They Came With Secrets

8|A pretty good ninja

My mum made me follow her shopping as a stepping stone in mending the bridge between us. It's not like I've forgiven her or anything but I had no choice. I hate the way she expects me to just ignore everything thing she did in the past.

"How about this one?" she asks and lifts a box of rainbow-coloured lights.

"I'm pretty sure Christmas isn't so colorful," I reply. She mutters something under her breath and puts the box back on the shelf. "Can we make this quick?" I grab a random box and throw it into the trolley. "That should do."

She reaches into her purse and takes out a folded piece of paper. "Just give me a moment." She unfolds it and squints her eyes at the words. "A Christmas tree... that's the last thing on our list."

I nod and push the trolley towards the next aisle. "First of all, we have to decide which color we want. White or green?" she asks like she doesn't know the color of a standard Christmas tree.

"A tree is naturally green and not white, don't get fooled by modern evolution," I state.

She raises a brow at me. "Are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Boring."

My grip tightens on the trolley handle and my brows knit. What a hypocrite. "Oh, so I'm the boring one now? Just because you dyed your hair blonde and fried an egg this morning doesn't mean you're any different... you can keep up the act as long as you want but Cassi isn't falling for it, you hear me? Cassi ain't falling for it."

She chuckles and takes a step towards me, taking my cheek and gently kissing my forehead. "You can believe what you want to darling... just know I love you." Yeah, she hypnotized herself by accident.

"Whatever." I yank my hood over my head. "Why have you changed? I mean for the better," I ask her.

"I don't know... maybe I just needed a change of scenery."

"Be like this more often, it makes you... prettier," I turn away from her and sigh. Don't make her feel good Cassi.

She smiles and pulls the hood off my head. "I'm buying a white Christmas tree."

"Why? To get on my nerves?"

"No, just because it's shinier," she beams and calls on the person in charge of this aisle.

My butt vibrates and I realize it's just a message I got from my phone. I take it out, seeing a message from Gaia. 'Got the signed basketball'

I eventually settled on leaving Jack a basketball signed by Michele Norman I think. I'm not really into basketball. Anyway, I knew Gaia would be able to get one but it cost me five hundred dollars and I doubt I'm getting anything close to that amount for my gift.

'Meet you at your house' I text back and stuff my phone into my pocket. I then notice my mum strutting my way exultantly. Behind her, a guy is pushing the white tree on a trolley. "Let's go check out," she smirks and brushes past me.

We make our way to the checking out section and the line seems pretty long, probably because Christmas is on its way. She casually puts on her shades and walks to the front of the line. Maybe she was in her office so long that she forgot how the outside world works. The people on the line stare in awe waiting to see if there's going to be a war. Reluctantly I trail behind her and catch her by her shoulder. "Mum... the starting of the line is that way," I clarify, pointing my finger to the very edge of the line.

The lady behind the cash register gives my mum a once-over. "Can I help you?"

"I'm in a bit of a hurry." She takes off her shades and reaches into her purse before taking out a hundred-dollar bill. Then she lifts it heavenwards and slams it on the table. "I was wondering if you could help me with that," she says with a victorious smirk.