{ON HOLD} Melt|Zauren

M.1

"Lauren!" my mothers voice echoed through the halls. I placed the book I was reading from Stephen King down on my lap. "Lauren!" my mom shouted again when she realized I was not responding. I made sure my book mark was in before closing the book and tossing it on my bed. "What?!" I asked standing at the top of the staircase. I could smell rice being cooked and chuletas being fried. My mouth was watering. I rushed down the stairs and stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. "What?" I repeated for what seemed like the tenth time. "I need you to do me a favour," she made her way over to her purse that was layed on the counter top, and I made my way over to the stove. I lifted the lid off the pot and the steam rose up. I took a spoon and scooped up some rice. "I need you to go get an avacado and some brownie mix," my mom said handing me a twenty dollar bill. "How random," I said shoving the crumpled up bill into my pocket. "I don't have any gas money," I said. My mom sighed and grabbed another twenty. "You need a job," she said. I dismissively waved my hand and made my way out of the kitchen.

I stopped on my porch and pressed the start button to bring my car to life. I leaned against the railing and called up my best friend, Camila. She answeres after two rings. "Yello?"

"Are you home?" I asked.

"Indeed I am," she answered.

"Are you up for a ride to the store?"

"Indeed I am. I'll be out in a minute," she said.

"Okay, I'll be sitting in my car waiting."

About three minutes later, I watched from the drivers seat of my white toyota as Camila slowly made her way from her house over to my car. I rolled my window down and beeped my horn. Camila jumped up startled. "Move it, grandma!" I laughed. Once Old Geezer Cabello finally got into my car we made it to the gas station. "Here," I reached around in the back and grabbed the coupon section of the newspaper that I snagged up when I was trying to save money when I did a small grocery for myself. Camila looked at the paper and then me. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked as if it weren't obvious. "See if they have any good deals on cereal anywhere. Chris keeps eating all my captain crunch and I'm getting sick of it," I explained before popping the gas cap and climbing out the car.

After a minute and a half, I got back into my car and turned the car on. "When will I ever win?" I pouted seeing that the tank only got a smidge past the halfway mark. "I found a few places but the only deal that's worth it is this one," Camila said leaning closer and pointing to a 3 for 5 deal. "Where is that?" I asked.

"Pacheco's," she said reading from the paper. "Never heard of it."

"I've heard of it, just never been there. It's like by the boulevard," I said pulling out of the gas station.

I pulled into an empty spot in the Pacheco's parking lot. There was a woman selling shoofly pie at a stand out front. I kindly declined her offer and walked inside. "It's like a super walmart... but not," Camila said looking around at everything.

"Is there like a directory, a map or something?" I joked.

"Yeah, it's called the tags that hang above the aisles," a beautiful tall, tan girl said walking by me. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Camila as to say um, I hope she's not talking to me. "Is this your first time here?" she asked pushing her ombre hair to her side. I nodded still not keen on her attitude moments ago. "I'll help you out. What are you looking for?" she asked adjusting her name tag. Her name was Dinah Jane.

"Cereal," Camila said waving the coupon in her hand.

"Also, avacados and brownie mix," I added. Dinah Jane made a face and then said, "I hope you're not mixing those all together."

"Oh. No." I laughed. She breathed relieved. "In that case, I'll help you. Just follow me. I'll give you the grand tour of your desired needs."

We followed Dinah Jane around and she stopped at each aisle. "Dinah, get to work," a chubby, bald man said. Dinah rolled her eyes hard. "Cereal aisle is two that way," she pointed right. "And here's a helpful tip," she got closer, her voice became a whisper. "If you want to use that coupon all three cereals must be the same brand."

"Dinah!" the bald man said coming back over. "I know you like to talk to customers but don't make this a usual."

"I was helping." she said her voice becoming distant the further away she walked. I grabbed a box of brownie mix and Camila and I followed Dinah's directions to the cereal aisle.

Stocking a few boxes at the way end of the aisle was a tall guy with an olive skin complexion and dark hair. His arms were littered in tattoos and I could see his chiseled jaw line from where I was standing. "So, what kind do you want?" Camila asked. "Ooo look, lucky charms." Camila turned to me and waved a hand in my face. "Hello.. Lauren." The boy looked over to me for not even a second and then left the aisle pushing the now empty cart. "Holy shit!" I exhaled feeling like the air was kicked out of me and I rubbed my eyes, feeling as though they just deceived me. "Please tell me you just saw that hot guy standing over there stocking cereal," I whispered not wanting him to hear me from wherever he was. Camila laughed and shook her head. "I mean, I saw someone but they obviously didn't have such an affect on me. Are you okay?" she asked. "You're cheeks are red... Oh my God are you really blushing right now?!" I shushed her and placed my hands over her mouth.

"Can you be quiet? Yeshua. Just grab three boxes of captain crunch." I said exiting the aisle.

-

"Do you have a Pacheco's card?" our beautiful milk chocolate skinned cashier named Normani asked. I remember seeing her around school but we never spoke. I shook my head and she clicked something on the screen. "Okay, that will be $17.97," she said. I handed her the twenty dollar bill and she popped it into the register handing me back my change. "Thanks for shopping at Pacheco's. Have a nice day," she smiled.

"You as well," I nodded before heading outside with Camila behind me. Things were silent until we got back into my car. I was gripping onto the steering wheel staring off into space. "Are you going to drive?" Camila asked. "Or are we just going to sit here while you fake drive?"

"I need to know that stock boys name," I suddenly said turning to her. Camila laughed and shook her head. "We need to come back here," I said. Camila smirked at me and raised an eyebrow. I cleared my throat. "...For the deals of course."