Wanderers (1st Draft)

Unexpected Meeting

Rixton

Rixton is in the middle of attempting to tie his shoes when James and Alice come downstairs. He stares down at his feet, which are halfway in his shoes, trying to psych himself up to bend over.

"You need help with that?" James asks standing in front of Rixton.

"Need, yes. Want, no." Rixton says looking up at James.

James bends down and ties Rixton's shoes. "You sure you're okay to go out walking?" He asks standing up.

"I cannot stay in this house one more day, I will go crazy. I need some fresh air." Rixton says standing up.

James shakes his head. "Fine, but know I don't support this."

"Everyone ready to go?" Amelia asks. She stands by the front door, holding Max's leash. Max paces back and forth in front of the door.

"Yep." Rixton says pulling on his coat.

"Where's Mason?" Alice asks.

"He has something he needs to do. He'll meet us down town later." Rixton says walking over to the door. He opens it and immediately Max bolts outside, dragging Amelia behind him. "You'd think he was the one confined to a bed for days." Rixton mumbles as he steps outside.

Alice and Max lead the way to market. Max running around, smelling everything and anything. Rixton and Jackson walk together behind Amelia. They try to figure out the name of a restaurant they went to a while back that served really good chili. James and Alice walk behind them. When Rixton glances over his shoulder he sees them holding hands. Instead of getting the usual feeling of pleasure about having something to tease James with later, he gets a feeling that make his fist clench. He knows exactly what the feeling is, but he pushes it aside. He is not going to let them ruin his first day back on his feet.

The walk to the market is only ten minutes from the house, but by the time they get there Rixton is wishing he was back in his bed. With the mixture of the heat and walking he is exhausted. Though he brushes off both Amelia's and James's concerns.

Alice

"What's next on the list?" James asks after he drops the carrots they just bought into a bag.

Alice looks down at the list Amelia had given them. "Um...Red peppers."

After they had gotten to the market Amelia had divided the list her mom gave her into three smaller lists. Alice and James got one, Jackson and Rixton got another, and Amelia got the last one. She decided to have a contest to see who could buy everything on the list first. The loser or losers had to buy everyone lunch.

Alice has always loved a little competition. Competing against Rixton made this certain competition that more enjoyable. So far James and Alice have already bought three out of the five items on the list. After they had bought a pound of rice flour, they ran past Rixton and Jackson at the fish stand. Rixton was in the middle of arguing with the seller about how much the fish costs.