†𝖜𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 ∞ ongoing

chapter 18 ∞ name tags

Nova

wednesday

The grocery store is only a couple of minutes from where I live. My mom's still at work and when I came home after school to dig in the fridge, there was barely anything there. So I think I'd get some weight off mom's shoulders and buy the groceries this week before she comes home. I'm more than grateful to have a car of my own to help me get around places. The buses around my town are notorious for being packed this time of year when students are in school.

On the way to the store, I think about joining the track team during the spring. A couple of my 'acquaintance' friends in my classes have gotten onto the cross country team for the fall. I haven't done any sports full time for a long time, so why not?

The past three days were long and lengthy, dragging on every second as if time wasn't relative in any aspect of the world. The classes were fine. Willow hasn't asked about Jackson and neither has Ayra or Syrena. I don't expect it and I'm more than happy that he's become irrelevant now.

I'm still waiting on his apology to Willow though. 

He's been acting the same as usual. Regular teasing and rude remarks and whatnot. I meant it when I said he was boring. He always goes up to the same girls to flirt and grab their waist just to whisper something in their ear to make them laugh. 

AP Gov is always a thrill because Noah makes everything a little better. Watching Jack with a scowl on his face the entire class period is everything I could ever wish for. As I said, I'd choose Noah over Jack any day. Not that it's a choice.

Finding a spot in the parking lot, I park my car with some effort — I always sucked at this part of driving, I nearly rammed every cone during my driving test.

Walking into the store with athletic shorts wasn't a good idea. The air inside is always freezing to me and goosebumps run up my legs faster when I came around the produce section. My black zip-up hoodie seems to be doing the trick for my arms though, I can't stand having cold arms. Legs are no problem.

I walk down the open aisle and search for my favorite brand of yogurt to eat in the mornings. The vanilla honey-flavored ones taste as just as good as it sounds — even better with granola and blueberries. 

My finger follows the brands laid out on the refrigerated area, trailing past each brand until I stumbled upon my favorite. Yoplait, Fage, Noosa... Ah, Chobani—

My face rams into a soft surface and I stumble back several steps, holding onto my nose which felt like it hit a concrete wall. 

"Oh god, shit that hurt like a butt—"

I mumble and look up to find a name tag in front of my face. 

Noah

"Buttcheek on a stick?" He smiles and gently places his hands on my shoulders, "You okay? I didn't know you were gonna turn this way."

I blink a couple of times and finally realize it was the Noah that I know that I had bumped into. Of course, this was the same store I bought Willow's birth control from.

"That vine is so old." I laugh and rub my nose to make sure I didn't see any blood, "Are you stalking me?"

He pauses and takes his hands away to fold them in front of him, "Oh no, I just work here." He points to his name tag, "I saw you around the corner and was gonna try to scare you but I guess this works too."

"Scare me?"

"You like yogurt?"

We blurt out words at the same time.