Lock the Doors - Mattdock

Chapter Thirteen - Let's Go Find the Car I Lost

"What restaurant do you guys want to go to?" Lloyd asked us once we were outside.

"Whichever's closest, all I know is I need food or I'm gonna die," Johnny said.

I think if they just ignore the fact that I'm vegan, I'm fine. I can just say that I can't eat anything there.

"Nick, where do you want to go?" Lloyd asked, turning to me.

"I-I don't care. Wherever you guys choose, I don't care," I said quietly.

Why me? There are three other people you could've asked, so why me?

"Okay. You guys just want to go get Pizza Hut? I think that's the closest one if we're walking."

"I don't see you trying to find your car, so I'm guessing we're walking," the one with dark hair said. I think his name's Dan, but I don't even fucking know anymore.

"Pizza Hut it is, then," Lloyd grinned.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Johnny agreed.

Fuck all of you. I just want to go home. Where the hell are we even going to put our supplies?

The pizza's going to have actual cheese on it, so maybe I can get away with just saying I can't eat any of it. Hopefully no one will notice, since I shouldn't even be here in the first place.

When we got to the restaurant we went in and Lloyd went up to the counter while the est of us sat down on the benches. Lloyd told the cashier that we wanted a large cheese pizza. She said okay and that we could sit down while we wait. We all sat down on the bench and waited for the pizza.

I glanced over at the others and saw that Lloyd was telling Johnny something. Johnny shook his head and got his bag of supplies, and then got up from where he was sitting. He walked over to where I was sitting—on a different bench that was on the opposite side—and sat down next to me.

I opened my mouth to ask him why, but got cut off by the cashier saying that our pizza was ready. I snapped my mouth shut and looked down, refusing to look at Johnny.

Lloyd got up and went up to the counter. He got his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a few folded crumpled-up dollar bills. The cashier said, "Have a nice day," and Lloyd took the change and the pizza box, turning around and motioning for us to go.

I grabbed my bag and followed behind the group, walking through the doors.

"All you guys owe me," Lloyd laughed once we were outside.

"Usually when you offer to go to a restaurant and say nothing about all of us pitching in to buy it, and then buy the damn pizza with your own money, then we all expect it to just be a kind gesture," Johnny told him.

"Oh, shut up," he joked.

"Lloyd, why didn't we just drive here? Now we have to walk back to the car!" Dan (?) complained.

"Because I don't want to waste gas. That, and because you survived, didn't you, Dan?"

I was right.

"Barely," Dan whined.

"You'll manage."

"Wanna bet?"

"No. Oh, hey, Dan, look, we're here," Lloyd stated, pointing to his car in the Staples parking lot.

"I can see that, I'm not blind!" he laughed.

"Great, where'd I park?" Johnny muttered.

"You lost your car?" Lloyd asked, not looking surprised.

"No, no, not lost, temporarily misplaced," he corrected.

"Meaning, you lost your car."

"Whatever. Nick, let's go find the car I lost," he said, walking away from the group.

I followed him and Johnny pointed his car keys in every direction, hoping for his car to respond by blinking its lights.

"Is your car the black one with the Jack Skellington thing on the antennae?"

"Yes! Where is it?"

"Right there," I said, pointing to his car two rows in front of us.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed, pointing his keys towards it and turning it on.

We walked towards his car and got in. "Are we going to Lloyd's house?"

"Well, he's the one with the pizza, so yes, we're going to Lloyd's house."

Stupid.

"S-sorry, I just meant... never mind."

"I don't know why you keep apologizing to me, but you're fine. Don't worry about it."

I wanted to tell him to go drop me off back at my house, but I was too nervous about it. When we were in front of Lloyd's house, I wanted to groan.

Not because of Lloyd or Johnny, but because of the food. And being questioned about it. And being judged because of it.

Johnny parked on the curb, because Lloyd's car was already in the driveway. "C'mon, let's go," he said, getting out of the car.

We opened the door and we walked in. And then I noticed that I still had the bag of supplies gripped in my hand. Goddammit.

"You didn't have to bring the stuff in," Johnny said, looking over at me.

Thank you for that fucking observation, Johnny. Are you trying to make me feel worse about myself?

"Oh."

"Do you want to put it back in the car?" he offered.

"It's fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes. It's fine."

"If you say so," he said, walking down the hallway to the kitchen, where the guys were.

I sighed before setting the bag on the floor and following him down the hallway leading to the kitchen.

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It's a week from Christmas and they haven't even started school yet.

I'm a fucking mess haha