My eyes slid in and out of focus as blurred images crossed the television screen in front of me. I wasn’t even bothering to pretend to be paying attention to the movie. It was incredibly monotonous. It was just clips after clips of people talking. Not one part had sent my heart racing yet.

            “This movie is so boring,” Anthony commented three-fourths a way through the movie, as if reading my mind. He sunk back into the leather couch, stretching widely, one of his slender arms coming to a rest dangerously close to my shoulder.

            “Mm,” I responded noncommittally, trying to keep my eyes attached to the screen. For the past hour my eyes had been flickering to his handsome face when he wasn’t looking. Somehow I’d managed to keep my stealthily stolen glances a secret. He hadn’t caught me once.

            “So I take it you’re scared, huh?”

            Now I turned to him, a frown adorning myself. “No, I’m not.”

            For some reason, he looked disappointed. “Really?”

            “Really.”

            “Not even a little bit?”

                        I shrugged casually, trying to keep my face straight. Not that I was going to admit it, but Alien movies did scare me. However, since it was daytime at the moment (albeit storming) the film wasn’t having the same effect as one normally would. There were no sightings of aliens during the day, so there was nothing to worry about. “Are you scared?”

            A flashy smile spread across his face, his unbelievably white teeth coming into view. “I just said it was boring. What do you think?”

            “Do you want to stop watching it?”

            By his expression, you’d think I suggested murdering his pets. “What? No! I heard the scariest part was at the end!”

            “Really?”

            “Yeah, my friend Kate said so.”

            I shifted uncomfortably, gazing back at the screen. How was the movie supposed to become more frightening in the next half hour? Nothing was really happening in it now. Actually, nothing had really happened at all throughout the whole movie. Suddenly I became aware of a warm body in close proximity to mine. Anthony was grinning at me when I twisted my head to look at him. “Er, do you want something?”

            “Well if it’s going to get scary, I need someone to cling to.” His eyes twinkled in amusement, that handsome grin appearing on his face again.

            “Um, sure,” I responded hesitantly. Was that really a good idea? We’d almost kissed earlier and clinging was essentially the same thing as cuddling. Wouldn’t that be awkward? Well, even so, I wasn’t going to give up the chance to cuddle with him. “If you really need to… baby,” I added teasingly after a second.

            “I’m older than you,” he retorted.

            My heart skipped a beat. “W-what?”

            He turned with a cocked eyebrow, an amused expression crossing his face. “Haven’t we discussed this? You’re a few months younger than Mason, right? I’m older than him, so you can’t call me a baby.”

            “Oh,” I responded, almost laughing at myself. Why was I getting worried? There was no way Anthony could find out my true age. My secret was safe.

            We lapsed back into silence after that as both our attentions were drawn back to the movie. On the screen, the main girl was listening to a tape recording with unsettling noises on it. Noises that I knew were going to be engraved into my mind for the rest of the night… or the next three weeks. It took all my self-control to not cover my ears and advert my eyes. Anthony would definitely poke fun at me if I did that. So even with my heart pounding furiously in my chest, I managed to keep my eyes glued to the screen, refusing to show any fear.

            Without any warning, I felt a hand on my shoulder. As an automatic reaction, I nearly jumped a mile. When I turned to glower at Anthony I could tell he was holding in his laughter. “What?” I snapped, embarrassed.

            He held open his arms. “I’m scared?”

            “I doubt that.”

            “Come on,” he said, finally letting out the short laugh he was fighting back. “For the last ten minutes, okay?”

            Well it wasn’t like I was going to say no. Who would pass up an opportunity to cuddle with their crush? Their willing-to-cuddle-back crush? A moron, that’s who. I moved into Anthony’s warm, strong arms and he closed them around me, pulling my back closer to his chest. I resisted the urge to sigh in content. Anthony was really comfortable. Even though his chest was hard from his fit physique, it was still cozy.

            With Anthony’s body so close to mine, I was finding it hard to keep my attention on the movie. So I eventually gave up, closing my eyes and resting my head against his shoulder. The scent of his cologne wafted into my nose, reminding me of my new favorite smell. I really wanted to know what brand it was. Obviously it was something they sold at Walmart. Maybe Julius or Mason would know. I could ask them when I finally got out of here…

            My mind wandered to the future. Would Anthony and I still be friends when we finally emerged from this place? Or would we revert to the way we were before? My stolen glances at him when I went in his cashier line? The few words exchanged between Julius and I about him? The daydreams I had about actually talking to him? Whatever it took, I wasn’t going to let our relationship go back to that. I wasn’t sure how he felt, but I definitely considered us to be friends. The type of friends that could go see movies together, and hang out, and talk to each other when they met in a store. But did he feel the same? Hopefully he did.

             “Hey, Ellie?” Anthony murmured, breaking me out of my thoughts.

            “Yeah?”

            “What are your reasons for lying?”

            Reasons for…? My heart shuddered in my chest. What was that supposed to mean? Did he know I lied about my age and the fact I was still in high school? It was getting so frustrating not knowing! “What do you mean?” I inquired, trying to keep my voice level, turning my head slightly so I could see his face.

            He glanced at me. “For example it says this movie is based on true events—”

            “It is?” I said, startled. Well, that just made the movie ten times more frightening.

            “Yes, but that’s beside the point. Would you lie, saying this is all real, just for the money it makes?”

            Shaking my head, I let my gaze drop to my hands, which were now folded up on my lap. “No. I don’t like to lie.”

            He made a noise of agreement. “Me either. But sometimes you have no choice, right?”

            “I guess,” I responded slowly, furrowing my eyebrows together. Maybe he wasn’t on to me. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself of times it was okay to lie. “Are you lying about something you shouldn’t be?”

            “Are you?” he retorted.

            I stiffened. “Touché.”

            A soft sigh left his pale lips. “I mean, I don’t think what I’m lying about is too bad… But I’m afraid if the truth comes out a certain someone will get angry.”

            “Someone you like?” I guessed, feeling my heart sink. He was perfectly describing my situation and he didn’t know it.

            “Not exactly,” he replied, pursing his lips to the side. “I mean, I like this person, but only as a friend. He is one of my best friends actually.”

            Relief flooded me. As long as Anthony wasn’t gay, I was safe. “Well what are you lying about?

            He scratched the back of his head, a sheepish expression adorning his face. “I can’t tell you.”

            “Oh,” I replied lamely.

            “Tell me what you’re lying about and I’ll tell you what I’m lying about.”

            “No way!”

            A knowing smirk spread across his face. “And why not?”

            His eyes told me he was challenging me. I stuck out my chest in defiance. “It’s none of your business.”

            “Okay,” he responded, sounding far too amused for my liking. “Can you tell me the reason why you’re lying?”

            “Same as you,” I informed him, focusing on the television screen, where the credits were now rolling. Something about the girl from the movie living in New England crossed the screen causing my heart to lurch. Yet another creepy fact I would have to deal with while trapped in this Walmart.

            “I’m sure whoever you’re lying to won’t get mad at you,” Anthony assured me. “You’re too cute to get mad at.”

            That made me smile. “But still. You never know. I mean, I guess I’ll tell that person if things… err, never mind,” I said quickly, feeling my cheeks begin to warm up.

            My reaction just made Anthony more curious. “Things what?”

            “Never mind,” I muttered, keeping my face straight so he couldn’t see the blush that now completely covered it.

            “You’re not going to tell me, huh?” For some reason he didn’t sound as disappointed as I wanted him to. “That’s okay. I guess you can keep me in the dark. Keep me curious. I’ll never know, I suppose… I’ll live my whole life dying of curiosity. If I die here I may not now—”

            I whipped around to gape at him in horror. “Don’t say that!”

            He blinked back at me. “What?”

            “You said yourself we’re not going to die! Why are you changing your words now? Do you know something I don’t—”

            “Whoa, whoa,” he started, slapping his hands to my cheeks and efficiently cutting me off. “That’s not what I meant, Ellie. Calm down. I was just being overdramatic, I’m sorry.”

            Embarrassment at my actions set in and I sent my eyes downcast. Slowly, I pulled his hands off of my cheeks and placed them against his strong chest. “No, don’t be. I took that way too seriously.”

            “It’s okay,” he responded, moving his arms so that they were wrapped around my narrow waist. I really liked the feeling— the warmth the action gave me. Actually, I probably enjoyed it a little too much.

            “Why are you so nice?” I sighed quietly, not realizing he could hear me.

            He chuckled deeply and I could feel the vibrations of it through his chest. “Because you’re Ellie.”

            Well that made a lot of sense. “What do you mean?”

            “I can’t explain it,” he admitted, sounding the slightest bit sheepish. “Do you remember when I told you that I felt I knew you because of Julius?”

            I nodded. That was only yesterday. If it was possible for your thoughts to do a double take, mine did. Had it really only been a day since Anthony and I had talked about that? It felt more like a week. Time was sure moving slowly. By the time we got out of here, it’d probably feel like I knew Anthony my whole life. It was crazy how being stuck in a Walmart with someone could progress your relationship with that person so fast. Crazy, but amazing. I was glad it was Anthony who had fallen asleep. If it had been anyone else…

            “Well you sort of remind me of a homeless kitten,” Anthony commented thoughtfully, yanking me out of my reverie.

            “Is that supposed to be an insult?” I asked, scrunching my face up in distaste.

            He laughed through his nose. “No! Julius was always talking about how you over worry about things, but I never really believed you cared this much. It makes me want to worry about you and take care of you, like I would if I saw a homeless kitten. You’re as cute as one too.” He paused for a moment. “Wait. That probably sounds creepy. We’ve barely formally known each other for a day.”

            “It’s not creepy!” I told him immediately, turning to grin widely at him. His words were actually surprisingly sweet. Julius was definitely receiving a humongous bear hug from me when I saw him next. Usually I hated when he told stories about me, but apparently Anthony found them cute, which made it completely okay with me.

            “I have another confession too,” he continued, lowering his voice to an attractive tone.  “Whenever I saw you coming into Walmart, or Julius informed me you were coming, I’d race to the door just so I could greet you.”

            A quiet laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. He was just like me! An offended look crossed his face but I shook my head, signaling to him that it was okay. “Actually, I’d always go in your line because I thought you were cute.”

            He smirked. “Oh, I knew that.”

            “You did?”

            “Do you really think Julius didn’t pick up on your habit?”

            I grinned sheepishly. “Aha…”

            Anthony ruffled my hair. “If you wanted to be my friend, you should have just said so. I wanted to be your friend too, but Julius said…” he trailed off, pressing his lips together tightly.

            “Julius said?” I prodded, cocking an eyebrow at him.

            “Nothing,” he muttered, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

            A frown adorned my face. “No, tell me. What did Julius say?” What could Julius have said to keep Anthony from talking to me? Was it because I was so much younger than him? No, if that were true, Julius would be a hypocrite. He was just as old as Anthony. “What did he say?” I repeated.

            Anthony waved his hand. “Forget it. Nothing.”

            “You can’t do that!”

            “Do what?”

            “Say something like that then forget it! Why would Julius say we couldn’t be friends?”

            “He didn’t say that per se,” Anthony responded, lowering his voice again. “He just… just never mind.”

            I narrowed my eyes. “No, not never mind.”

            “Ellie…”

            “That’s not fair, Anthony. If you don’t tell me I’ll ask Julius.” Threatening was the tone I aimed for, but of course it came out as whining. It really irked me when people started to say something and then changed their mind, leaving me hanging.

            Anthony shrugged. “Okay. Go ask Julius. Have fun clawing through two feet of metal and then a foot more of cement, then traveling across town during a hurricane to get to him.”

            An angry huff of air left my mouth. “Fine. Whatever.”

            “Don’t be mad,” he said teasingly. “Were you planning on telling me what you’re lying about?”

            “No,” I admitted in a sigh after a moment of silence.

            He nudged my shoulder. “There you go.”

            “I’m still going to ask Julius when we make it out of here.”

            A wide grin spread across his face, his eyes lighting up happily. “That’s what I like to hear, Ellie!”

            “What is?”

            “When, not if!”

            I stared at him, his words not processing in my mind. “What exactly are you blabbering about?”

            He gently rapped his fist against my forehead. “You said when we make it out of here. Not if.”

            “So?”

            “So that means you’re thinking more positively!” he told me, sounding over excited. “It must be my influence. That’ll prove Julius wrong.”

            I finally pulled is hand away from my forehead. “Prove Julius wrong about what?”

            “Me being a bad influence around you,” he responded absentmindedly. When the words were out of his mouth, his startlingly green eyes widened. “Wait, that’s not what I meant—”

            “Julius said what?”

            “Ellie, wait—”

            My anger flared up swiftly. Who was Julius to talk? “Who does he think he is? My older brother? Mason wouldn’t care about that kind of stuff! Ugh! Julius never changes, that stupid prat!”

            “El-lie,” Anthony said firmly, waving his hand in front of my face. “Shut up for a moment and listen to me.”

            I frowned at him. “What?”

            “He didn’t exactly think that,” he started, dropping his hand into his lap. “I figured I would be a bad influence.”

            “You would?” I said dubiously. Anthony? The straight A student? One of the best players on the college lacrosse team? The guy on scholarship for both? A snort ripped through my nose before I could stop it.

            Anthony smiled at that. “I’m going to guess by your response you know I’m on scholarship for my grades and lacrosse, right?”

            I nodded.

            “That’s not what I’m talking about though,” he told me, settling back onto the leather couch. “This is something I’m positive you don’t know about me. Or Julius, for that matter.”

            “I know everything about Julius,” I stated confidently. After living next to him for my whole life and having to deal with him and my brother every day, I’d be worried if I didn’t.

            Smiling smugly again, Anthony shook his head, his chestnut hair falling into his face. “Nope, I’m positive you don’t know this about us.”

            “Then surprise me,” I challenged, crossing my arms defiantly.

            Without warning he leaned closer to me, like he had done earlier when he was going to kiss me. My body turned to ice and I hardly dared to breathe. It was hard to focus with his tempting lips so close to mine. Unexpectedly, his lips when past my lips, to my ear. This only caused my body to tense up more.

            “Ready for this?” he inquired.

            After wetting my lips, I spoke. “Yes.”

            “You can’t tell anyone. Promise?”

            “Promise.”

            “It’s something really horrible. We could go to jail.”

            That threw me a ball. Julius definitely wasn’t the one who would get in trouble with the cops… If you excused the few times he (stupidly) went street racing with my brother on the back dirt roads. Even more unlikely to do so was Anthony. Curiosity was starting to burn within me. Anthony didn’t speak.

            “Well? What did you do?” I finally demanded, letting my impatience drip into my voice.

            He chuckled softly, his breath tickling my ear. “I don’t want to scare you away.”

            “Just tell me!”

            “Are you sure you can handle it?”

            “Yes!”

            “Positive?

            “Yes!”

            “Are you—”

            “Anthony,” I all but growled, “just tell me.”

            He laughed once more before lowering his voice considerably. “I’m not sure if Julius told you about this before or not, but one time there was this incredibly annoying jerk on the other team during a lacrosse game. I think his name was like Dick or something.”

            “Richard,” I corrected, automatically remembering the story my brother had recited to me. “Julius didn’t tell me this, but my brother did. That was the guy who got into a fight with you, right?”

            The story came easily to me— probably because at the time Mason delivered the story to me, I’d been drinking in every detail as if I’d been dying of thirst. Yeah, it was creepy, but that was just how much I liked Anthony. It didn’t hurt that Mason was also an expert in story telling either.

            It happened about a month ago. During one of the many lacrosse games the college held, one of the players from the other team, Richard (Or Dick, as Anthony, Mason, and Julius called him) started targeting Anthony and Julius. This wasn’t unordinary; apparently the three had been rivals since high school. Except this game was a little more brutal. According to Mason, Anthony had received quite a few blows to the head by Richard’s lacrosse stick that ended with Richard being thrown from the game. After the game ended, Richard had hunted Julius and Anthony down and started badmouthing them. Julius, of course, made the first swing, but the fight was swiftly taken over by Anthony. It seemed like Richard had more beef with him. To no one’s surprise, Anthony won that fight easily. Nothing else really happened though. No one besides those four, whomever Richard told (I’m guessing he was too embarrassed to tell that many people though), and myself knew about it.

            Managing to pull myself from my reverie, I leaned back so I could see into Anthony’s face. “What about it?”

            “Well,” he began, grinning evilly, “has he ever been mentioned again?”

            After thinking about it for a moment, I shook my head. “Now that you mention it, no. What’d you do? Scare him away? Beat him up again?”

            “Nope. Julius and I killed him,” he commented casually, his attention drifting to the back of his nails.

            It took a moment for his words to register. Thrown off guard, my eyes flew open and I jerked away from him. “What?”

            “We murdered him,” he repeated calmly.

            “Anthony, you—”

            “Shh,” he shushed me, pressing a slim finger to my lips. “This is a secret, remember? I don’t really feel like going to jail for the rest of my life for such a silly little murder. Nobody even cares he went missing.”

            My lips turned down into a scowl and I swatted his hand away. “You’re such a liar, Anthony. Do you really think you could trick me?”

            He cocked an eyebrow. “You seemed fooled to me.”

            “O-only at first,” I retorted, snapping my head away from him, “and that’s only because it was so unexpected.”

            “You definitely believed it,” he stated, starting to laugh. “Your eyes reveal everything.”

            Annoyed, I twisted my head back around to stick my tongue out at him. “Grow up.”

            “Says the one sticking out her tongue.”

            In another act of childishness, I blew a raspberry at him.

            He smirked, folding his hands on his lap. “And with that intelligent comment, this conversation is over.”

            “Hey, wait,” I protested, frowning at him, “you never told me exactly why you would be a bad influence to me.”

            “Don’t worry about it,” he responded nonchalantly.

            At first, I thought the shaking that had suddenly taken over me was frustration. Or anger. Or both. But I quickly realized that it was not an emotion. If it was my emotion, Anthony wouldn’t be shaking as well and looking around with an alarmed expression on his face. The shaking grew worse and I sat up, removing myself from the cushioned couch. I could barely keep my balance, that’s how bad the ground was quaking. A clattering noise filled the air as heavy items from the bookshelves on either side of the room came crashing down to the floor.

            “What’s happening?” I cried, throwing my arms out to keep myself steady.

            Anthony sprung to his feet, gripping my hand tightly in his. “Come on, Ellie, we need to get out of here. If those bookshelves fall, we’re screwed.”

            Just walking turned out to be a difficult feat. I nearly fell twice while taking seven steps. Anthony wrapped a strong arm around my waist, supporting most of my weight. My insides were being jostled around with the shaking, causing me to feel nauseas. Clanging continued to surround us as we hastened for the exit of the room. My mind was still in the midst of comprehending what was happening.

            “I’ve never heard of an earthquake during a hurricane!” Anthony cried, shouting to be heard over the sounds of heavy items falling.

            Earthquake. That’s what this was. Fear rose up in my throat, but I swallowed it back. If I started freaking out now, I’d just end up getting both Anthony and I myself hurt. It couldn’t be a horrible earthquake; Anthony and I were still managing to stand…

            Kind of.

            Before I knew what happened, I was on the floor on my back, groaning in pain from the rough landing. I panicked when something heavy landed on top of me. Thinking it was a bookshelf, I tried to shove it away. When Anthony grunted in pain, I froze, opening my eyes to see him hovering over me.

            “Don’t move,” he ordered, covering my head with his and putting his hands on top of his in a type of makeshift and shoddy defense.

            Something that sounded like thunder cracking in the small room resounded through it. My heart nearly flew out of my throat and I closed my eyes, preparing for the worst. That was definitely the ceiling cracking. Wrapping my arms around Anthony tightly, I buried my face into his shoulder.

            At least I wouldn’t be going down alone.

__________________________________________________________

I thought maybe I'd put two experiences together. You know, last week there was that earthquake, which gave me the idea for this. I was like YEAH. I can write about it now that I've experienced it! So yeah. That was a good break.

Today was my first day of school. If you read IMS you know I didn't get Mr. DeWitt, the one teacher I really wanted ): I can still talk to him in-between some classes though I guess. Sighh. At least I got my old biology teacher back again :D For Applied Eco. We get to go outside errday! I bet you guys started school. How was it?

Anyway. Today's song is country. I know. Weird from me. But it's so funny xD Online by Brad Paisely

Today's story is Remember December XxxoKaylaXxxo! :D Here's the summary! Check it out!

December Rawlins's life was completely average. Well, aside from the fact that she was just 17, and basically living alone. When her boyfriend does the unthinkable, she finds comfort within a stranger, the seemingly perfect Cole Usher. Hes sweet, charming, caring, and utterly beautiful. But everyone has a past that they're afraid of....As Cole's secrets unravel, December and her best friends are thrown into situations she had never dreamed possiple in her boring life in a small town.