Never The End

Chapter 21 - Getting Caught

"Go on." Jason urged me towards the shop window.

Olivia, don’t be stupid. I knew what I was about to do could get me into trouble... I shook my head and tugged at his sleeve. "Let's just go Jason."

"Come on, it's fun... trust me. You do trust me don't you?"

"Of course I do. I just don't think I can do it. You know what I'm like; I'll get caught for definite."

He nudged me slowly, "I believe in you."

I took a step forward, my foot touching the soft carpet. Looking up, I saw rows and rows of DVDs, CDs, T-shirts; mugs. Welcome to HMV. As I slowly walked round, I noticed two large security guards standing by the checkout. My fist tightened. Ok. Just find the CD and get out. I pulled myself together - wiped my forehead and rolled my shoulders back.

There were countless CDs... Far too many to search through all of them. What was the band called? Para- Damn. Its fine, I'll just search through all the CDs beginning with "P." Each shelf I searched lead me on to another. I should just tell Jason they didn't have it... then I saw it.

Paramore.

Maybe you can just pay for it yourself. Reaching into my pocket, my heart sunk. Two pound coins and a piece of used tissue. I turned the CD over, just in case... £6.99. I looked back at Jason shaking my head. He nodded and smiled encouragingly. The security guard gazed in my direction. My heart started fluttering uncontrollably. I smiled back nervously and turned back to face the CD racks.

My heart was literally pumping out of my chest making my breaths short and light. Sweating palms. I looked at the back of the CD case, pretending to be interested. Checking around to make sure no one was watching.

I turned the box over in my hands, rubbing the ridges of the side. My hands were shaking violently. I slid the disk quickly into my pocket with one hand, still "browsing" the shelves with the other. The CD fit comfortably into my inside pocket of the coat I was wearing. This is it. I've done it. My feet seemed to carry me towards the door by themselves. My legs were numb with terror as I edged slowly towards the exit. I tried to check behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed.

I tried to scan the steet for any sign of Jason but I couldn't see him anywhere. A lump rose in my throat as I realised that Jason could very easily have left me alone to get caught and just run off. This whole day could've been a scheme. I started to panic more. My hands were visible trembling as I shoved them in my pocket to hide my obvious terror. I took some deep breaths as I continued to pace towards the door without being seen by the store staff.

A hand gripped my shoulder.