Remember

Chapter 33: Already a Trouble Maker

I left without a jacket and I'm freezing. Parker sees me hugging myself for warmth and offers his sweater. I agree and I assume he's going to take his off, but he heads to the trunk of his car and grabs a different one.

"Thank you." I tell him with a smile and quickly put it on. The sweater is large and engulfs me.

"So why are we here?" Parker questions. I debate telling him I'm going to start school.

"I kind of want art supplies." I come up with a quick lie.

"So you're an artist now? What do you like drawing?" He says laughing. I'm not sure if he believes me, but I keep with the lie.

"Anything really, mostly sunsets." We enter into the large store and Parker nods.

"Anything specific you're looking for?" He asks, while we stroll around the store.

"Pencils? Paper?" I question, wanting to know where things are. He tries taking my hand in his, but I subtly move away, running up to an all white dinosaur cookie jar I see on a shelf.

"This is adorable." I hold it in my hand, amazed the store has dinosaur kitchen ware.

"Now you're a dinosaur expert?." Parker laughs at my reaction.

"They're fascinating creatures." I say with honesty.

"What do you do for fun?" He curiously asks, and we mindlessly walk the store. Try to avoid Sawyer most of the time; I inwardly say.

"Read." It's an honest answer. Since Sawyer has every book known to man, I've been taking a few and reading them whenever I'm bored.

"Then I'm lucky to be in the presence of a smart, and beautiful young lady." He looks at me with admiration, and I'm not sure what I said or did to make him compliment me. I feel my face heat up and I know my cheeks are rosy.

"You're sweet." I say, with a forced smile. I thought by hanging out with Parker, I'd forget about the dream I had, but I can't. Parker is really cute, but every time I look at him; all I see is the face he made; him just letting his dad arrest me and not helping.

"Is something wrong?" He asks, noticing my behavior change.

"Yea, sorry. It's just getting late and I don't want to be locked out." I tell Parker. He looks at his phone and I see that it's eight-thirty.

"You can stay with me." He states, and I'm not sure how I can get out of this situation, I don't want to risk seeing his father.

"Pencils and paper, where are those?" I change the subject. This time he successfully takes my hand in his and I let it slide. He walks me to the art supply aisle. Once we make it, I'm overwhelmed by the different amount of supplies there are. I don't want to be a fool in front of Parker, so I try choosing pencils that look artsy. I find blank paper and sneak in a lined paper notebook when he isn't looking.

"Ready?" He says and I nod, he once again claims my hand in his and I try not to recoil. We walk to the cashier hand in hand, and no matter how hard I try my mind goes back to the dream. "Are you sure you're alright? Sawyer isn't hurting you?" I look at him wondering why he would think that.

"No, I'm just tired." I say. I'm having mixed emotions, I think.

We're next in line and I quickly try to pay for my things.