The bus halted in front of an average-looking, white house. Adam and Marilyn both stood up and I followed only. Exiting the bus, we headed up the driveway. Their house was pretty nice. It was a palace compared to the shack we moved into. Their windows were gleaming and vintage curtains bowed out from the corners of the window with faded pink roses and twirling vines painted on. Their porch was freshly painted a homely tan and looked freshly made. It smelled like fresh cut wood. Marilyn unlocked the door and we stepped inside. I was greeted by a strong scent of lavender and a cotton ball of a dog padded up to us. His fur was as white as pearls. He was a Samoyed.
"Cute dog." I commented, brushing the dog's wispy and smooth fur. His wet nose pushed against my hand and he licked me.
"That's Zoë." Marilyn smiled. Oops...it's a she. I guess I'm petting her wispy and smooth fur. Marilyn chucked her bag onto the floor and kicked off her shoes. As did Adam. I politely slid my sneakers off and set them parallel from each other and set my bag gently against the wall. Adam headed into the living room next to the entrance, but Marilyn started making her way upstairs, so I followed. We entered her room and I was amazed by what it looked like. Her room was not the average 15 year old's room. A crumpled blanket was tossed on the floor, which is normal, but everything in her room seemed odd. She had creepy posters up of disturbing things...I'm not getting into details but trust me. They were extremely strange. She had a row of porcelain dolls aligned on a shelf. It's normal for a girl to have dolls but her dolls had no eyes. There were eyes there before clearly but it looked like someone scraped them out. She smiled at me and opened her closet door. It was stuffed with boxes of hundreds of board games. Yes, board games. She rummaged through them, looking high and low. I heard a low growl and she turned away from the cluttered stacks of games with a scowl. It quickly faded and she broke into a grin.
"Hey, I have an idea. We could go down to the corner store. I want to pick up some...bread...for supper tonight. My dad told me to pick some up." She chirped. I frowned a little but I guess it's ok.
"Sure." I answered. Marilyn grabbed my sleeve of my baggy sweater and pulled me down the stairs.
"Here. Get ready. I'll go get Adam." Marilyn told me. I nodded slowly and began to lace up my sneakers. I heard a low whispering from the living room.
"Marilyn?" I called. The whispers stopped. I heard two sets of footsteps and they both came out of the living room.
"Sorry, we're here." Adam said. Finally, he spoke... for like what...the second time?
We left the house and Marilyn locked the door behind her. I heard the scratches of Zoë's paws against the door from the inside. We travelled down the road. Only a few cars passed along the way. Their street wasn't very busy but it had way more houses on it than mine. A small building appeared ahead. It was in poor condition. The white bricks were cracked and the windows were dirt-covered and had smudges all over it. I saw the sign for it too. It was called Stop & Shop. Cute name. Only two cars were parked in the lot. Probably both employees. Entering the store, a small bell jingled above our heads, triggered by the door opening. A plump, Native American, old women peeked up from the desk with a handful of chocolate bars. She placed them in a candy box and smiled. Two long black braids fell loosely down her shoulders that went all the way to her waist.
"Hello." I greeted her, quietly. Marilyn and Adam didn't say anything to her and quickly marched towards an aisle. I saw a shelf with a line of bread bags on the other end of the store. Jogging up to Marilyn, I tapped her shoulder.
"Marilyn, the bread isn't over here, it's over-,"
"Shhhhhh." She hissed. "Be quiet." She glanced back nervously. Adam crouched low, considering that he was almost taller than the shelves. I began to feel nervous. Marilyn stopped in front of a shelf separated from the others. It had a stack of brown boxes with their names covered. Didn't she have enough board games? She was wearing an overly large coat, not the one she had worn to school. Snatching a box from the pile, she stuffed it under her jacket.
"Come on. Come on." She ordered. A wave of terror went through me. Was she stealing?! She rushed down the aisle and peered around the corner.
"Adam, she's not looking." She was barely talking. Marilyn shoved a crumpled five dollar bill into Adam's hand.
"Go buy the bread while I run out. Jae, go with him. Hopefully she doesn't notice that I'm not here. If she does, say I'm in the bathroom." Marilyn explained, chewing her lip.
"Ok...go!" Marilyn crept out of the store as quiet as a mouse and as sly as a snake. Adam casually strode over to the loaves of bread and pulled one off the shelf. The woman got up off her knees. She had been organizing some magazines.
"Hello there." She had a kind voice. I waved sweetly and Adam gingerly set the loaf on the counter.
"Ah, the usual loaf." She said. They must come here often. "Why, Adam. Who is this young lady?" She asked. He grinned.
"Why, Ms.Ham, this is our new friend, Jaelyn." He gestured towards me. Her smile slouched and she frowned at him.
"It is Ms.Hamilton, young man." She mumbled, eye brows furrowed. He handed her the five dollar bill. She returned back $3.75 and Adam graciously took the loaf.
"Thanks Ms.Ham." He chuckled. I heard her grumble something in offence but didn't quite pick up what she said. We exited the store and I saw Marilyn's face pop out from the side of the building. She gave us a scandalous smirk and gestured her hand back towards the way to their house.
"Let's go. Mission accomplished." I still didn't know what she had stolen.
