Underlying Hunger ✓

Chapter 15

The weekend has come and Halloween is just around the corner. It sucks because this year it's on a Tuesday. Today is Saturday, so we have two days before the big night.

Costume shopping season has started and I can't wait to go. Chris and I made plans to do it together. The mall had a couple of costume shops, but our hearts were set on one that's recently popped up. It is supposed to be the biggest Halloween store in our area.

My phone rings with a message from Chris. She tells me she's outside and I leave my house. The air has gotten chillier so I threw on a knit sweater and a scarf. Through the window I see Chris wearing only a short sleeve shirt; I already know she's going to regret it.

"Hey, how are you?" She asks as I get into the car and buckle my seat belt.

"Well, I can't wait to go shopping!"

"Same here," she looks over at me. "This is the first year I've gone shopping with a friend." I reach my hand over hers and squeeze it, this is going to be fun.

++++

"No, no, no, and would you look at that... no."

The sound of hangers sliding across metal consistently hits my ears. We went to eat before we got to the shop and since then Chris has been in a bad mood. She asked for fettuccine Alfredo and they just gave her regular spaghetti and apparently that really set her off.

"Chris, why don't we look in another section of the store?" I say slowly. The calmer I seem, the calmer Chris will get.

This backfires and she lets out a groan, her shoulders slumping. "I already checked there. I already checked everywhere!" Well then.

Either way, she's not wrong. We've been here for over an hour and we still haven't found anything. The best thing I saw was a jailer onesie. I only liked it because I thought Grayson and I could do a couples costume, but I'd have to ask him beforehand.

"Maybe this store isn't as spectacular as we thought it would be." Chris shrugs, admitting defeat. She sighs and comes to sit down next to me. Just as she does, my phone rings. The screen tells me it's Grayson. I look over at Chris, silently asking if I could answer it. She rolls her eyes and nods. I stand up and go into the store's bathroom.

"Hey, babe." I say when I answer.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good, why'd you call?"

He hesitates for a couple seconds before silently groaning. "Well, after a lot of thought... I decided I'd be fine with couple costumes."

"Yes!" I squeal and jump up in excitement. I've never done a couple costume and it sounds so fun! I can't wait to search for some. "Any ideas?" I ask.

He chuckles. "No, none at all. That's why I called to tell you, so you could find them." I laugh. I should've known he would be like this.

"Okay that's all I wanted to say, bye," Grayson says.

"Love you," I say.

"Ditto," he says before I hang up and put my phone in my pocket before walking back to Chris.

"Well?" She asks, looking up from her phone.

I sit down next to her. "He just told me he wanted to do a couples costume," I sigh. "Or that he was at least okay with it."

"That's nice."

The tone in her voice makes it seem like she was sad. "Is something wrong?" I scoot closer, concern in my voice. Chris puts her hands in her laps and sags her head. I guess that's a yes.