TEN

~Jake~

            Her arms were starting to ache from the weight of the clothes in her arms. Spotting Richelle she weaved through the aisles and stopped next to her. Richelle was standing in front a shelf containing suitcases and duffel bags.

            “These are perfect,” Jake said. She dropped the clothes on the ground next to the shelf and bent down. She pulled out three different colored bags. A red, a blue, and a black bag each about the same size.

            “What color do you want?” Jake asked her. Richelle knelt down and grabbed the red bag. Jake nodded and grabbed the blue bag. Carefully, she started pulling tags of the clothes and folding them up. She put them in her bag with plenty of room left. She zipped the bag shut and slung it across her shoulder. Picking up the black duffel bag, she walked back towards the clothes aisle. When she didn’t find him, she leaned against the wall of displays.

            “Hmm,” she murmured. She stood up and walked towards the books and music. Wandering into the fiction section she stopped. Adrian was standing in aisle looking at a book. Quietly she moved behind him and looked at the book he was holding.

            “I haven’t read that but I read the first one. It was pretty good,” she said quietly. He spun around, dropping the book on the floor.

            “Oh I. I didn’t. Um.” He stammered. Jake chuckled and knelt down, picking up the thick book. Standing back up she set the book down on the shelf.

            “You know what?” she said, looking out the tall window near the abandoned coffee station. “I think it’s almost Christmas time.” Snow was blanketing the ground outside. “I can’t believe that we are going to be camping in that.” She stopped talking and looked up at him. She hadn’t noticed that he had light grey eyes.

            “Yeah,” he murmured. The corner of his mouth picked up in a sort of small smile. Ducking her head she looked back at the bookshelf. “Jake.” He said quietly. Jake could feel his hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him. He stepped closer, making her have to look up to see his face.

            “I’m sorry.” He said quietly. “I am sorry for everything; for being a complete jerk to you from the very beginning. You aren’t Cameron and now I don’t think that you will do anything that he did.” It was her turn to smile. His hand gently brushed the side of her face. Barely inches apart, she could feel his warmth.

            “Um. Well.” She stuttered. Moving back, she slid the strap to his duffel bag off her shoulder and handed it to him. “This is yours.” She nodded and walked away. She carried her bag through the store, looking for the camping supplies aisle. Dropping her bag she started grabbing things off the shelf and putting them carefully in her bag. A couple boxes of matches, metal water bottles, collapsible pots and pans, and a sleeping bag.  Shoving it all in her bag, she slung it on her shoulder and continued on through the store.

            Thinking back to what she and Adrian had been talking about, she might be right. Snow was blanketing the ground so it had to be some time in the winter. What if it was close to Christmas? She made her way past the birthday supplies and grabbed a container of tape, scissors, and a roll of wrapping paper. Weaving through the aisles, she kept her eye out for the other two. Sneakily, she grabbed the book that Adrian had been looking at, off the shelf and grabbed a couple others she thought he might like. Sitting down, Jake started attempting to wrap them.

            Not having wrapped things in a while she thought she did rather well. Wrapping them individually, she carefully placed the 5 books in her bag under her clothes. Jake grabbed her supplies, and moved back towards the front of the store and to the makeup aisle. Sighing and knowing she wouldn’t be able to carry all of it, she set her things down and walked around until she found a shopping basket.

            Moving through the tall white rows, she started dropping different things into the basket. She ended up with several sticks of lip gloss, an eyeliner, hand mirror, three bottles of perfume, and foundation. Also she grabbed a hair brush, hair ties, shampoo, and conditioner but not as presents. In the woods she couldn’t doubt that they would come across a water source.

            Twenty minutes later, after she put together the puzzle of how to wrap Richelle’s gifts, she packed her things away and continued through the store. She ended up in the clothes section again when she ran into Richelle.

            “Hi Jake,” said Richelle in her small voice.

            “Hey. Alright so it’s snowing outside and it doesn’t really look like it’s stopping so we should find some wintery clothes. Yeah?” she suggested.

            “Oh yeah. Okay.” Together they wandered through the aisles and picked out several different coats, jackets, scarves, and gloves.

            “Hey Jake, do you think that we can have a Christmas?” asked Richelle quietly.

            “Yes.”

            “Good. Because I already got you and Adrian’s presents,” she laughed. Jake chuckled and continued packing winter clothes into her bag until it wouldn’t shut. She sat Richelle down on her bag and struggled to zip the bag shut. Giggling the girls wandered through the store until they found Adrian. His bag was fit to burst, and he smiled when he saw them.

            “Are you guys done?” he asked. They nodded and walked together back out the front of the store. Together the three of them dropped their bags next to the truck. Jake grabbed her drawstring bag and waited while Adrian finished packing a large book bag with their remaining supplies.

            “I think that’s it. We’re ready to go.” Said Adrian, finalizing their trip. Grabbing all their bags, the trio set off into the nearby snow covered woods towards Ohio.