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CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: GROCERIES
"DO YOU WANT THE ORGANIC ONE OR THE REGULAR ONE?" Anthony asked, holding up two boxes of cereal.
Valerie, who was standing at the opposite side of the aisle, raised an eyebrow. They were doing something normal, going to the grocery store together because even though he offered to go alone, she insisted on coming because she didn't trust him to buy the right things.
"Uh...organic," she answered after a moment.
"Ok." He tossed it in the cart and continued down the aisle, checking the list that was on his phone. She caught up to him a couple moments later, tossing a bag of Doritos in the cart.
"Those aren't on the list," he pointed out, his eyes trained on the screen.
"Yeah, I know," she replied, grabbing his phone and scanning over the list. "But I want it, so, I'm getting it."
By 'I'm getting it' she really meant 'Anthony is getting it' since he was paying for the groceries, but he didn't argue, because frankly he didn't feel like getting shouted at in three different languages today.
"Ok, so what do we need next?" he asked, glancing over her shoulder.
She looked at the list for a few more moments and then said, "Milk. I'll get it." She handed him his phone back and she walked over to the dairy section. She grabbed a gallon of 2% milk and what about to turn around and go find Anthony again when she tripped on something. She let out a squeak as the milk slipped out of her hands and braced herself for the fall, but it didn't happen. Instead, an arm wrapped around her waist and stopped her from hitting the floor.
"Jesus Christ, are you ok?"
She opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them, and looked up. She didn't recognize the man who was holding her, and she realized that the thing she had tripped over was his foot.
The man smiled and pushed her back onto her feet. He was tall, with dark brown hair and pale blue eyes. He was handsome, and Val couldn't help but blush when he smiled at her.
"You should be more careful," he joked, smiling at her.
She blushed a little harder, and gave a small nod. "I'll try to work on that," she joked back, shifting from one foot to another.
"Good." He smiled again, and she noticed how his teeth were perfectly straight. He knelt down to pick up the milk she dropped, speaking as he did so. "I'm Dean, by the way."
"Valerie," she replied, taking the gallon from him.
"As in Valerie Black?" he asked, standing back up.
She raised an eyebrow, giving him a 'what the fuck' look. "Do I know you?"
"No, not yet, at least," he said, running his fingers through his hair. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and continued. "And I'm not creepy, my little sister watches your TikToks, and she told me all about you."
Val's eyes widened, and a smile spread across her face. "Aww, really?"
"Yeah, she loves them," Dean replied, nodding. "You're kinda famous."
"No I'm not," she laughed, her cheeks turning a bright red. Her cheeks were starting to hurt a little from smiling so widely, but she didn't care.
"You kinda are," he countered, a teasing tone in his voice.
She didn't respond and instead just smiled at him. Her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating. He was making her nervous for some reason, but she couldn't tell if it was a good kind of nervous or a bad kind.
"I would ask for your number," he began, "but, I'm sure you're seeing someone, so I won't."
"I'm not seeing anyone," she replied quickly, her heart skipping a beat.
"Oh really?"
"Yep, really." She gave him a shy smile and looked down, her cheeks getting even redder.
"Maybe I'll have to fix that."
She was about to say something else, when a familiar voice called her name.
"Val?"
She turned around and was met with the sight of Anthony, who was standing a few feet away, a confused and slightly annoyed look on his face.
"I'm coming," she said, turning back to Dean.
"Who's that?" he asked, jerking his head in Anthony's direction.
"Roommate," she explained, looking up at him. "He's, uh, he's kind of a friend." He nodded and she could see the disappointment in his eyes. "But we're just roommates, if you were wondering." She wanted to hit herself in the head but he just flashed her his million dollar smile again and nodded.
"Yeah, I was wondering."
She smiled again as he pulled his phone out and handed it to her. He took the milk from her so she could type her number in. When she was done, they switched back, the milk back in her hands and his phone in his.
"I'll text you," he promised, stepping away from the wall.
"Good," she replied, her smile not faltering.
They said a quick goodbye, and then she was walking back to Anthony. She was staring at her feet, a wide smile on her face. She placed the milk in the cart and then glanced up at Anthony, who had a weird look on his face.
"Who's that?" he asked, sounding oddly defensive.
"No one," she answered, smiling way too widely for his liking.
"Didn't seem like no one," he muttered under his breath, grabbing the cart and pushing it down the aisle.
"What'd you say?" She'd skipped ahead a couple feet and hadn't heard him.
"Nothing," he lied, shaking his head. She didn't question him further, and just kept smiling as she rambled on about needing potatoes and strawberries.
He watched her with a strange feeling in his stomach. It wasn't a nice feeling, it was almost sickening, but it was familiar. And as he continued watching her, the sick feeling grew, and soon he was left with the same feeling he had in high school everytime another guy would talk to her.
