Blocked

Seven

     I walked over to the magazines as quickly, but calmly, as I could. I didn't want to cause any attention. Attention was the last thing I wanted right now.

     The magazine isle wasn't really an isle at all. It was a corner of the store in which they had holiday cards placed on shelves all on the walls, and in the center of it were two double-sided shelves, where the books and magazines were kept. In other words, I couldn't just peek into it like the other isles, and see if Ben was there or not. I had to walk through the damn thing.

     "Ben? Ben where are you?" I whispered, as quietly and as loudly as I could. I wanted Ben to hear me if he was in one of the isles. But I didn't want Cameron to hear me if he was in there, too.

     "Ben, we have to go," I whispered again, looking back at Izzy to make sure  she was calm. The last thing I needed was her freaking out, or making noise. Walking around the corner of the one shelf, I saw Ben ducking down, snickering. I walked over to him and grabbed his arm.

     "What are you doing?" I asked, not whispering anymore. He pulled his arm out of my killer grip, and the smirk fell from his face.

     "Get off me. I'm playing hide-and-seek with your friend," he said, looking around. I felt my face get hot.

     "Friend? What do you mean my friend?" I asked, and I felt my brow go down in frustration.

     "The guy who was just here, he said he's your friend. His name is Cameron," he said, still looking around.

     "Ben, he's not my friend. I don't even know him," I said, my voice getting even louder. I needed to calm down. I'm sure the people back at the freezer section could hear me by now.

     "Yes he is. He knows you, and he said you two were hanging out at the library today. I'm telling dad that instead of working on your project, you were with your boyfriend."

     That lit my fuse. I grabbed his upper arm and pulled him away from the magazine section.

     "Ben, let's go. We're going home," I said, my teeth grinding together. Cameron was really convinced that me and him were friends. We just met yesterday, and it wasn't even on purpose. We were nothing close to friends.

     "But Hailey, he needs to find me!" Ben argued, refusing. I just pulled him harder.

     "Ben, this isn't a damn game, we're going home," I said, and I suddenly bumped into something. I looked forward, and Cameron was standing there, eying me.

     "What's going on, buddy?" he asked, looking down at Ben. He then looked up at Izzy, her arms around my neck.

     "Hey, sweetie," he said, and lifted his hand to touch her cheek. I pulled my sister away as calmly as I could, and looked at him.

     "Are you following me?" I asked, and I felt my face starting to get hot again.

     "Following you? No. I'm just here, food shopping. I did run into your brother, though. The little guy's pretty cool. We were playing hide-and-seek," he said, the everlasting smile plastered on his face.

     "You were following me. You would've never known he's my brother, unless you were following me," I said, and I even felt my words stab through my skin, like knives. I could only imagine how it felt to him.

     His smile was then replaced by a straight face, then a slight, crooked smirk.

      "I did see you while you were walking in. I wasn't expecting to see you here. Then I was looking at some books here, and I saw your little brother. Asked him if he would like to play a game of tag and hide-and-seek. He seemed pretty okay with it," he continued," the poor guy looked down. I just thought I'd cheer him up. Make it easier on you," he said, looking at Ben, then back at me.