DAZZLE

three.

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three

his eyes glinted in the moonlight, stealing stars from the skies and hiding them in his eyes.

they sparkled with bliss, ones that devoured the taste of freedom.

"if this is about money–" I started.

"what? no, I just want to. just for the thrill y'know?" he doesn't look like he needs the money. not that I had much to offer and why I would anyway.

"so this is what you do, huh? angsty teen who wants to rebel, living in the moment." I was half joking.

"no, stop. I just want to be in this second, in this minute. no worries about the past, present, future. no being terrified of what's next. just taking a break from real life. swimming in sunsets and running to the moon and back." he sighed and raked his hands through his hair again, a habit I'd noticed hed do frequently. "I wouldn't expect you to get it."

"you don't know anything about me." I said quietly, barely audible, I hope he hadn't heard. I watched the stars glimmer, they were watching us, the moon following us.

I knew that he did when his head whipped to look at me. again, it was silent. then he took my hand.

"let's go!" he slid down a pipe and helped me get down.

walking into the 24/7 store, I was visibly nervous, biting at my cuticles and eyes twitching. the boy, however, looked in his zone. he walked around the store for a bit and then we ended up in the drinks section. he hid all the orange juice behind other drinks, dusting off his hands afterwards, pleased with himself. this all left me bewildered and wanting to know what he would do next. everything was so smooth and in sync, not just his voice, but his movements and expressions. like he was a bomb, so careful, one thing wrong and he could explode, so suddenly, it would leave you stunned.

he then walked up to the counter. "do you have any oj in the back, I think you've sold out." he spoke to the man.

he nodded and headed to the back to fetch more orange juice. in this time, the boy sprung to action, easily, he swung open the cash register, revealing piles of notes. he grabbed as much as he can before the man came back. I watched, mouth agape and eyes the size of frying pans.

he grabbed the small of my back and pushed my towards the door. finally, my feet found the urge to move.

"HEY!" an angry holler from behind us sounded. I didn't take a chance to look back, just kept running. the wind staining my cheeks and the adrenaline building up and coursing through my veins, a sudden power surge. this feeling, this sensation, beat my boring life.

finally we stopped, I checked around the corner, the employee wasn't hot on our tail anymore.

the boy took the wads of money out his pockets and dropped them on the floor. that wouldn't been at least two-hundred dollars.

his shoulders heaved between gasps for oxygen. "money can't buy you happiness, it's just a substitute for a time. I should now. I was a gambler at one stage, the casinos are all rigged so that the players have all the odds stacked against the them, always coming back to win, but leaving with an empty hand and sallow sigh. people lose that happiness eventually. it's not even the prize you got your eyes on, it's the possibility of winning, the thrill of it all."