A Bump in the Road (COMPLETE)

Chapter Two

            “Hey, Lorien?” Uncle asked later on that week, “If you have some spare time today could you run to the store and pick up a few things for us?”

            “Sure, just give me a list and I’ll be on my way,” I said, hanging up a few glasses that I had just cleaned.

            “You can wait for someone to go with you,” he looked a bit worried, “I don’t want you to have to go by yourself,”

            “I’ll be fine Uncle,” I laughed a bit, “I’ve gone shopping by myself before,”

Of course the last time I went shopping myself was when I had gone to city hall nearly a year ago and that’s when all the attacks where happening around our neighborhood.

            “Still, wait till someone comes by, ok?” he said, handing me a list as he walked into the back.

Shaking my head, I finished straightening things up as I waited for one of the gang to come in. On any given day I probably would’ve left without someone, but seeing as how Uncle was so worried about me I did as I was told.

It was nearly an hour before the first person came in.

            “Hey Lorien!” Takao smiled as he came through the door, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you!”

            “I know you’ve been so busy lately,” I walked up and hugged him, “I heard you got a promotion, congrats!”

            “Yea, I’m just happy that they recognized my efforts is all,” he smiled timidly now.

Takao was never one to boast. He was always soft-spoken about himself unless the topic was something he was truly passionate about.

            “Could you perhaps do me a favor?” I asked, a bit shy now.

            “Sure, what is it?”

            “I have to go to the store and Uncle won’t let me go by myself, would you go with me? I know you just got off work and-”

            “Don’t worry about it,” he laughed a bit, cutting me off before I could finish, “I would love to,”

            “Ok, let me just go get my purse and let him know,”

After finding Uncle (who had decided to take a short nap in the back) and letting him know that we were leaving, we were walking down the road together on our way to the supermarket.

It felt a little strange walking through town with Takao instead of Yamato. Even though Takao and I had developed a very close friendship, sometimes it still felt like he was hoping I’d get together with him. Of course he’d never admit to that because he’d never want to ruin one of his friends’ relationships.

            “It’s beautiful out here today, isn’t it?” he asked suddenly, looking up at the sky.

            “It is,” I nodded, smiling a bit, “today would be a great day for a picnic,”

            “I remember the picnic you made for us when we had our baseball game,”

I remembered it like it was yesterday. It was right in the middle of all the drama with one of his students, Yuri, who had come up with a story that she and Yamato were in a relationship to try to force me out. I had made up a picnic for their baseball game and that’s when I ran into Takuto and Yamato found out about my mother.