Summary: Every night at exactly 10:00 p.m., you stop at the same tiny convenience store after your nightly runs. The owner already has your favorite drink waiting on the counter, and the regulars know you as the quiet girl who always leaves before anyone can properly thank her.
Because every single night, if someone is standing at the register when you walk in, you silently place a twenty-dollar bill on the counter and pay for them without hesitation.
Most people are shocked. Some cry. Some try to refuse.
But tonight is different.
Tonight, the customers happen to be three Olympic gold medalists on tour with Stars on Ice — Alysa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Levito.
Confused and amused, they accept the random act of kindness while Isabeau secretly records a short video and snaps a few blurry pictures of the mysterious runner disappearing back into the night.
By the time they return to the tour bus, Isabeau uploads the clip online asking one simple question:
“Does anyone know who this girl is?”
The internet finds you within hours.
Your TikTok is filled with late-night running videos, marathon training updates, sunrise jogs, and playlists for long-distance runs. Isabeau quickly becomes obsessed — first with your videos, then your routines, then the tiny details about your life hidden in every post.
What starts as harmless curiosity slowly turns into Isabeau staying up until 3 a.m. watching every video you’ve ever posted, memorizing your running routes, learning your favorite convenience store snacks, and planning excuses to “accidentally” run into you again.
The problem?
You have absolutely no idea one of the world’s most famous figure skaters is unintentionally becoming your biggest stalker.
The second the three women stepped onto the Stars on Ice tour bus, Amber Glenn burst out laughing again.
“I still can’t believe she had no idea who we were.”
Alysa Liu dropped into one of the seats dramatically. “That was actually refreshing.”
Meanwhile, Isabeau Levito quietly sat down near the window, still holding her phone.
Still thinking about you.
Which was becoming a problem.
“She really looked at us like we were random people buying junk food,” Alysa continued.
“Because technically we were,” Amber pointed out while opening a bag of gummy worms.
Alysa gasped. “That’s so deep.”
“Thank you.”
The bus hummed softly around them while other skaters slowly climbed aboard farther back, exhausted after the show. Music played quietly from someone’s speaker while bags and costumes were shoved into overhead compartments.
But Isabeau barely noticed any of it.
She was too busy replaying the convenience store interaction in her head.
Your laugh.
Your running clothes.
The way you’d casually handed over twenty dollars like it was nothing.
Most people acted weird around famous athletes. Some got nervous. Some immediately pulled out phones.
You hadn’t even recognized them.
And somehow that made Isabeau want to know everything about you.
Amber noticed her zoning out almost immediately.
“Oh, she’s thinking about convenience store girl again.”
“I am not.”
“You literally have the smile.”
“What smile?”
“The crush smile,” Alysa answered instantly.
Isabeau groaned and covered her face with her hoodie sleeve.
“I talked to her for like five minutes.”
“And yet,” Amber said, “you took a secret picture of her.”
“I said sorry!”
“You said the lighting looked pretty,” Alysa reminded her.
“…It did.”
Both of them immediately started yelling.
“OH MY GOD.”
“ISABEAU.”
“She was pretty!” Isabeau defended, face burning. “The lighting was also pretty!”
Amber laughed so hard she nearly fell off the seat.
“You are never beating these allegations.”
Isabeau ignored them and looked down at her phone instead.
The accidental picture was still there.
Actually—
Pictures.
Plural.
At some point during the interaction, she’d apparently snapped more than one without realizing it.
One blurry photo of you grabbing gummy worms.
One where you were laughing.
And a short video she’d accidentally recorded when you placed the twenty dollars on the counter.
The video was only a few seconds long, but Isabeau replayed it anyway.
“It’s just twenty dollars,” your voice said softly through the speaker.
Then the video ended.
Alysa leaned over her shoulder immediately.
“You rewatched it.”
“No I didn’t.”
“You literally did.”
Amber narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Wait. Show me.”
“No.”
Which obviously made them both grab for the phone instantly.
“HEY—”
Alysa managed to steal it first, immediately cackling.
“Oh my god, you got multiple pictures.”
“I forgot they were there!”
Amber peeked over Alysa’s shoulder and immediately gasped dramatically.
“Okay wait, she’s actually really cute.”
“I KNOW,” Isabeau blurted.
Silence.
All three of them froze.
Then Alysa slowly grinned.
“Aha.”
Isabeau’s eyes widened in horror.
“I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT.”
Amber was already dying laughing.
“Oh, she’s gone gone.”
“I am literally just saying objectively—”
“She said objectively,” Alysa repeated through laughter.
Isabeau grabbed her phone back and sank lower into her seat.
This was humiliating.
And somehow still not enough to stop her from opening social media ten minutes later.
The bus had quieted down by then, most people either asleep or wearing headphones while the city lights blurred outside the windows.
Isabeau stared at the upload screen on her phone.
This was probably weird.
Right?
But also—
Maybe someone online would know you.
Maybe your account was public.
Maybe she could figure out why someone randomly paid for strangers every night like it was normal.
Before she could overthink it too much, she uploaded the blurry pictures and the short video.
Then she typed:
“does anyone know her?”
Amber immediately leaned over the seat behind her.
“Oh, you actually posted it?”
Alysa looked up from across the aisle. “NO WAY.”
Isabeau ignored both of them and hit post anyway.
Almost instantly, notifications started exploding across the screen.
“…Oh no,” she whispered.
Amber snorted. “Too late now.”
Meanwhile, several miles away, you were completely unaware that one impulsive post from a very curious figure skater was currently sending thousands of people across the internet searching for the mysterious girl from the convenience store.
The bell above the convenience store door rang at exactly 10:02 p.m.
“Late,” Mr. Kim called from behind the counter.
You pulled one earbud out while catching your breath from your run. “By two minutes.”
“Still late.”
“You’re so dramatic.”
Mr. Kim only grunted, already grabbing your usual blue raspberry sports drink from the cooler behind the register before you could even ask for it.
The tiny convenience store smelled like coffee, instant ramen, and old air conditioning. It was one of the only places still open this late, and after almost a year of stopping here every night after your runs, it practically felt like a second home.
“You do eight miles tonight?” Mr. Kim asked.
“Seven and a half.”
“Hm. Slacking.”
You gasped. “That’s actually evil.”
He smiled slightly to himself while returning to his crossword puzzle.
You wandered toward the snack aisle, stretching your sore legs as you debated between chips or gummy candy. Your playlist still hummed faintly through your headphones around your neck while sweat cooled against your skin from the humid summer air outside.
Then the bell above the door rang again.
Loud laughter filled the store almost instantly.
“You grabbed four bags,” someone accused.
“And?” another voice replied.
“And that’s insane.”
“You guys are haters.”
You glanced over absentmindedly.
Three women walked into the store looking exhausted but energetic in the weird way people got after long nights. One wore a hoodie with the hood pulled over messy hair, another carried herself with loud confidence, and the third—
The third girl stayed slightly behind the others, holding her phone while quietly looking around the store.
Pretty.
That was your first thought.
Like, distractingly pretty.
You looked away quickly before it became weird.
The girls headed into the snack aisle near you, immediately arguing over candy choices like they’d never eaten food before.
“You already have chips,” the blonde one pointed out.
“Those are savory chips,” the other defended. “I need sweet snacks too.”
The quieter brunette laughed softly under her breath.
You smiled a little despite yourself.
Definitely friends.
The loud one noticed you reaching for gummy worms at the same time she did.
“Oh my god,” she said dramatically. “Finally, someone with taste.”
You blinked.
“Uh… thanks?”
“She’s very passionate about gummy worms,” the brunette explained quietly.
“As everyone should be.”
You laughed softly, tossing a bag into your basket.
The blonde grinned. “See? She gets it.”
You had absolutely no idea who these people were, but they were weirdly funny.
The brunette glanced toward your running clothes.
“Did you just finish a run?”
“Yeah.”
“How far?”
“Seven and a half miles.”
All three stared at you.
“Excuse me?” the blonde asked.
You frowned slightly. “What?”
“That’s insane.”
“You guys are acting like I said fifty miles.”
“Anything above one sounds fake to me,” she replied seriously.
The brunette smiled again.
God, she had a really pretty smile too.
You all drifted toward the register together, their arms full of snacks and drinks while Mr. Kim started scanning everything with the patience of someone used to chaos.
“You girls visiting?” he asked.
“Tour,” the loud one answered.
“Ohhhh,” he nodded knowingly.
You had no idea what that meant.
Once the total popped up on the screen, you quietly reached into your hoodie pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, setting it beside their snacks.
Mr. Kim immediately took it without question.
The three girls froze.
“…Wait,” the blonde said.
The loud one pointed at the money. “Whose is that?”
“Mine,” you answered simply.
“But why?”
You shrugged. “I always do this.”
The brunette looked confused. “Do what?”
“If someone’s at the register when she comes in, she pays part of their total,” Mr. Kim explained casually.
The girls stared at you like you’d just admitted to secretly being Batman.
“You do this for strangers?” the loud one asked.
“It’s not a huge deal.”
“Yes it is,” the blonde replied immediately.
You suddenly felt awkward under all the attention.
“It’s just twenty dollars.”
The brunette kept staring at you quietly.
Not in a rude way.
More like she was trying to figure you out.
“You’re really nice,” she said softly.
Your chest felt strangely warm hearing that from her.
Before you could answer, she lifted her phone slightly.
Click.
You blinked.
Her eyes widened instantly.
“Oh my god, I am SO sorry,” she blurted.
The other two immediately started laughing.
“ISABEAU,” the blonde yelled.
“I DIDN’T MEAN TO MAKE IT WEIRD.”
“You literally took a candid picture of her!”
“I thought the lighting looked pretty!”
Your lips twitched before you could stop them.
The brunette—Isabeau—looked horrified with herself.
“It’s okay,” you laughed.
Unfortunately, that only seemed to make her stare harder.
Like your laugh had short-circuited her brain.
The loud one noticed immediately and smirked.
“Ohhhhh,” she dragged out quietly.
“Stop,” Isabeau whispered aggressively.
You grabbed your drink from the counter before the situation got even more confusing.
“Well,” you said awkwardly, “good luck with… your tour thing?”
The blonde blinked. “You don’t know who we are?”
You honestly thought she was joking.
“Should I?”
The silence that followed was immediate.
Even Mr. Kim looked up from his crossword.
“You seriously don’t recognize them?” he asked.
You looked between the three women.
“…No?”
The loud one suddenly burst into laughter so hard she nearly dropped her snacks.
“Oh my god,” she wheezed. “This is the best day of my life.”
Meanwhile, Isabeau looked weirdly delighted.
Like the fact that you didn’t know who she was somehow made this even more interesting.
“What’s your name?” she asked quickly.
You told her.
And the way she repeated it softly under her breath—
Like she wanted to memorize it—
made your heart skip for absolutely no reason at all.
