Coincidences

Act XVII

The nearest shopping mall is a bit far from town. It would take a forty-five minute drive by car, and an hour long travel by public transport. The place was enough to fit a thousand elephants inside. It hosted up to a hundred stores, a food court, a cinema, an indoor amusement park with an arcade, a supermarket, and even a freaking swimming pool and sauna, according to their website.

By the time Dad and I arrived, he pulled the handbrake, and we parked the car in the somewhat half-empty lot. From where we were, though, it was pretty obvious how hectic the mall was. We dismounted the escalator and watched the spenders and window-shoppers, stalking around for sales. We then copied their actions and went on to look for our objectives.

We came here to buy some summer clothes, because the temperature was consistently rising. We're also searching for some appliances we still didn't have. Luckily for everyone, there were clearances all around us, with discounts like 40% off, or a buy two, get one free.

I was admiring a clean pair of sneakers, when Dad called my attention by pointing to the universal sign depicting minimalistic replicas of a man and a woman. Bathrooms. Apparently, it is a natural instinct to go take a piss before you do anything.

I unzipped my zipper and let it all out. I was thankful Zoey was not here, or I will have to go through that mental suffering again. Her mom said they had to go somewhere considerably far, god knows where, and that they had to commute, because their car broke down and was under repair. At least she isn't here. Later, I washed my hands and left the bathroom, only to bump into Zoey.

We were both in state of confusion. I asked myself, why the heck was she here? Dad and her mom soon followed, and they, too, were clueless.

Dad, snapping out of it, voiced, "He...Hello. What are you doing here?"

Linda responded, "Hello, Mr. Turner. What are you doing here?"

Zoey and I waved in silence as a greeting. I could tell we both felt awkward after the brief commotion we made then.

"We are shopping for the summer," Dad spilled the beans. "You?"

"The same thing," Linda confessed. "I didn't know you were come here, too."

"If I did, I would have offered a ride, Linda. Did you take the metro?"

"Yes, then we took the bus, actually."

Zoey tugged her mom's shirt, impatient. She peered over and understood. Dad noticed this.

He then blared and said, "Say, why not shop with us?" Oh no. Please stop.

"Good idea!" No, not a good idea. Absolutely not a good idea.

I have a bad feeling about this.

The next thing you know, we were all cramped in the elevator, again with the same scenario from before. An odor blew through the air vents. Zoey kept on pressing against me. I told her to scooch over, but she tilted her head to the guy next to her. The chubby man turned out to be the source of the stench. His armpits, high up in the air, were soaked in sweat. If that wasn't enough, a wave of people rushed inside. She moved on closer to me. My chest was about to detonate.

We vacated the death box and reunited in front of a clothes store. We entered, and Dad, almost immediately, found something that caught his eye. I gaped over to the girls; it seems they have scampered around the store. We gathered a mountain of cotton and halted by the terrifying changing room.

Zoey mentioned, "I like to get new clothes, but, to be honest, I hate shopping." She extended her arm to the doors. "Especially the changing part."

I admit. I'm like that, also. I hate shopping to the bottom of my heart. I also hate going to that room. Why? Because you have to put on shirts, pants, and all sorts of stuff that other customers may have tried, maybe even go through the trouble of taking off your own clothes, and hurry it up as the clerks grow impatient to let others use the stalls.

I did exactly that. After hustling with the endless pile, I separated the wanted ones from the unwanted. We raced to the counter and purchased the goodies. Finally, we ditched the place and continued to visit others, repeating the same process as our load grew heavier and our wallets got lighter.

We released some steam in the food court, where the most famous food chains clashed against their rivals. Subway's our pick, and we asked for a foot-long each, same exact order. We set aside our bags on the metal chairs and waited for our food to be ready. The adults spoke of political nonsense and vamoosed us from the conversation. It was already boring to begin with.

Zoey and I kept silent. I couldn't keep my cool and panicked inside my head. Out of the possibilities, she had to appear out of nowhere. She must feel awkward after what happened the last time. I acted foolishly, kinda like how she was before. Seriously, I presume we humans do crazy things when we're emotionally tampered with.

Zoey was the first to talk, "How are you doing?"

I answered, "Better, thanks." I put my hand on my forehead and sighed.

A long pause between us. The subs were done and we both stood up and froze.

"I'll get them." "No, I'll get 'em." We ended up deciding that the two of us should go get the subs and the drinks. I wasn't thinking straight; I almost created a domino effect by bumping into her. She held her balance and pushed me upright. The physical contact was too much to handle for me. As soon as I served our meals, I slouched unto my chair in embarrassment.

All of us started to feast on the subs. I munched the bread in silence. Seeing me like this, Zoey reached out her hand and tried to cheer me up. I couldn't look at her directly. I freak out just by doing so. I wanted some time off to refresh my brain and fully disregard and forget any feeling for her. I am not so sure about myself.

Despite that, I glanced for a bit. Her guise spelled out that she wasn't pleased with my behavior. She abruptly towered over me.

"I've had enough. Let's go to the amusement park," she declared, all antsy.

Linda and Dad were shocked by her sudden outburst. She said, "Ok. Sure. If you want, take Martin with you."

Zoey didn't hesitate. She grabbed my hand and pulled me in. She spun around and said, "Let's brighten that sour mood of yours."

"You don't need to," I mouthed. She didn't seem to care. We sped through the maze the mall was, while Zoey clutched me firmly with her soft hands.