Anthony talked at me quietly, promising me everything was going to be okay. Meanwhile I, on the other hand, was starting to freak out even more. The ceiling was still intact, which meant the booming noise had been made by a bookshelf falling to the ground. That, in, turn meant the other bookcases could fall too.

            And Anthony and I were right in the way of one.

            “We need to move!” I shouted at him, squirming under his body.

            “No, Ellie, stay still!” he replied, pressing his body into mine harder.

            Shaking my head, I began to push on his chest. “Move, Anthony!”

            He refused to move. “No!”

            “Move!” I grunted, using all my strength to shove him off me. To my surprise, I managed to slide him off me. Before he had the chance to stop me, I sprung to my feet. The shaking of the ground nearly knocked me back down.

            Anthony flipped onto his back, attempting to push himself off the ground. I clung to the couch to avoid falling over from the shaking as I watched him. As soon as he was on his feet, I reached out to him. His warm hand enveloped mine and started yanking me toward the door again. My left ankle gave out from under me and I stumbled toward him, almost knocking us over again. Anthony somehow managed to keep us both balanced. A shuddering crash came from a close proximity to my back. My breath caught in my throat and I glanced over my shoulder to see a black oak bookcase splayed out on the ground a few feet behind me.

            “Ellie!” Anthony shouted impatiently.

            I returned my attention to my front, staggering after him as we continued moving forward, toward the door. The quaking ground made it more difficult than believable. Every five seconds it felt like one of my ankles cracked, sending me teetering on my feet. Somehow Anthony managed to walk like God walking on water. Just as we reached the door, a very forceful tremble wracked the ground, effectively knocking me off my feet. Instead of dragging Anthony down with me, I let go of him.

            He automatically turned to look at me.

            A calamitous move.

            “Anthony!” I cried out in horror, my eyes going past him, to where a colossal clock was wobbling on its legs in a very threatening manner. It was kind of amazing, in a way. The whole timekeeper was only balancing on two legs, definitely defying the laws of physics.

            That awe was short lived as it finally tipped over. The scene that was displayed before me passed by my eyes like stop-motion photography. With each pound of my heart, a different image came up. The grandfather clock falling inch by inch. Anthony’s worried face— concern for me, not himself. His two steps toward me. My hand as it shot out to pull him out of harms ways. The clock appearing next to his head. His eyes widening millimeter by millimeter as he finally noticed it. The wooden structure’s edge smashing right into the back of his skull. His eyes squeezing shut in pain.

            Then time sped up.

            Anthony hit the floor before I could blink, the monster clock falling on top of him. The urge to be sick hit me within seconds as he didn’t move from his motionless position on the ground. No matter how many times I called his name, he wouldn’t reply. He wouldn’t even stir. My head was spinning. Bursts of white lights were appearing in front of my eyes. I felt sick. When I went to push myself off the ground, I found my arms had turned to jelly, and I hit the floor face first.

            An ominous crack of thunder rang overhead. I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the worse. This was the end of my life. Definitely. If Anthony went down, that meant I was going down. Biting my lip, I willed myself not to cry. Something hard abruptly landed on the center of my back, causing me to gasp in pain. It wasn’t heavy enough to do any severe damage, but it definitely hurt. Something else hit me and I groaned again.

            “Anthony!” I called, trying to evoke a reaction from the young man. “Wake up, Anthony! Please!”

            I couldn’t do this by myself. First it was a hurricane, now an earthquake? We didn’t even go over earthquake drills in school! I didn’t know what to do! Anthony was still out cold. What if there was something wrong with him? Tears of helplessness were starting to burn my eyes. I blinked rapidly, keeping them from spilling over. Being calm was essential. I had to do something. I had to get that clock off of him before…

            Just as unexpectedly as it started, the shaking finally came to an end. It took a few moments for me to realize it stopped though, because my head was still reeling. I took a few deep breaths, trying to recollect myself. By the end of this whole incident, I was going to be a pro at these calming breaths. After I felt calm enough to stand, I forced myself to my feet. A sharp pain laced through my back, but I ignored it the best I could. Right now, Anthony was more important.

            The grandfather clock was heavier than it appeared to be. In my mind, I thought I would be like Super Man and lift it off of Anthony easily. In reality, all I could do was grunt loudly and strain my muscles. After a few moments of attempting to push the clock off Anthony, I pulled away, wincing at the pain in my back. How was I supposed to lift this off of him? It was impossibly heavy! But I couldn’t just leave it on him!

            I dropped down to my knees, gently patting him on the cheek. “Anthony? Anthony? Can you hear me? Wake up! I need your help!”

            No reply.

            I put my ear to his mouth. Relief flooded me when I realized he was breathing at least.

            Swallowing nervously, I contemplated what I could do to help him. Obviously I couldn’t lift the clock off him. Would dragging him out work? What if it just crushed his legs instead? I looked around the room, feeling helplessness start to course through me. Why couldn’t I be strong enough to help him? I really needed to work out more! My eyes landed on the bookshelf that had fallen closest to me. If I could move that closer to the clock, then I could replace Anthony’s body with it and not crush his legs. All the books had fallen off of it, so it couldn’t be that heavy…

            “Come. On,” I groaned, using my aching back to push the bookcase closer to Anthony. It was working. Slowly, but surely. A strange type of giddiness ran through me as the bookcase finally met the clock. Even better, as I tried to push it under the heavy clock, I managed to lift the clock up a little bit so that it would be easier to drag Anthony out.

            Holding my lower back to keep the pain down, I moved around the bookcase holding up the clock and squatted down in front of him. After taking a deep breath I released my back, opting for Anthony’s arms instead. My hands wrapped around his muscled biceps and, after the initial shock of feeling the muscles when not tensed, began to tug him out from under the clock. Fortunately it was a semi-easy task. Much easier than lifting the grandfather clock, but Anthony was still wedged under it pretty tightly. By the time I’d dragged him all the way out, I felt worn out. The pain in my back was worse now, but I couldn’t relax just yet.

            If another earthquake occurred, I didn’t want us to be in harms way. After taking a look around the small break room, I realized everything that posed a hazard was currently lying on the ground. Maybe it was safer to stay in this room. However, not splayed out on the floor. Bracing myself, I managed to drag Anthony over to the couch and pull him on top of it and onto its soft cushions. Slowly, I ran my hand through the back of his head, pausing when I came to something sticky. I knew what it was before I pulled my hand away.

            Blood.

            My clean hand shot up to cover my mouth. Blood and I didn’t mix. Dizziness swept over me as I vigorously wiped my dirty hand off on the bottom of Anthony’s pants. Bleeding from the head wasn’t good. I needed to stop it. Which meant I needed to go find gauze and bandage and tape…

            “I-I’ll be right back,” I stammered, pushing myself to my feet. “I’ll bring bandages.”

            My nerves were on edge as I stepped over the grandfather clock to the door, slipping out of it easily. Boxes that were lined up against the walls before were now scattered throughout the hallway. I maneuvered around them cautiously, being careful not to trip. Knowing my luck, if I tripped, I’d probably break my neck. When I stepped out into the main part of the store, I wasn’t too surprised to see nearly everything knocked off of their shelves. Surprisingly the men’s clothing stands I could see were still standing. The lights were flickering, but still on, showing the generator was still okay. That was good.

            Bandages, I told myself, pulling my gaze away from the mess before me. I’d cut myself enough in the past. I actually knew where those were.

            Of course, maneuvering around the cluttered ground proved difficult. It took me twice as long to reach the medical aisle than it normally would. Even with the light on I still had trouble. At some point I resorted to kicking things out of the way and creating an even bigger mess, but it got things done. I managed to collect what I needed and hurry back to Anthony without tripping once. He was still out cold, but it didn’t surprise me.

            It only took a few minutes to clean and dress his wound. The medical courses my mom had forced me to take a year back had turned out to be useful after all. I had to remember to thank her for that. The supplies I didn’t use were tossed onto the floor by the foot of the couch.

            Fatigue came over me in waves and I dropped to my knees, resting my head against the edge of the couch by Anthony’s head. Fright really wore me out. My eyes were starting to droop, but I fought to stay awake. I couldn’t fall asleep… just in case something happened again. If we were both out of it, we wouldn’t know if the roof was coming down, or if something dangerous was happening.

            Contrary to my thoughts, however, I felt myself slipping out of consciousness against my will. Nothing could stop the exhaustion creeping over me. Not the constant thundering outside, not the threat of impending danger. Not even the ache in my lower back. My eyes shut and soon I was lost to the world.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            When I came to, I jolted awake with a snort. Thunder was crashing outside more intensely than earlier, sending me into a familiar state of nervousness right away. My hand shot to my back, which was pounding uncomfortably. The position I’d fallen asleep in really hadn’t helped it. The first thing I was doing was stopping by the medicine aisle for some aspirin. Anthony would probably want some as well… My eyes grew as round as saucers and I instantly became completely alert.

            Anthony wasn’t lying on the couch anymore.

            I scoured the tiny break room for the handsome young man, but my search came up short. Feeling panic rising in my throat, I pushed myself to my feet and staggered toward the exit of the room, my legs feeling wobbly and weak.

            Where was he? Was he okay? Surely walking around with such a wound on his head was a terrible idea! What if he passed out somewhere and hit his head again? What if there had been another earthquake while I was out of it? What if he’d been crushed?

            I burst out of the break room, my heart ready to pound out of my chest. “Anthony! Anthony where are you? Ant—”

            Suddenly I crashed into something hard, causing my teeth to clamp down on my tongue. A low groan escaped my lips as I stumbled backward, a hand shooting up to my mouth. I looked in front of me to see I’d run into a wall. A grimace crossed my face. Sometimes it worried me how stupid I could be. Maybe running around in a blind panic wasn’t a good idea.

            Being increasingly cautious, I slowly trudged through the messy store, making sure not to run into anything or trip on the clutter covering the floor. My eyes were peeled for the shaggy haired brunet. Why couldn’t he just stay in one place? All this anxiety couldn’t be good for my heart. A loud crack of thunder sounded overhead, making me scowl in annoyance. Yes, this whole ordeal was definitely going to take a few years off my life. Having a heart attack at some point wouldn’t surprise me either.

            I swept the entire store as fast as I could, searching everywhere for Anthony. He didn’t show. The only place left to check was our little makeshift campsite. My feet carried me as fast as I could toward the area, and I wasn’t disappointed as I closed in on it. There, on my usual swinging bench, was Anthony, his figure sprawled out on it and seemingly in a deep sleep. Relief washed through me and I squatted by his head, making sure his bandages were still on properly.

            “You scared me,” I murmured, brushing his bangs off of his forehead so I could test that the bandages were still secure. With my head hanging over his, our faces were only inches away. If I moved forward a little bit, I’d be in kissing distance…

            Before I knew what I was doing, I found my head inching closer to his. He mumbled something in his sleep, causing me to start. I almost laughed at how easily he’d startled me.

            “Ellie…”

            My body tensed. Was he awake? If he awoke now and saw my face so close to his, what would he think? It would be completely awkward! I held my breath, praying he wouldn’t wake up.

            When his eyes snapped open, my mind raced for an excuse to give him. Checking bandages. That would work! “Anthony—”

            “Ellie,” he cut me off, his green eyes piercing into mine. “You kind of remind me of an angel at the moment.”

            I blinked at him. “What?”

            He raised his hands to my face, pressing his palms to my cheeks. A smirk spread across his face. “What?” he mimicked in a girly voice. “You’re too cute.”

             “A-Anthony,” I started, trying my best not to blush. “Are you feeling okay?”

            “Of course, silly,” he giggled, patting my cheeks with the pads of his fingers.

            Now I was worried. My eyes dropped to the ground near the bench, where a bottle of painkillers lay. “How many of those did you take?”

            He thought about it for a minute before wrinkling his nose. “Too many.”

            “Geez,” I muttered, bringing my hands to his and peeling them off my face. “To think I was worried about you…”

            “Did you bandage my head?” he questioned.

            I nodded. “Yeah, you got hit pretty bad with that clock.”

            He beamed at me. It was kind of a creepy sight. No one should’ve been that happy about a grandfather clock falling on them. With surprising strength, he forced my head back to his. “Thank you,” he said, our noses brushing.

            “You’re welcome,” I responded quietly, trying to ignore the urge to press my lips against his. Would it matter if I did? He seemed out of it. Maybe he wouldn’t remember it after the effects of the painkillers wore off…

            “I’m going to give you a thank you kiss.”

            My eyes dilated in shock. “Eh?”

            The response from him was a blow of his minty breath into my face. The sensation caused my eyes to close and the next thing I knew Anthony’s lips were pressing against mine. Instead of only lasting a brief second like I expected, his hands moved back to my cheeks to hold me in place. There was no need to do that though; it wasn’t like I was moving away any time soon. Our lips parted for a split-second before meeting again for a second kiss. His lips were soft and velvety, unlike any of my old boyfriends who all had chapped or dry lips.

            Eventually the moment caught up to me and I pushed him away. For a few moments we stared into each other’s eyes, silently daring the other to break eye contact first. In the end I gave in before him, turning away. Without me realizing it, my fingers softly grazed my lips. That wasn’t just a peck like before. This kiss was different. Was it only because Anthony was out of it? Or was it because there was something more to it?

            Whatever the reason was, I didn’t want to face it at the moment. If Anthony and I were going to be trapped in here for another two days, I didn’t want to make it uncomfortable with undetermined feelings. Hopefully he wouldn’t remember it when the drugs wore off… The thought made me frown, but I knew it was the best course of action. If everything went well, when we finally managed to get out of here we could start some sort of relationship— be it girlfriend and boyfriend or just regular friends. Right now though, everything had to stay as it was.

            After a few minutes Anthony fell back asleep and I let out a deep sigh, flopping onto the lawn chair he usually sat on. This was the most excitement I’d ever had in my life— hopefully it wouldn’t happen again. It would make a good story to tell my children. Hey, when I was your age I was trapped in Walmart during an earthquake with a hot guy. Of course I wouldn’t mention the part about the secret love I harbored for him. That little detail wouldn’t matter.

            Unless Anthony happened to be the dad.

            Immediately I slapped my hands to my cheeks. What was I thinking? Anthony and I having children? There was definitely something wrong with my mind. Only someone crazy and obsessed would think of having children with someone they weren’t even dating. I really needed to control my hormones.

            My stomach rumbled, almost making me jump out of my skin. I laughed at myself. I was jumpier than a Mexican jumping bean. Pushing myself out of the lawn chair, I decided to go to the food aisle and grab a snack. My back was still stinging painfully, but it was easier to ignore now. Compared to Anthony’s wound, mine was probably nothing. It felt like maybe a bruise or bump. Sucking up my courage, I marched off by myself to search for a snack. If there was one good thing that came out of this ordeal, it was (hopefully) that my courage would go up. I wasn’t exactly the bravest kid on the block.

            “I just wanna run, hiding away, run because they’re chasing me down,” I sang softly under my breath to keep my mind off of the thunder outside. “I just wanna run, throw it away, run before they’re finding me out. I just wanna run.”

            To keep myself occupied, I continued singing the song, sliding at every pause of it. “I keep talking, I repeat myself,” I belted, throwing my arms up before going into a slow-motion running action. “I just wanna run!”

            I kept this all the way up to the food aisles. When I arrived perfectly safe, I felt proud of myself.

            That is, until I remembered if everything else was running, that meant the security cameras were also still rolling which in turn meant my little concert had been filmed.            Embarrassed, I looked all around the ceiling. “Ah, sorry about that. Just trying to keep myself preoccupied… Yes, I’m going to stop talking to inanimate objects now,” I muttered, dropping my head. Maybe I was going crazy.

            I passed the bread and then the jam, pausing when I came across the Nutella. The perfect snack. Grinning happily, I grabbed a jar. If Julius hadn’t introduced the delicious spread to me, I would’ve never had its hazelnut-y goodness. Thinking of Julius made my spirits drop. It was killing me that I didn’t know if he was okay. He was the type to stay out during a storm like this to try and storm hunt. My brother usually did stuff like that with him, but he’d stayed home because my mom forced him because of the storm. Hopefully they were all safe. I scrunched my forehead up. How long had I been trapped in Walmart for? Just a day? It felt so much longer than that.

            I staggered a few steps back to the bread, looking for usual Wonder bread I ate with the spread. It was on the bottom shelf. As I bent down to pick it up, a sharp pain lanced through my lower back. Surprised, I shot up, uttering a small cry. Maybe the injury on my back was a little more than a bruise. Probably some sort of indent. I reached around my side to touch the damaged area and winced as the skin burned where I touched it. Okay, maybe it was a skinning. That burning feeling was associated with skinning. Skinning wasn’t permanent, so that was fine with me.

            Knowing there were plastic knifes back at the makeshift campsite, I headed back there, keeping my mouth shut to keep myself from singing again. Who knew what would happen with that recording once it was found. What if someone put it on America’s Funniest Home Videos? The thought horrified me. I wasn’t even that good of a singer! Shaking my head, I kept my eyes focused on the ground in front of me. My stomach growled again and I shushed it out loud. I was almost back to the campsite.

            Upon arrival, I noticed Anthony was still dead asleep. Smiling at him, I reached for the box of plastic utensils under the bench swing and produced a knife. After parking myself back on the lawn chair, I opened the can of Nutella, took out a slice of bread, and started to make myself a sandwich. It was a pretty comfortable chair. Almost as comfortable as my bench swing.

            I grimaced. Was I really so bored as to compare two different chairs? If that was the case, I really needed to find something productive to do… Shrugging, I took a bite of my sandwich. It tasted just as good as I remembered. I glanced at Anthony, about to ask if he wanted a bite, but then remembered he was still sleeping. A frown flitted across my face. He really needed to wake up. I didn’t realize how boring this place was without him.

            When I finished my sandwich, I slumped back into the lawn chair, feeling incredibly full. The jar of Nutella fell to the floor with a quiet thud. I sat back up, quickly scooping it up so it wouldn’t get dirty. For a second, I stared at it. Then at Anthony. Then back at it. Then at Anthony again. An evil smirk spread across my face.

             As quietly as possible, I tiptoed across the little space between our two chairs. With the knife and jar of Nutella in hand, I squatted next to Anthony’s body. Luckily for me his hand was hanging off the edge. It took all I had not to laugh as I scooped up a hearty blob of Nutella and wiped it on his hand. Because it didn’t look like enough, I did it one more time.

            A giggle threatened to burst from my lips, so I quickly covered my mouth with my free hand. After placing the jar of Nutella and the knife on the floor, I gently ticked Anthony’s cheek. It was time to see if these kind of pranks worked.

            At first, Anthony just twitched a little bit. When I did it the second time, he lifted his hand and brushed his face with it, leaving a trail of Nutella on his cheeks. I pressed my lips together tightly, biting my lower one so I wouldn’t laugh. It was too much. It actually worked! Now it looked like he had a trail of feces on his face. That thought made a small laugh burst from my lips and come out as a pfft. Luckily Anthony slept right through it.

            “That’s what you get for making me worry,” I told him in a whisper, my cheeks beginning to hurt from all the smiling that I was doing.

_______________________

This is late! I'm sorry!

Today's song is Let's Kill Tonight by Panic! At the Disco!

And today's story is Tomboy's Shiny Little Secret by AshJay! Here's the description c:

Amanda 'Megan' Riley has always been listed as the tomboy in school, where she is also known as the perfect girl companion any guy would want. Instead of falling for them or trying to impress them, she hides in her hoodie and listen to the boys’ problems. You could call her as the boys' listener or counselor. 

And now, she has one problem of her own. You might be thinking, What wrong would happen to a girl who is liked by all the boys in school? Oh nothing, just the fact that she is prim and proper at home where everyone calls her 'Mistress'. And did I mention her famous multi-billionaire father, James Riley?

So how would she cope when one of the boys found out her secret and blackmails her occasionally to get jobs done? Would she do whatever he says? Or would she risk her real identity to all the boys whom have trusted her? And what happens if this boy found a way into her thick wall-protected heart?

Now that's a dirty little secret I would like to know, or should I say, shiny little secret?