Behind the Scenes

Chapter 6

Rosa

"So, why do you do the grocery shopping if you hate it so much?" I ask. Ryan's car is surprisingly clean. There's even an air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror.

"My mom doesn't have the time. She works a lot. It's one of the helpful things I've taken on myself to avoid the uselessness abyss." He says.

"Like coaching me?" It slips out. I don't actually want to ask it. It makes me feel needy and gross, and I wish I could take it back. "Yikes. Sorry, I—"

"No." He glances over at me. "Not like that."

"I shouldn't have said that." I fiddle with my backpack strap and avoid eye contact.

He looks at me again. I don't look up.

"Where did Swamp Monster go?" He changes the subject. I look out the window.

"Gavin likes it straightened." I say. "He's gonna have to learn to like it curly, too, though. Because it's way too much work to do this every day for some guy."

Ryan laughs. He turns into the parking lot of the grocery store and finds a spot.

"How was your date?" He asks. We climb out of the car and make our way into the store.

"It was really nice." I say with a stupid grin that I can't shake.

He grabs a cart and pulls out his phone.

"Good. You should have really nice."

"Well... thank you." I blush.

"Green cabbage." He says flatly, and points to the produce aisles.

"Do you seriously have the list arranged in order of the store configuration?" I ask him once we've weaved our way through half of it.

"I told you I hate this place." He puts a container of Arborio rice in the cart and taps his phone screen. "I try to get through it as seamlessly as possible."

"Can I stand in the florist fridge?" I ask.

"What?" He laughs out the word. He's looking at the shelves, trying to locate the next item on his list. I glance over his shoulder at his phone, and grab the can of tomato paste from the bottom shelf.

"Just for a minute. It's a whole sensory experience." I've done it since I was little. The chill and the quiet and the smell of lilies and roses and greenery. It makes me absurdly happy.

"After the list." He says, shaking his head and smiling bemusedly.

______________

Ryan

She's right. This is a whole sensory experience. Seeing her surrounded by such delicate, beautiful things. The overpowering smell of them. My entire body is on high alert because of the cold. And being in such a quiet, close space with her. I step back as far as I can from her without crushing a plastic vase full of baby's breath behind me.

She is a whole sensory experience.

She's smelling each kind of flower individually. I'm standing with my hands in my pockets, just kind of waiting for her to be done.

"Do you need help with anything else?" She asks me without looking at me.

"No... thanks, though. I can drive you home. I just need to get these groceries put away first." When I say this, she stands up straight and looks at me, a little panicked.

"I forgot to text Caleb to tell him not to pick me up from Mugshot." She says, pulling her phone out of her bag. "Damn it."

"You should probably call him." I grimace, "He might, uh, kill me."