Riddle Middle Two

Chapter 19: The Grocery

Lauren (1st person)

I'd gone in the next day, but I tried to avoid as many people as I could, especially my friends. I got teased a little, but nothing too bad. It was still raining when the dismissals bell rang. Unlike everyone else, I stupidly didn't have my umbrella. My mom had driven me to school, and I'd brought an umbrella in the car, but I hadn't taken it out. I knew that my mom couldn't come get me, and neither could my dad. They had both said to just walk home after school, and that I should be fine if I had an umbrella, which I didn't. I was getting completely soaked as I walked down the sidewalk, but I tried to ignore it. "Hey, Highlighter!" Someone shouted, ramming into my side. I lost my balance and fell into the mud lining the edges of the sidewalk. I'm just glad I didn't fall on a nail or on an anthill or something. I rolled over to see who my attacker had been.

Joy. Of course it was Joy. I hadn't seen her at all so far that year, but now that changed. She was wearing a poncho that she still managed to look great in. She looks great in everything. I hate it. I sat up and wiped the mud off of my forehead that was beginning to drip into my eyes. "Joy, what are you doing?!" Someone called. Phred. Joy immediately turned to look at him. She looked scared. "I... Um... I- It's not what it looks like!" She said. "So you didn't just push Lauren into the mud," he said. "Umm... I- it was an accident!" She said. Phred stared at her intimidatingly. Joy stared back stupidly. Joy awkwardly looked to me, then she helped me up. Phred rolled his eyes and continued walk back down our street. Joy was still holding my arm. She hesitantly looked to me, then to Phred. Phred wasn't facing us anymore.

She dropped me into the mud and ran towards Phred. At that time, I realized how cold I was. I began shivering. I figured that the rain must've changed temperature somehow. I just laid their for a minute. I wanted my parents to teleport to me and help me, but I knew that wouldn't happen. Right after I thought that, I found that the rain above me stopped. I looked up. 5, holding an umbrella. "Hey Lauren. Are you okay?" He asked. I blinked. I wasn't expecting to see 5. He extended his hand towards me. I awkwardly stared at it for a minute. 5 looked around for a second, then he looked back at me. I snapped out of my confusion and took his hand. He pulled me up. "Here, you take this," he said, giving me his umbrella. I stared at him for a second. "Oh, no, it's yours. I'm the one who didn't bring-" before I could finish, he closed my fist around the umbrella's handle.

I've always thought that 5 was a little intimidating, but he was proving to be quite gentle and nice. He walked next to me in the rain. A few minutes later, he started shivering. "Here," I said, holding out his umbrella. "N- No, you hold it," he said. I would've tried to put it over both of us, but it was clearly made for one person. I continued holding the umbrella. Once we got to the house that I recognized as 5's, I tried to give him his umbrella back. He looked to his house, then back to me. "This isn't your house, is it?" He said jokingly. "C'mon 5, just take your umbrella, I can make it home," I said. He looked at me with an odd expression that I couldn't quite comprehend.

"Come on," I said. "Your house is right over there, isn't it? When we get to your house, I'll still have the umbrella to make it back to mine," he said. "...Okay..." I said. We walked to my house, and by the time we got there, 5 looked miserable. "...5?" I asked. "I- I'm fine..." he said, his voice fading at the end of the sentence. "You're clearly not, now come inside," I said, opening the front door and dragging him inside with me. "Ahh... Your house is so warm..." he said. "I'm sure it is," I said. Honestly, I'm always cold in my house, but I didn't say anything. My mom came over to me and 5, who were still standing by the door. "...Lauren, who's this?" She asked. "That's 5," I said. "...5?" She asked. 5 looked incredibly nervous. My mom looked at me somewhat suspiciously. "Umm... He let me use his umbrella, but he got really cold, so I thought I'd let him warm up a bit," I said. "...Oh, okay..." she said. "Well, I- I guess I should go now!" 5 said. I passed him the umbrella, then he rushed to the door and went back out into the storm. I hope he's alright...
Phil (1st person)

After school, I decided I'd call Phred to ask him about what'd happened over the summer. I'm glad his internet was okay, since the storm was pretty big. "Hey Phil," he said, answering almost immediately. "Hey, Phred. What happened during the summer? Why'd you keep lying? Why wouldn't to talk to me?" I asked. "...Oh, yeah, I forgot about that... You won't-" I interpreted him. "If you don't want me to tell anyone, I won't tell anyone," I said. "...Okay... Well, um... I- I... I failed most of my classes, so I was taking them during the summer," he said. "...Oh. Why am I not surprised?" I asked. Phred didn't respond. "...Phred?" I asked. "...I have to go..." he said. "Oh, okay... Bye," I said. He hung up before I finished.