The View Point

"No."

"Come on."

"No."

"Please?"

"N.O," I spelt it out, jabbing my finger into his chest.

"You always say no, why won't you just lighten up a bit?" Daniel muttered, his hands flying up as he followed me through the isles in the convenience store.

"Because your ideas always fail miserably, and I don't have time for that right now," I explained, throwing a tin of tuna into my basket before moving on to the pasta section.

"They don't always fail," Daniel moaned, crossing his arms over his chest and planting his feet firmly on the ground.

I turned my head over my shoulder and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, maybe they do, but I've planned this one to the dot, and I really have a good feeling about it."

"You always say that," I said, using his own comment against him.

"As my best friend—" Daniel started to say, but I interrupted.

"That's not fair, you can't play that card."

"As my best friend," Daniel started again, a little louder this time. "You have a duty to not let me to fail miserably alone."

I turned to face him, tapping my one foot impatiently as I racked my brain for a response to the friend-card. Instead I gave a sigh, indicating that I didn't have anything worthwhile to defend my case.

"Yes!" Daniel exclaimed victoriously, knowing full well I had given in. "Okay, as me saying thank you, I'll convince Sam to come along."

My hand stopped halfway to a jar of Nutella, a slight glitch that I tried not to make. "And it matters why?" I tried to cover it up by scratching the top of my head and flipping my long hair over my shoulder.

"Oh come on, I see the two of you whispering in the hallways and spending more than the normal amount of time together," Daniel said, grabbing a jar of Nutella from the shelf and dropping it into my basket.

I glared at him.

"We both know you were just going to double back for it once we reach the pay point," Daniel stated, pushing me along. "And as for Sam, you clearly like him, so don't even try to deny that."

I didn't say anything as Daniel pushed me through the rest of the store, throwing the things I needed into my basket for me. We always ended up doing this. Daniel believed I took too long. I believed there might be something new to take. But, in the end, the things I took never changed spots in the shop, and I always end up taking the same things.

Along the way Daniel explained his newest plan, and nothing could describe it better than the word madness.

"Let me get this straight, you want us to hike up to View Point, dig out the sign and hang it up in my apartment?" I asked as we crossed the empty parking lot to where my car was parked in the shade. I never parked in the sun; it felt like I would suffocate from the intense heat.

"Pretty much," Daniel said nonchalantly.

"You know there's a word for that?" I asked, frantically digging around inside my handbag for my car keys.

"There is?" Daniel enquired, pointing to the back pocket of my shorts.

"Yes, illegal," I answered, trying to hide my slight blush.

"It's only illegal if you get caught," Daniel retorted, a grin spreading devilishly across his face.

"No, it's still illegal, you just can't afford to get caught." I opened my door and slipped into the driver's seat. Daniel followed suit and soon I shifted into reverse, easing my car out of its spot.