(Un)Fortunate

Chapter 20

I text Jen as Max drives down the highway.

**Jennnyyyy- Hey my mom said I can come over as long as I don't eat too much junk food. Like that is going to happen ;D

**Me- Of course we will, I'm going to ask Max to stop by the grocery store. Hold on a minute.

**Jennnyyyy- Okay.

"Max?"

"Yes," He asks, not even taking his eyes off the road.

"Can we stop by the grocery store? Just for a few minutes, I have to get some things."

"Uh, I already passed that exit," He says, looking behind him.

"PLEASEEEE!"

"Fine," He says, pulling into the pull off lane.

We pull up in front of the store a few minutes later. I promise I won't be long and grab my wallet.

Inside the store I grab a cart. I head in the direction of the frozen foods.

I pass by the bakery and see an older lady struggling to get her cookies out of the glass doors.

"Here, let me help you with that," I say, deserting my cart to help her.

"Why thank you young lady. We need more young people like you in the world. All those druggies and thugs and gangsters stand no chance against the good young people that are arising," She says, smiling an almost toothless smile.

"Your welcome! Have a nice day!" I say, going back to my cart.

"That was very nice of you young lady," A man says from behind the bakery counter. I smile and thank him.

"How about you take a free cookie, on the house?" he says.

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"No, I insist. Go ahead and pick out any one you want!"

"Okay then," I smile and pick out a chocolate chip one.

"Give this to the people at the register, it tells them I gave it to you."

I nod and thank him again. I then head to the frozen isle.

I get two boxes of hot pockets and head down to the ice cream portion of the isle. I pull out a chocolate chip cookie dough, and a box of chocolate cherry. I have never tried it before, but it sure looks delicious!

I head to the check out.

I usually don't dare to look at the magazines, but this time my curiosity gets the best of me. Caleb's face or name is on the front page of every magazine.

Some of the headlines include: 'Caleb Morgan in coma. What is a coma?' or 'Caleb Morgan to not return to t.v. show? Find out only here!' I giggle at their stupidity.

Then one headline catches my eye. It reads: 'Who really is responsible for Caleb Morgan's condition?'

I pick it up and toss it in the cart. Caleb' s publisher, Vanessa, told us never to do this. It could cause drama, chaos, death, etc. I don't really know about the death part, or why she told us that.

The man in front of me is about to pay. He takes out his wallet and a crisp fifty dollar bill flutters to the ground. I wait for him to notice, but he doesn't.

"Excuse me sir? You dropped this," I say, handing it to him.

"Oh, thank you miss. You know what? You keep it, only a truly honest person would do this," He says, smiling.

"No, I can't accept this."

"Of course you can! Consider it a token of thanks."

"No really, I don't need this!"

"Oh, come on. You could buy a nice pair of shoes or a cute outfit. Just take it, I insist."

I sigh, realizing he is not going to give up. I look around and the Children's Cancer Organization donation box is right next to the man.

"Excuse me, I just need to get past you for a minute," I say, putting the money in the box.

The man smiles at me once he sees what I have done and gives me a thumbs up. I smile and put my stuff on the conveyor belt for the lady to scan.

The poor lady looks as if she hasn't slept in days, or showered either.

She tells me my total and I pay. I am about to walk away when I turn to face her.

"Excuse me mam," I say.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? You look so tired!" I say.

"Well, not really. My apartment building caught on fire and my three children and I are having a hard time finding a place to live. We are living in my car right now."

"Oh my gosh, that's terrible! Here, take this," I say, handing her $200.

"No, I can't."

She hands it back to me, but I use the man's tactic and keep at it.

"You could use it to buy yourself a hotel room for a few days, until you get back on your feet. I am not taking it back, so don't even try," I say, crossing my arms.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!" She says, hugging me. I hear a small sob escape her and I let her hug me.

Once she pulls away, she thanks me a few thousand more times before I leave.

I finally get to the car a few minutes later and Max is acting like  a child.

"What's wrong Mr. Grumpy Pants?" I joke.

"You were in there a long time. You promised only a few minutes!" He says, crossing his arms.

"Well, turn that frown upside down. I got you something!" I say, pulling it out.

"Ohhhhh what is it?!"

"It's a cookie!" I say, handing it to him.

"Yay! Thank you!" He says, and we start the drive home.