Murder?

Small Talk

After a few minutes of awkward silence and making the tears stop flowing, I'm able to make basic conversation again.
When we get out of the car at the Wal-Mart, I'm exhausted but we troop in anyways. We go around and collect things I'll need in a shopping cart as if it's a perfectly normal thing, making small talk along the way.

Through the sections of the store, we talk about birthdays, zodiac signs, future goals, schoolwork, and shitty parents. When I finally have the bare necessities (food, clothes, a container for the bathroom, etc.), we go to find a good hiding place. I'm not kidding you when I say that Wal-Mart has cameras fucking everywhere for shoplifters.

We find a corner that's basically camera-proof, and Simon and Song stand guard while I wedge myself and stuff from the cart in between the shelves in the pet section. Nobody would think to look back here. A display case for cat treats blocks my "doorway."

Song and Simon and I all trade numbers so that we'll stay in contact. They'll be coming back tomorrow morning to check on me, they say. It's almost curfew for Simon, and so he needs to leave. I give him a hug and his cheeks are tinged pink when we pull away. Before he goes, I tell them both, "I'm so surprised you guys decided to help me. I'm a stranger and an absolute mess but you did it anyways."
Simon tilts his head, smiles a bit, and says, "I don't think we're strangers any more."