the rubbing alcohol soaked cotton ball rub across my skin, I took a deep breath and felt Daisy arms being wrapped around me. I then felt a pinch and then I heard Rebecca saying.

“Okay your done.”

“See.” Daisy said as I opened my eyes. “Was that so bad?”

I knew only one word, and I said that word without thinking.

“Baka” I muttered under my breath as I snuggled into his chest. Oh he smelt so good, so good, I just wanted to spend all my life trapped in that one moment, of me sitting in his lap, holding on to his shirt, my head resting upon his chest. It was pure magical, it was more than magical, it was delightful. My eyes fluttered and slowly I closed them.

“Hey Cerridwen?” Daisy said a moment later. “We need to move, others are waiting to get their flu shots?”

“Five more minutes.” I muttered as I nuzzled closer into his chest.

“WOULD YOU TWO GET A BLOODY ROOM ALREADY!” Somebody shouted. Maybe some Jerk who does not understand how pure our love is. Anyway with that being said I slipped off Daisy's lap and smiled. A few minutes later we were sitting at the marble counter together.

Now there is some debate among the local's who has the best home-made hamburger here in Benton. Some claim that Joan's has the best hamburger hands down, others claim that Chuck's has the best, still others claim the best hamburger can be found here at Benton Pharmacy. The only thing I know is Daisy was buying the hamburgers and fries and I was buying the milkshakes.

The hamburgers were pretty big, huge patties of meat that were the size of my hand, and the fries looked like a mountain of golden fried crinkle cut potatoes that were seasoned with salt and pepper. It was also cheap, cheaper than Joan's. The bun was also toasted. And with a large coke-cola to wash it all down with I was hog heaven.

“I think they beat Joan's, but Chuck's is better.” Daisy said as he finished his hamburger. He was using the last few of his crinkle cut french fries to mop up the drippings. He claimed the drippings were the best part, because that was where the real flavor was. Or so he claimed.

“But nothing beats your cooking.” He quickly added.

I felt my cheeks starting to flush a little.

“So,” I asked. “If I dressed up as a bunny girl, say for Halloween would you like that?”

“That is a random question.” Daisy answered.

“I mean, yes, I think you would look sexy in the outfit.” Daisy said, shrugging his shoulders. “But would your mom approve of it?” He added.

“I don't know..” My voice trailed a little. And with that another episode in life drew to a close. It was scary how things were progressing between Daisy and I. I think only a fortnight had passed since I saw him playing in the music room. Maybe we were moving too fast, but then again, I've heard of some people falling in love with each other after only spending a few hours with each other. I'm not sure if this was love or lust. But I enjoyed spending time with Daisy and I guess right now that all that mattered.
To be continued.