A Million Trillion Billion (What's Eating Gilbert Grape Fanfic) *ORIGINAL*

Chapter 2 - The Boy From Comparative Literature

It's Saturday morning - and it's still raining. I sit up in my warm bed. It's gonna take some time to get used to waking up in this flat, and my bed. It's way too clean in my room for it to feel like a home yet.

I throw on a large t-shirt and head out into the living room, where my new roommate is sitting on the couch reading a book. "Mornin Becky." I say as I walk past, heading into the kitchen. "Hey there Janie." She says back. I open the fridge and see nothing but half a carton of orange juice and a bottle of ketchup. Brilliant.

What happened to the food I bought 3 days ago? Man, I really underestimated how much Becky and I could eat in a couple days. "What's for breakfast?" Becky calls out. "Orange and tomato soup." I say in response. "Unless you want me to actually buy something to eat." I say with a laugh. "Yes please!" She says back.

After shoving some jeans and a sweater on, I head out into the chilly, winter morning. It's stopped raining now, for a change. I've come to realise this is a rare thing in Endora. I walk into Lamson's Grocery and am greeted by Tom. "Morning Miss. Parker." He says with a tip of his head. "Morning Tom!" I say with a bright smile. I grab a basket and head to the fruit isle, still attempting to be healthy. "Boo!" A familiar voice comes from behind me. I turn around and Arnie grins at me. "Hey!" I chuckle. "What are you doing here?" I ask, peering around to see if Gilbert is here. "Gilbert is in the back Janie." He says. "Ah, ok." I say, nodding. "Want to help me choose some fruit?" I ask him, as he puts his hands into his pockets. "Sure Janie." He says, repeating the same habit I saw on Thursday night. "Ooh, that mango looks good." I say, running my tongue over my bottom lip. Arnie grabs it and puts it into my basket.

Arnie accompanies me as I grab some yoghurt, soup, veggies, your everyday basic things. I also grab a couple more chocolate bars and a bag of chips. I'm not going to become sugar free overnight. To my surprise, when we get to the counter, Gilbert serves me. "Hi Gilbert!" I say with a smile, as Arnie helps me load the shopping items onto the counter. "Hey Janie." He says back. "Settling in alright?" He asks. "Yep. Just run out of food, so I popped down here." I say with a chuckle. "You know, Mr. Lamson is really glad he still has customers like you that come." Gilbert says, almost solemnly. "Y-yeah, most people go to the-the Food Land store at the other end of the town don't they Gilbert?" Arnie chimes in. "Yeah, that's why Mr. Lamson has been struggling with a few things lately." Gilbert says, bagging my items. "Well, I'm happy I could help out. It's really convenient as well... it's only a short walk from my flat." I smile and nod. "We'll help you carry your groceries there then." Gilbert insists, walking out from behind the checkout. "No, no you don't ha-" "I insist." He says. "Thanks." I say with a grateful smile.

Arnie, Gilbert and I carry the groceries up the single flight of stairs to my apartment. I grab my keys and shove them into the door of apartment 2A. "Just in here guys." I say, leading them through. Becky is still on the couch reading, but now she's laying down with her legs in the air. I laugh to myself. "Hey Beck, this is Gilbert and Arnie Grape." I say, holding out my free hand to gesture to them. "Hey, I'm Becky." She says in her deep, smooth voice as she stands up. "Hi Becky!" Arnie says, grinning, and then turning his head, his mouth wide open as he sees an insect on the wall. His eyes follow it all the way up the wall. Becky turns to Gilbert. "Hey Becky, Gilbert." He says, nodding as he has no free hands. Becky laughs, and grabs two of his bags and we put them in the kitchen. "Where do the mangoes go Janie?" Arnie asks, coming up to me and holding two mangoes in both hands. I laugh, and point towards the fridge. "Just in the bottom there Arnie."

"Thanks so much for the help you guys." I say, as Arnie and Gilbert head out the door. I really wish they weren't going, it's nice having them around.
"Nice fellas." Becky nods once the door closes. "Yeah, I met em on Thursday." I say, launching myself up onto the counter. "Gilbert's a bit of a hunk, don't ya think?" Becky raises her eyebrows cheekily at me. "Yeah... I guess so..." I say, trailing off. I hadn't really payed too much attention to that factor, as I'd spent so much more time with Arnie.
But now Becky mentions it, she's definitely not wrong.