It was now midnight and Anthony and I were trying to figure out what to do. Thanks to our awkward sleeping habit over the past day, we weren’t even the tiniest bit tired. I’d suggested board games, which he’d shot down. He’d suggested opening an x-box, which I’d shot down (too much money to pay back if we had to). So now we were just pursing our lips at each other, our arms crossed.

            “Twinkie eating contest?” he suggested.

            I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure we used them all up. Besides, I don’t like eating Twinkies, nor do I really feel like gaining twenty pounds.”

            He frowned. “Okay… How about a game of tag?”

            “We both know you run much faster than I can. How about we play Barbie?”

            Rolling his eyes, he stretched out on his lawn chair. “Be serious, Ellie.”

            “I was serious.”

            “Really?”

            “Yep, but then I got a sex change and became Ellie. Short for Seriousellie. Get it? Get it?” I snorted at my own joke, slapping my knee.

            His eyes held concern as he gazed at me. “You’re going crazy…”

            Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “It’s Harry Potter. You know? Sirius?”

            “I know what you meant,” he told me, grinning. “You just never pinned me as the type to like something like that.”

            I puffed out my chest. “Don’t judge a book by its cover. I didn’t pin you as a nerd, but I saw the way you gazed at that Pokémon game earlier.”

            He grinned sheepishly. “Everyone has a part of their childhood in them no matter what age they are.”

            “There you go.”

            “Okay,” he started, sitting up again, an excited expression on his face. “Why don’t we go to the toy department and choose something to do there? If you find a good board game we’ll do that. Or we can kick a soccer ball around or something.”

            After a moment of hesitation, I agreed. “Okay. It’s better than sitting here and doing nothing I guess.”

            He jumped up eagerly. “Okay, let’s go!”

            “Don’t run!” I cautioned him as he took off haphazardly. “That earthquake knocked nearly everything off their shelves! You might—”

            “Shit!”

            “Trip,” I finished, wincing as I heard the loud smack of his face meeting the tiled floor. “I tried to warn you…”

            He groaned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. “Thanks for that…”

            Laughing quietly, I held my hand out to him. “Here.”

            “Thanks,” he said again, nearly knocking me down as he used me to pull himself to his feet. “I’ll be more careful now. It’d suck if I ended up with a concussion.”

            “You might have one,” I told him, frowning. “You hit that clock really hard.”

            He waved me off. “I would know if I had one. Trust me. I’ve had a lot…”

            “Well, when we get out of there, still go get it checked out.”

            “Don’t worry so much.”

            “Anthony, I’m not joking.”

            Glancing over his shoulder, he smiled at me. “Aw, you worried about me? That’s adorable!”

            I half-smiled back at him. “I’m more worried about your head.”

            “Same difference!”

            “Well…”

            “If I go to the doctors, you have to treat me to dinner afterwards. Does that sound like a deal?”

            I raised an eyebrow. “I have to treat you? Doesn’t the guy usually treat the girl?”

            He shrugged. “That’s a little sexist, isn’t it?”

            “Whatever, fine,” I agreed in a mumble. Hopefully he would settle for something cheap, like Taco Bell. I’d used up my last paycheck paying for car insurance and never got a chance to work enough for another because of the hurricane.

            “That Marsh restaurant is pretty good…”

            My eyes widened. “What? All the way in Hyannis?”

            “Hyannis isn’t really that far,” he told me, glancing over his shoulder back at me again. His green eyes were lit up in excitement. Probably more due to the prospect of free food thank hanging out with me.

            “I guess we can go—”

            “Oh my God!” he suddenly exclaimed, coming to a dead stop.

            Somehow I managed to halt myself before I ran into him. “What?” I snapped, a little thrown off guard.

            “I know what we’re doing!” he said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Come on, come!” Grabbing my hand, he began forcibly dragging me past the toy section.

            “Anthony! Slow down!”

            “Hurry! Hurry!”

            Unable to help myself, I began laughing at his childishness. It was times like these he reminded me of an adorable puppy. At that thought, I only laughed harder, imagining the young man in front of me with dog ears and a tail wagging happily. Yes, he was definitely like a puppy.

            Anthony didn’t stop running until we were in front of the sports section. Slowing to a walk, he passed the aisles full of sports equipment until we reached the area that held the mini-electric cars and bikes. For a moment I was under the impression that he was planning on opening one of the children’s cars, but that idea was banished as he reached for a blue tricycle on a lowest rack. He easily pulled it off and set it on the floor, doing the same to a pink one.

            “You’re kidding,” I stated, guessing what he planned on doing.

            The corners of his lips curved up into a smirk. “Not at all. Hop on, the pink one’s yours.”

            “I’m not—”

            “Yes you are,” he said, cutting me off. “If you don’t I’ll tickle you again.”

            Glowering at him, I began marching over to the blue bike, sitting on it before he could protest. “You’re stuck with the pink one, Pinky.”

            “Okay, Brain,” he responded, grinning widely. “So I was thinking we could do two laps around the whole store?”

            “How about one?”

            “You’re so lazy,” he complained, shaking his head at me. “You’d never survive half of my lacrosse practices.”

            I waved him off. “That’s why I don’t play lacrosse. Also, I don’t like sweating or smelling like sweat.”

            “You are such a girl.”

            “Isn’t that a good thing?”

            His eyes twinkled. “Well, yes.”

            Putting my foot on the small tricycle pedals, I realized it was a cramped position. My knees pressed into the bottom of the handlebars uncomfortably. If it was this bad for me, then…

            One glance at Anthony had me laughing again. He was almost curled up into a ball! “A little tall, are we?” I choked out.

            “Better than being short,” he replied stubbornly, holding his head up high. “Come on, let’s get this race started.”

            “When should we start?”

            “Whenever you wan—”

            “Go!” I cried, pressing down on the right pedal of my tricycle and starting to pedal furiously.

            There was an overdramatic gasp of disbelief from Anthony before I heard him start to pedal after me. Riding a tricycle was a lot harder than I thought it’d be. Not only did I have to be careful not to have my knees slam against the handlebars, but also keep the bike from tipping over to one side because of my body weight. With each cycle, it tipped threateningly to the right and with the next, to the left. More of my concentration was on that than what was in front of me. If this was so difficult for me I wondered how hard it was for Anthony. Once again throwing a glance over my shoulder at him, I struggled to keep myself from laughing.

            Anthony was definitely way too big for the tricycle. His legs were completely spread so they didn’t hit the handlebars, making him look like he was giving birth to the bike. The expression on his face also made me think he was giving birth. However, even with the difficulty he was having, he was still catching up to me.

            I turned back around, my eyes widening when I realized I was about to crash into a shelf of tissues. Veering right, I managed to avoid a catastrophic accident. Thanks to the earthquake, the main path of the store was cluttered with junk that had fallen over. Scanning ahead of me, I realized there were DVDs scattered all across the pathway. It looked almost impossible to pass.

            “On your left!” Anthony shouted at me.

            Out of the corner of my eye I could see his scrunched up body closing in on me. In that moment I decided to play dirty. Swerving left, I cut him off, causing him to cry out in surprise and try to avoid me. Now letting out a laugh, I pedaled faster, gaining a further lead. “Catch me if you can, sucker!”

            “I’ll get you for that Ellie!”

            Smirking at his come back, I focused ahead of me again. I was definitely going to win this race. The movies were coming up now. After a moment of hesitation, I decided to try to go straight through them. As I rolled over every case a sickening crack came from them, telling me I was snapping all the cases… and maybe the DVDs. Oh well, I thought. They’re just five dollar DVDs.

            My wheels suddenly slid out from under me and I fell to the side, letting out a startled squawk. As if the movies were getting some type of revenge, the side of one jabbed sharply into my cheek. Scowling, I waited to hear Anthony laughing. When no sound came, I looked behind me to find the man missing in action. Confused, I pushed into a sitting position. He was just there a second ago! “Anthony?”

            Still no response.

            “If you try to scare me, I’ll kill you,” I warned, struggling to my feet. The wheels to my tricycle were still turning, traveling over air. At the moment, it was a creepy sight.

            Deciding he was indeed trying to scare me, I choose to remain calm and still win the race. Grinning evilly, I picked up my tricycle and carried it back to our starting point. What he didn’t know wouldn’t kill him. Since he wasn’t around, how would he know I cheated? Going about fifty feet away from the starting point I set down the bike again and sat on it, waiting for Anthony to return. Maybe instead of trying to scare me, he was planning to cheat like this too. Feeling a smidgen smug, I straightened out my back, keeping my head tall.

            A deafening crack of thunder rolled over head, causing me to start violently. My eyes rose to the ceiling that was literally shaking from the noise. It’d been awhile since the thunder had been so loud. I wasn’t used to it. What was more alarming was how long it was lasting. Since when did thunder run on for more than ten seconds? My nerves grew more agitated as it continued. It was unnatural…

            “It’s just thunder,” I murmured under my breath, clapping my hands to my ears. It didn’t help much. “You’re in a building. The building is strong. Thunder can’t hurt you…”

            Another clap of thunder permeated my flesh barrier, causing me to gasp. Thunder during thunder? Immediately I jumped to my feet. I needed to find Anthony. “Anthony!” I called, hastening toward the front of the building. Where had he disappeared to? It was funny anymore! “Come on, Anthony!”

            Obviously something was starting outside. The thunder hadn’t been this loud in at least twenty-four hours. Now it was deafening— louder than I’d ever heard before. Worse yet, the ceiling was still rattling with each boom. While I was almost one-hundred percent positive it wouldn’t give out, there was still that other part of me that felt it would. And if it did, I was dead for sure.

            Suddenly I froze in my tracks. How many days had passed since Anthony and I had been trapped in here? Two days… Which meant tomorrow (or rather later today) would be the third day. The last day of the hurricane. The weather station never mentioned if the hurricane was going to end during the day or morning… And didn’t storms usually build up to their strongest force before calming down and ending?

            I really needed to find Anthony.

            Setting off again, my thoughts went into over mode. Who knew what could happen during the climax of the storm? There had already been an earthquake, so what worse could happen? Grimacing, I realized I didn’t want to know. My mind could come up with thousands of horrible scenarios. I forced those aside and proceeded in hunting down the missing Walmart worker. Why hadn’t he showed himself yet? Did he get hurt? The thought made my stomach tighten up more than it already was.

            Despite the fact that the world was already against me by having Anthony disappear, it decided to punish me a little more. In the blink of an eye, all the lights in the store flickered out, pitching me into complete darkness. My breath caught in my throat as once again I came to a dead halt. This had to be some sort of a joke…

            “Anthony!” I screamed in frustration.

            “Ellie!”

            The reply was distant and almost incoherent, but it was still there. A little bit of relief filled me, but I wasn’t completely settled yet— and I wouldn’t be until I could grab onto Anthony’s arm. I smiled sheepishly at my thoughts, but didn’t try to deny them. It was true. Once Anthony was next to me I’d feel considerably safer. It was just that effect he had around me.

            Moving more cautiously, I started off toward the sound of his voice. I took tiny baby steps and kept my hands in front of me to make sure I didn’t knock into anything. Toiling around like this gave me an incredibly amount of respect for the Ghost Adventures’ crew. Except, of course, they generally had their video cameras with night vision. What I’d kill to have night vision…

            “Ellie?”

            Upon hearing my voice, I paused. Anthony definitely sounded a lot closer now. “Anthony?”

            “Stay where you are, I’ll come to you!” he shouted at me.

            “No need to shout at me!” I called back sarcastically, feeling much better now that I knew he was on his way. The thunder didn’t seem so intimidating anymore. In fact, it was like viewing an angry cougar in a cage. You knew it couldn’t reach you, so you didn’t have a problem with it.

            As if being able to hear my thoughts, the thunder rumbled in what I thought was a threatening manor. Figuring I was going crazy, I smiled tightly, making up my mind not to taunt the thunder.

            “I am going crazy,” I stated in a whisper, dropping my head.

            A crash and a swear came from a few feet in front of me, causing my heart to skip a beat. When I realized it was Anthony I opened my mouth to greet him, but shut it abruptly. Might as well take a chance to have revenge while I had it. Holding my breath, I closed in on where I heard him last. I didn’t know exactly where he was, so I would have to guess his whereabouts. Which meant I had once chance to try to scare him.

            “Shit.”

            Freezing, I pivoted my body to where the sound had come from.

            “Ow. Stupid boxes,” Anthony muttered to himself.

            My hands shot out to him, aiming for his shoulders. Luckily, my aim surprised me and I managed to grip his broad shoulders. To my great pleasure, he let out an extremely girly shriek, shrinking out from under my grasp. I burst out laughing, proud to not be the victim for once. Who knew he could sound so girly?

            “Ellie!” he cried angrily after a second. “Where are you? Come here so I can punch you.”

            “You would punch a girl?” I asked, pretending to be horrified. “What a monster!”

            “No, I wouldn’t— You know what?”

            Unable to see him, I just stared determinedly in the direction he was coming from. “No I don’t. Do tell me.”

            “I’m going to find some candles. By myself.”

            My heart sunk a little. “Wait… Didn’t you turn off the lights as a joke?”

            “What? No. I know you don’t like the dark, Ellie.”

            “I-it’s not that I don’t like the dark,” I protested, not wanting to sound childish. “It just feels enclosing in here…”

            “Still, I wouldn’t have pulled that kind of prank on you,” he told me honestly, sounding offended that I’d even mentioned it. “But I see you have no problems scaring me.”

            My mouth dropped open a little. “I only did it because I thought you were going to scare me!”

            He sniffed. “I see how it is. After all I’ve done for you, you do this to me. Very well, Ellie.”

            “Anthony—”

            “Let’s see how you like staying here by yourself.”

            Reaching out blindly, I tried to grab him again. Every time my hand closed, it closed on air. “Wait, Anthony. Wait!”

            “Goodbye!”

            “Anthony!” I snapped, spinning around to the sound of his voice. Using no caution whatsoever, I hurried in that direction. “Anthony, wait for me— oof!” Pain spread through my stomach as I ran flat out into what felt like a metal rack. “Ow…”

            A chuckle came from beside me and I felt a hand touch my arm. “Are you okay, Ellie?”

            “I’m fine,” I mumbled in response, reaching out at once to grab his hand so he couldn’t walk away from me. “Don’t leave me alone.”

            “Aww,” he cooed, pulling me to his chest. “You’re so cute!”

            “Stop it!”

            “Nope,” he sang, pressing me so tightly to him I was finding it harder to breathe. “You know I wouldn’t leave you alone, right? I was only joking.”

            My voice was muffled as I responded. “You never know. Julius would do it.”

            I imagined Anthony rolling his eyes. “I’m not Julius, you know?”

            “I know, but…”

            “But nothing.”

            Thunder exploded overhead, triggering me to take hold of the back of Anthony’s shirt and hold it tightly. “The thunders louder than usual.”

            “The storm always gets worse before it gets better,” he responded solemnly, proving my thinking to be true. “But think of it on the bright side. We’re still safe in here and hopefully tomorrow… or later today rather, we’ll be out of here.”

            “Out of here, huh?” I repeated, furrowing my eyebrows. There was both good and bad things about that statement. While I did want to be out of here and check on my family and friends, I was going to miss being around Anthony.

            Sighing lightly, Anthony tried to push me away from him. I clung to him firmly. He laughed quietly, using more force to pry me off him. “Ellie, I can’t walk if you hold onto me like that.”

            Blushing lightly, I released him fully, putting my arms at my side. “Sorry…”

            “Give me your hand though,” he insisted.

            It took a few seconds for our hands to find each other, making me smile. I was the right. The dark wasn’t as scary with Anthony here. “Where are we going?” I questioned.

            “Since I’m not the one who knocked the power out, that meant the storm did it. That or that was the generator failing. That’s probably it… I highly doubt anyone for miles has electricity right now.

            “I hope Julius really isn’t by himself,” I said out loud to myself.

            “He’s a big boy. He can handle it,” Anthony assured me. “In fact, he’s probably doing a rain dance or something.”

            I grinned. “Yeah, you’re right. That’s so like him.”

            “Ellie… About Julius…”

            “Hmm?”

            “Er, let’s say if Julius liked you—”

            My nose wrinkled. “He doesn’t like me.”

            Anthony squeezed my hand. “I said if. Let’s say if he liked you. Would you ever consider dating him?”

            “Date him?” I said in surprise. “Where did this come from?”

            “Nothing really. I’m just curious.”

            “Uhh, probably not,” I told him truthfully. “He teases me way too much. More than you. I think that wouldn’t lead to a healthy relationship… Besides, he definitely thinks of me as some sort of pet, not a human.”

            Anthony snickered. “Oh yeah, you mentioned that.”

            “Why so curious?”

            “No reason.”

            “Anthony.”

            “Ellie.”

            “Do you know something I don’t?” I demanded.

            Even though I couldn’t see him, I figured he was shaking his head. “Not at all. I told you. I was just wondering. You know, since you—”

            “Talk about him so much? That’s me talking about him. Oh wait… You said he also talks about me a lot. Don’t tell me that led you to believe he liked me.”

            “Well…”

            I grinned to myself. Perhaps he was feeling a little jealous? That was good. Jealously was definitely good. “Don’t worry about it. I’m positive Julius doesn’t like me.”

            He grunted a noncommittal response. “Sure.”

            We lapsed into silence after that. I trailed behind Anthony, squinting into the darkness. After about ten minutes of careful treading, we managed to find candles and flashlights. Since flashlights were safer, we grabbed a bunch of those before heading back to our campsite. It was a lot easier to see with them.

            A yawn escaped my lips and I used my free hand to cover my mouth. “Time for bed,” I mumbled.

            “Are you going to be able to sleep during this?” Anthony questioned. “It’s pretty loud.”

            An answer bubbled up to my lips, but I swallowed it back down. I wasn’t going to reply to that question with “yes, because you’re here.” Just thinking about saying that made me blush. “I-I think I’ll probably be able to do it.”

            “Well I’ll be right next to you if you get scared.”

            “Thanks,” I murmured, glad he couldn’t see my face.

            “Any time!” he chirped happily.

            After finally reaching our campsite, I collapsed onto my makeshift bed while Anthony set up the flashlights so we could see. His handiwork proved to be very beneficial. The way he set them up lit up the entire area. Impressed, I gave him a single nod. “Nice job.”

            “Thanks,” he replied, sitting down next to me on his bed. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to sleep with the thunder?”

            “Positive,” I pressed, moving to lie on my back. Because the lights were off, I couldn’t see the ceiling shaking. It calmed me a little bit.

            Anthony shifted onto his side and propped his head up with his hand so he could stare at me. “I should really make you eat something before you sleep…”

            I glanced over at him, frowning. “I didn’t see you eat anything today.”

            “I ate enough.”

            “Anthony.”

            “Hey, I said it first. Besides, I ate a lot while you were still sleeping. What did you eat after you woke up?”

            “Uh…”

            He smiled smugly. “That’s what I thought.”

            “I’m not hungry,” I told him, turning my head back to the ceiling. “I’m tired, so if you don’t mind…”

            “When you wake up you’re eating two meals worth of food,” he warned me. “I’ll make sure if it.”

            “Fine, fine,” I grumbled. “Mother…”

            He laughed quietly. “Someone has to look out for you here.”

            Instead of replying, I closed my eyes, trying to fall asleep. Going against my words, the thunder was making it more difficult. Every time it cracked, my heart skipped a beat. Although Anthony was right next to me, I was still beginning to feel nervous again. It was really started to irritate me. I had never been scared of thunderstorms! Why was this one so different?

            For the next ten minutes I glared at the ceiling angry at both the storm and myself. I was hoping I’d be able to fall asleep and stay asleep during the climax of the storm so it wouldn’t be as scary. Anthony had been quiet the entire time, so I figured he was already asleep.

            I sat up with a start as a deafening crack of thunder reverberated overhead. “Geez,” I muttered, putting a hand to my heart.

            “Scared?”

            “Anthony!” I cried, my gaze snapping to him. He was staring at me with amused eyes. “I thought you were asleep?”

            He half-smiled at me. “I’m not tired. I knew the thunder would keep you awake.”

            “It’s not—”

            “Don’t worry,” he interjected, pushing himself out of his sleeping bag. “I’ve got something to help that. I’ll be right back.”

            Frowning, I watched as he grabbed a flashlight and began to jog away. I didn’t want to complain, but I really didn’t want to be left alone. Whatever he was getting better be worth it. A few minutes later he returned slightly out of breath, a pair of headphones in his hands.

            “What’s that?” I asked.

            “Headphones,” he told me, squatting by my head. “Put them on.”

            Slowly, I took the head phones from him and put them on my ears. All sound disappeared. My eyes widened and I stared at him. He grinned, tapping his head. I pulled the headphones off again. “Where did you get these?”

            “I had a pair in my locker,” he informed me. “I totally forgot about them until just now. They’re great, right? I usually listen to music with them.”

            “Yeah they’re great, but…” I paused, biting my lip. “What about you? Don’t you need some?”

            He shook his head. “Nah. I can handle it. Besides, I’m not tired. You need your sleep, so I’ll let use them.”

            “Anthony…”

            “Since you won’t be able to hear me, I’ll sleep closer to you, okay?” he continued, dragging his makeshift bed forward so that it touched mine. “And I’ll hold your hand again.”

            The twinkle in his eye made me think he was teasing me, but I could also tell by his voice that he was also serious about it. It made me a little bit embarrassed. He was treating me like a five year old. I didn’t like seeming like such a loser in front of him. However, it was giving me an excuse to be closer to him… I could make up for my lame actions later. For now, I’d use them to my advantage.

            “Okay,” I agreed, laying back down.

            “Put the headphone back on,” he urged, situating himself next to me and taking my hand. “And sweet dreams.”

            I smiled at him, pulling the headphones over my ears again, blocking out all noise. “Night, Anthony.”

            Grinning again, he pulled me closer to him so my head was pressed against his chest. A blush blossomed on my cheeks as he put his arms around me. I breathed out deeply, shifting myself so I was more comfortable in his arms. Yes, after getting out of here, I was definitely going to miss this.

_______________________________________________________ 

HEY THIS IS LONG. Please vote c: And you\\\'ll get a cookie.

Hiya! Sorry this is so late! I lost my glasses and I\'m sick, so when I write, I have to have my face like six inches away from my screen, which also give me a headache, which doesn\'t go well with my cold. And my back hurts. So it\'s tough to write. And I spent the weekend with my friends, haha. I hope I get new glasses soon though :s I can\'t drive, so I have to get rides to school now and I feel really lame. Anyway. After next chapter they\'re getting out of Walmart, woo! I\'m excited to write about them when they\'re out. 

P.S I\'m sure you could tell, but I had writer\'s block :P It literally took me four hours for me to write this. 

Today\'s song is That Girl by All Time Low.

Today\'s story is How I Fell In Love With My Parol Officer by IHeartOliSykesFerSur! Here\'s the description! :)

\"Georgia Moore wasn\'t on the cops radar, that is until the party of the year. She get\'s totally shitfaced, and framed for stuff she can\'t even remember doing. Bring Ashbry Kilgour into the picture as her sexy parole officer, and you\'ve got an adventure.\"