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Chapter Seven

After an amazing dinner of meatloaf (who knew that a couple pounds of hamburger, some green pepper and crackers could be so good?), mashed potatoes (gravy, mm), and corn, I grabbed my dishes and heading into the kitchen. Mason was right on my heels.

Dan weaved around the both of us and grabbed a dish towel. Addy was already at the sink, filling it up with hot, soapy water. It was so crazy. They didn't even have a dishwasher.

"I can help with dishes," I offered. Addy smiled.

"No, it's Dan's chore. Right, sweetie?"

Dan snapped the towel in my direction and nodded. "Yup!"

If I had to dry dishes every night, I don't think I would be that happy about it. I smiled.

"Okay. Thanks for dinner."

"You're welcome, hun."

"It was great," Mason said. "Hey, I was wondering if I could take the truck?"

Addy looked at him. "Where?"

"Shel needs me to take her to Wal-mart for some hair gunk," Mason said.

I glanced over at him. I didn't need hair 'gunk.'

"Double check with your dad. I don't know how he feels about you and parking lots."

Mason smiled and turned back towards the dining room. Kevin was wiping all the crumbs off the old oak table. I followed to make sure that if he spouted any more 'un-truths' that I could keep things straight.

"Hey dad?"

"What's up?"

"I was wondering if I could have the keys to the truck."

"What for?"

"Shel needs me to take her to Wal-mart for some hair gunk," Mason repeated.

Again with the hair 'gunk.'

"I can take you," Kevin offered.

"We won't be gone long," Mason said. "Please?"

Kevin looked straight at Mason. I gave a little sideways glance. He was doing a really good job at maintaining absolute angelic innocence.

"You know, you shouldn't even be driving," Kevin reminded him.

"I know, but that's why you are an awesome dad. Plus, Wal-mart's like a sneeze away. I'll park far away from all the other cars."

He paused.

"I mean, unless you want us to walk. Which I guess we can. It's not like any crazy psycho person is going to stab two innocent teenagers on a nice night like t---"

"Okay! You can take the keys!"

Kevin reached into his pocket and tossed him the key. Mason caught it and twirled it around on his finger.

"Thanks!"

He turned to me.

"You ready, Shel?"

I smirked. "Yeah. Just let me go up to my room. I've got to get money. For my hair 'gunk.'"

Mason's eyes sparkled mischievously. I went upstairs and pulled a twenty out of the drawer. I didn't know what I might need at Wal-Mart, but better safe than sorry. I grabbed my purse and headed back down.

"Alright, let's roll."

"Don't roll too fast!" Kevin called out to our retreating backs. The front door slammed shut and we bounced in unison down the steps.

"You're sneaky," I whispered. Mason laughed.

"I learned from the best."

He gave me a look.

I was proud.

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Now, as you may know, once you've seen one Wal-mart, you've seen them all. Sadieville's Wal-mart wasn't big and it wasn't open 24-hours a day, but it was still the same.

"So where's the entertainment?" I asked as we strolled through the movies.

Mason smiled. "We make the entertainment."

"Hey Mas!"

"Hey Brent!"

"Hey Mas!"

"Hey Carl!"

This had been a common occurance. We would turn down an aisle and someone would shout out and Mason would wave and acknowledge them right back.

I didn't even know the names of my next door neighbors for crying out loud.

"How do we make entertainment?" I asked.

He flashed a full on grin.

"Follow me."

We walked back to the front of the store and Mason grabbed a cart. I followed him to the toy section.

"Hop in and get out your cell phone."

I laughed. "What?"

"Hop in!"

Feeling like an overgrown praying mantis, I hitched my leg up in the cart and swung my big butt inside. I peered over my knees and took out my phone.

"This is comfortable."

"Do you have a stopwatch on your phone?"

"Yeah."

"Go to it."

I did as he instructed.

"What are we doing?"

"On the count of three press start."

"What? I--"

"One."

"Mason..."

"Two."

"I don't--"

"THREE!"

I pressed Start. Mason's hands wrapped around the handle and he took off like a shot. I shrieked and grabbed onto the edge of the cart. He tore around the corner and I swear the thing was rolling on two wheels. He tore passed the dolls and swung around to the next aisle. When we finally got to the bike section he pulled back and the cart stopped. I pressed Start again.

"Time?"

I looked at the display. "Thirty-eight seconds."

He grinned. "Sweet. Best time yet. Of course you're a lot lighter than my friend Larry."

I crawled out of the cart. "You do this often?"

Mason shrugged. "It's a great workout."

I studied the cart, looked at Mason, and then back at the cart. I held out my phone.

"Get in."

He laughed. "What? You can't push me."

I arched an eyebrow. "What? Get in!"

Shaking his head he scrambled into the cart. I wrapped my fingers around the handle.

"On the count of three," I said. "One...two..."

"THREE!"

I leaned my whole body into the cart for momentum and pushed. It was like pushing cement. I gritted my teeth and went for it.

It was a sad and pathetic sight.

By the time I made it back to where we had initially started, I was breathing hard.

"Time?"

Mason glanced at the display. "Two and a half minutes."

"ARGH!"

He hopped out of the cart. "It's okay. I'm heavy."

I hated losing. At anything. I pointed to my flip-flops.

"I'm just not wearing the right shoes."

He smiled, but he didn't say anything. We abandoned the cart and walked over to the hunting and camping area. It was a larger section than what I had seen at most Wal-marts, most likely because this was 'roughing it' country.

Mason walked over to one of the dome tents on display and unzipped it.

"Ladies, first."

I gave him a look, but I crawled into the tent. He crawled in after me and zipped it back up, leaving just a little crack undone.

The light in the tent was a funny shade of green; I assumed it was from the actual coloring of the tent under the weird fluorescent lights.

"So?" I asked.

"You'll see."

We lapsed into silence. Five minutes passed and I was getting antsy.

"I don't u--"

All of a sudden Mason's hand wrapped around my mouth. It wasn't a face slap; it was just more of a gentle covering. His hands smelled good. Like meatloaf still. He leaned forward and peeked out of the opening. I saw his chest rise and fall. He sucked in a big breath and--

"BOO!"

Three girls around my age were walking by. The moment Mason yelled they screamed and tore off. He dropped his hand from my mouth and began to laugh.

"You're ridiculous," I said with a laugh. He lay back and tucked his hands behind his head.

"I know."

I stretched out beside him. He glanced over at me.

"Hey Shel?"

"Yeah?"

"At the lake today. I wasn't just going to ask you to come here."

"Oh?"

He took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you that--"

"Okay kids, get out of there."

A blue shirted employee peeked through the opening. Mason groaned and unzipped the flap.

"C'mon," the employee said. Mason stuck his head out and crawled through.

"You again? Mason, one more time..."

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

I crawled out and stood up. The employee looked at me.

"Haven't seen you around here."

"I'm just visiting."

"Well, try to stay out of trouble. I'd start by not hanging out with this one."

The employee made a motion in Mason's direct and then walked off. As soon as he was out of range, Mason laughed.

"Party pooper." Mason checked his watch and made a face. "But, we probably should get going."

I followed him through the store. We detoured to the hair 'gunk' aisle and I bought some anti-frizz just so that I wasn't empty-handed when we got back. After I paid, we walked out into the parking lot. He had parked almost all the way at the very end. The warm summer wind whipped my hair around. My flip-flops made a pleasing slapping sound on the blacktop.

"Hey Mas?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you going to tell me? In the tent?"

He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, it's not important."

I let it drop, but I could tell from his face that it was important. He fished the truck key out of his pocket and we climbed in.

"Want some Pop Tarts again tomorrow?" he asked.

"Sounds good. Cherry?"

Mason grinned. "Is there any other?"

I sank back into the big cushy seat and smiled.

It was nice that at least one person in this world really got me.

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Author's note: If you love this, if you hate this, let me know Lurky McLurkersons!